I just finished my S.E.X. amp a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to say how much I enjoyed the project. I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron, but have never built anything like this before. I found the kit very well thought-out with excellent instructions. My resistance and voltage readings were quite far off on one of the channels, but a quick call to the good folks at Bottlehead helped me diagnose and correct the problem. Dan quickly traced the problem down to a one of the small wires on a choke plate that somehow got severed. A little dab of solder and all my test values became normal.
After a quick test with my bench speakers (an old pair of Minimus 7s), I hooked the S.E.X. amp to my Zu Omens that we've had breaking in for a few weeks now. Source was a Benchmark DAC1 USB fed by a MacBook pro via USB.
How does it sound? Just amazing. Through sheer luck, I seem to have stumbled onto a very good speaker match for the S.E.X. amp. As a comparison, we had been running in the Omens with a new Bel Canto C5i integrated. Now, the C5i is a fine little integrated DAC/PRE/AMP, but in all honesty the Omens sound quite noticeably better with the S.E.X. amp. The first thing that jumped out at us compared to the Bel Canto, was the increased bass response and more extended highs. The S.E.X. amp just sounded fuller and more enjoyable to my ears than the Bel Canto, which is no slouch in its own right.
In our family room, which is around 15'x15' with an adjoining kitchen, the Omens will reach an almost uncomfortable SPL with the volume turned to the 3 o'clock position with most modern recordings. I don't really have the audiophile vocabulary to describe how good things like Keb Mo's "Slow Down" sounds with this amp/speaker combination. It's just fantastic. The Omens play all sorts of music beautifully, but they excel with rock, roots, blues and things like that. Vocals are full, forward and big on the Omens. It is simply amazing to me that this kind of sound can be had for such a relatively low cost.
On my way back from Canyonlands a couple months ago, I stopped by Ogden, Utah and paid the guys at Zu Audio a visit. I spent several hours talking to their founder, Sean Casey, who enthusiastically described their ideas about audio and their products. The Zu Audio crew is clearly in it for the love of music and hi fi. The, design, quality and finish of their speakers is outstanding.
So if you've built a S.E.X. amp and are looking for speakers or are contemplating a build a wondering what speakers will sing on just 2.5 watts, give the guys at Zu Audio a call. Bottlehead and Zu are a great match. Next project for me will be the Paramount monoblocks!
