Used to have Paramours, feeling the Bottle head itch again

[Leftie Gunner]

So, as the title says, I built, and loved, a pair of Paramours back in the mid-2000s. Used them to drive PSB 600is in a condo... and even with the 88 dB efficiency, I adored the sound.

So, it's been several years, my life and the Bottlehead lineup have both changed dramatically, and I'm feelin that SET jones.

What I have now are Klipsch Synergy F1 (2-way floorstanders, 93 dB) driven by a Denon receiver. Sources are a cheap - ass Audio-Technica turntable that I got for 25 bucks at the thrift store here in Eureka, CA... and my phone.

I'm living in an upstairs in-law apartment with a 9'x10' living room. I listen to everything. I mean everything. Black Sabbath to Bach to Bela Fleck... sometimes in that order.

Given how much I loved my Paramours, but also considering my small room and the almighty dollar, will I love the S.E.X. 3.0, or should I wait even longer for the Stereomour?

--Shannon

[Paul Joppa]

It's hard to predict how another person might react to an amp, so I won't try.

Both have better iron than your old Paramour - deeper and cleaner bass, mostly. On the other hand, SEX has about twice the distortion of Stereomour. With SEX, I imagine you would get a similar quality to what you had with the Paramours and old speakers - the better iron but greater tube distortion might balance each other, and your more efficient speakers will compensate for the lower power of the SEX.

With Stereomour, you would hear the better iron and get greater loudness, at the same low distortion as your old Paramours. It is also extensively upgradeable, which SEX is not.