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"If we look behind us with the intention of explaining the interaction of basic knowledge and experience in building SE amplifiers, it becomes very obvious that this story in most cases has no predictable results. So sometime it's difficult to give answers to some questions while other answers can be readily found in basic theory and recognized technical standards. Our reference amplifier was born with many difficulties as it was to represent a fusion of technical performance and audiophile requirements. Concept and design are fully in accordance with our philosophy as mentioned in our earlier correspondences for your The Experience One review. The two tube rectifiers are a consequence of the higher current consumption in our input stage ( 40-50mA was the designated value) since we wanted very strong driving force for the two paralleled 300Bs. With the small help of an EZ81, we ensure that the 5U4G is loaded below 200mA, important for long life and fault-free operation with minor influence on the final sound.


"When you have drivers with small input resistance, very big and extremely expensive coupling capacitor become necessary (see Crystal Cap for example). But it's still impossible to minimize the unwanted effects of grid current in overload conditions where an interstage transformer can offer some advantages. Our job was to use those advantages for maximum performance. In that process, two interstage transformers by quality producers were tested and gave us good technical results. However, sonics were below our expectations, becoming the main reason why we began this adventure of our own interstage transformer. Of course we don't want to say that our transformer is categorically better than those we tested. Ours was simply designed to best fit our given circuit topology. That's all. Its 1:1 ratio is not unique but offers the desired balance of sound and performance. We experimented also with added gain and ratios below 1 but without any significant benefits. This particular work will be continued in the future and may have some influence on concepts for new products."