I think you can get a good feel for what I mean by musicality by reading our magazine.
If you don't want to explain or provide examples, I don't feel terribly compelled to write
a thesis on it either.
As for the SET thing, I spent a lot of time with quite a few SET amplifiers and speakers.
My last SET setup consisted of a pair of Wavac MD-300's with Western Electric 300B's,
(though I did have about eight other sets of 300B's as well). I also had a few variations
on the 2A3 thing, including building a set of Bottleheads, again tons of diff tubes to experiment
with.
I was using 2nd Rethms, occasionally using Tannoy TS-8 subs which worked very well and
my room was 16 x 24 feet with dedicated power.
The front end of the system consisted of a Meridian 808 for digital and an SME10 with SMEV
arm, Lyra Skala cartridge and CJ TEA-1 phono preamp. I had the CJ on loan for about a year
but the rest of the system was my gear, including using an ACT2/series 2 and Aesthetix Callisto
Signature as line stages of choice. (again, both personal references that I own.)
Personally, my favorite SET was the solid state First Watt F3 from Nelson pass.
I really enjoyed the SET experience and what it did well, it did very well, namely
midrange magic and a very 3d sound field.
Unfortunately as someone who reviews a lot of gear, an SET setup had very limited
use to me, because 2-9 watt amplifiers won't drive many speakers and 100db efficient
speakers won't really put a 300 watt per channel power amplifier through it's paces.
The SET/single driver setup just wouldn't play a wide enough range of music to make
it worthwhile as my only system either. If I primarily listened to chamber music, solo
female vocal music or small jazz ensemble music, that system was quite magical.
Unfortunately, playing large scale orchestral music or very heavy dynamic rock, etc. etc
clogs up a single driver system pretty quickly. Even the Wavac EC-300B was just not
terribly extended at the frequency extremes.
I spent a fair amount of time with some of the higher powered SET amps from Wavac,
DeHavilland and a few others, but felt that while the 811 and 845 amps did not have
the delicacy that drew me to SET in the first place.
If I were to compare the SET to a car, it would be an Alfa Romeo. Gorgeous and a lot
of fun to drive within its limits, but very unpleasant when pushed beyond them. A great
car for a relaxing mellow drive on a summer day.
I still feel the same way about SET. When I no longer review gear for a living, I'll probably
have a fourth system based around an SET of some kind. I really love them, but they are
just not practical for me to use every day.
I hope that makes sense.
