Looking for advice on these speakers
Hi Marek, Excellent comments by the others, as might be expected, including the reference by Charles to your good taste. Those are all fine speakers. Some additional miscellaneous comments: I would rule out the Silverback Reference, as John Atkinson's measurements in Stereophile indicated a sensitivity of only 89.5 db/2.83 volts/1 meter, which is equivalent to 89.5 db/1 watt/1 meter for its nominally 8 ohm impedance. The Daedalus Argos is designed to have stable imaging and consistent sonics across a wide range of listening angles, making it particularly suitable for large rooms, rooms with open floor plans, and home theatre applications. If your critical listening would be primarily from a centered position, the Ulysses and the Athena would probably be better choices. I believe that the present cost of the Ulysses slightly exceeds your budget. As you may be aware, Daedalus offers 30 day return privileges, less two-way shipping and $300. Although the 6 to 8 ohm impedances of the Daedalus models are lower than those of some of the other speakers, their impedances are extremely flat, with no dips to low values at any frequency, and they have very benign phase angle characteristics. Particularly since the introduction of the "all poly" crossover a few years ago. Nevertheless, I would be hesitant to pair them with a 300B or lower powered SET, even one as robustly made as the Frankensteins which Charles uses. Unless, that is, the room is small, your listening distance is relatively close, and (most importantly) your critical listening does not include recordings having particularly wide dynamic range (e.g., well engineered minimally compressed classical symphonic recordings). Physical factors may also be relevant, for practical and/or aesthetic reasons. In particular, the O/96 is 18 inches wide, so you would be placing 36 inches of speakers across the front wall. And the TV V weighs 200 pounds, and is 22 inches deep. Best of luck as you proceed. -- Al |
You raise an excellent question, Marek, which I've wondered about myself at times, and I can't add a great deal to the good responses Charles has provided. I don't doubt that for MOST recordings for MOST listeners a robustly designed SET employing a single 300B per channel and putting out 8 watts or so would work well with the Ulysses (98 db/1W/1m) or the Athena (96 db/1W/1m). But as I indicated earlier a key variable is the dynamic range of the recording (i.e., the difference in volume between the loudest and softest notes). In my case my listening includes some classical symphonic works on audiophile-oriented labels such as Telarc, Sheffield, Reference Recordings, etc. which have extraordinarily wide dynamic range, 50 to 55 db in some cases (determined by me by looking at waveforms on a computer). So with those recordings brief dynamic peaks will reach 100 to 105 db at my listening position, with average levels in the 70's, and soft notes in the 50's. There is no doubt in my mind that an 8 watt amplifier could not handle that kind of dynamic range with the Ulysses cleanly, if at all. I suspect that a well designed amplifier rated in the vicinity of 30 watts would be able to, though. Most classical recordings, however, do not approach that kind of dynamic range. And rock and pop recordings are commonly compressed to vastly smaller dynamic ranges, often less than 10 db, although they may be played at somewhat higher average levels. So as I indicated I think that most listeners would do fine with 8 watts with most recordings, with the Ulysses and perhaps also with the Athena. But substituting "all" for "most" in either of those two places makes the question problematical. Best, -- Al |
I'll second all of Charles' comments, and Gsm has provided some valuable perspectives as well, IMO. And although I've had no experience with Rogue products, yes I would suspect that going to triode mode on your 180's is shifting their sonics at least slightly in the SET direction. I've had two amps that were switchable between the two modes, the classic and highly regarded vintage monoblock Marantz 2's and 9's, from the 1950's and 60's respectively, both of which I owned about 20 years ago. Both were EL34-based, with the 2's rated at about 20W/40W in the two modes, and the 9's at about 35W/70W. In both cases I much preferred the richer and in other ways subjectively better sonics of triode mode. Although the 20 watt triode mode capability of the 2's was inadequate on some recordings with the speakers I was using at the time, rated at 90 db/1W/1m and having fairly easy to drive impedance characteristics. In that mode with the 2's I actually caused the power tubes to arc and flash brightly a couple of times on Telarc bass drum beats, although no damage resulted. I don't recall having any problems with 40 watts. BTW, a point of interest: In principle, if implemented in a certain way UL mode is capable of providing the sonic benefits of triode strapping, while providing considerably greater power capability at the same time. See this post by Atmasphere. You'll also find in that thread some varied reports of experiences comparing the two modes. As usual, implementation of the specific design seems to trump all. Best, -- Al |
