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I'm driving a pair of Tekton Lore S's with an 8 watt KT66 Inspire amp built by Dennis Had. More than efficient enough. |
I run Coincident Frankenstein 300b mono blocks thru my Zu Druid V's and an Undertone sub with great results! |
I run a pair of Zu Essence speakers (16 ohm, 100db efficiency) with my 9 watt Manley amplifiers. The sound presentation is very vivid, palpable and immediate. It took me some time to arrive at the high-efficiency SET sound, but I have no regrets. One of my Manley amps is on its way to the factory to replace a failed oil cap (the amps are 15 years old now) and my temporary replacement leaves me yearning for that SET realism.
I would give the new Zu Druids some serious consideration. They have gotten great reviews. I intend to replace my Essences, as good as they are, with the Druids this summer. |
I just obtained a pair of Sonist Concerto 4's from Jonny at Snake River Audio, and they are among the best speakers I've owned. There are three sizes of the Concerto available, the 4's being the largest. They were originally designed to be used with a 300B SET amp, but will work well with any tube amp or integrated. I believe they are 98db speakers so they won't need much amp power to work at decent listing levels. The Concerto 4's retail for around $5000. So far, they are the best speakers I've heard in that price range. |
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If you can locate a used pair of Cabasse Farela 401's in good shape, they were/are a match made in heaven with my 8 watt/channel 300B SET amp. They needed a sub to flesh out the bottom end but the attack, purity of tone let alone sheer musicality are to die for.
I have come close to assembling a system that could match that combo I had. I am very close now but still missing that last ounce of sheer musicality and instrumental color/tonal density and attack.
Paste the link into your browser to see the 401's.
Cheers
http://www.forumcabasse.org/depot/Enceintes/farella/farella401.jpg |
It certainly would be best to listen before buying, something that works for one guy could be underpowered for the next. |
I am not an audio note fan as their speakers seem to be dead sounding to me (way too warm, not enough air). I have only heard them in an all Audio Note system every year at CES. |
The Audio Note suggestion is a good one, I just heard the J's
driven by the Oto integrated. There is also the DeVore Orangutan series. I don't know the footprint of the 12.1, so I can't comment on the smaller footprint. |
I own a pair of Zu Definitions that I drive with a 300b SET. While the Defs may be too large, Zu makes smaller speakers and offers a 30 day audition period. You should give Sean a call. Another alternative is one of the AudioNote speakers such as the AN-J or AN-K. |
Sm04,
I understand. Besides the Coincident Triumph you may be interested in the Trenner-Friedl Pharoah floor stander. It has a very good reputation for sound quality.
Charles, |
Thank you for the feedback on speakers. It is always a challenge to build a system that keeps on giving. Charles1dad you are right about the Tonian labs 12.1s.
They deliver the goods and remain my favorite. Just looking for some input on what other folks find pleasing to the ears with low power SET systems. |
Brownafan,
You can send me a PM anytime.Although you'd be moving from a 500 watt SS amp to an 8 watt SET[Frankenstein} it'd be wonderful with your Triumphs and CSL.
Charles, |
SM, Charles warning, as usual, is spot on. In my case, last fall I began bringing in monitors to use for a bedroom system. That permitted me to do a careful evaluation in my main rig, and permitted A/B comparison with my beloved Magnepan 3.7's. I was fortunate to have found a pair of monitors that not only satisfies my needs in a bedroom system, but has me very seriously considering using them in my main rig instead of the Maggies.
The Coincidents weren't the first monitors I brought in. I brought in another pair of very well respected monitors, which I thought would do just fine as something for a nice bedroom system. They are good, but not great. The bottom line here, is if you already have something you love, some caution is in order. Hold what you have, bring in some other candidates for A/B, live with them a while, and let the best speaker win. This approach requires patience, because it means you need to buy used, or your are going to burn through some serious cash.
Charles, yes, it is a strong endorsement of the Triumphs, but I suspect you are not as surprised as I was. I'm seeing a pair of franks in my future. Just really need to sell some stuff first. My living rooms got more equipment in it now than some showrooms I've seen. I may send you a pm later on regarding the WE tubes. |
Sm04,
I've read very flattering things about your Tonian Classic 12.1 speakers. I hope you don't regret replacing them. |
I'm having very good luck driving the 94db/watt Wavetouch Grand Teton speakers with a pair of 8-watt 300B amps. In fact, in my 14' x 11' room, the results are nothing short of amazing. Good luck in your search. |
Brownsfan,
Considering your long and happy ownership of the Maggies that's quite an endorsement of the Triumphs.
Charles, |
I can tell you that a couple of months ago I bought a used pair of Coincident Triumph Extreme MK II monitors. They are 94 dB efficient, and designed to be driven by low powered SETs, like the Coincident Franks, 300b, 8WPC I believe. Now, I am currently driving these with 500 wpc mono blocks, because that is what I have. I am extremely impressed with these monitors. They are extremely coherent, very articulate, fast, and they have great timbral accuracy. Of all the speakers I have ever owned, these please me the most. They are just great, great, speakers. I'm using them in a 15.5' x 19' x 8 ' room, and they play effortlessly at fairly loud levels. |
Have a look at 6moons.com. You'll find tons of useful info over there for high efficiency speakers. |
