"dave weil" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 23:29:52 GMT, wrote:


"dave weil" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 17:12:02 GMT, wrote:

How would you know that an amp NOT YET BUILT would sound "****ty"?

Because it was an SET.

Can you give us the names of the last 10 SETs that you've listened to?

I could, but then I'd have to kill you.
Besides, one POS amp is enough, or are you telling me that there are SET
amps that can play at normal levels without massive distortion?

OK, how about even one SET that you have sampled? It would be nice to
know the associated gear (especially speakers) and what kind of music
you listened to. Quoting from any on-the-spot notes that you made
would be nice, but you can use your memory if you'd like. It would be
nice to hear what specifically bothered you about the sound.

BTW, are you telling me that if I listened to a single SS amp, like,
say a Phase Linear amp, I'd be able to condemn the whole species?
Because that's what you seem to be saying, that one can extrapolate
from a single example.


The only SET I ever heard was one that a friend had built from a kit. This
was over 12 years ago. At the time I compare it to a 40 WPC HK730, which
easily sounded better to me.

This guy was a very big tube and LP advocate and had no use whatsoever fo
SS, and that's his perogative. It's simply not what I care about.

You seem to forget that it's about accuracy for me. Knowing that a device
is generating audible distortion automatically disqualifies it from being
considered for anything other than a doorstop/ room heater.

It's bad enough that speakers have as much distortion as they do, I don't
want another device that would effectively double it. That's why I firmly
believe that the real high end that people ought to be pursuing is
loudspeakers. Nothing, absolutely nothing makes more improvement to an
audio system than upgrading speaker performance, either by tuning the room
passively or through active means, or some combination.

The single biggest producer of distortion in an audio system is coming from
the speakers and the only methods I'm aware of for changing that are going
to come from new materials, sensors, more drivers, or auto EQ built into the
speakers, ala the NHT's that were favorably reviewed in SP a while ago.
There's no point for me to bother with anything else, since it can't improve
the overall accuracy of the system.

Show me one reasonably priced (under $1000.00) SET amp that can produce 100+
watts and not have audible distortion, and I'll consider it for a listen.