Hi everyone, just thought I would mention further comments regarding the monolith and muse coil transformers. First and foremost, the specs for the monolith were 5K primary : 8 ohm. The Muse Coil OPTs are 9K : 8ohm. So, different specs = optimized for different tubes and circuits. Therefore comparing apples to apples is difficult.
All said, I have owned PT, IT, Chokes and OPTs from monolith. Same for Muse Coils. I have mixed and matched in the same amp. Now, my next comments are very dependent upon your circuit, tubes, over-all system and listening preferences. So, if you need to add some top end air and sparkle, the Monolith nano SX-11 is really good. Whereas the Muse Coil is more lifelike, realistic and earthy. Imagine a peaty single malt (muse coil) compared to a Russian vodka (Monolith). One is heavy, earthy and warms the soul. The Muse Coil products are voiced (yes, all products have a voice and don't let anyone tell you differently) to be very realistic, rich, full bodied, extended (both top and bottom). I listen primary to violin and cello. Muse Coils work great with my setup. YMMV. Monolith also does a great job, but a different approach. Monolith is not as full bodied compared to the Muse. If you system needs more top end sparkle, then get Monolith.
My current monoblocks use Muse Coil PT, Chokes and OPT. I also use a Finemet input transformer.
I have for sale a pair of monolith filament transformers (6 secondaries each) if anyone is interested.
Also, I have a pair of PT, 4 chokes from Muse Coil that I am not using, as my current amps are SPUDs.
In the end, you can't go wrong with either Monolith or Muse Coils. I happen to like Muse better in my system and my ears and my musical tastes. YMMV.
All said, I have owned PT, IT, Chokes and OPTs from monolith. Same for Muse Coils. I have mixed and matched in the same amp. Now, my next comments are very dependent upon your circuit, tubes, over-all system and listening preferences. So, if you need to add some top end air and sparkle, the Monolith nano SX-11 is really good. Whereas the Muse Coil is more lifelike, realistic and earthy. Imagine a peaty single malt (muse coil) compared to a Russian vodka (Monolith). One is heavy, earthy and warms the soul. The Muse Coil products are voiced (yes, all products have a voice and don't let anyone tell you differently) to be very realistic, rich, full bodied, extended (both top and bottom). I listen primary to violin and cello. Muse Coils work great with my setup. YMMV. Monolith also does a great job, but a different approach. Monolith is not as full bodied compared to the Muse. If you system needs more top end sparkle, then get Monolith.
My current monoblocks use Muse Coil PT, Chokes and OPT. I also use a Finemet input transformer.
I have for sale a pair of monolith filament transformers (6 secondaries each) if anyone is interested.
Also, I have a pair of PT, 4 chokes from Muse Coil that I am not using, as my current amps are SPUDs.
In the end, you can't go wrong with either Monolith or Muse Coils. I happen to like Muse better in my system and my ears and my musical tastes. YMMV.
As @banpuku noted, the MinotauR has its specific signature and I deliberately designed it with such signature. I aimed for a feeling of dark background, holographic feeling, with a lot of thickness in tonality and involvement, including separation between similar tones, such as tracks with multiple voices, such as choirs. However, audio is subjective and one component cannot satisfy everyone's tastes. Compared with other brands, their tonality are closest to Tamuras. For those who prefer a more analytical, precise sound, I'd recommend Monolith or even Lundahls.
There is a customer who preferred the Monolith signature compared to the MinotauR. He's active on DIYaudio, I'd value his feedback on this topic.
P.S. I could develop brighter sounding, analytical series as well, but judging by the fact there are already such products on the market, there is probably no need to do so.
P.S.2. Sometimes, great results happen when transformers from different brands are mixed. For example, DHTRob sometimes mixes Tamura as input transformers, Tribute nanocrystalline autoformers, Monolith and Muse Coils to bring an interesting, balanced result.
There is a customer who preferred the Monolith signature compared to the MinotauR. He's active on DIYaudio, I'd value his feedback on this topic.
P.S. I could develop brighter sounding, analytical series as well, but judging by the fact there are already such products on the market, there is probably no need to do so.
P.S.2. Sometimes, great results happen when transformers from different brands are mixed. For example, DHTRob sometimes mixes Tamura as input transformers, Tribute nanocrystalline autoformers, Monolith and Muse Coils to bring an interesting, balanced result.
Not to hijack the thread but do you have any info on your amp? I'm especially interested in the 866 rectifier implementation.
TIA
Hi Raj, I to have tried many transformers C cores and EI core types ,M19, Amorphous , Finemet , HiB ,Super HiB , Nickel %50 and Mu Metal %78 , the Permalloy 50 Double C core I have with pure silver primary and secondaries is the most natural sounding I have owned , seems Kondo Ongaku 211 uses these and are highly regarded even if the 211 is a poor tube choice IMHO .
Hello everyone, I’m new here at diyAudio as a member, but I have been reading the threads for a few years. I’ve read through years of posts regarding OPT’s, Ale’s hybrid mu follower and Rod Coleman’s heater designs (currently building with both). I’m knees deep in choosing an OPT for my build of the 4P1L PSE with 6E6P-DR driver. I’ve essentially landed on either the Monolith Magnetics S-9 or SA-9. I’ve been persuaded by Bud Purvine’s post regarding poor E-field coupling in amorphous transformers and I have gotten the feeling that many of you have been as well. I know that andyjevans was particularly interested in the debate and I would love to hear his recent conclusions and everyone else’s! Does anyone know if Monolith was able to design away the E-field coupling nature of amorphous cores and do any of you feel as BudP? I think we all like this idea of not throwing away half of the signal “An M3 commercial core, properly constructed for audio purposes, will sound slightly softer than an Amorphous core transformer. There is after all more distortion, and when comparing 99.997% correct signals (Amorphous) with 99.993% correct signals (M3), this is what you should expect. However, there can be a great deal more internal information made available, for all musical signals, because you do not have to throw away half of the signal and the antenna event is actually encouraged during it's E Field portion.“ And also preserving “internal note structure and makes transient noises into musical events”. If I would loose depth and dimensionality for the sake of clarity, assuming these are common generalities of amorphous cores, I don’t know that it would be preferable. How can clarity be considered more correct than depth if sonic information is misplaced? Any thoughts or accounts of A/B-ing MM Summit vs Summit amorphous would be appreciated greatly! -Jedi
I can't help you with transformer theory - I just use them in builds. My NP Acoustics amorphous core 3.5K SE OPTs are undoubtledly the most detailed of the ones in my 4 amps. Having said that, I like my Sony Tamradio OPTs which I believe are part nickel. I'd say amorphous for detail but they are revealing rather than full and smooth. Depends what you put in front of them - I'd suggest something smooth and full, a 300b maybe. I wouldn't think amorphous was an ideal match for PSE 4P1L which are on the thinner side in the midrange. I moved on from PSE 4P1L - they were certainly good but not great. I can't suggest alternative OPTs - the Lundahls I've used were good but not great. I'd certainly be contacting Dave Slagle if I were in the USA and asking about nickel.
Monolith "S" (or Summit) series has SiFe, "SA" (or Amorph) series has amorphous core.
As S9 datasheet wrote: "Hi-grade SiFe grain oriented dual C-core".
SA9 has "Amorphous Metglas TM dual C-core".
The Metglas (probably 2605SA1 alloy) has higher permeability, saturates near 1.56T, earlier, than any Fe core, so theoretically lower primary induction available.
Lower Lp usually products higher "lower" -3dB point, so OPT seems a bit leaner in the bass, and brighter on the upper side (due to the core)
As S9 datasheet wrote: "Hi-grade SiFe grain oriented dual C-core".
SA9 has "Amorphous Metglas TM dual C-core".
The Metglas (probably 2605SA1 alloy) has higher permeability, saturates near 1.56T, earlier, than any Fe core, so theoretically lower primary induction available.
Lower Lp usually products higher "lower" -3dB point, so OPT seems a bit leaner in the bass, and brighter on the upper side (due to the core)
They quickly saturate with the DC quiescent current drawn by the S.E. output tube. E-I type cores are not as sensitive to that. I wonder if anyone makes a gapped toroidal core OPT. That could fly in that sort of application.
Hi jedibones, seems you have been reading a great deal about transformer cores and their influence on sound .
After a long journey through just about everything I settled on parafeed Nickel 78% (Mu Metal ) !
To me Amorphous from NP Acoustics ( not sure if they are still going ) and the Monster AMCC100 from Ongowoski sounded revealing but more Hifi than music and was more happier with M3 C core's than Amorphous , Nanocrystalline ( Metglass ) from General Transformers ( was Noguchi ) Japan was hyper detailed like a Naim SS amp on steroids and lacked bass both the FW24WS & FM=10WS-3525 are the models I used , the detail was immense but in the end not natural enough ie true to the original recording . Nickel seems very natural sounding to me preserving both the Timbre and voice of the original music .
I did try Permalloy Double C cores with pure Silver wire primary and secondary and parefeed %78 Nickle / copper wire both of these had the most natural sound for me both in correct timbre and dynamics .
The Silver Permalloy were expensive but nothing like Kondo Japan prices AKA Ongaku or the A/N UK custom price both very overpriced quick frankly and the 2A3 with efficient speakers much preferable to 1000v / DC trying to etch out decent Audio from a 211 transmission tube , we ditched ours years ago .
All the Japanese ones from Hashimoto and Tamura I tried let go in the lower registers ie Tamura F-913A and Hashimoto H-20-3,5U neither were flat to 20Hz and the H203S the bottom register was completely missing in action and yet a reviewer remarked on its good bass , go figure !
Ongowoski make a M23 Cold Rolled Silicon Steel transformer some call Super or Ultra HiB its a 3kg Double C core monster and had it custom wound , now this is a doozy and am more satisfied with it's sound than most other stuff I have tried other that parafeed Nickel or C core Silver and much cheaper than Audio Note for their offerings .
EI core HiB M23 I also like its a bit warmer in the mids than C cores which I found a tad cold in this department .
I have given up now on most of the Exotic metals now as a fad and an expensive one .
I spent many years in professional broadcasting , monitoring live audio on transmission and being recorded, including many live musicians in the field on Nagra's and Studer 870's has given me a little bit of an edge IMHO to correct timbre and dynamics of live and replayed audio and music .
After a long journey through just about everything I settled on parafeed Nickel 78% (Mu Metal ) !
To me Amorphous from NP Acoustics ( not sure if they are still going ) and the Monster AMCC100 from Ongowoski sounded revealing but more Hifi than music and was more happier with M3 C core's than Amorphous , Nanocrystalline ( Metglass ) from General Transformers ( was Noguchi ) Japan was hyper detailed like a Naim SS amp on steroids and lacked bass both the FW24WS & FM=10WS-3525 are the models I used , the detail was immense but in the end not natural enough ie true to the original recording . Nickel seems very natural sounding to me preserving both the Timbre and voice of the original music .
I did try Permalloy Double C cores with pure Silver wire primary and secondary and parefeed %78 Nickle / copper wire both of these had the most natural sound for me both in correct timbre and dynamics .
The Silver Permalloy were expensive but nothing like Kondo Japan prices AKA Ongaku or the A/N UK custom price both very overpriced quick frankly and the 2A3 with efficient speakers much preferable to 1000v / DC trying to etch out decent Audio from a 211 transmission tube , we ditched ours years ago .
All the Japanese ones from Hashimoto and Tamura I tried let go in the lower registers ie Tamura F-913A and Hashimoto H-20-3,5U neither were flat to 20Hz and the H203S the bottom register was completely missing in action and yet a reviewer remarked on its good bass , go figure !
Ongowoski make a M23 Cold Rolled Silicon Steel transformer some call Super or Ultra HiB its a 3kg Double C core monster and had it custom wound , now this is a doozy and am more satisfied with it's sound than most other stuff I have tried other that parafeed Nickel or C core Silver and much cheaper than Audio Note for their offerings .
EI core HiB M23 I also like its a bit warmer in the mids than C cores which I found a tad cold in this department .
I have given up now on most of the Exotic metals now as a fad and an expensive one .
I spent many years in professional broadcasting , monitoring live audio on transmission and being recorded, including many live musicians in the field on Nagra's and Studer 870's has given me a little bit of an edge IMHO to correct timbre and dynamics of live and replayed audio and music .
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