Advice: New Amp for Klipsch Cornwall I Speakers
That's good to know. I went through a phase in the last few days of ordering an amp than changing my mind and cancelling the order. Very frustrating and I realized I need to just wait and enjoy the combo of the Fisher 500c and the Cornwalls. I do hope one day to try a SET amp with my Cornwalls but I think I need to wait more and think it over first. I really like the looks of the Dennis Had amps and I think I'm going to try to save for awhile to afford one of his new power amps.
Out of curiosity did you build your 2a3 from a kit or did you source all the parts yourself?
SET or just single ended?
Dennis has been making SEPs again lately.
Dennis has been making SEPs again lately.
I'd be interested in his SEP amps. Just want to try single ended in general. I'm not a huge bass head myself, partially because I can't crank the bass where I live. I think I'll have to hold off on buying one of his amps until I can hear a single ended amp in person before committing to buy one.
I sourced and designed the circuit for my 2a3. I've been meaning to do a build thread over in tube audio because I really didn't find many attempts at the 2a3+d3a 2 stage amp along the way and learned some stuff along the way that might be useful for other folks embarking on a similar journey.
If interested in SEP, you could probably find a DGSE1 in barter town, or find a maggie 8600 console and mod it yourself! It's a fun project and there's so much documentation on AK (thanks all!!) that it's hard to come up with a poor sounding amp in the end. I had a great deal of fun with my DG SE1 EL 84 SEP, and main reason I stepped up to DHT was I came into a killer deal for a pair of strong rca biplate 2a3 that I couldn't say no to.
2a3 amp below, still am going to do something with the bobbins on the chokes, and maybe get a laser engraved plaque on the front of it.
If interested in SEP, you could probably find a DGSE1 in barter town, or find a maggie 8600 console and mod it yourself! It's a fun project and there's so much documentation on AK (thanks all!!) that it's hard to come up with a poor sounding amp in the end. I had a great deal of fun with my DG SE1 EL 84 SEP, and main reason I stepped up to DHT was I came into a killer deal for a pair of strong rca biplate 2a3 that I couldn't say no to.
2a3 amp below, still am going to do something with the bobbins on the chokes, and maybe get a laser engraved plaque on the front of it.
Price does not hurt too much and is salable if not satisfied. This amplifier cannot be built for the price it sells for. The EL34 is one great sounding tube.
https://www.amazon.com/BOYUU-Hi-Fi-Stereo-Amplifier-Single-end/dp/B07L4GL63N
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Beautiful build. It is said that the 2A3 tube is two 45 tubes in one envelope.
Many are wrong.
I can agree with that when I listen to my old rock and roll LP's with a SS amp. I can appreciate having a good sharp low end. An Amp with sweet mids and a slightly weak bottom end can be improved with a good sub.
Looks like a gorgeous amp. Great job! I'd be very interesting in reading about a build thread. It most likely would be quite a bit above my skill set, but I'd be interested to try and learn.
I was looking at this amp in the last few days and I've watched that review. It's definitely very tempting. Right now the shipping time is too slow for me, won't get it until August, but it's something to keep in my radar.
This is a bit off topic but I've found an ad for a nice looking audio research classic 60 amp for sale and the price seems very good. I'm definitely tempted because I love the looks of the vintage ARC equipment. Any thoughts on how this would pair with my Cornwalls? I've read the ARC might be too bright to match well. Still for the price I'm very tempted to try it.
One of my best friends has a pair of the Cornwall IIIs, he recently texted me that after running his upgraded, from ConradJohnson, Premier 11A for a couple of months he put his Had Inspire with Genalex KT-88s back in the system...his words are: "I put the Had amp back in the system. It is so vastly better than the CJ in every way it's amazing. I swear it's stunning the difference. The only amp I have ever heard that comes close was that big pair of spiny cube Pass (Alephs) amp you had once on your Martin Logans"...
Mike has been an audiophile and OCD level listener since the early 1970's when he had some of the early SAE silver faced gear and a set of 901's...
Mike has been an audiophile and OCD level listener since the early 1970's when he had some of the early SAE silver faced gear and a set of 901's...
I would love to listen to one of the Dennis had inspire amps. They were on my short list and I was very tempted to go all out and purchase a new one but unfortunately it's just a little too out of my price range at the moment.
I found a good looking older model mini torrii jr from decware that comes with some extra tubes. It seemed like a fair price and considerin the options it came with I decided to go for it. I've heard nothing but good things about decware and the Dennis had amps and if I had a bigger budget I definitely would have gone for one of his inspire amps. The one I purchased is a decware mini torrii and its a single ended Pentode not a single ended triode but it's arriving tomorrow and the seller was really great to work with.
I also very impulsively bought an audio research SP9mkII, because the price was so good. It's been performing flawlessly and I really like the phono stage.
Why did you chose a Mini Torii over the Rachael SE34I that you were going to buy?
Are you planning to use SP9 as a preamp or just for the phono? The Mini Torii only needs 1 volt for full output.
I mainly chose it because it seemed like a better value and the seller was better with communication.
It looks like I won't be able to use the pre amp with the mini Torrie than right? From what I gather the output impedance of the pre amp is higher than the input of the amp so it wouldn't match well at all. I guess I could still use it just as a phono pre amp.
I don't know if you were aware that the SE34I was originally listed for $800, then after the seller found out that the original owner had some options added when he purchased it new, raised his asking price to $1100. The current seller knows what he paid for it and what he wanted for it, why all of a sudden did he think it was worth $300 more?
That and your experience is maybe why it is still for sale.
An impedance mismatch is not the problem, I think you will find there is too much gain using them together.
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I don't know if you were aware that the SE34I was originally listed for $800, then after the seller found out that the original owner had some options added when he purchased it new, raised his asking price to $1100. The current seller knows what he paid for it and what he wanted for it, why all of a sudden did he think it was worth $300 more?
That and your experience is maybe why it is still for sale.
An impedance mismatch is not the problem, I think you will find there is too much gain using them together.
I didnt know that, good thing I changed my mind then. He didn't seem like a bad seller, but that price change is a bit much. I definitely would have bought it had been 800.
So far I'm very impressed with the mini torri. I tried it with the pre amp but you're right it was too much gain and I ran into some odd issues when powering off the amp and pre amp. Right now I'm running it by itself and it sounds great. The first tubes I put in must have been going bad because I was very unimpressed with the sound, I changed one set and suddenly I understood why it's so popular. I also really like the headphone output on this amp and the fact that it has a variable output for my subwoofer is nice. I'm looking forward to experimenting with different tubes too.
twiiii
Lunatic Member
I owned Fisher and Scott way back when, I would want an 8B or a MC 225 or for more power MC 240. But all three are going to be big bucks restored. Some of the Mac early SS amps have a similar though not exact same sound. A MC 502 or a MA 1900 with 50 watts a channel would be great. The 502 has Power Guard to help protect your delicate tweeters. I used a 2505 with my pair and then later on a NAD before selling them to a Baptist Church to be used in their Choir room as monitor speakers with the NAD amp. They worked great. Previous generation NAD units have a smooth sound for being SS.