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Re: Another question for Gary

Francois -

Good question, and one I can't really answer. I built the 6EM7 amp long after the DC-Darling and after a modest audition at home I dragged it to work. It's been there for over a year now. I've never listened to the pair side-by-side.

That said, the DC-Darling has very low output - unless you have a small room and efficient speakers you won't be pleased. I was playing with a new (to me) HP 334A distortion analyzer and the DC-Darling 2 nights ago. It measures < 0.02 distortion at .5 watt, but the distortion skyrockets at .65 watts and the amp is in hard clipping at .75 watts.

As to the Compactron/Octal question. Both the 6FM7 (12 pin) and 6GF7 (Novar) appear identical to the 6EM7 on paper. The 9 pin 6FD7 is also very similar.

I'm not that impressed with the "all compactrons are garbage" philosophy. The Damper diodes are superb. Sockets are a bit harder to locate perhaps. I just bought a few 6FM7's and will try them out someday. I think audiophiles just shun anything that is common...



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  • Re: Another question for Gary - Gary Kaufman 06/24/0316:07:12 06/24/03 (0)


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