SET Asylum Single Ended Triodes (SETs), the ultimate tube lovers dream.

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Re: Please help regarding SET amp choice

Posted by Janos (A) on February 14, 2007 at 00:28:19

In Reply to: Please help regarding SET amp choice posted by acours on February 13, 2007 at 11:21:03:

Hi,

Every amp has a different character. Yamamoto a08 (45) has a sense of realism, that is hard to grasp. In the right system it has the eeriest sound, that will haunt you, with ghosts walking in your room. Audionote sound is similar, but cheaper ANs are more colored sounding, artificial, but certainly with very captivating sound. Conquest/quest can be your ultimate amp for electronica music, but they did not impress me at all on orchestral. I've heard complaints about cheaper AN UKs, with severely underrated resistors failing, I hope they were temporary problems, and they have since changed the design.
The Kondo amps are supposed to be more sophisticated amps, than the PQ, with strong character, so only you can tell if they suit your taste. The PQ Ongaku setup sounds very nice in all AN chain. I heard it once, and remember only the Mozart symphony that was playing, and it was a deep experience, affecting every listener in a magical way. It et you focus completely on the music, which is very rare, and ultimate quality that every tweaker is loking for. However, the top AN setup is not exactly a budget system, if you get what I mean.....
The fi amp is a very nice one too, but I think the Yamamoto is the better of it, but it can also depend on your speakers....

Check out George Wright amps, too. They are not on steroids, like the amps above. You won't go extatic hearing them, but they will play all sorts of music, and you will be pleased to listen to them even 10 years from now, while you will get burned out by then by the high emotion factor amps, and have sold them chasing something stable long while ago.

Ultimately, I'd suggest to buy a kit, and build the amp for yourself. That's the only choice that will make you satisfied. Eventually everyone gets into DIY, and it's just a matter of decision when to start. Involves learning, and acquireing new skills, but it happens faster, and rewards greater than you'd think. Five years ago I had no idea what a solder station is, or tell a resistor from a can of soda, and a while ago I've been called by an electronics expert a geek who tells him stuff about audio and circuits that even he has trouble with. Since I started DIYig, I got a few people involved, who imagined that they have absolutely no DIY skills, and now they are building truly amazing DIY setups. Honest, my fellow DIYers have far better sonics at their place than any stereo store you can find. C'est la vie, happyness is just a solder joint away...... only you can build what you want... others build what they want, even if they sell it commercially. Those can sound good, great, even excellent, but never exactly what you wish for.

long live DIY,

Janos

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