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I need to finish posting in this thread as the subject of this thread is practically over. Still, here are a few comments that I would like to make.

A few years back, driving the S2 with 6C33C I was pitching the harder loading, trying to damp the S2 resonances with 3c33c PLATE. The last month with my DHT I obviously went to opposite direction. Do not forget that the plate of my DHT does not see the S2 driver and loaded to 16R LPAD. I discard the changing out impedance of LPAD as the S2 has no exertion and therefore no returning current.

One of my major fears that I had is to over-idle the plate, making sound to barbarically-impressive. I do have some signs of it with 2A3 as my 25:1 is too low load for it. With RE604, 45 and YO186 that have higher plate impedance the 9.5K looks like absolutely perfect load (in my situation). The driver has the very right amount of “zippiness” and “color” where it needs to be “zippy” and “colorful” but it turns very disinterested and almost monotonously-flat when the music is called upon.  I made quite a few control listening and I am very pleased with result. I think if I take a few more turn from the transformer secondary then it will be too light load and it will “fracture” the sound.

Now is the most important thing. The high contact and high transient capacity of the new MF driver kind of cracked down the imaging. However, here is what the wonder of the very capable MF drivers come to surface: the imaging might be moderated by…. attenuation of MF level.  Get this: an attenuation for 2.5dB of MF driver is practically not auditable in term of volume but it useful in order to settle down the proper imaging. Here is where a very few smart readers who have ears and an experience in systems setup would say: Romy over-idled the MF out tube if the change of volume for 2.5dB is not auditable. Well, trust me – I am an academic in it: I did not over-idled the plate – it is the unique benefits of S2 driver by soft tube. For whatever reason the S2 now does not dive into “collision mode”, it go very fast and super transient but still holding the sound together with no artifact of  the typical under-loaded plate. I do not know what is responsible for this: the special quality of my DHT of the special character of the David Slagle’s Nickel transformer? I have no idea but I certainly very welcome the results…

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