GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: SET amplifiers

Post Subject: Ready, SET, goPosted by rowuk on: 12/6/2014

Gera,
I think that it is impossible to "generalize" what a specific amplifier topology is. There are too many variables to really pin it down.

When we have any amplifier without feedback, it is VERY sensitive to the speakers connected. This means a good SET amp with the wrong but good speaker sounds bad.

There is an often voiced oxymoron: Full Range SET. This term is used by those that have no real low frequency reproduction.

Assume however that you get a perfect match between your SET amplifiers and speakers. Will the fine output stage now highlight bad things further up the playback chain? I am concerned because you said that you were not happy with anything that you have tried. That is normally a sign that it is NOT the hardware as any playback will be OK in some aspects and the real warts become obvious first AFTER you have had a chance to live with "better" for a while. If you are using DSP crossovers for instance, you may never be happy......

I am not using SET amplifiers rather SEP (Single Ended Pentodes) with feedback. I can also describe things that I think could be better and how I would get there, but I am happy with the current result and feel no need to change anything soon in the amplification.

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site