henry4841

He may have meant using a full range speaker and just using the bass bin for the lows. I have done this but it does require designing and building a crossover network yourself. Mine worked real well but I lost some quickness and detail vs the original drivers. Very pleasant sounding though. Again sound is subjective being that my best friend preferred this setup, full range speaker setup, over my stock speakers in my room. I used Fostex FE166EN's which have been discontinued. Open baffle setup sitting on top of my LaScala's using just the bass bin for the lows. Still have the setup but has not been used in years.

The bass a LaScala makes is outstanding but is limited in how low it will go. If one is playing The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's Tchaikowsky 1812 too loud with it's real cannon shots you will jump out of your chair when they go off. Right in the LaScala's wheelhouse. Listened with my LaScala's without a sub for decades and did not know what I was missing until I installed a good sub. Mine is one I built myself using a Dayton Audio RSS390HF-4 15" Reference Series HF Subwoofer in a 6cu ft sealed box. Too big for many with a low WAF but is supposed to go really low in such a big box.

The way I see it is, PWK takes a 15" speaker and makes it a driver much like your mid and high driver. Look at the space the 15" speaker is placed in. Much smaller then the space for the speaker in a Cornwall. That and the LaScala speaker has a plate with a slot in it limiting the travel of the speaker turning it into a driver. The small enclosed chamber with the small front slot makes it a driver instead of a just a speaker. The horn part of the speaker is what creates the amplification of the low notes. The Klipshorn is similar except the horn part is folded 3 times instead of two in a LaScala limiting the low frequency it will produce. Drivers travel much less then a speaker which limits the distortion a speaker has all over the cone with it's longer travel. This is what makes horn speakers much more cleaner and faster then conventional speakers, all drivers. Naturally with only 2 folds of the horn the LaScala is not going to produce the very low notes like a big boxed Cornwall type speaker with the same speaker. I hope this makes sense and if I am wrong I am sure others will chime in.

Never heard one but I have what I have read the J2 would be a good choice. Been in production longer then any Firstwatt offering for a reason. Waiting list at Renohifi.com though.

Whether tube or SS quality is more important than quantity when it comes to power. Your choice in music is a big factor on what amplifier you will like best as well. If modern, hard rock or rap I would suggest SS with a few more watts then what I originally posted. Lots of choices with 100 watts or thereabouts to choose from. At this point in my life and age I prefer Jazz, blues and orchestral type music over rock of which I preferred earlier in my life. A good tube SET is wonderful sounding with this type of music. Others that prefer rock concert loud music will probably prefer a good SS A/B or class D amplifier. No set rules on this though being sound is a very subjective subject. For most that prefer SS a Firstwatt class A amplifier would be a good choice with even just 25 watts.

How are you making holes? I just use a step drill bit myself, sometimes referred to a Christmas tree bit. Not nearly as good as a punch, those things are expensive, but good enough with some dressing the rough edges.

One has to consider the way SS amplifiers clip vs tube amplifiers clipping. A tube amplifier can clip and one will never know it whereas when a SS amplifier clips it will sound terrible. I have found 5 watts to be the sweet spot with tubes and 25 watts with a SS amplifier. I've said this before, if a 5 watt SET 300B amplifier that can sell for thousands is not good enough for 100db speakers just what would it be good for? Horns filled auditoriums with small tube amplifiers amplifiers before there ever was SS active devices. Most with horns will never use an average of 1 watt in a home environment. The power wars went out in the 70's where the misconception of more meant better sound. Far from the truth. This is from someone that has one of the best designed 150 watt per channel A/B amplifiers along with many more powerful class D ones. A 5 watt tube amplifier will actually satisfy a large number of people with 85db speakers that listen to music as most do. 100db's of music is extremely loud for most people. That is what one watt will deliver with most all Klipsch speakers. And you will never hear any clipping. The Firstwatt 25 watt amplifiers are well suited for our speakers. Quality over quantity.

The diyaudio.com store sells the kits as well. There is an upgraded kit with Lundahl transformers. There are a number of reviews on this site as well. I glanced over the review by 6 Moons. High praise for this amplifier. https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/kits/products/elekit-tu-8200r-dx-6l6gc-integrated-amplifier-hpa-kit-with-lundahl-transformers?variant=39316249215049

I agree, nothing inherently wrong with A/B if it is biased correctly. With our speakers a well designed A/B amplifier will probably never get out of class A. Being a complete kit someone may want to give this amplifier a true. Beginning builders can appreciate a complete kit. I just saw a NOS Heathkit receiver sell for a lot of money on eBay recently. Sounds great and I have a lot of amps to compare it too. I honestly do not know how many.

Lately there has been some interest in diy tube amplifiers or kits. There are very few kits available these days for someone who wants to build their own knowing how to solder and follow directions but are not ready to take on building from a schematic quite yet. This guy has a kit that he has been selling for a number of years. http://oddwattaudio.com/owpoddwatt.html I built this amplifier from the schematic that is posted on a diy site many years ago. It is the only PP tube amplifier I have. Not a lot of power, 5 or 6 watts, but supposedly being run in class A. I have never had a problem with it running out of power or clipping with my LaScala's and at times I listen what some say is really loud. Not being able to carry on a conversation. I have found that 5 watts is the sweet spot for me in a tube amplifier. Below is the schematic I built mine from. http://diyaudioprojects.com/Tubes/EL84-Push-Pull-Tube-Amp/5751-SRPP-EL84-6BQ5-Push-Pull-Valve-Amp-Schematic.png http://diyaudioprojects.com/Tubes/EL84-Push-Pull-Tube-Amp/EL84-6BQ5-Push-Pull-Valve-Amp-Power-Supply-Schematic.png The kit offered by Bruce of Oddwatt is built from a board. Priced at $725 I would not call it a bargain build but you would have a nice sounding amplifier with quality parts, not the cheap parts found in the retail Chinese offerings. You could stick out your chest and say I built it myself when company comes. There is a detailed build on basically the same schematic, and a long thread on another forum for this build. http://diyaudioprojects.com/Tubes/EL84-Push-Pull-Tube-Amp/ And another one on a newer build. http://diyaudioprojects.com/Tubes/EL84-Mini-Block-Amps/ No affiliation, never talked to the guy but I have been well satisfied with a number of his other designs I have built just from schematics. I look forward to seeing what others think of this design, build and cost.

Receivers have what they call a loudness switch which increases the bass and treble at lower volume levels. The predominate sound difference I hear is the bass when using the loudness switch and one can do this with a sub as well. At least the ones with a volume control. Just increase the sub when listening at lower levels and you can do pretty much the same thing making the sound more enjoyable. Just another advantage of using a sub with LaScala's.

From all that I have heard Realistic made some really good receivers back in the day. Enjoy.

Brought back to life. A Sherwood S-7300 with complete electrolytic capacitors changed along with the transistors on the amplifier boards. This one had multiple problems but it was too nice not to refurbish.

The prices are each. I know because my LaScala's, which I bought new, are 86's and I paid around $1500 for the pair. Big investment for me back then the reason I remember the price. Worth that or more now. Being almost pristine I would say more. Price of Klipschorns was twice a much at my dealer at that time.

Bigger horn (LaScala) better sound. I would not say each and every time but in general terms the bigger the horn the better the sound. I listened without a sub for 25 years but like using one with my LaScala's now. What is missing not having a sub is the deep bass guitar with authority.

Staying on the title of this thread I would love to own on of his amplifiers to cherish and pass on to my kids when I am gone. Work of art which if same detail are inside the amplifier it would have to sound excellent. If one can afford one why not? It would be a showpiece. Work of art.

Was not meant for what you posted. Just talking in general terms. Sorry if taken wrong. I like and use Edcor transformers as best value for buck and yes I have used other more expensive OPT's and have not heard a great improvement of sound spending more.

My understanding of this challenge is that Bob was trying to make a SS amplifier sound similar to a specific tube amplifier and not the tube sound in general. Easier to do with pentode amplifiers but becomes much harder when one starts talking direct heated triode tubes such as the 300B with altogether different curves then pentodes and most transistors. Static Induction transistors, SIT's, are a rare breed with curves like triodes. Not available to the general public being used mostly by the military. NOS is the only way most are going to be able to find them which limits their availability for the general public.

This can be said about any product. Reputable companies do build better products for a higher price that are more reliable, last a long time, and sound better. Sounds like Heritage speakers doesn't it.

The closest SS amplifiers that sound like tubes to me are the ones like Nelson Pass builds using mosfets on the outputs and simple circuits. Listening to my PP V-fet amplifier at the present time and it has a very tube like character. The advantage of tubes is cost. Tube amplifiers with our speakers can produce outstanding sound for less money then a class A SS amplifier. Mystic character also with those glowing tubes to look while listening to music. Adds to the entertainment experience which is what our hobby is all about. Transistors have been trying to mimic the tube sound since invented. Mosfets have curves like pentode tubes. V-fet transistors have curves like triode tubes so they have a triode tube character.

I do wonder what chip they are using if you ever decide to take a peek inside.

Careful, building audio gear is a slippery slope. You have a taste of what tubes can do. To realize the whole effect you need a SET amplifier.

Yes I know but for those that do not who may want to see and understand what us tube guys love so much it would be interesting to see. Should sound really good with a SS amplifier.

I like Arta better but I do not have a great FFT scope to compare with what you may have. I would like to see some 2nd harmonics and judging by the schematic it should have some. I have one class A PP tube linestage and it still has some effect using it with a SS amplifier. I do not ever use a tube pre with a tube amplifier. Too much of a good thing for me. But a touch of 2nd harmonics has a very pleasant effect when using SS amplifiers.

Any Arta charts of harmonics? I notice really nice THD+N numbers but curious on 2nd and 3rd harmonics. Nelson Pass has a couple of H2 generators to be used with SS amplifiers. One specifically a H2 SS generator and the other a true triode tube linestage using one of the miniature tubes. I have not built the H2 generator but I have built the Korg Nutube B1 preamplifier. Nice sounding with SS amplifiers but having so many SET amplifiers with enough 2nd harmonics it does not get used. I like the difference in sound of a good SS amplifier not needing any extra 2nd harmonic added. For those that have SS amplifiers that want to somewhat experience what tubes can do to the sound it can be a desirable addition to their SS amplifier for a change in sound that many enjoy.