Anyone here compare the F* (F1~F5) to DHT single ended tube amp and what is your take on it. Is it good enough to forget about all the hassle that associate with tubes (can't listen to it and fall to sleep without worry that tube amp would burn down the house, re tubes every so often, heating up the house, etc....). Thank you in advance.
F or T?
Being a tube man myself, with the 45 my personal flame, and having reviewed all the F amps and lived with the F4 and F5 since then...
all I can say is that with two Yamamoto SETs (45 and 300B), a Woo Audio SET (300B), Fi SET monos (2A3), Ancient Audio SET monos (6C33C) all staring at me on the side lines, it's the F5 I listen to mostly these days - on the same speakers the tube amps would otherwise drive.
It's not the same sound, exaxtly. But it's very much the same spirit if that makes sense. With the F5 being my favorite so far, it has better resolution which is particularly useful at low levels, it's quieter (linked to resolution of course), has better bass control and separation. What the F amps don't have is that texture/wetness thing nor the propensity for certain SET of the tube sort to artificially highlight or extricate soloists from the background.
But as you hinted at - no tube issues with aging or dying at inopportune moments and after warm-up (somewhere around 30 - 40 minutes to my ears), the F amps will always sound the same until they die - which will be well after I'm gone.
Since none of the Fs are integrated, you can always run a tube preamp for flavor. Simply look at the amp's input impedance to determine whether that would make a good match.
Being a tube man myself, with the 45 my personal flame, and having reviewed all the F amps and lived with the F4 and F5 since then...
all I can say is that with two Yamamoto SETs (45 and 300B), a Woo Audio SET (300B), Fi SET monos (2A3), Ancient Audio SET monos (6C33C) all staring at me on the side lines, it's the F5 I listen to mostly these days - on the same speakers the tube amps would otherwise drive.
It's not the same sound, exaxtly. But it's very much the same spirit if that makes sense. With the F5 being my favorite so far, it has better resolution which is particularly useful at low levels, it's quieter (linked to resolution of course), has better bass control and separation. What the F amps don't have is that texture/wetness thing nor the propensity for certain SET of the tube sort to artificially highlight or extricate soloists from the background.
But as you hinted at - no tube issues with aging or dying at inopportune moments and after warm-up (somewhere around 30 - 40 minutes to my ears), the F amps will always sound the same until they die - which will be well after I'm gone.
Since none of the Fs are integrated, you can always run a tube preamp for flavor. Simply look at the amp's input impedance to determine whether that would make a good match.
xecluded said:
Xecluded, are you thinking of building or buying one? If you build, then swapping from one model to the next is a matter of building new output modules, and small power supply changes, if any.
I've listened to all F amps minus the F1, the F3 is still on the bench so hasn't been totally evaluated in my system.
I can say for sure the F5 is a very capable amplifier on any number of fairly sensitive speakers I have heard it. It's control over detail in space is very good (including low end). Does it add molasses to the signal?, nope, but it does provide a slightly warm touch and is what I would say a very high resolution amplifier. If I had to recommend one, that would be it.
Nelson Pass said:I think it would be helpful if people would identify whether they
have the commercial product or DIY when they comment on the
sound of the amps. The commercial product is the only one that
I can reference to as a known commodity.
Sure, mine are DIY, the commercial stuff surely looks AND is tuned better.
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