[DecibleDude]

I'm curious what speakers people with this Control amp are using and why?

[avahifi]

I am using a set of Philharmonic BMR Monitors with excellent results.

Frank

[mmurt]

I have GR Research X-LS Encore monitors and Tyler Acoustics Lindbrook Signature Floor standing speakers and both sound great.  I Have to say i was surprised how well this little amp drives the Lindbrook's.

[jandrews]

Fritz Carbon 7 SE MK2’s
Lovely pairing with the SET120

[DecibleDude]

I have GR Research X-LS Encore monitors and Tyler Acoustics Lindbrook Signature Floor standing speakers and both sound great.  I Have to say i was surprised how well this little amp drives the Lindbrook's.

 That's the thing that had me wondering, because by todays standards 60 wpc isn't a great deal and most modern speakers are fairly inefficient. I have a pair of Elac's which are power sponges and yet this little amp drives them nicely to loud levels in a small room. So I was wondering about the efficiency of other peoples speakers relative to room size.

[DecibleDude]

I am using a set of Philharmonic BMR Monitors with excellent results. 
Frank

 Holy Moley, if it can drive those it should be able to handle most speakers I would think. Do you ever play loud music on them?

[DecibleDude]

I have GR Research X-LS Encore monitors and Tyler Acoustics Lindbrook Signature Floor standing speakers and both sound great.  I Have to say i was surprised how well this little amp drives the Lindbrook's.

  So the Lindbrook's appear to be fairly efficient at 92db which is probably ideal. For some reason they state the minimum amp power for those speakers to be 25 wpc but I think even less than that could drive them pretty well, but then again, maybe they're designed for larger rooms. Are they large speakers?

[DecibleDude]

Fritz Carbon 7 SE MK2’s
Lovely pairing with the SET120

Yeah, that seems like a good match at 88db at one meter. How would you characterize the sound of the speakers?

[TomBo]

Watkins G4 stand mounts (88 dBm@1/1)...why this choice of speaker?  You know it when you hear it - exactly like all of the Audio by Van Alstine equipment has performed over the decades - you know you have found something special when you hear it

[Nick B]

I used the Fritz Carreras with mine.

[jandrews]

That's the thing that had me wondering, because by todays standards 60 wpc isn't a great deal and most modern speakers are fairly inefficient. I have a pair of Elac's which are power sponges and yet this little amp drives them nicely to loud levels in a small room. So I was wondering about the efficiency of other peoples speakers relative to room size.

The SET120 is rated at 60wpc but with a robust power supply that can supply current when the load (speakers) require it to.  This amp doubles its 60wpc @8Ohms rating to 120wpc when the speakers are 4Ohms and can supply bursts of power necessary when the impedance load of the speakers dips down even lower in certain frequency bands.

Yeah it’s the least powerful amp in the AVA lineup but it’s plenty of power for most reasonable speakers in reasonable rooms.

[DecibleDude]

 It's funny, I had concerns before buying this amp whether first of all it would have enough power, and then secondly, if the passive preamp would prevent me from reaching loud volumes with my fairly inefficient speakers. None of those things were an issue, so now as a non-technical person I'm wondering why any integrated amp needs a preamp? I've also discovered that the amp is damn near silent noise wise even with the volume set at the twelve O'clock position, which in my smallish room and with my speakers would be louder then I would likely ever play music.  All this is obviously good, but confusing, given that the amp supposedly has it's gain 3db higher from the get-go.

[TomBo]

Yes, since I also use the Vision Q+ Phono Preamplifier and I use a stand alone DAC, I actually don't hear a need for a stand alone preamp. I like this way of doing things. And the sound is exquisite.

[mmurt]

The Lindbrook's are fairly large, 2- 8" woofers and 2- 7" mid's

[DecibleDude]

Yeah, pretty big so definitely not for small rooms. 

[Rusty Jefferson]

Apologies for going off topic here but can someone tell me what the gain of this amplifier is please? The website says 6db more gain than the standard SET 120, but doesn't say what the gain of that amplifier is. Thanks !

[avahifi]

Gain of SET 120 Control Amp is 26 dB.

Gain of the basic SET 120 power amp is 20 db.

Frank

[TomBo]

Closer look at the system and Watkins

[DecibleDude]

 What speakers are those TomBo, and how big a room? Do you know what the speakers efficiency is?

[Rusty Jefferson]

Gain of SET 120 Control Amp is 26 dB.

Gain of the basic SET 120 power amp is 20 db.

Frank

Frank, Thank you for the quick reply. Not to disrupt this thread further, but could you also tell me what the gain of the M225s is please?