S.E.X. 2/3

[keto]

Hey all, just finished the 2nd of 3 S.E.X. kits. I had built another one before, so now I've got 3 under my belt. A couple of times I started to mutter "you gotta be kidding" (installing o-rung octal sockets and the PSU caps).... and then remembered the trick. I'm a really slow builder, but after having completed quite a few kits it seems like they are looking better and better below-decks. Lets see.... an FP2, Paramour, FP3, 3 S.E.X., 2 seductions and a Paramount: 9 kits to date. The pic isn't much to look at, its the (4 ohm) orange one, rolled into where the (8 ohm) yellow one was before, working >300hz. Next step is to employ the orange one 300-1200hz and the yellow one >1200hz. One of the things I like about the BH kits is the great design, realized with (sometimes) modest components. For example, I will put in the C4S upgrades and maybe the MQ iron upgrade on the S.E.X. amps, but in the meantime I find the sound with resistor-loaded driver and the Speco OPT's quite amazing, like its not really missing anything at all. --keto

[porcupunctis]

Keto, I love the red and yellow touches of color on the transformers. 

There is nothing wrong with building slow.  The slow build gets done a lot quicker in the end and will last a lot longer.  You only get to build it once, so you might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

Thanks for sharing, nice setup.

[keto]

And now, tri-amped or "with tone controls" :-)

[zs1962]

Keto, you read my mind using the S.E.X. with paramounts... looks great !
How does it fit sonically? What output impedance did you set?
Did anyone try both, foreplay and S.E.X. with the paramounts and can share the sonic experience ?
Ze'ev

[keto]

Hey Ze'ev, I think it all depends on the power one might need at some point. I picked up 3 S.E.X. kits for experimentation with multi-amping. Great sound, dead quiet, portable, stereo volume control for dialing things in -- an ideal platform. First iteration in-progress is the Paramounts on 95dB bass bins, up to 300hz, S.E.X. amp on the 106dB 2-ohms mids (here, I might use an amp on each side), and a S.E.X. amp on the 97-ish dB tweeters above 1200hz. Then, If I ever get a PP300B amp built, that will go on the bass bins and the Paramounts will go on the tweeters. In terms of sonics, the Paramount always sounds a little better -- and it has 4x the power. Another consideration is that the Magnequest upgrade path has a similar cost for either. What's the rest of your system look like? I just re-read your post. You mean the S.E.X. as a pre-amp? Never tried that!

[zs1962]

Hey Keto, I now understand what you do ***** ! and yes, I thought you run the SEX as a pre and that was my question.
I had 25w 300b pp IconAudio MB25 (minoblocks) driving AudioPhysic Virgo 3 with great sonic results for ~8 years. Unfortunately a fatal failure in an output transformer (parasitic capacity) made me giving these amps up and I took a SS (Hegel H70) amp. When comparing the sound it did well however with time I do not really enjoy it and I plan to take the paramounts, hoping they will drive my 90db Audio Physics well.
Since this will be a start of an experimental period I thought to use the SEX as a pre amp with the paramounts and to benefit the extra features it has, e.g. second amp, headphones jack, silence (?).
In parallel, I consider moving to high efficiency speakers and currently look at Hawthorne (any experience with them ?). What you are doing actually opened my mind for even more flexibility and experimenting options with the Hawthorne OB drivers . It would be great if you could try the SEX as a pre... You are a 'pluging' away from it... The only point that Dan raised is to be careful with the volume on the SEX, not to overdrive the Paramounts.
I did not find any threads on this option and BH didn't put the SEX in the pre amp slot ! So such an experiment might add value to the SEX and to the general view on the product...
Regards,
Ze'ev