jcmusic Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I would like to hear from members who are using tube amp with less than 5 watts to push the speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamer Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 .Hello, I am using Decware SET monoblocks(4 watts per) At this time they are performing thier magic above 500Hz wired directly to Altec 511's. But I did run them full range with my LaScala's for a week or so.I was surprised at the level of sound I was hearing.Dont get me wrong you could push them out of thier envelope where they would lose that magic,they did clip smoothly,amazing what you can do with 4 watts. In my current configureation they have plenty of headroom. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 Greg, In you honest opinion, is the 4 watts enough power for k-horns? Jay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamer Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Greg, In you honest opinion, is the 4 watts enough power for k-horns? Jay. That depends on the sound pressure levels you like. Throw in a sub crossed over at 70 hz or so and you free up some juice to run the Khorns.Just an idea,similar to the signal path I have chosen. Is 4 watts enough?I could be happy with that. Will it play loud?YES,many forum members are running low power SET's for the Khorns,Scala's and Belles,Cornwalls. Is it loud enough for you,if a solid 105db(depending on room size) is enough then maybe. Biamping with low power for the mids and highs can work very well,put a SS design on the lows and your set.(powerfull SS is cheap).Tubes seem to sound louder than SS(another can of worms?)IMHO Can you borrow a low power tube amp?A local audio salon will let you try one out with a deposit. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamer Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamer Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 again,something stuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 Yes, i think i can borrow a low power amp. I will have to check into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbsl Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 This morning I bought some Welborne Moondogs 2A3 tube monoblocks 4 watts from a forum member to use with my La Scalas. My living room is 15 x 15 x 8, I sit 8-10 feet back, and I listen very early in the morning. So I cannot really crank the bass or I will have to deal with the county sheriffs. So with my situation and the reviews I have read about Moondogs being such good SET amps I figured it was the time to try SET. I also have a Cayin TA 30 tube amp 35 watts so my trying biamping the La Scalas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 This morning I bought some Welborne Moondogs 2A3 tube monoblocks 4 watts from a forum member to use with my La Scalas. My living room is 15 x 15 x 8, I sit 8-10 feet back, and I listen very early in the morning. So I cannot really crank the bass or I will have to deal with the county sheriffs. So with my situation and the reviews I have read about Moondogs being such good SET amps I figured it was the time to try SET. I also have a Cayin TA 30 tube amp 35 watts so my trying biamping the La Scalas. I believe Moondogs are 2.5 watts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 This morning I bought some Welborne Moondogs 2A3 tube monoblocks 4 watts from a forum member to use with my La Scalas. My living room is 15 x 15 x 8, I sit 8-10 feet back, and I listen very early in the morning. So I cannot really crank the bass or I will have to deal with the county sheriffs. So with my situation and the reviews I have read about Moondogs being such good SET amps I figured it was the time to try SET. I also have a Cayin TA 30 tube amp 35 watts so my trying biamping the La Scalas. I believe Moondogs are 2.5 watts. 3.5 but whose counting?[] Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbsl Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 2.5 or 3.5 it is still SET and I figured I would try it. I may not like them or maybe I will like them only one way to find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenc319 Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Hi. I'm using Wright Mono 3.5 set amps ( 3.5 watts a channel ) with my Cornwalls in a 26 x 14 foot room. There's plenty of volume and enough bass to satisfy me with jazz and acoustic vocals. I have Forte's with 80 tube watts as a 2ed system and the little Wrights sound better to me. Coltrane, Evans, Davis, Monk or whoever they all sound great. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbsl Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 Larry how big is your dog now and what is the name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted February 18, 2006 Author Share Posted February 18, 2006 Steamer, please give me a better description of the biamping you wrote about. Start from scratch, and explain the things in alittle detail. As i am not farmilar with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 jbsl, I am not familiar with the impedance curve of the LaScala, but if you find the SET tends to accent the upper midrange frequencies try re-wiring the amp for 4 Ohms output. In my case, with Chorus-II and RF-7s (RF-7 are a completely different impedance story) the frequency response became much smoother when I changed to a 4 Ohm output. Does anyone have information on the LaScala impedance-vs-frequency characteristics? As far as how loud it gets .. it gets as loud as it gets. If you push it until it clips it sounds like it's clipping in a tube way. At moderate levels SET can be great. I'm currently lstening to my 2A3 SET driving the RF-7s. I happen to like "clasical" music and am listening to a string quartet .. not exactly the loudest thing on the planet, but very demanding. Use the SET where it operates best and it's tough to beat. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbsl Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 Leo My small living room, 80 % of the time I listen to music from 3:30-7:00 AM, and I listen to very little classical and rock are why I decided to try them. So from everything I read on SET amps these are great conditions to "Use the SET where it operates best and it's tough to beat." I use my Cayin TA 30 35 tube amp in my home theater so I am going to keep it for that and music that will need more umph! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 jbsl, Sounds good. Keep the change to 4Ohm ap output in mind if there seems to be some midrange peaking with the SETs. Nice looking Moondogs. Enjoy them. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbsl Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 How hard is it to change to 4Ohm? I have done some very basic soldering but have not done anywork on amps. I am having the amps sent to Erik so he can make sure there was no shiping damage and then I will pick them up when I go to Houston in a week or two. My Cayin has 4 and 8 Ohm terminals so could I add the 4 Ohm terminals and have both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 Have Erik make them switchable from 4 to 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 Rewiring for 4 Ohms is not completely trivial. Making the impedance switchable would be quite a trick because the impedance is determined by combining various windings .. it is not simply switching transformer taps. Of course the amps could already be wired for 4 Ohms, but that's not all that likely. If you aren't going to do it yourself (you'll need the construction manual to get the connections) maybe it should be left alone. One of the reasons I say that is my SETs started out as Moondogs and I ended up re-biasing the driver 6SN7 stage to get enough swing to develop full output power when I began using 4 Ohm output impedance. Also, I suspect your LaScalas are a more tube friendly load than my Chorus-IIs and RF-7s. So, after all that, I sugest you leave it as it is Sorry for the confusion. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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