Building the Audio Note Kit 1 SET amp...

Mik.

TEktons might well be the ticket. DEfinitely high value and a reasonable fit it would seem for most any case. Plus not much risk to try. I would consider those myself. On paper. the Coincident just seems to be designed specifically for the task at hand, which is a good omen for good performance at least up front, but there is more to it than that. One must listen to know. Does Coincident offer a home trial/satisfaction guarantee? That would certainly help.

I spoke with Israel Blume of Coincident. The Triumph Extreme is designed to have both extremely high sensitivity and extremely flat impedance across the entire frequency band. It is designed for SET, he told me.
There's no home trial. It's US $3000, delivered.

Reb, I think you have all the relevant info available to decide. Some more detailed impedance/phase info on specific Tektons would be useful but not needed to save some money perhaps. Or go with what seems best on paper for more. Or try something else. The balls in your court to decide at this point I think. What you have ain't so bad for now it seems so take your time.

One other thing that might be useful to know is the output impedance of the AN amp. I'm asuming it is fairly high being a SET but do not know for sure. The higher that is the greater the chance that impedance swings in the speaker, even if not problematic, will affect the tonality of the results. Impedance curve info would then provide a clue in regards to how that tonality is likely to balance out prior to actual hearing. its at least a systematic approach to help predict the results beforehand. Flat impedance curve > 8ohm definitley suggests a design intended for SET. But of course a robust design alone does not assure one will like the sound, but it is at minimum an indicator of good performance together which is a good starting point.

Listening Impressions post Part 2 is live!