Great news: an affordable Canadian made SET amplifier. The Wolf Ear Kitoki.

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Rusty Jefferson

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The output impedance is around 1.5 at the 8 ohm tap and 0.75 at the 4 ohm tap.

Thanks.  That's lower than expected for not having any global or local feedback.  How do you get it so low?

Wolf Ear Audio

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Thanks.  That's lower than expected for not having any global or local feedback.  How do you get it so low?
Sorry, I actually gave the wrong numbers there. 2.5 at the 8 ohm tap and 1.25 at the 4 ohm tap. I was looking at my notes for a different amp I am working on, but that amps a secret for now ;)
Keep in mind those figures above are worst case scenario, and in practice it is usually a bit lower than that.

Canada Rob

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This is cheaper, but not as good looking.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - I love the minimalist look of this amp and the logo is so cool.  I agree the Decware amps look great, but the Kitoki has all it's connections in the back making for a really clean installation.  The Decware can look like a patient on life support with it's top mounted connections depending on the cabling being used.  Another advantage of the Kitoki design is ease of packaging, like a solid state amp.

Wolf Ear Audio

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Thanks.  That's lower than expected for not having any global or local feedback.  How do you get it so low?
I run the output tubes at about their max specs, which causes the plate resistance to be a bit lower than usual, lowering the overall output impedance. The 6P15P-EV tubes can really take a beating (and they're cheap), so it just made sense to me :)
Hope that helps

PDR

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Congrats on your new venture from one Albertan to another.

I have a local (Edmontonian) designed SET amp, but you never know.....

Good luck!     :thumb:

Perry

Wolf Ear Audio

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It would be interesting to see the interior of this amp.
Here's the pic of its guts as promised (don't mind the bad image quality. I'm a terrible photographer). There are many components you can't see as well because they are covered (and the capacitors kind of blend in with the chassis).



SSM

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That is a well-packed chassis sir, and I applaud your entry into the SET amp industry. It can never have too many marques. The mainstream hifi world needs more affordably-priced class A SET amps around to challenge its collective assumption that solid state amps are the last word in musicality.

I would love to have a Kitoki of my own someday but that would have to wait as one of my 3 SET amps is an EL84, still a youngish eight months old. Nevertheless I will be keeping tabs on the Wolf Ear Audio site from now on. :)

ps: very cool logo. :thumb:


LOL at your Decware 'patient on life support' quip, Rob. I do find the Kitoki's hidden transformers make for a nice clean minimalist look. My EL84 already has its power transformers sticking out on top, so if I needed a second EL84 amp I would pick the Kitoki over the Decware.

cheerSS


Canada Rob

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The venting of the Kitoki chassis is very good, along with being black heavy gauge aluminum makes for a pretty cool running amp considering it's class A SET.  Also it's very quiet, both physically and over the speakers.

bluemike

Another interested participant ..looking good
Welcome to Audio Circle

Rusty Jefferson

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I run the output tubes at about their max specs, which causes the plate resistance to be a bit lower than usual, lowering the overall output impedance. The 6P15P-EV tubes can really take a beating (and they're cheap), so it just made sense to me :)
Hope that helps

Thanks.  If one gets to the DC area, I'd like to audition it.  Capfest?  Are you making the stepped attenuator?

Wolf Ear Audio

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Thanks.  If one gets to the DC area, I'd like to audition it.  Capfest?  Are you making the stepped attenuator?
Yep, I make all my attenuators from scratch.
I don't get to visit the States often, but maybe someone near there will buy one .

pstrisik

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Any chance of a tour like is happening with the FleaWatt?  I'd love to participate.  I'm more of a tube guy, have a Dennis Had SEP, but have never listened to a SET in my system.

........Peter


Wolf Ear Audio

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Any chance of a tour like is happening with the FleaWatt?  I'd love to participate.  I'm more of a tube guy, have a Dennis Had SEP, but have never listened to a SET in my system.

........Peter
That isn't really something I am willing to do at the moment, but if I change my mind, I'll let everyone know.

Zero

Heck yes.   We need more sanely priced tube gear in the audio world.  :) 

Canada Rob

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One thing I forgot to mention, Andrew used Alnico Monitors when voicing the Kitoki.

Wolf Ear Audio

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Any chance of a tour like is happening with the FleaWatt?  I'd love to participate.  I'm more of a tube guy, have a Dennis Had SEP, but have never listened to a SET in my system.

........Peter

I thought about this a bit more and decided that I would like to do this. I started registration for anyone interested in joining a small product tour here: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=140086.0
Users with Omega speakers get first priority. I highly recommend this for the Alnico and Desktop Monitors.

Canada Rob

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I highly recommend this for the Alnico and Desktop Monitors.

I don't recall my Super 3i's sounding any better on any amp since hooking them up to the Kitoki.  If the Kitoki works well with the Super 3 Desktop, it will also work well with any RS5 based speaker, including 4 ohm OutLaw 1.5 speakers.  Also, the wonderful results I got from the Super 7 Monitor MK2's when hooked up to my Decware with the same power, it should be a no brainer Super 7's would be a great match with the Kitoki.

pstrisik

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I thought about this a bit more and decided that I would like to do this. I started registration for anyone interested in joining a small product tour here: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=140086.0
Users with Omega speakers get first priority. I highly recommend this for the Alnico and Desktop Monitors.

Thanks very much Andrew!  I posted in that thread to get in line.  Looking forward to experiencing your work.

........Peter

pstrisik

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Quick update:

The amp is on its way to me.  Since it came from Canada into the US, it takes a bit longer due to customs clearance.  Tracking says it should arrive tomorrow.  I will have a couple of days to give it some hours.  Andrew tells me the amp has 48 hours so far but all tubes are brand new.  So my review will probably be towards the end of this coming weekend.

Andrew, if you are reading here, a question.....    I won't get into extensive tube rolling and will mostly listen to the amp with your tube selections.  My tube amp is SE pentode and I don't have any tubes compatible with the rectifier or output tubes in the Kitoki (probably a good thing for this tour!).  I do have 6922/6DJ8 drivers though.  The only driver I would really be interested in trying is the Russian 6N23P.  I just want to make sure that is safe in your amp.  I've been running it in my Inspire for a year or more (Dennis supplied a 6N1P originally).

Thanks!   ........Peter

Wolf Ear Audio

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Quick update:

The amp is on its way to me.  Since it came from Canada into the US, it takes a bit longer due to customs clearance.  Tracking says it should arrive tomorrow.  I will have a couple of days to give it some hours.  Andrew tells me the amp has 48 hours so far but all tubes are brand new.  So my review will probably be towards the end of this coming weekend.

Andrew, if you are reading here, a question.....    I won't get into extensive tube rolling and will mostly listen to the amp with your tube selections.  My tube amp is SE pentode and I don't have any tubes compatible with the rectifier or output tubes in the Kitoki (probably a good thing for this tour!).  I do have 6922/6DJ8 drivers though.  The only driver I would really be interested in trying is the Russian 6N23P.  I just want to make sure that is safe in your amp.  I've been running it in my Inspire for a year or more (Dennis supplied a 6N1P originally).

Thanks!   ........Peter
All of those drivers you mentioned are compatable (the 6N23P is pretty much a copy of the 6DJ8).
Also, feel free to keep for more than just a couple days (at least a week), since it took so long in transit to get to you.