[James Romeyn]

D
All your expectations seem more than reasonable based on my experience including past owner Pathos MkII and III.

A link describing your tube integrated would be much appreciated.  I'm as surprised as I am delighted to find a second amp employing the E34L.  It must be a special tube based on the Ars-Sonum reports.  I'm sold on the 30W Atma-Sphere OTL as a final upgrade but always considering other options.  The OTL drove my speakers to any desired level.

The Pathos was really sweet.  I'm just cautious you may miss the tube's midrange magic even though the Pathos' greater HF may be copacetic with your single-driver speakers.  There's an ancient (maybe older than me) high-fi ratio expressing the correct balance of LF to HF extension.  I lean toward the opinion that the great pleasures of the single-driver experience may be lost when a sub is added.  In other words, alone the single driver makes sense, when great bass extension is added the top end may sound dull.  But it's obviously all about what pleases each individual pair of ears.         

[James Romeyn]

...you might be surprised.  I'm currently playing around with an old Bedini SS amp and having some fun.    I'm actually shocked at how good it is.  For the moment, it's holding my attention.  We'll see how long that lasts and if I once again succumb to the siren call of the toob goddess!   

Enjoy and be sure to give us your impressions.

Wow!  Another oldie but goodie.  A 25W so-called pure class A (probably 5W pure class A then AB after that) Bedini was my first foray into the high end.  It was great!  After I blew it up (oops! nobody told me the shorting coil of a 2nd order speaker XO goes on the driver side, not the amp side) Bedini "upgraded" to a 50W but that was never as nice. 

[toobluvr]

Wow!  Another oldie but goodie.  A 25W so-called pure class A (probably 5W pure class A then AB after that) Bedini was my first foray into the high end.  It was great!  After I blew it up (my fault) Bedini "upgraded" to a 50W but that was never as nice.

I think that's the 25 / 25 you refer to.   I have the BA-801, which was in the final Bedini lineup (along with the 802 and 803) before he went under.   It is 70 wpc supposedly all Class A, but I have my doubts -- it just doesn't get hot enough.  Sounds smooth warm and refined though, like Class A SS.

These Bedinis seem to be cult favorites --  especially the 25 / 25,  50 / 50 etc series.  A real fave of the quad guys.  You see them on E-Bay fairly frequently, but they're getting so old now ya gotta worry about the condition.

[James Romeyn]

I think that's the 25 / 25 you refer to.   I have the SA-801, which was in the final Bedini lineup (along with the 802 and 803) before he went under.   It is 70 wpc supposedly all Class A, but I have my doubts -- it just doesn't get hot enough.  Sounds smooth warm and refined though, like Class A SS.

These Bedinis seem to be cult favorites --  especially the 25 / 25,  50 / 50 etc series.  A real fave of the quad guys.  You see them on E-Bay fairly frequently, but they're getting so old now ya gotta worry about the condition.

Ditto.  When you want to know how much heat sink is required for 25W real pure class A stereo convection cooled, look at the Classe Audio DR-3 by David Reich or the original Mark Levinson ML7: about 75 lbs and 12" high extruded aluminum fins everywhere you look.  I remember when John Curl tested the original VTL "Compact 100" monos at his shop: 62W on one amp, 63W on the other.  One must assume John Curl knows how to accurately test amplifier power.  So much for specs.     

[toobluvr]

As you can see, this one has lots of heat fins.  Halfway down this page the Bedini website even describes it as full Class A. 

http://www.bedini.com/usedequipment.htm

But it barely even gets warm to the touch, so if it's Class A at all, I figure it's only the first few watts.

[James Romeyn]

without knowing the actual number I'd guesstimate the Classe has at the very least twice the heatsink.  I still miss my 25/25....

[toobluvr]

You really think it was that good, James?   Or just the fog of nostalgia conjuring up magic that maybe wasn't really there in reality, or maybe the memory playing tricks?

I must say that when I was researching the Bedini name I came across many fond memories and positive comments from former owners.  Bedini amps seem to be really well liked -- especially the 25 / 25.   What speakers did you use with yours?

[James Romeyn]

You really think it was that good, James?   Or just the fog of nostalgia conjuring up magic that maybe wasn't really there in reality, or maybe the memory playing tricks?

I must say that when I was researching the Bedini name I came across many fond memories and positive comments from former owners.  Bedini amps seem to be really well liked -- especially the 25 / 25.   What speakers did you use with yours?

Yeah, yeah, you're right, memories always better than the real thing: "...Memories, light the corners of my mind, misty water colored memories, of the way amps were..."

What speakers?   Are you kidding?  I'm old!  Well, hoping to make it many more decades but I'm 55 now.  That was like 100 pairs of speakers ago....I think I blew up my 25 in some early speaker building experiment, years before Thalia Moore, first cellist with the San Francisco Ballet, purchased a 10" 3-way system I designed and built.  Her cello was worth $1M USD when that happened circa late 80s...that's NINETEEN 80s, not eighteen 80s!  Must be worth twice that now. 

[Ericus Rex]

The 25/25 got me hooked on Class A SS.  I absolutely loved mine!  Perfect?  No.  But it could make vocals sound like pure electricity!  ...in a spine tingling way, not metallic.  I got nervous after a repair and sold it.  The problem with it was that it required a matched septet of transistors per side and those transistors have not been made for many, many moons.  So I sold it while it still worked and bought an Aleph Os.  The Aleph is technically the better amp but it doesn't move me quite like the Bedini did.