I made a convert. Bwahahaha!

OTL Asylum

OTL, Output Transformerless Amplifier User Group.

0

Just had an "amp shoot-out" with a friend who's just
getting into high-end audio. He bought a pair of
GR Research Paradox 3 speakers and now needs the rest
to go with it - doesn't every high-end newbie always
start with "needing speakers"? It's the logical weak
link, we all assume, myself included.
Anyway, there's a slight design flaw I feel with
the Paradox 3's, those speakers that are rated 93 dB
sensitive and have a minimum rated 6.45 ohms (really,
is it that precise?). They have been advertised in
Glass Audio's latest issue. They have the barest
crossover, a cap to the tweeters and an inductor to
the woofers. This is supposed to be a first order
crossover, which it essentially is going to the tweeter,
but going to an inductive woofer voice coil it is not
rolling off forever, limited to about 6 dB cut above
the crossover. So we added an RC zobel to the woofer
that makes it look more like a resistor and the distortion
went down and the woofer stopped screeching. These
are very good speakers for the $1000/pr. asking price.
Add GR Research Paradox 3 to the list of compatible
speakers with the M-60 Mk. II's. Mod on these recommended
(5 ohms plus 12 uF added across either woofer).
After I showed an SE amp that my Paradox 1's use blows
away his mid-fi transistor amp, he was ready to hear
amp comparisons on his Paradox 3's.
I started with an old Eico EL-84 based integrated push-pull
amp, your affordable tube electronics. Sounded good,
better than the mid-fi amp already.
Next I moved to the 6AS7 SE amp - yes, the 6AS7 is a
great choice for SE amps, too. It's a homebrew, with
1J6 DHT input and driver tubes. A full 5W/ch.
It beat the snot out of the Eico. Immediacy, dynamics,
timbre, but no real headroom for even 93 dB sensitity.
Next we went to the Atma-Sphere M-60's. The speaker
poops out before the amp does in this case. But kept
within the speaker's range, it was magnificent. He has
listened and played at SF's Davies Symphony Hall, a
concert clarinet player in his youth - former SF Youth
Orchestra member. And so naturally he had to play
something recorded from that venue. We had listened
to this piece a few times over before, checking it out,
noticing how good the "speakers" sounded. You know
what I mean. At a convenient stopping point, he ejected
the CD. "Sounds nice, I like it a lot", he would say.
This time around, however, he plays the whole piece
through, glued to the sound. When it finished, he
sighed heavily and said "My God, that takes me back
15 years reminding me what that hall sounds like,
every quirk it has. It's not like those other amps
that sound like it's sticking things out to you here and
there, it sounds like the amps and speakers just go
away."
He first thought reproduced music was just a thing
you listen to in the background, a reminder of the
music you go to listen to. Now he's convinced you can
bring a believable experience of the real thing
right into your home. He upped his amp budget from
$400 to $2500 to make his $1000/pr. speakers sound
good. He's saving his pennies for the M-60 kit.
Another one bites the dust. :-)
Kurt

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Topic - I made a convert. Bwahahaha! - Kurt Strain 20:03:47 06/12/99 (0)