[ivo]

Currentley i m using Melody i2a3 int. amp with my Druids and it sounds pretty good, but recentley i heard Roksan and Naim int. and i found out dat i was missing a lot off rhytmic drive with Melody.
Once i heard Audio Note otto (se el 84 i think) and he had this rhytmic qualiyty
what i was looking for.
Any suggestions?, but it has to have synergie with Zu druids.
Regards,
Ivo

[213Cobra]

If you like, appreciate and want to retain the tonal density and magic of your triode 2a3, but want more drive, don't move to a tetrode or pentode tube, nor solid state. The two alternatives that will give you what you want are:

1/ Parallel Single-Ended 300B. There are alternatives from many Chinese makers but if you can swing the currency for new or used Audion PSET 300B amps, that's the ticket.

2/ Nothing in tubes gives a Zu speaker more drive at reasonable power than an amp built around 845 SET. The Dared 845 integrated is a great place to start, with other alternatives from Chinese, American and Italian makers.

Zu speakers tend to make the power amplification the fulcrum of fidelity in your system and it is well worth spending disproportionately on amplification -- more than the speakers -- but you certainly don't have to. The 845 amps will particularly give you convincing drive and, generally, more robust better defined bass than 300B, and as with most tube amps, you can dial in your best compatability by rolling tubes.

The other more exotic alternative with fewer choices but for which the Druid at 12 ohms impedance is particularly suited for is an OTL amp. Today, Atma-Sphere is the premier provider and their amps are excellent. But a vintage (Julius) Futterman or an affordable Transcenent, like the T16, will also give you what you seek.

For reference, I say this as the owner of Zu Druid Mk 4.08s and Definition 2s.

Phil

[ivo]

Thanks for the responce Phil!

I heard a lot set amps but none off them had 'togetherness' of Audio Note oto
even expencive Audio Note kits like Meishu,Ongaku wich are in many aspects
beter than Oto dont have this nice and rhytmic sound what makes all types of music
involving. If i like Jazz, staff like audiofiles listen too than Ongaku is beter, but to
my ears Oto has amazing fluid and rhytmic sound only i dont know how wel he would
sound with Druids.
About Otl amps i only heard Graaf and i didnt like it, cose was slow and no ability to move my feet.
For my is togetherness most important than enything else cose makes you enjoy all sorts of music.
I have spoked with Sean from Zu and he recomendet  me Audiopax 88 but i dont have a chance to hear it here in Holland. So not sure if it has right stuff for me.
Regards,
Ivo

[213Cobra]

The Audio Note SET amps are excellent. I prefer the Audions. They are "faster" and more transparent, with more drive. I use Audion Black Shadow monoblocks on my Definition 2s and Audion Golden Dream PSET 300B monoblocks on my Druids. Overall, I think the Audion amps are uniquely fast for tube SET. The only tube amps that I've heard offer their transparency and drive in another topology are OTL. I can't comment on the Graaf amp on Zu speakers, but it would be uncharacteristic for an OTL to sound slow. Two that definitely do not sound slow are vintage Futterman H3aa, or the Transcendent, which are available quite affordably in stereo and monoblock configurations at power levels from 15/15w to 160/160w, and those numbers will be a little higher into Druids.

Audion has three different series of SET amp platforms, and all are in my view the fastest most transparent SET amps in their price ranges but if you can find a used pair of Black Shadows, or find the update, the 3-box Elite, that's the perfect amp for Zu speakers. Audion's Golden Dream monoblocks are 300B PSET and have an even richer harmonic character, but while the bass is among the best I've heard from 300B tubes, it doesn't have quite the slam and definition possible with an 845. There is a pair of used Golden Dreams in the UK on eBay for sale for $5,000, which is a wild steal. They can be wired for US voltage by the seller or by a tech here, and originally cost upwards of $16,000/pr. depending on their specific internals. They would be sensational, and fast.

Phil

[213Cobra]

I'll add one more thing on Audiopax 88. Excellent amps using KT88 tetrodes in an SET-like simulation. Unique topology. I owned a pair for a few years. I did sell them for two reasons: 1/ While being rated 30w each monoblock against the Audion Black Shadows at 25w each monoblock, in deep bass the Audiopax clipped precipitously at lower volume. Their dynamic power in the bass region limited their dynamic performance, particularly on movie audio with Blu-Ray; and 2/ I had a lot of trouble mating them to a preamp I liked. The Audiopax 88 are relatively insensitive at the inputs. While the input sensitivity isn't spec'd, the input to output total gain for the amps is only 18db, against 24-32 db of gain in the majority of power amps. I estimated that it takes perhaps 3.5+ volts on the input to drive the 88 to full power. Audiopax' own preamp will do the job of course, but I did not care for its sound. Most preamps with enough gain to swing the voltage weren't in my opinion good matches for the 88. I did finally find a good match (Klimo Merlino Gold+) which is excellent, but then happened upon a great deal on a pair of demo Audion Golden Dreams and with two systems and three stellar power amp monoblock pairs, the Audiopax came in third mostly for its limited dynamic power in the deep bass region on Definitions. On Druids, it was much closer between the three, but the Audion amps trumped the Audiopax in tone density.

The Audiopax 88 is among the top eight or ten amps I've heard in 40 years of hifi, but if you go that route understand you need a source or preamp able to drive more voltage than mainstream gear built to output 2v max at rated distortion.

Phil

[ivo]

Thanks for advice Phil