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Paramours and Foreplay

This is the Paramour kit from The Bottlehead Corporation. It is a 2A3 based SET with parallel feed output. I only vaguely know what that means, but I was able to build it and have it work first try. Such simplicity implies a simple topology and short signal paths, which is always good. Output power is around 3.5 watts, which drives my s8 speakers quite confidently. Of course I could stand a bit more power but the sweetness of the Paramours makes up for that.

I built the kit with only slight modifications. I built mirrored pairs which is easy to do if you number the terminals correctly. I had to sand down the top plates though because they have a different finish on each side and I wanted them to look the same. The instructions tell you to use the offcuts from the transformers for a few internal connections, but I used Radio Shack solid copper wire instead, having heard enough about braided wire to stay away from it when possible. Of course there is a great deal of braided wire in the transformer leads so I am not able to get snobby and claim 100% solid wire. I used IEC sockets instead of the supplied power cord and used toggle switches instead of the supplied rocker switch. The hole for the rocker was large and rectangular so I got a toggle with a huge aluminum on/off label washer and used that to span the rectangular hole. I then used the most versatile adhesive known to man - hot glue - to hold it in place. I love hot glue.

Binding posts are MCM 50-4455 with upgraded hardware. While gold plated brass may be a good conductor, it is crap for nuts and bolts. I usually try to replace the nuts with standard galvanized or stainless steel nuts preferably with more threads, especially on binding posts which will try to spin if they aren't nice and tight.

These things sound great - that is about all I can say. I expected them to have fantastic midrange, but suffer in the bass department and maybe have lots of hum or some other drawback, but instead they do everything a solid state amp does well (quick, tight bass, plenty of bandwidth, more headroom than 3.5 watts would indicate) with the addition of that indescribable tube-ness that just makes it flow. Also, this amp/speaker combo is *quick* - unexpected transients are actually startling, and that is certainly something I would not have expected from tubes. The difference between tubes and transistors reminds me most of the difference between vinyl and CD - if done right they are both quite nice, but by nature vinyl is subjectively superior. Tubes share that same subjective superiority.

With my foreplay/paramour/s8 system I sure have a lot of Bottlehed equipment, and I was trying to decide why I like thier stuff so much. I think it is because they design equipment that is almost totally bullshit free. The components used are not exotic and snobby boutique components because they don't need to be. The designs are based not on computer modeling, extensive mathematical hoey, but on trial and error. The sound is what maters, not the THD or the power rating or the frequency response or wnatever. All that really matters is the sound, and that makes thier stuff not only afforable but that blend of elegant and anti-establishment. I am tempted to make an analogy to punk rock and say that Bottlehead is the Sonic Youth or the Talking Heads of audio gear or something, but I won't.

Interconnects are MCM 50-2130 teflon insulated RCA jacks on either end of a single twisted pair of teflon insulated (plenum grade) CAT-5 22AWG solid copper inside 1/4" polyethylene tubing. The compression fitting on these RCA jacks works so well on the tubing that I am quite confident that I could hang from one if I were able to hold onto the RCA jack. Heavy duty for sure.