Funny you should ask because I have on my "buy and try" list right now the First Watt J2 and F3, so I haven't heard them yet but will soon. I'm very curious about the JFET models. I would also jump on an F1J, if I can ever find one, to see what a current-source amp sounds like.

I'm totally with you on the bleached out performance of a lot of top-flight stereos. But the people I've known with stereos like that don't really listen to music. They have the gear, but never really use it.

I heard a system once that had the most incredible tone. Mine is extremely good because I value that, but this system was amazing: Auditorium 23 Solovox speakers (ugly but magical) with Shindo Haut Brion + Masseto. Wow! Soundstaging wasn't great, but it sure had body and soul to spare. I was very impressed. I haven't owned any Shindo yet but that's on my list too - probably one of the little 6V6 amps as I've always liked the 6V6 sound, but I wouldn't turn down a Montrachet.

aball April 24, 2014 06:37

I only have experience with 4 single-ended tube amplifiers but I like what I hear, except for the WAVAC 300B which I thought had poor dynamics. My Triode Labs 2A3 amp is really sweet, especially with my Tom Evans Vibe preamp, and does a terrific job for jazz. I think SE topologies are hard to beat for jazz in general - they get the timing right. I credit the simple circuits for that.

However, my favorite amp of all time for jazz are my little French monoblocks called Kora Aries that use a bizarre single-ended MOSFET output stage with a 12BH7 tube front end. Talk about timing! They're amazing. I've never heard anything like them in that regard. Jazz masters they are.

And for brass instruments, my winner is actually push-pull: an inexpensive 6BM8 amplifier from Finale in Canada. It reproduces trumpets and saxophones with unbelievable realism. I played the sax for many years (mostly alto, some tenor) and every time I hear saxophones through this amp, with the Kora Crescendo preamp, I get flashbacks and goosebumps. Out of 40 or so amplifiers I've had, this is the one that pulls it off.

I haven't heard any of the Coincident amps, though I've read a lot about them. At some point I'll surely give them a try.

Arthur

aball April 24, 2014 05:04

Hi Charles,
It's really cool to see you have a YDA-01. I wanted one for a long time but then Brian disappeared and I haven't been able to find one since.

Interesting about the Duelund caps. I've been modding a few of my amps lately but haven't spent that kind of money on caps, although I know it can be worth it. One thing though is that you want to keep the leads as short as possible. Part of the high cost of the caps goes into extending their frequency response, but long leads eliminate a chunk of that benefit due to parasitic inductance, especially when they're a couple inches long. It's not always possible to do so, particularly in retrofits, but I've seen the harm long leads make to caps all the time in my computer simulations of electronic circuits. That goes for coupling as well as bypass. You might be surprised by how much you've been missing. But your comments are making me want to get some for my Flash.

I lusted after a pair of Victorys since Roy Gregory went crazy over them but it never worked out. It's nice to see someone else that extols the virtues of high-efficiency speakers. There's really no other way to get proper dynamics.

aball April 23, 2014 17:05