Presence, Realism, Palpable sound amplifiers
- Thread starter tucky
- Start date
Yes, the OTO is pricey, isn't it?
Have you considered a kit? The Bottlehead Kaiju is quite a nice amplifier and their kits are very well put together. Pair it with their inexpensive preamp kit and you'd have a very nice system.
OTOH, the nice thing about PP EL84 is you get a lot of midrange magic of single-ended, with better frequency extension and control.
The Cary six pack is basically half of my Cary V12's, The six pacs are a pair of amps, one amp for each channel, mono blocks with 6 EL34's per amp which are PP, so you get the tube that many seems to rave over, and it puts out 50 watts per channel, so your choice of speakers are less limited. But you can run 6550, KT66, and KT88, tubes as well, which other people seem to like as well. This amp was designed by Dennis Had, well known for making some great sounding amps, and although I don't own the little six packs, I do own the big version which are v12 mono blocks, 12 EL34's per amp switchable on the fly to either triode, or Ultra linear on each pair of tubes so any combination of pairs. I can say it is a very good sounding amp, just as the smaller 6 packs would be. Then paired with a Dennis Had, SLP 98, you would have a very good system. I have a Cary 98 as well, with the ultimate option upgrade, but even the basic model 98 is a top-notch preamp, with remote power supply. And the tubes are all on top exposed, so tube rolling is a snap. It uses the 6sn7 tube, which are very common and still somewhat reasonable, a tube I personally really like.
I was a bit concerned for a while with my amps seemingly low volume, but with the Cary pre that is no longer an issue. and the preamp, really for many would be an end all preamp, it really is that good.
As for warm, I think of that as a strange why to describe music, my amps are very dynamic, and effortless on reproducing big symphonies, to heavy metal, and yet on intimate performances with small groups or solos, from opera, to jazz, it is really lifelike and revealing. They produce deep bass, while have plenty of sparkle on top, with a really live like midrange. I won't say I am very good at being an author, and putting things to pin, but it is not hard to do a goggle search on the items, so others can do a better job at reviewing, I am a technician, not a reviewer.
I think you have gotten a lot of good advice here. My setup sounds spooky realistic with the right music. Speakers are EV Aristocrats, one with a 12TRXB, one with an SP12B + T35 combo.
My amp is a fully upgraded Elekit TU-8200R, Lundahl transformer and Mundorf Silver Gold coupling caps. Tubes, which are one of the reason is sounds so good, are NOS RCA JAN 6189 and original Genelex KT88 running ultralinear. I also have a pair of matched RCA clack plate 6L6GC. They sound really, really good, but not as good as the KT88s. I think the KT88s easily match the mids from the RCAs, but blow them away on the highs and lows.
If you are up for a kit, I highly recommend an Elekit, purchased from Victor Kung (vkmusic). As soon as I sell my Marantz separates, I am going to buy an Elekit TU-8550 preamp kit to go with it.
My amp is a fully upgraded Elekit TU-8200R, Lundahl transformer and Mundorf Silver Gold coupling caps. Tubes, which are one of the reason is sounds so good, are NOS RCA JAN 6189 and original Genelex KT88 running ultralinear. I also have a pair of matched RCA clack plate 6L6GC. They sound really, really good, but not as good as the KT88s. I think the KT88s easily match the mids from the RCAs, but blow them away on the highs and lows.
If you are up for a kit, I highly recommend an Elekit, purchased from Victor Kung (vkmusic). As soon as I sell my Marantz separates, I am going to buy an Elekit TU-8550 preamp kit to go with it.
Personally, with a more efficient pair of speakers I like my SET amps better than a PP set up, and so far, it is a toss-up between the 300b amp I own, and another Cary made amp that uses an 811-3 tube. Both these are very good with my Altec speakers, which I don't consider real efficient but good enough for plenty of volume.
I also have a pair of the Altec Flamenco's, I pair them with my 300b amp.
I am a newbie to the tube world and have been lurking around gathering information from those who have lived it for decades. I started with a restored Scott 222C, then a restored 299C. They both sounded very nice, but decided to go with something new for reliability. Auditioned the Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III; thought that was going to be the one. Went with an Erhard Audio Aretha MKII preamp and a new ST-70 with all the upgrades from Getdynaco.com. The clarity, sound stage, and overall presence is an absolute joy. I am still tracking down a ground loop, but it is much quieter than when I first put these two together. Good luck with your quest and keep us updated on what configuration you end up with.
Lavane
Lunatic Member
Yup. I added a volume control to the EL84 console amp I modified to run stand alone along with my VTA ST-70. All that's needed is an input selector if you have multiple sources. There are also volume control/input selector boxes. Some of my smaller systems don't have a preamp at all, just a volume control and maybe an input selector.
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Luckily, I do have several hobbies that loves to suck up the numbers out of my bank account. Thus, OTO is like a gorgeous lily flower blooming on top of the cliff.
Yes, I have. Very interested indeed, in both Kaiju and TU-8900 with upgrades. Honestly leaning more towards Elekit, but amp plus the upgrade cost will blow almost all my budget away by it alone.
As many of the folks here said, I am still seduced by 300b SET like Frankenstein Stereo 300B. Difficult call...
Wow, great write up Ken! I do not see anybody who criticizes his amps, never. Dennis' 300b must be one of the ultimate 300b SET I believe. Anyway, thanks for sharing your detailed, insightful thoughts! My R300 sounds warm dark and soft, and this gives me a certain feeling, "OH, sounds comfortable but not correct..."
Spooky real!!! Oh my goodness... I desire to say so.
As zackthedog also suggested, I am intrigued to try Elekit TU-8900 from VKmusic. I have to save up more to go that route eating only instant noodle...
Thanks for sharing!
Well, I overlooked this info. Thanks. So the AudioNote OTO SE must be PSEP...
Thank you for telling your thoughts. Yes I would update once I decide. Enjoy music!
analogadict
Active Member
Hi Sam ,
You should build a ST35 clone . There is a pair of nice OPTs , you know where
Regards,
Lavane
Lunatic Member
Yup. They can sound good though. But not a lot of wattage coming out of one. Only 3.5wpc. I have some woofers and horns out of an old console that would probably go well with the EL84 SE amp I built. They're pretty efficient.
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flatwound
Active Member
Speaking of Cary, don’t overlook the SLA/ SLI30 amplifiers. My SLI is a fine sounding amp driving Monitor Audio Silver 100’s in my audio room. Think of it as a stripped down / hot rodded Sca35.: each channel has 1 12ax7 preamp/pi tube, followed by 4 el84 in ppp ul mode. No tone controls, and power supply uses quick recovery diodes. Sound is sweet and very listenable. Using Russian tubes for outputs, puts out about 35w per channel.
