Making baby steps into Hi-fi

[prem]

Hi Jai 1611

Maybe it is because I think Maarga uses active crossover whereas Trishna is passive

 

[Naturelover]

@Prem
When you got your Saadhanas, did you audition the Maargas or the Trishnas? What is your opinion? How would you compare all three? Would you go a step further and also comment upon them paired with Lyrita against Gaanam?

 

[hydra]

Thanks Jai! In terms of tone and texture, I personally prefer the Trishnas too! But in terms of scale of presentation, I like the Maargas more.

I've also always preferred the way the Maargas sounded in a friend's house (live room, lots of glass, zero treatment) than they did in the Studio (with the same amp & speaker cables but different source, interconnects, etc). This is a personal opinion, and not necessarily applicable to everybody. I haven't listened to the Trishnas or the Saadhanas in a home environment (I've only listened to them at the Studio) yet.

 

[prem]

Hi Naturelover

I went for the Saadhanas directly. I prefer the Gaanams over the stock Lyritas with the Saadhanas

 

[Naturelover]

Thanks Prem
How about your Lyritas or any other modding against the Gaanams? How different are they from the stock version?

 

[prem]

With the upgraded transformers I prefer the Lyrita over the Gaanam. But the cost also increases dramatically when you upgrade the transformers. It goes up by nearly six times

 

[apk]

Congratulations Hydra on your new speakers! Those are some really 'special' speakers - and good looking to boot too. Nice choice of color. I've always wanted to hear the Rethms with the new drivers (have heard the older version Sadhanas at FM Jai1611's place).

Do post in your throughs on the speakers once you get them into your listening space. I will be interested to hear your amplifier pairing journey with these speakers!

If you do not mind sharing, how much did the speakers cost you? You can tell us the retail price on them incase you do not want to discuss any discounts.

Best,
APK

 

[himadri]

Headroom?
efficiency-95db/m/w
89db at 2m
at 8ft listening distance -say 88db
adding room gain-say 90db for 1watt of power at listening position.

considering 88 db max at listening position required as indicated in earlier post(quite high)+ 15 db headroom for instantaneous loud passages-88+15=103db required at listening position.
So
At listening position -
90db-1w
93db-2w
96db-4w
99db-8w
102db-16watts
103db-20w say

so around 15 to 20 watts may be required for 15db headroom and max 88db at listening position as indicated by Hydra.

cheers

 

[heliumflight]

The Math sure did bring things in perspective.

So I think, the only 2 SET options we have are:-

• GM70
• 845

 

[hydra]

Thank you, apk! The amplifier choice seems to be a far more difficult path for me to tread heh heh!

himadri, thanks for the effort! Funny enough, I was doing the same just a bit back, albeit with an online calculator, heh heh (I'm really bad at math). I also made a (dumb) mistake when I said 88db max at the listening position. I measured again just now, and it is 82dB peak. The loudness range at my usual listening volume being mostly 75db to 82db, as measured with an Android App.



With that:

Distance from speakers: 2.5m (actually it's 2.2m, but the calculator doesn't like that figure, and I might move to a slightly big room in a while).
Desired Loudness at listening point: 82dB
Speaker sensitivity: 95dB/w/m
Desired headrooom: 15dB

This results in the required amplifier power to be 10 watts

If I reduce the "Desired headroom" to 10dB, the power requirement falls to 3 watts. A 10dB increase is a doubling of loudness at listening level, so is that a more realistic headroom figure? Folks, do comment.

Even if I go by the first scenario, I think a 10wpc amp should do, right? That should make the 6C33C an option.

 

[rikhav]

Anup

Why not the GM70 or 845 tubed based amps?

I have no experience but just asking you since these tubes can make high powered SET

 

[prem]

No the 845 is not a great option for the Rethms. I have had the Dehavilland 845s. The agility is simply not there. Also noise levels are higher. Ideally for 97 db you need 10 watts. Which is why the Gaanam has been developed. Alternatively the RWA signature 16 or the First Watt F3 are also good options

 

[prem]

The 6C33C is the ideal SET tube for the Trishnas. It is linear. But it is difficult to develop a SET amp with this tube. The only successful ones are LAMM and Almarro. The Gaanam is also very good.

 

[rikhav]

The 6C33C is the ideal SET tube for the Trishnas. It is linear. But it is difficult to develop a SET amp with this tube. The only successful ones are LAMM and Almarro. The Gaanam is also very good.

Hi Prem
Did your Rethm amp have same 6c33C tubes?

 

[prem]

No Rikhav. It had the vintage Tungsol 6550 tubes

 

[theironhorse]

huge upgrade from the psb+nad ... congrats..

must be a big hole in pocket ...

 

[Naturelover]

The 6C33C is the ideal SET tube for the Trishnas. It is linear. But it is difficult to develop a SET amp with this tube. The only successful ones are LAMM and Almarro. The Gaanam is also very good.

Do you mean that the Gaanam is not successful? This is a genuine q and not rhetorical. I am rather at sea with tube electronics.

 

[prem]

The problem with the 6C33c tube is the amps are not very stable and can fail. Almarro too had problems with their initial lot. Only LAMM has been hugely successful but their amp costs a bomb. In excess of 20000 USD. There are very few Gaanams. And that too largely with those owning the Rethm speakers. So cannot really comment about them

 

[prem]

Just checked the LAMM pricing. It's 37000 USD

 

[rikhav]

That's 22 lacs, 94 thousand Indian rupees

Cheap?

hyeah:hyeah:hyeah: