Single End Triode amp for La Scala AL5 ?

[Thanik S.]

Hi,

I am a newbie here. Nice to meet u all.

I am owing La Scala AL5 for almost a year. They sounds nice with most of my amp naim units atom, nait  2 and 50, Octave V80 and Accuphase Pre + Power.

 

The amp I love the most with the La Scala is naim nait 2. I feels like amplifier with high damping factor is kills the mojo of the La Scala.

 

So I designs to built a SET amp to drive the La Scala. I would like to hear your opinions which power tube should I go with. 1626 (.75w), 2A3 (3.5w), 300B (7w) or el84 ultra linear (4.5w)?

 

My room is 12 by 18 feet. My listening volume is low to medium. Jazz, Blue and easy listening music. 

 

I would like to try 1626 but 2A3 and El84 seem like the safe bet. 

 

What do u think?

 

 

[Travis In Austin]

Welcome to the Forum. 

[RobMarshall]

Welcome to the forum, Thanik S.  You have a wonderful system that matches your music interest perfectly, in my experience and opinion.  I have only owned one SET amplifier.  It is a almost 2 wpc SET 45.  It uses the 45 tube, an 6SN7 driver tube, and an 80 rectifier tube. I use it with my Heresy IV.  I can say the 2 wpc is more than enough power.  It can get extremely loud.  The sound is amazing.  The instruments are crystal clear.   Incredibly life-like.  As if you were setting in front of the stage.  If I play a higher definition recording, like something from Pat Matheny or perhaps Martin Tallstrom, the music experience is magical.  It sounds almost holographic in the sense that it captivates me.  Honestly, I have never heard anything so pure, rich and like listening to real instruments.  That is my personal experience.  The amp I have is an Allen Eaton.  A small maker of amps.  The design and sound is great.  The fit and finish however, is very very basic.  With the system you have now, you might like something more sophisticated like a Decware piece or other elevated amp, but with the same wonderful SET sound.  I hope that helps in some small way.  Again, welcome to the forum.  There are a lot of very experienced and knowledgeable people here, I am only just a recent member and have a lot to learn.

[Schu]

I think it is an extremely good idea Thanik... get away from high damping and get tube rolling because the music lives in the mid-range.

[opnly bafld]

From the Stereophile measurements: "The La Scala will work best with amplifiers that are not fazed by 4 ohm loads,"

 

Make sure whatever you build has the correct OPTs for a 4 ohm load or multiple taps.

 

[Estes]

I don't have La Scala's (yet 😬), but I have Heresy IV's with a Decware UFO2.1 with

One 5U4GB-WC, Two 6P15P-WC, and one ECC88-WC

These are the Wathen Cryotone tubes.

 

Magical together. The clarity and placement is simply stellar.

[Flevoman]

 

I own the AL5 myself and have tried several tube amplifiers in the meantime. Of course, everything is about personal preference, but what I personally think sounds the best so far is the 45 SET. 

The reason why I think this is the best match for the AL5 is because this amplifier sounds very open and fresh. I would describe the overall sound of the 45 SET as very musical, dynamic, very detailed, clean and maybe a bit thin in the bass but the bass is tight, good placement, and a strong sense of realism. 

What I like the least is the 300B SET (I've owned 3 different 300B SETs). Personally, I find the La Scala sounds a bit colored (which doesn't necessarily have to be bad), and I think this coloration plus that of the 300B is just too much coloring. I have also tried two Decware amps, EL84 SET, which also sounded nice but had a somewhat smaller soundstage. Another one I really like the sound of, and this is my number 2, is the 2A3 PP. 

It has a bit of the same sound as the 45 SET, only the 45 SET sounds just a bit better in several aspects. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to listen to a 2A3 SET on the AL5 yet, but I hope that will happen sometime.

 

My ranking of what I find sounds the best on the AL-5:
- 45 SET
- 2A3 PP
- EL84 SET
- 300B SET

[Thanik S.]

Hi all.

Thanks for the experiences u shared. 
 

I just finished 0.75 watt 1626 set drive amp with 6sl7 and 5y3 rectify. 
 

For the first 2 hours the sound is sweet smooth details and very musical.

 

However, it still lack of impact on the low frequency.

 

I think the la scala needs more power. 

May be the el84 se ultra linear and 2a3 se will be my next project : )

[Travis In Austin]

13 hours ago, Thanik S. said:

Hi all.

Thanks for the experiences u shared. 
 

I just finished 0.75 watt 1626 set drive amp with 6sl7 and 5y3 rectify. 
 

For the first 2 hours the sound is sweet smooth details and very musical.

 

However, it still lack of impact on the low frequency.

 

I think the la scala needs more power. 

May be the el84 se ultra linear and 2a3 se will be my next project : )

Check out the tubes section of the forum on ideas for tube amp builds also.

[Shakeydeal]

14 hours ago, Thanik S. said:

Hi all.

Thanks for the experiences u shared. 
 

I just finished 0.75 watt 1626 set drive amp with 6sl7 and 5y3 rectify. 
 

For the first 2 hours the sound is sweet smooth details and very musical.

 

However, it still lack of impact on the low frequency.

 

I think the la scala needs more power. 

May be the el84 se ultra linear and 2a3 se will be my next project : )

Yeah I’d say .75 watt is a little low. Try a good 300B amp. That’ll git er done.

 

 

[derrickdj1]

The question is not which tube to build an amp around, rather the design and execution.  300B, 2A3 and the other mentioned amps types can all be nice. Demo some amps is the best way or make it run multiple tubes.

[the real Duke Spinner]

I find the SET thing a bit boring

Not much Base

[Marvel]

BASS!

You needed to listen to right SET amps. The output transformer makes all the difference in the world