My objective is to duplicate the sound of a good jazz venue as best I can. I'll never match it but getting close is fine. I've had various audio components through the years and tubes particularly DHT tubes/ASSET have gotten me the closest. So this is where I will settle down and appreciate.
Balanced AC power is fantastic !! 1800va balanced isolation transformer/conditioner. All aspects of music reproduction are improved for every single component.
Tripoint Tripoint Troy.
A wonderful grounding box component. When added to my system it increased the sense of natural sound quality and emotional engagement. The Troy has a humanistic and “soulful “ quality to it.
Coincident Speaker Tech Total eclipse 2
This wonderful speaker is transparent,open and involving. It`s large yet completely disappears as the source of sound within the room. Very easy to drive,94db and 14 0hm impedance (Minimum 10 ohm). I replaced the stock Solens capacitor with the Duelund CAST in the crossover.
Coincident Statement linestage
Superb performance. In my opinion , a masterpiece by Israel Blume. As would be expected, a wonderful match with its sibling the Frankenstein MK II.
Coincident Speaker Tech Frankenstein mark 2
A terrific 300b SET amplifier that is the foundation of my system. The EML XLS 300b tubes are a superb match with this amplifier.
Acquiring these 300b SET mono blocks changed the course of my music listening experience. They elevated the emotional engagement, tactility and “breath of life “ realism.
Yamamoto YDA-01
Wonderful music lover's DAC that has a very natural/organic sound quality. Duelund CAST addition(output coupling capacitors) makes it sound even better. It has a very minimalist circuit/design that was implemented well.
Ocellia Silver Reference IC
Very natural and pure sounding with excellent tone and timbre preservation.
Ocellia Silver Reference Speaker Cable
Same qualities/ comments as the IC.
Star Sound Technologies Sistrum Apprentice component platforms..
These Star Sound platforms are mandatory in my system. Effectively managing resonance and vibration leads to a very noticeable sound improvement with every component and especially the speakers. Excellent product.
High Fidelity CT1 Ultimate Digital cable
A highly impressive digital cable that mates beautifully into my system. Contributes to the natural sound presentation.
Pro-Ject Audio Systems CD Box RS2T
This is a superb Redbook CD playback transport. It’s both high resolution and impressively natural.
. I’m using the excellent Fidelizer Nikola II LPS. Splendid pairing.
Lavricables Grand and Master series Power Cables.
Pure silver wire and unshielded power cables. These are used with all of my audio components. They are very open, transparent, high resolution with beautiful natural tone and timbre presentation.
Abbas Esoteric Audio 3.2SE
Built by renown Ukrainian Abbas Zulfugarov. NOS DAC utilizing the classic Phillips TDA 1541 multi bit chip. Two 6080 tubes in the analog stage. 5 various rectifier tubes in the power supplies.
3 separate toroidal transformers (And 2 chokes ) for the power supplies.A very serious and successful upper tier DAC implementation. Using with the Abbas SPDIF and power cable.
Any of you fine folks ever hear any of the Spatial Hologram OB models with a SET amp? They are 95 db efficient but a 4 ohm load... reviews have been ecstatic.
Well Iso, if one of you nice fellows would just put a pair up for sale, I'd happily oblige.
I saw on Kruipen that there were 9 used pairs sold over the past year, so hopefully I just have to wait a month or two (http://kruipen.com/coincident-300-b-frankenstein-0.html).
Chris, Srajan Ebaen (6 Moons) uses the SIT amps(10 watts) as one of his reference amplifiers. He certainly has used them with speakers of similar sensitivity (or even a bit less) as the Super Eclipse. In addition these speakers are a "very easy" 14 ohm load impedance. So Reno's reluctance is somewhat surprising. The Frankenstein(8 watts) drives this speaker load as though it's coasting along.Of course no amplifier is perfect for every circumstance. If you listen to a heavy dose of electronia/synthesized music at high volumes maybe you'd want a different amp. Otherwise it reproduces music beautifully realistic and organic.
My plan was to get the SIT2, and then eventually do a direct in-home comparison between it and the Franks. I'd even provided RenoHIFI with my new shipping information and was just confirming the price when Mark asked about my speakers and then said that he couldn't recommend the amp. He thought it would run out of steam. I really thought about arguing, but he certainly knows the Pass amps well so he must have been very confident I'd end up returning the SIT2. In any case, I'll certainly provide some updates once I get a chance to hear the SEIIIs on a new amp.
Chris, If your look at my system pictures posted above you'll see the Lamm push pull and the Bella Extreme amplifiers. Both have much higher power than the 8 watt Frankenstein. They are very highly regarded. In direct comparison, the Franks are more natural, resolved and simply more engaging and better sounding. That's my honest impression, others would disagree hearing the same comparison but that's how it goes with audio.
Hello Chris, Thanks for your kind comments. Chris when it comes to speaker and amplifier combinations it's really hard to predict what one person would like even though another may find it fantastic. I can't imagine why the SIT amplifiers wouldn't be enough power to drive your speaker as they are made to mate with low power amplifiers. The Frankenstein should be a very good choice and provide you exceptional sound quality. No doubt it will be different from your Pass amplifier. It becomes a question of which presentation moves you more emotionally and pulls you deeper into the music you enjoy. The Franks have done this for me to an extraordinary level. Will they do the same for you? It all depends on what sonic/musical factors matter the most to you. Keep me posted, I'd like to read your impressions comparing these two fine but very different amplifiers. Charles,
Hey Charles, recently took delivery of some Super Eclipse IIIs based in part on reading about this system. I currently have a Pass Labs INT-30A and am simply waiting for some Franks to finally hear what a SET amp is all about. Thought you might be interested to know that I actually tried to buy a First Watt SIT2 but RenoHIFI turned down my money. Mark thought that there wouldn't be enough power and recommended against making a purchase (of any First Watt product). Given that he was losing money on the recommendation, I decided not to argue and will just keep checking agon in the hopes that a pair of Franks shows up soon. Currently liking the speakers, although I've got a touch of high frequency grain that shows up on the edge of vocals. I'm hoping that's just due to the slight mismatch between the Pass and the SEIIIs. Didn't seem to be there with my previous Thiels (2.4s).
Thanks for writing about the journey, it's been a good read.
Rebbi, That kind of detailed order and shipping consideration does inspire confidence in a product. They have earned their good reputation and long term track record for a reason. To achieve this stature is no accident.
Charles, thank you! Well, found out from Brian yesterday that shipping was delayed a day. Anyway, I finally have a tracking number today for one of the two boxes the really heavy one that contains all four of the transformers. The other box will ship out tomorrow, containing the tubes and all the lighter parts. My impression is that Brian, himself, along with at least one other person, personally packs all the kits before shipping. One cool thing about the way these are packed is that there are baggies corresponding to each build step of the instruction manual. In other words, rather than simply getting a bag full of resistors, or a bag full of capacitors, you get the mixed parts for each step. This sounds very thoughtfully done to me, which I am hoping is an indicator of potential quality of the final product. We shall see :-)
Guys. My gut feeling is that the Lamm SET would has less of this sonic characteristic relative to its siblings. I base this on the inherent openness and purity of SET circuits implemented to a high standard. Charles,
Andrew, that's the thing, Jeff identified the same dark, slower and mechanical character with both of our speakers. When we removed the Lamm in my system this sonic character vanished. Another friend of Jeff's heard the same sound with his Vivid speakers driven by the big Lamm SS amplifier. I find that interesting as Coincident,Rockport and Vivid are all different yet that character is persistent. Synergy is everything it seems.
That is what I thought you meant Jeff. Another element that separates the men from the boys in SET land (or tube amplification in general) is sound staging. The Grail amps that I heard a few months ago did not truncate the sound stage whatsoever. The reviewer from Positive Feedback commented on that attribute of those amps (http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue36/chalice_grail.htm). I am not sure what they did, and what that's a function of (? noise floor, isolation, etc), but it is and was splendid. No darkness, no sense of truncation, but rather purity of tone and musical perfection.
Jeff, do you think you Rockports play a role in any of that perception? I heard a set (Altairs) while back in Minnesota recently in a SOTA room designed by Dale Pitcher (http://analogaudio.mn). TOTL VTL amps were in place and vinyl was spinning, and they were beautifully balanced and musical. If I was in the market for a big boy but mainline speaker, they would be on my list.
Not sure about that Charles. Just that tonal darkness or density or whatever that is works well with some speakers. My ASR Emitter had that same basic tendency (albeit it was an older model).
Andrew, Are you suggesting that the Lamm SET would sound no better than The push pull version I just had in my system? I'd be quite surprised if their SET isn't an improvement given all the raves its received. If it's the same sonically as the Lamm ML1.1 I'd be disappointed. Charles,
12-05-14: Jwm Charles is way too kind about his mini Lamm review. This amp was one of the worst amps I ever had in my system. My push pull VAC's, VTL's, Conrad Johnson mono blocks were all better. I have an old Densen solid state stereo amp from Denmark with no feedback which bettered the Lamm. Charles I doubt the Single Ended Amp would fare any better. Single ended will not change the darkness or the slowness in amps. All my push pull amps were fast. This is either the designers desires or the sonics of these output tubes. I have a friend who had the big Lamm hybrid monoblocks and said they were slow and dark as well. I was really let down on the Lamm as reviews have touted them as the holy grail. Maybe someone would like them on a really lean speaker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jwm (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)
I believe it. That's one reason why the Lamm SETs mate well with Wilsons....
Jeff, I understand your point regarding that Lamm may have a "house sound", it's a possibility. I just suspect that the Lamm SET could be better sounding due to the different(better?) topology/circuit. Granted it's pure speculation but given the Lamm ML2.2 SET stellar reputation I give it the benefit of doubt until I actually hear it . Your VAC Phi 300.1 amps do sound quite a bit better than the Lamm we both heard in our systems. I would expect their SET to be less mechalnical and flat sounding. Charles,
Charles is way too kind about his mini Lamm review. This amp was one of the worst amps I ever had in my system. My push pull VAC's, VTL's, Conrad Johnson mono blocks were all better. I have an old Densen solid state stereo amp from Denmark with no feedback which bettered the Lamm. Charles I doubt the Single Ended Amp would fare any better. Single ended will not change the darkness or the slowness in amps. All my push pull amps were fast. This is either the designers desires or the sonics of these output tubes. I have a friend who had the big Lamm hybrid monoblocks and said they were slow and dark as well. I was really let down on the Lamm as reviews have touted them as the holy grail. Maybe someone would like them on a really lean speaker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Thaluza, This was an unexpected opportunity to hear this amplifier in my system and compare two different topologies with different power outputs. As I stated above the ML2.2 SET is likely the more desirable Lamm for me. Your Joule OTL is very highly regarded, so comparison to the Frankenstein boils down to preference of presentation. The speaker in use has significant impact on the outcome. The Joule will allow a wider range of speaker selection. I'm interested to read your impression of these two fine amplifiers. Charles,
