what are the best S.E.T., and / or single driver speakers you have heard

[joessportster]

just curious here as to what some others may have listened to and thought they were the best they have heard (not saying or insuinating single driver set are best) in this style amp /speakers

please give some details and reasons for your opinions and model numbers would be best, price is not to be figured in. sky is the limit or bargain basement i will post my thoughts after this gets going, i figure this could also be used as kind of a data base for gear to watch for as well

Joe

[Cut-Throat]

I know you've heard and owned a lot of gear. I am also interested in this thread and would like to hear responses that are credible. So it would be helpful to know where you are coming from.

Why don't you tell us- What is the best that you've heard. SET amp and Single Driver speaker. That will give us a reference point, if we've heard anything better. Otherwise, I might tell you I heard a Fostex 427 at $500 a pair - that it was the best I've ever heard, Even though I have not heard more than 2 different pairs.

[joessportster]

ok cut throat

i was trying to avoid making a statement first in hopes of getting some others opinions without looking into what i have had / heard and felt was better, and making a post based on those experiences but here goes anyway

i have had 4 different style SET amps consisting of 2a3, 300b, 6c33c, and 45 the 45 was and is my favorite just something sweet about that tube, it does wonderful things across the whole spectrum of the music but the mid range is especially nice

best TRUE single ended amps i have heard is a deja vu 45, a vintage build using accro iron and mostly vintage high end parts (not much of a tech guy so i wont get into naming other parts) but they were very open and detailed, and seemed like the notes would carry on forever (great decay) cymbals just shimmered and the thwack of the stick was very evident, on some recordings you could hear the finger pluck the strings just overall superb amps, a very close runner up is a james burgess 45 (i am now using), then i would say welbornes and then jeff korneff (the korneff and welbornes could be swapped as they have negligible differences IMO)

single driver speakers: i have really only had experience with 3 or 4 and they were used in conjunction with an oris horn but the hands down winner was the aer drivers think lowther on steroids (thanks for that line bryan) just the smoothest driver i have heard that emits detail, soundstage, presence, layering, air. you name it this driver has it. lowthers are nice but tend to be fatiguing / glary on the high end, and fostex seem to be a little veiled when compared to the others, the only 2 box type single drivers i have heard are hornshoppe horns (i am now using) and limited time with cain and cain abbeys both of which are excellent near feild speakers that throw a scary soundstage (unbeleiveable in fact) probably the best soundstaging i have heard from a speaker in terms of 3 dimensionality was the cain and cain

ok your turn

Joe

[TBrennan]

Best single drivers I've heard would probably be the various Lowthers I've heard in Hedlund and Medallion horns. A pal used to use Fostex FX-200s in open baffles augmented with a sub, those sounded pretty good too. Now this fella is using Tone Tubbys full range (though augmented with subs) and likes them alot.

I recently fiddled with those 4" Tang Bands with the bamboo cones; they're on sale at Parts Express for only $30. A very nice little driver with an underhung coil, cast frame and neo magnet. Anyway I used them from 400 cycles up with Altec 15" woofers handling below 400. They sounded OK, not at all bad but not to my taste. Clarity and tone were good but dynamics and "they are here" realism was lacking but then you know to expect that when using such speakers. I'd say that for $30 each you can do alot worse, Hell, you can spend $3000 and do alot worse.

[fini]

A very nice little driver with an underhung coil...

Sounds like my chauffeur...pa-dump-dump. Hey Tommy!

[TBrennan]

Hello Fini.

[Guy Landau]

The best single ended amp I've had was a Wavelength Gemini PF with cobalt transformers. When running it 45's, this amp just sounded so real that it was scarey. Every instrument had so much weight and air around it. I think that it was the best amp I've owned.

[Cut-Throat]

The best single ended amp I've heard is the Welborne DRD45s and Starchiefs - I don't think that I could pick one over the other.

I've owned 300bs, still own 2A3s (nice, but not a 45)

I have heard a few single driver speakers, but not enough to give an opinion. Some are very nice, but I have not wanted to throw away my 3 way Altec?khorn combo yet.

[sfogg]

Best single driver listening... Koss ESP-950 and/or Etymotic ER-4S.

No problems with deep bass and very dynamic. The Etymotics are even completely immune to room effects.

Shawn

[joessportster]

headphones huh !!!!

now why didnt i think of that, i stopped using those way back with the walkman

Joe

[joessportster]

hello guy

i have heard alot of good things about wavelength and some very nice comments on the cobalt trannies as well, deffinately an amp i would love to hear !!!!!!!

Joe

[jt1stcav]

I've never heard any other SET/single-driver combo other than the system I owned, so I can't make any reference to auditioning the best setup of this genre (the BEZ Model T3B 300B SET amp I still own; the Loth-X Amaze are now sold). I know it was only a miniscule slice of a huge SET/S-D pie sound-wise and probably nowhere near the best in terms of dynamics, speed, air and transparency, but to my ears (and with my limited budget) it sounded pretty damn convincing to experiencing a live musical event in my own listening room! If not for my financial situation, I would've kept my Loth-X monitors and/or traded up to much nicer Lowthers, Omegas, or even other (now discontinued) Loth-X horn-loaded towers, et al.

[joessportster]

ok well i have done it again, i found another single ended amp that is probably as good as i have heard without exception in overall performance. it has the ability to drive speakers with authority. it is a set amp but has the gain stage doubled or ??? usually this is against all my instincts to use as i have long beleived more gain equals more noise, but on my 95 db speakers (talon khorus) the amp is dead quiet (huge bonus !!)

AND THE WINNER IS CARY AUDIO 845

this may actually be a keeper

Joe

[seti]

ok well i have done it again, i found another single ended amp that is probably as good as i have heard without exception in overall performance. it has the ability to drive speakers with authority. it is a set amp but has the gain stage doubled or ??? usually this is against all my instincts to use as i have long beleived more gain equals more noise, but on my 95 db speakers (talon khorus) the amp is dead quiet (huge bonus !!)

AND THE WINNER IS CARY AUDIO 845

this may actually be a keeper

Joe

Very cool this is on my list of want to hear amps. How about some pics? I have heard the Cary 300SEI and thought it was great especially for the money. My favorite so far was my Canary Audio CA-300 300B SET. I miss the instrument seperation and 3D soundstag.

[Mike Dubay]

I have heard only one SET amp with two single driver speakers.

The SET is shown to the left, my home brewed system. Sovtek KT-88's in triode mode. Some of this winters experiments are to upgrade the preamp tube from russian to either Mullard 12AT7 or 12AX7's that I have come across. There are so many heritage fake tubes out there, I have been reluctant to move on them. Might upgrade to JJ or Gold Lion reissue KT88's...

Someday build a true triodes amp? Not sure yet.

I did build a speaker pair with the of the Bamboo Tang Band drivers mentioned above. The best vocal/mid range detail that I have heard, but very bass shy, and not that efficient. A steal at this price. I have them at my experimenters work bench as my 'test' speakers in a ported enclosure. Been considering building a horn loaded cabnet.

The other full range speakers are Audionirvana 10 inch Standard drivers. Higher efficiency, around 100 db/watt. Better 3 dimensonality, maybe just slightly less detail the the TB drivers. But adequate bass, maybe down to 100hz, can follow the bass lines. Been listening them for a year and just now getting to build a sub for the system. Some people like these, other hate them, I'm a fan.

Both speakers give that midrange detail, and better spatial quality to the music. They provide extended listening sessions with no fatigue. Since they are in my Man cave were I work out, I end up listening to them more often than my Klipsch.

I continue to follow the 'audio cheapskate' path with this SET system. Not in the same league as some of the other posts, but I enjoy listening to them.

[joessportster]

i will post a pic tomarrow, lighting in my house is terriable

Joe

[Cut-Throat]

So how would you compare the Talon Chorus to the Klipschorns? What do they do better for you?

[lorcoll]

I have had many SET amps but nobody sounds like the Golden Tube Audio SE-300B monos.

Incredible midrange and highs. But for the bass I use another amp (PP EL34).

I don't like any SET amp for the bass.

[joessportster]

cut throat : the k-horns are a great speaker but as i have gotten older i have become more fond of a little warmer sound, in my room the k-horns are pretty bright and fatigueing on the top end (i know most of this is my room and i know alot of this could be tamed with x-over upgrades etc...) but i just dont have the patience. on the other hand the khorus is a very involving speaker and has a special mid-range magic that is hard to describe it does somethings i and others have not heard b-4 (but again must be heard as it is very hard to describe) the highs seem subdued at dirst but with time you come to realize they are there just not as forward as other speakers make them seem, not exactly rolled off just less in your face. the bottom end is very respectable with the khorus(of course they cant do what a 15" driver can do but the 2 10's can relate the bass with great articulation and finesse (you wont feel like someone is kicking you in the chest but you will feel the bass) overall they are a very envolving speaker with great presence and soundstaging, but i have heard better horn systems (avantgarde uno, and duo's, and my oris were also better) but of course these are alot easier to use just kinda set them up and forget them, where i always felt the need to tweak the horns

lorcoll: i know exactly what you mean about the bass. when i had the oris ultra i used solid state on the bass and craigs vrd's before that (solid state was easier because it had a built in x-over) and not as much money setting there relegated to bass duty

heres a pic of the cary

[Cut-Throat]

cut throat : the k-horns are a great speaker but as i have gotten older i have become more fond of a little warmer sound, in my room the k-horns are pretty bright and fatigueing on the top end (i know most of this is my room and i know alot of this could be tamed with x-over upgrades etc...) but i just dont have the patience. on the other hand the khorus is a very involving speaker and has a special mid-range magic that is hard to describe it does somethings i and others have not heard b-4 (but again must be heard as it is very hard to describe)

Thanks for the comments. I also found that the Khorn Midrange was the weakest part of the Speaker. And this is where most of the music comes from. My solution was to replace the Khorn Midrange horn with an Altec 1005B and 288-16K driver. It took these speakers to a completely different level. I have happily lived with this Configuration for over 3 years now. I have tinkered with the crossover a bit however. Going to 95db speakers would limit your choice of amps though, and I like the 45 amps so much that I decided to fix the speakers and the room to keep the 45 amps.