[brospin]

Any other recommendations for SET integrated/headphone amps with triodes other than the 300B?

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roam /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's very nice, not quite up to the level of the Wavelength Cardinal though it has the potential to surpass it with some parts upgrades, mainly the coupling capacitors and output transformers. The O-netics output transformers are around the same level as standard core Lundahls, the resolution is about the same with a slightly different sound. With Tribute output transformers and teflon coupling caps, the Wright Sound amp will easily match the Cardinals. Unfortunately, the caps & transformers are rather costly, especially with the increasing price of copper in recent years and the plummeting value of the USD. George Wright is one of the few people in high-end audio who understands proper circuit design, and he also has great attention to detail. To give an example, Mr. Wright uses steel in the chassis of his amplifiers, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good in that it shields the circuit within from external magnetic fields, bad since if a transformer is mounted directly on the chassis, its magnetic field will couple into the chassis and tend to make everything hum. The transformers on the Wright Sound amps are spaced away from the chassis to prevent the magnetic field from coupling into it. That's attention to detail and good engineering.

Great advice, I appreciate it.

So the amp should be dynamic, fairly even FR throughout with WE tubes? And when you're comparing it to the Cardinal is that with the silver Magnequest transformers or the copper?

 

[Roam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Pak /img/forum/go_quote.gif So the amp should be dynamic, fairly even FR throughout with WE tubes?

Correct. And it is.

Quote:

And when you're comparing it to the Cardinal is that with the silver Magnequest transformers or the copper?

Copper. Silver wired transformers are rather woo-woo in my opinion, especially given the prices which are being charged. The money is much better spent on better transformer cores (nickel, cobalt, amorphous, etc.) and improved winding techniques and dielectrics to improve the bandwidth, dynamic range, and resolution of the transformer. For a quick primer you can do a search and read through BudP's posts on diyAudio.com and learn about B-field, E-field, and antenna events among many other things and how they apply to audio transformers. He also winds the transformers for the Wright Sound amplifiers.

 

[satelite]

I'm using a WA5 (with Jack's upgrade package) with K1000s (stefan art hardwire cable upgrade). The key to the setup is to replace the stock 300Bs with Western Electric 300Bs. Without the WE300Bs, the system lacks detail, only reaches 50% of it's potential. The complete package, however, is oustanding. The innate thinness of the k1000s is fleshed out completely by the 300Bs. The sound is increadibly sweet, full and unexpectedly resolved. Those who think 300Bs lack detail should experience pairing with the highly detailed K1000s. There is absolute magic in the combination. The Steffan hardwire cable upgrade is necessary to obtain the last 20% of detail from the system. Don't stop until all pieces are in place. You will not be disappointed.