Best 3 options for SET amps


Hi - I am in the process of building a second system based on SET (I already bought the first piece - Audio Note P4 300B mono amps) and wondering which spkrs should I consider for a medium sized room for Jazz/Pop/rock listening.

I have crafted this list, that is open for your recommendations:

1.- Coincident Victory
2.- Royal Master 3A
3.- Cabasse line

Thanks for sharing your comments.

Fernando
128x128flg2001

Showing 2 responses by gliderguider

My short list would include:

- Fab Audio Model 1 or Stonehenge. I have the Model 1 and think they are extremely hard to beat.

- 3A De Capo i. In the smallish room of a friend they are total magic with a KR18 SET integrated.

- Coincident Victory. I had the Total Victory but they were too much for a low-powered SET to drive to my satisfaction. The new Victory should be much better.

- Audio Note speakers go without saying. I've never heard them, but I've never read a bad word about them, and who should know SET-friendly speakers better than AN?

Other speakers I'd be very interested in hearing would be the Zu Definitions and the Von Schweikert db99.

Speakers that would NOT make my short list include:

- the Coincident Total Victory - maybe the new Mark II model is better, but the original didn't do it for me. Likewise the whole Eclipse series.

- the C&C Abby - IMO these are toy speakers with a number of flaws that make them unsuitable for serious use (flame away). The bigger Ben series may be better, but I've never heard a pair.

- the Lamhorn 1.8 - a bad experience trying to drive a pair of these with my PX25 amp (and my ownership of the Abbys) has left me very skeptical about single driver backhorns in general.
I've tried the Abby with my Audion PX-25, a pair of Wavelength Triton 300Bs, and a Nelson Pass Aleph J. The Achilles heel of the speaker is driver and cabinet resonances, and they come through with all the amps. The peakiness of the driver makes female vocals sound rough and the resonance of the cabinet walls makes male voices sound chesty. I will admit that they have a sense of presence that is beguiling, but once I'd become accustomed to really good high-efficiency speakers it was hard to ignore their limitations. The subs help a lot in providing a fleshed-out sound, but those two resonance problems remain. I currently have them in my living room system driven by the Aleph J, and for that purpose they are more than adequate, not to mention the design gets admiring looks from everyone who visits.

By the way, I mentioned the Lamhorns above. After trying really hard to like them with my PX-25 we put on the designer's Tenor hybrid, and they just sang. It was amazing, but I didn't see the point of buying an efficient single-driver speaker with frequency range limitations, and then having to drive it with a 150 wpc hybrid amp...