[-Richard-]

Roger has created a web page for his new 6EM7/13EM7 Amplifier with information,
prices and pictures... and Roger goes into some detail explaining what goes on under
the hood ~

http://www.ramlabs-musicreference.com/6EM7-13EM7.html

Anyone interested in wading into the magical world of SET amplification on the cheap
can purchase this little jewel of an amplifier... it does not generate 4 watts as I
thought... but more like 2.5 watts (conservatively rated)...
but as DMason has already explained these are incredibly robust tubes
that were originally made to play at least 10 thousand hours...
2.5 watts of Single Ended Triode dynamite!!!!!!!!

Roger drove up to my house from Santa Barbara with a friend named Loren who
builds Quicksilver amps... over 10,000 of them!!!! who also sells the largest
and most expensive horn speakers in the world...
We carefully A/B several very impressive amps that day including several of Roger's
experimental SET amps... this little jewel of an amp, the 6EM7/13EM7,
sounded so dangerously close to the best SET amps in the world that we were all
astounded... smooth as silk, and what it does for female voices
could bring tears to your eyes ~

For an introductory price of $800 (Roger is going to raise the price very soon to $950)
you will get a chance to hear what SET magic is all about ~

If your wondering what Loren thinks of the 6EM7/13EM7 SET amplifier... he loved it!!!!
and in a shootout over his house between several top top amps, Loren and a friend
of his who is a famous audio engineer (he has mastered several award winning CD's)
flipped when they heard Roger's 245.1 SET amp!!!!! No contest... it was their favorite
amp by a very wide margin... in case your wondering, the 6EM7/13EM7 was not yet
available for that shootout ~

DMason hits the nail on the head yet again... he is right!!!! the 6EM7/13EM7 is a little
masterpiece of SET engineering!!!

Warm Regards ~ Richard ~

[Dmason]

Richard,

None of that surprised me, in fact, Roger related that tale himself. He was as surprised and interested in the outcome as anyone.

I once took the amp to the Lands on the rim of the Great Crater, near the Eastern Waste, where one of the Arch-Lords of the Hornspeaker live. "Lord E," whose estate we visited, a gracious and generous host was he. The 6EM7 SET, when connected to the 108db compression driver component of the Horn of E, no noise was heard at all. None of the assembled Lords had yet heard ...NO noise coming from a tube amp, through highly sensitive compression drivers. It is a completely noiseless amplifier.

It might as well be ....battery powered. But, it isn't.

Neat trick. And a BIG 3 watts.

[gary]

I loved Roger's RM-10, which I heard at RMAF driving the Zu Druids. That was a little too pricey for me, but this 6EM7 amp is definitely tempting. Thanks for posting the link.

Gary

[Dmason]

Gary

Once the little sweeper opens up, it is true clearlight SET sound. It really is a darlin' of a machine, AND, a muscle amp, as far as those Prometheii are concerned. You should try one. I suspect you may have an epiphany. PLUS the >100Hz high pass feature came about as Richard, myself, got Roger into the whole OB thang, he realized we actually werent nuts. It is SET for OB, from music reference. HP, the thing has guts. I believe the millions of sweep tubes out there will have their day in the sun.

Have a fun weekend.... Dan

[Quiet Earth]

Thanks for sharing all of that information about the Music Reference amplifier you guys. Very nice. It looks like I would need a pre amp with it because of the low gain. The 1V sensitivity for 2.5 watts would be a close call for me. The low gain "feature" also seems like a little bit of a trade off too, unless you have ultra efficient speakers.  Even though the amp itself is quiet I would have to account for the noise of whatever is driving it. I know that's no faullt of the amplifier itself, I just hate preamps. I haven't met one yet that didn't throw a blanket on the sound and add noise. Of course, I haven't heard them all and I probably gave up too soon. I love my TVC!
Also, FWIW, it looks as though the amp uses a solid state power supply. Nothing wrong with that, I just don't know if that qualifies it as the best in its class. But what do I know?? I will take your word for it. It's all about how things are implemented and the sound of the final product. All in all it does look like a fantastic deal and a sweet little amplifier if you can work with 2 watts.

 Thanks for sharing that you guys.
QE

[-Richard-]

Roger Modjeski is the most thorough and penetrating researcher into the mysteries
and art of tube circuitry of any audio designer I know or have heard about ~

His design decisions are based on several important criteria: the longest life and most reliable
performance possible of the amplifiers he designs, the longest life for the tubes,
the most elegant circuitry design for the given application and the most sophisticated
sound attainable for his amplifiers ~

Roger allows himself to go where his research and creativity take him... so a "purest"
approach as a given... as a static fixed formulae... is not his ethos as a designer... but
rather what he thinks is the truth of what really works best based on solid science ~

Ron Welborne told me recently that SS rectification in his SET circuit applications is far
superior to what tube rectification can accomplish in his designs... he does not even offer
tube rectification for his new SET amps ~

We music lovers should consider ourselves very lucky indeed that Roger works as hard as
he does to create the incredibly sophisticated amplifiers that he does... thanks to Roger and
a few other serious audio designs we are in the midst of a renaissance of SET amplifier
design ~

Warm Regards ~ Richard ~

[BRN]

Not sure that you are thinking about a kit, but the Bottlehead  integrated S.E.X. amp uses the 6DN7 tube and with the replacement of two resistors can use the 6EM7. I have not tried that tube, but others have and could give their impressions. The amp can be used with speakers or headphones and is dead quiet. The circuit uses parallel feed output, a Schottky rectified DC heater supply and high voltage power supply design using plate loading chokes for very low noise floor with zero feedback. There is also an upgrade that include a pair of MagneQuest parallel feed output transformers, MagneQuest plate chokes, Clarity Cap interstage and parallel feed output coupling capacitors and a pair of C4S active loads for the input stages. I have been using the amp for almost 2 year with headphones and speakers and can tell you that it is dead quiet and sounds great. I bought the amp before the upgrade was available and was extremely happy with its sound. When the upgrade became available I bought it. The upgrade took the sound to another level of performance that is just fantastic considering the price of $369 for the basic kit, the enhanced kit is $679. If you want to you can get the basic kit and buy the upgrade kit later like I did and get to hear the differences between both. On top of that Bottlehead is a great outfit with first class service and a forum is provides tremendous help for answering any questions. Just food for thought.

Brad