garymd Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 Tonight I had the opportunity to check out a pair of '86 Walnut Cornwalls for a fellow forum member which happened to be 5 minutes from my house. The speakers were in beautiful condition but it was difficult for me to compare them to my Cornwall 1s since the amp I use is so much different. Therefore, no 1 vs 2 comparison will be made. I only listened to 2 songs, both of which I am very familiar. 1) The Thrill is Gone (Garcia/Grisman) and 2) Texas (Chris Rhea). The amp was an 8 watt Dared SET which was absolutely stunning in appearance. This gentleman keeps his equipment spotless! He also had a Cary CD/Preamp combo and very expensive looking cabling. I know he will be reading this so I want to be as fair as possible. This was the first SET amp I've ever heard and I assume it was a good one by its looks and performance. The music had a wonderful flow and the instruments were clear, clean and real. Soundstaging was excellent. Must be a great amp for classical and/or jazz (neither of which I listened to tonight). I only listened to 2 songs so this isn't really fair but I guess I'm just not a purist. I need headroom. To me, based on the songs a played, compared to my scott this just seemed flat. When Jerry picks his guitar in my family room, I can feel him standing in front of me. He's there. I didn't get that sensation I love so much with the SET. The massive bass thump in Texas wasn't chest pounding the way I'm used to. The breathiness of Chris Rhea's vocals were also flat compared to the scott. My guess is that if I had brought a classical CD or some Miles Davis, my review (as limited as it was) would have been diffferent. Sorry IM. You have wonderful equipment (plus an amp not set up yet - a 300b of some brand I can't remember?) and it does sound great but I just need the juice I'm so used to. I think Rob's review comparing my scott to Reg's equipment is similiar. To each his own but thanks IM for the audition. I would love to recipricate and get your impressions of my cheapo but wonderful scott 299b. You may be suprised what $600 can do. Please don't be too hard on me guys. It was a very short audition and as usual just MHO and personal preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 Gary, You really don't have to apologize for your opinion I'm sure no one around here is going to jump on you Wonder what brand amp it was you were listening too. This stuff is all personal preference so it pleases the person it should the owner. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 28, 2003 Author Share Posted July 28, 2003 Craig, All I know is it had DARED on the front. Is that a particular brand? I didn't mean to sound like I was apologizing. I just didn't want to sound as if I think I'm an expert (which I'm not) or be too hard on the guy. I also wanted to put in a nice plug for you and your work which amazes me more every day. I can't imagine anything sounding better to me than that scott. For my taste it's as close to perfect as I've heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 Gary With my conrad johnson i has less bass, but when it was hooked up Bi Amp, the amp seemed to produce more bass, those corn 2s are nice i think! Thats what i have here! Regards Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 Yah, SETs are not for everyone -- but that's what's make thing interesting. How boring it would be if everyone liked and agreed upon the same thing!!! But it was a fair and honest review. Jim: I'm interested in your Sears Console! I am in the process of restoring a Silvertone from mid to later 1940s. A teacher friend at school knew I was interested in vintage audio equipment, and he said he in his wife were going to either put this thing out for heavy trash pickup, or he would bring it to school for me. Whomever had it before him, had painted it an absolutely disgusting green color (to me it looked bad, they obviously like it!), and I have finished stripping it it back down to its original mohagany finish. The electronics are in working condition, but are dirty, dirty, dirty! That was going to be my summer project until I got going on another home-built amp. project. Is this Sears console you have a stereo unit, then? Erik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike82 Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 The DARED amps are budget things made in China. While they are "pretty", their parts/construction quality is probably on par with stock Jolida. Trying to do SET on the cheap involves a lot of compromises. IMO, you didn't hear what SET is capable of sounding like. Try to find someone with a good SET rig (Art Audio, Welborne, JFL Horus, Audio Note, some Cary, and a lot of DIY). I'm sure your impressions will be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 Mike has a point, although I wish to not discount another's choice of amplifier. Budget obviously can play an important role in this, and that is something that often can't be helped. But there are different varieties of the species 'SET', that is true! I built both the Moondogs and Horus 2A3s, and prefer the latter. The Moondog is still a very good amplifier, though! With the inclusion/exclusion/repositioning of certain key parts, it can be better, still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 29, 2003 Author Share Posted July 29, 2003 I just realized his other amp must have been a Jolida since it was a 300B (or are there other 300B amps out there?). I didn't have time to listen to that one but from what I've read here they've had some positive reviews. Maybe more headroom then the Dared? Also, he has been oiling the walnut cornwalls twice a year with furniture oil and they do look beautiful. The only thing is, I think they are laquered. The label on the back read C-WL. Good thing he didn't use BLO as I believe that would do harm to a laquered finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 " (or are there other 300B amps out there?). " Yes, lots of them. That was the tube that sorta started the whole SET craze going. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 Eric where are you located, my wife likes the silvertone, imagine shipping this, LOL! It is an old stereo console with 2 12inch speakers! Regards Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 29, 2003 Author Share Posted July 29, 2003 ---------------- On 7/29/2003 9:24:57 AM sfogg wrote: " (or are there other 300B amps out there?). " Yes, lots of them. That was the tube that sorta started the whole SET craze going. Shawn ---------------- Shows how much I know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 Gary- Good review. As you said, if you had more songs to listen to or been able to A/B equipment, there would have been more to write about. So far, I am in agreement with you that I seem to like the Scott more than SET. Soon Reg and I will try to work out a time to do an A/B comparison at my place. Hopefully I'll get my horns "cornered" and we can rule out part of the issue I have now with them not being snugged into the corners. But I was very impressed with the Scott at your place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 That is funny, Jim -- that your wife likes the Sears piece. I say that because my wife also really likes the one I got (it's mono, though), and keeps asking me when it's going to be finished! We live near Houston, and that would be a beast to take to Mail Boxes etc.! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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