Hi Scott,
Are you referring to the pictures of musicians on the walls of my room or the system pictures? Either way, thanks.
Charles,

charles1dad December 17, 2014 11:54

Love the pictures!

scott_weinberg December 17, 2014 03:49

Open baffle 4 ohm speakers with a SET does not sound like a great idea on paper at least but every combo will have its unique charms. Heck even old 78 rpm recordings with very limited frequency response have some very distinctive transients and will catch my ear, even if played on a Victrola. SO you just never know for sure what might "sound good". Sounding good and good performance are two different but related things.

mapman December 17, 2014 03:21

Rebbi, this is a worthless answer, but I have to say that I absolutely hate that their ads (and website) feature CAD renderings of the speakers. I know it's a real thing, why can't they get a nice picture of the actual product??

cal3713 December 16, 2014 22:48

Any of you fine folks ever hear any of the Spatial Hologram OB models with a SET amp? They are 95 db efficient but a 4 ohm load... reviews have been ecstatic.

rebbi December 16, 2014 13:40

Sorry Cal,
I have a pair of Wavelengths and they are not for sale.
If I had a pair of Franks, I'd be keeping those as well.

isochronism December 16, 2014 02:25

Well Iso, if one of you nice fellows would just put a pair up for sale, I'd happily oblige.

I saw on Kruipen that there were 9 used pairs sold over the past year, so hopefully I just have to wait a month or two (http://kruipen.com/coincident-300-b-frankenstein-0.html).

cal3713 December 16, 2014 01:39

Just get the Frankfurters... you will indeed be very happy:)

isochronism December 15, 2014 19:46

Chris,
Srajan Ebaen (6 Moons) uses the SIT amps(10 watts) as one of his reference amplifiers. He certainly has used them with speakers of similar sensitivity (or even a bit less) as the Super Eclipse. In addition these speakers are a "very easy" 14 ohm load impedance. So Reno's reluctance is somewhat surprising. The Frankenstein(8 watts) drives this speaker load as though it's coasting along.Of course no amplifier is perfect for every circumstance. If you listen to a heavy dose of electronia/synthesized music at high volumes maybe you'd want a different amp. Otherwise it reproduces music beautifully realistic and organic.

charles1dad December 15, 2014 09:34

My plan was to get the SIT2, and then eventually do a direct in-home comparison between it and the Franks. I'd even provided RenoHIFI with my new shipping information and was just confirming the price when Mark asked about my speakers and then said that he couldn't recommend the amp. He thought it would run out of steam. I really thought about arguing, but he certainly knows the Pass amps well so he must have been very confident I'd end up returning the SIT2. In any case, I'll certainly provide some updates once I get a chance to hear the SEIIIs on a new amp.

cal3713 December 15, 2014 08:09

Chris,
If your look at my system pictures posted above you'll see the Lamm push pull and the Bella Extreme amplifiers. Both have much higher power than the 8 watt Frankenstein. They are very highly regarded. In direct comparison, the Franks are more natural, resolved and simply more engaging and better sounding. That's my honest impression, others would disagree hearing the same comparison but that's how it goes with audio.

charles1dad December 14, 2014 06:40

Hello Chris,
Thanks for your kind comments. Chris when it comes to speaker and amplifier combinations it's really hard to predict what one person would like even though another may find it fantastic. I can't imagine why the SIT amplifiers wouldn't be enough power to drive your speaker as they are made to mate with low power amplifiers. The Frankenstein should be a very good choice and provide you exceptional sound quality. No doubt it will be different from your Pass amplifier. It becomes a question of which presentation moves you more emotionally and pulls you deeper into the music you enjoy. The Franks have done this for me to an extraordinary level. Will they do the same for you? It all depends on what sonic/musical factors matter the most to you. Keep me posted, I'd like to read your impressions comparing these two fine but very different amplifiers.
Charles,

charles1dad December 14, 2014 06:20

Hey Charles, recently took delivery of some Super Eclipse IIIs based in part on reading about this system. I currently have a Pass Labs INT-30A and am simply waiting for some Franks to finally hear what a SET amp is all about. Thought you might be interested to know that I actually tried to buy a First Watt SIT2 but RenoHIFI turned down my money. Mark thought that there wouldn't be enough power and recommended against making a purchase (of any First Watt product). Given that he was losing money on the recommendation, I decided not to argue and will just keep checking agon in the hopes that a pair of Franks shows up soon. Currently liking the speakers, although I've got a touch of high frequency grain that shows up on the edge of vocals. I'm hoping that's just due to the slight mismatch between the Pass and the SEIIIs. Didn't seem to be there with my previous Thiels (2.4s).

Thanks for writing about the journey, it's been a good read.

- Chris

cal3713 December 14, 2014 01:02

My transformers are currently at UPS in Lachine, Quebec!

rebbi December 10, 2014 18:50

Rebbi,
That kind of detailed order and shipping consideration does inspire confidence in a product. They have earned their good reputation and long term track record for a reason. To achieve this stature is no accident.

charles1dad December 09, 2014 22:32

Charles, thank you!
Well, found out from Brian yesterday that shipping was delayed a day. Anyway, I finally have a tracking number today for one of the two boxes – the really heavy one that contains all four of the transformers. The other box will ship out tomorrow, containing the tubes and all the lighter parts.
My impression is that Brian, himself, along with at least one other person, personally packs all the kits before shipping.
One cool thing about the way these are packed is that there are baggies corresponding to each build step of the instruction manual. In other words, rather than simply getting a bag full of resistors, or a bag full of capacitors, you get the mixed parts for each step. This sounds very thoughtfully done to me, which I am hoping is an indicator of potential quality of the final product.
We shall see… :-)

rebbi December 09, 2014 21:57

Rebbi, you're going to be thrilled with this new direction you've chosen. I will follow your blog with much interest.
Charles,

charles1dad December 09, 2014 04:46

Charles,
My AN Kit 1 ships tomorrow! :-D

rebbi December 09, 2014 03:42

Guys.
My gut feeling is that the Lamm SET would has less of this sonic characteristic relative to its siblings. I base this on the inherent openness and purity of SET circuits implemented to a high standard.
Charles,

charles1dad December 06, 2014 21:51

Andrew,
that's the thing, Jeff identified the same dark, slower and mechanical character with both of our speakers. When we removed the Lamm in my system this sonic character vanished. Another friend of Jeff's heard the same sound with his Vivid speakers driven by the big Lamm SS amplifier. I find that interesting as Coincident,Rockport and Vivid are all different yet that character is persistent. Synergy is everything it seems.

charles1dad December 06, 2014 21:36

That is what I thought you meant Jeff. Another element that separates the men from the boys in SET land (or tube amplification in general) is sound staging. The Grail amps that I heard a few months ago did not truncate the sound stage whatsoever. The reviewer from Positive Feedback commented on that attribute of those amps (http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue36/chalice_grail.htm). I am not sure what they did, and what that's a function of (? noise floor, isolation, etc), but it is and was splendid. No darkness, no sense of truncation, but rather purity of tone and musical perfection.

Jeff, do you think you Rockports play a role in any of that perception? I heard a set (Altairs) while back in Minnesota recently in a SOTA room designed by Dale Pitcher (http://analogaudio.mn). TOTL VTL amps were in place and vinyl was spinning, and they were beautifully balanced and musical. If I was in the market for a big boy but mainline speaker, they would be on my list.

agear December 06, 2014 18:14

The darkness and the slowness are not going to change in my opinion. That is what I disliked about the amps.

jwm December 06, 2014 17:21

Not sure about that Charles. Just that tonal darkness or density or whatever that is works well with some speakers. My ASR Emitter had that same basic tendency (albeit it was an older model).

agear December 06, 2014 14:53

Andrew,
Are you suggesting that the Lamm SET would sound no better than The push pull version I just had in my system? I'd be quite surprised if their SET isn't an improvement given all the raves its received. If it's the same sonically as the Lamm ML1.1 I'd be disappointed.
Charles,

charles1dad December 06, 2014 11:21

12-05-14: Jwm
Charles is way too kind about his mini Lamm review. This amp was one of the worst amps I ever had in my system. My push pull VAC's, VTL's, Conrad Johnson mono blocks were all better. I have an old Densen solid state stereo amp from Denmark with no feedback which bettered the Lamm. Charles I doubt the Single Ended Amp would fare any better. Single ended will not change the darkness or the slowness in amps. All my push pull amps were fast. This is either the designers desires or the sonics of these output tubes. I have a friend who had the big Lamm hybrid monoblocks and said they were slow and dark as well. I was really let down on the Lamm as reviews have touted them as the holy grail. Maybe someone would like them on a really lean speaker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jwm (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

I believe it. That's one reason why the Lamm SETs mate well with Wilsons....

agear December 05, 2014 18:57