I love the Volt+ ( TPA3118 ) from India with my full range single driver speakers. The sound is SET like but with a bit more power. What wonderful times we live in where $39 can buy this level of performance.
https://allo.com/sparky/volt-plus-amp.html
Sounds very, very interesting. Does monoblock version exist?
Jim has some good points.
These Fostexs are incredibly efficient and easy to drive, so a low powered tube amp will work fine - however theres no reason why a decent SS amp cant sound great also with them. There are many factors involved including technical points on amp design involved, room configuration, enclosure design, as well as quite simply what sounds best to you subjectively.
I see. I wonder why Nelson Pass wrote that SS amps make full range single driver sound like transistor radio. Perhaps overdamping?
Kreshna,
Ah, amplifiers! This is another difficult question...
For me, the choice of amp depends on the specific speaker. Some of my experiences:
1) I built a pair of Metronomes using Fostex F120A drivers because I wanted to see what this 'Alnico magic' is all about. So I get them built & broken in, and they sound truly mediocre. Plenty of bass but the highs are missing. I had them running with my trusty old Yamaha CR-1000 receiver (vintage 1976). My friend Martin (MJK of Quarter-Wave.com) comes over to hear them, bringing along a custom PP EL-34 tube amp and home made speaker cables (using CAT-5e). He says he has also bought a pair of F120A is terribly disappointed by them. He is also very disappointed with the tube amp--every speaker he has tried them on is totally lacking in bass. So he connects the tube amp to the Mets w/ the CAT5e cables. Unbelievable! It was as if the heavens opened and the angels began to sing! It's all there in spades: perfect bass, mids to die for, and lovely highs. How can this be? Why did the Yamaha (typical direct coupled output topology) fail on the F120A when it works great on all my other speakers (including single drivers)??? Why does that tube amp only work well w/ the F120A, not with other single driver or multi-way speakers??? I have no clue...
2) I built a Dynakitparts.com ST-35 tube amp for the F120A Mets. Works great! I tried the ST-35 w/ my FF225wk equipped PTLs: not so good; bass is loose & flabby. Why??? No clue...
3) A few years back I bought a little Miniwatt S-1 SEP amp based on some wildly positive reviews. It sounds good on the F120A Mets, but really doesn't have enough power, as it's just 2.5 wpc (and that may be an exaggeration). The S-1 has been mostly sitting around...until a few months ago when I came across it & asked myself why haven't I tried this with the PTLs? The FF225wk has a sensitivity of 93 dB/w, better than the 89 dB/w F120A. As it turns out, the S-1 is a GREAT match for the PTLs! Bass is not only plentiful, but firm & articulate. The S-1 now rotates with the Pass designed ACA class A mono-blocks; can't decide which is better.
4) The BVR cabinets w/ FE206e drivers that I built for my daughter years ago sound good to me with most decent amps, including the Dayton DTA-100a she is currently using. However, when I was breaking in those drivers, I connected them to a Radio Shack amp that I picked up on close-out. That amp made the FE206e un-listenable! It was horribly sibilant. I have no clue why...
IMO, you can try a number of amps that you have on hand and see what you like. It is possible that a SET or SEP might be better, but who knows? The technical reasons for amp/speaker synergy are beyond my understanding.
Cheers, Jim
Thanks Jim. Many interesting points being made. I understand difference between amplifiers is audible, even with conventional, crossovered, multi-drive loudspeakers. My JBL 120Ti, for instance, sounds best with Sansui AU-7900, while it sound harsh on other amps like Yamaha RX-V663 and NAD C326BEE. However, it seems difference between amplifiers is more severe in full range single-driver,
perhaps because full range single-driver is more sensitive (heavy magnet, thin cone) than conventional speakers.
Am I correct so far?
Then, the problem with SS, as Nelson Pass has described. It seems to me full range single-driver sounds harsh in SS amp is due to overdamping. Too bad
Allo Volt+ specs doesn't mention its damping factor, but perhaps it's low enough, that it sounds good with full range single-driver as Poultrygeist mentioned?
But it also seems overdamping is not the only factor. I think the reason SET amps sound really good with full range single-driver is because SET amp has minimalist design. I remember reading somewhere, that non-SET tube amps tend sound ugly with full range single-driver, distortion become audible, etc. Perhaps the Allo Volt+ amp sounds very good with full range single-driver, because the said class-D amp has minimalist design?
Back to the speakers...
The reason I become very interested to try full range single-driver is because I read the such speakers have outstanding stereo imaging and sound stage. They also have great dynamics due to their high sensitivity.
Now, back to the topics. So, double bass-reflex enclosure has more bass than back-loaded horn enclosure, but back-loaded horn is better otherwise. My question is, how much better is back-loaded horn enclosure compared to double bass-reflex enclosure? Or rather,
how much worse is double-bass reflex enclosure compared to back-loaded horn?
How about sound stage and stereo imaging? How much worse is double-bass reflex enclosure compared to back-loaded horn in terms of sound stage and stereo imaging? But single-driver in double-bass reflex enclosure still has better sound stage and stereo imaging than typical multi-driver, doesn't it? And how about dynamics?