Gary A
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Hi again,
A comment about "more weight". My current system consists of my new-as-of-yesterday SE84C+, a Pioneer Elite SACD/DVD player, Paul Speltz anti-cables, Paul Speltz anti-interconnects, and Klipsch Forte II speakers (99dB efficient).
I have one particular CD I like for string sound - Igor Kipnis playing Scarlatti Sonatas on the harpsichord. When I played that CD yesterday it sounded small, even at full volume (CDs are recorded at different levels I guess) and the sound didn't hit me nearly like it did when I had hooked up my CJ PV-12 preamp and Adcom GFA-565 monoblocks.
However the Forte IIs are 8-ohm speakers and the SE84C+ loves 2-ohm speakers according to the manual, and not 8-ohm so much. What to do? I hooked up my trust Paul Speltz Zero Autoformers between speaker and amp, wired so as to *reduce* the impedance by a factor of 3 - essentially changing 8-ohm speakers into 2.66666 ohm speakers.
What a difference! The SE84C+ puts out more power at lower impedances, and the weight is back in the sound and I'm very happy with what I'm hearing now - and the amp has barely been broken in. I asked Steve about the Zero Autoformers before I got my amp, and he advised me to try it without the Zeros first. I did and then tried with the Zeros, and they work wonders. At the current price of $450 a pair they are not cheap, but you might consider it if you have higher impedance speakers. They can be used to either lower or raise speaker impedance, with lots of different multiplying factors, depending on how you hook them up. No, I don't work for Paul but I really like his stuff.
After a while I'll switch them around so they are only a 2/1 drop in impedance, making my Forte IIs like 4-ohm speakers to my SE84C+ and hear what that sounds like. Kind of like tube swapping - the new hookup really has a different sound and feel.
BTW, I have owned Atma-Sphere OTL tube preamp and monoblock amps, and I sold them because I didn't "feel" the music. Clean and nice, but not all there. I have to say that already, after only a day Decware blows them away.
I also have a ClearAudio Emotion turntable with Benz Ace MC cartridge, which I'm not playing now because I need a good phono preamp (My CJ PV-12 preamp has a built-in phono pre), so of course I'll need a Decware ZP3 with MC step-up transformer. And then perhaps a ZCD CD player, as well as full range speakers (eventually), but for now I'm really liking what I'm hearing, a LOT.
Thanks Steve!
Gary
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