Art Audio Carissa vs deHavilland 845 tube amps


Has anyone compared the Art Audio Carissa and the deHavilland 845-based amps? Both appear to be very dynamic and musical amps, but the deHavilland is apparently somewhat veiled in terms of detail. I understand there several current production 845 tubes now available. These would be driving 88 db speakers with a tube-friendly flat 4 ohm load. I would appreciate any inputs on these products. Thanks.
budrew

Showing 1 response by thom_y

I spent a few hours listening to the dehavilland 845's with a Hovland preamp, Naim CDS3 CDP, and Von Schweikert VR4jrs a few days ago. I would hardly say they were veiled, although perhaps I could have used their larger GM70's for some music to generate greater volume. I was generally very impressed with the stock tubes, but I understand that some Chinese 845B tubes can dramatically increase the amp's potential: I found the midrange very detailed and a dramatic improvement over the Pass X350.

Tube rolling with the 845B from Shuguang