SETs vs. Push/Pull

One thing that has always struck me about Classe, and I have heard a whole lot of their amps, was that they ALWAYS underwhelmed me.

First of all, even those that tend to be quite large sound a lot whole lot less than their power rating suggest.

Secondly, and more important, in every situation I have heard them in they were cold, clinical, analytical, with quite a bleached out sound.

Of course, if the Proacs sound overly lush, than I might think the match would be good.

Trelja wrote:

"One thing that has always struck me about Classe, and I have heard a whole lot of their amps, was that they ALWAYS underwhelmed me.

First of all, even those that tend to be quite large sound a lot whole lot less than their power rating suggest.

Secondly, and more important, in every situation I have heard them in they were cold, clinical, analytical, with quite a bleached out sound."

-----------------------------------------------------------

My response;

First of all Classe amplifiers have sounded pretty much the same for over a decade, no matter what they engrave on the front faceplate, what exactly were you expecting when you were underwhelmed? How many Classe amps do you have to listen too before you figure out what they were going to sound like?

Just for the record The Classe's don't measure or sound "cold, clinical, analytical, with quite a bleached out sound." And as for the lack power, I'm beginning to think you are confused about this brand. Other than the 70 and the multi channel amplifiers, the Classe's have been very consistent. Maybe its the speakers you've chosen to judge them on that is cold, clinical and bleached out?

Or maybe it would be more prudent to ask, what solid state amplifier have you heard that doesn't fit the "classe" description given above for under $5K?

Try a pair of SUN 300b monos. 20 watts push/pull with all the SET qualities but more power. I did replace these fine amps with a Bruce Moore Dual 70 & I have not looked back.

Tom,

I am in a similar situation. I love my SET, but my 89 db electrostatics are not efficient enough. At 86 db, your speakers are (efficiency wise) a bad match for an SET amp. One speaker that I currently own are the Hornshoppe Horns. They probably need a sub for most people as most single driver speakers do. If you live near eastern Massachusettes, you can borrow mine to try them out to see if they work for you.

good luck, Paul

Paul...thanks so much for the kind offer but unfortunately I live in Michigan which is quite a ways from Mass.

A couple of things about speakers and "driveability". There is a three fold requirement for ease of drive: 1) Efficiency, 2) Impendance load, and 3) Phase angle. 2.5s easily meet 2) & 3) which actually makes them quite easy to drive. The first two SETs I ever heard about 7-8 years ago were on 2.5s and that was what swayed me to go that route. My ProAcs do not drop below (at least as explained to me by the importer) 6 ohms and do not rise above 11. They also have a very benign phase angle which is important and you can read just about any of John Atkinson's speaker measurement reviews for an explanation.

These are the same reasons some Spendors are good matches for SETs even though efficiencies are rather low. Art Dudley first used his SETs on Spendors which were less efficient than my ProAcs. I'm pretty sure most if not all electrostats have difficult impedance loads and phase angles - I know my Acoustats from 19 years ago did. I needed 200 real watts just to make them "get up and go".

Thanks again for the offer, Paul.