Art Audio Carissa vs deHavilland 845 tube amps

Hello,

I do not know where you got your information about the dehavilland 845 amps being "apparently somewhat veiled".
I have heard them in several systems, and in no instance did they ever "veil" the music. They pleasantly resolved details in recordings that I didn't know where there!

I haven't heard the Carissa amps, so I can't comment on those, but I suggest that you take a good listen to the deHavillands.

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

Ah, my post popped up : ) The question of is the deHavilland "veiled" was an unfortunate one based on reading only a few comments. I have heard many times after this post that they are not veiled at all. I will soon hear one of the deHavilland Ios amps and I'll report back my experience.

I've never heard an Art Audio amp, but the deHavilland 845s I had were lovely, especially with the new Shuguang 845B tubes. I'm not one of those who is thrilled with the 845 sound however, but my local dealer is. When I asked him to sell the deHavillands for me, he took one listen and promptly traded me his Canary preamp for them. He's still thrilled 6 weeks later. They're seriously butch amps, just as bit too romantic and bloomy for me.

I own the deHavilland GM 70 amps. I have a local dealer who carries Art Audio-I listend to the Jota BX connected to the same speakers I bought from him. I can't say there is any difference. They both sound absolutely great. I loved dealing with George and Kara at dehavilland. A great company

I can't compare the Carissa and the Ios. But I have th deHavilland UltraVerve and the Art Audio Carissa.

I just wanted to say that the music this combo makes is amazing. Dynamic, smooth with unbelievable resolution. The soundstage is top notch.

If you gat a chance, listen to what these companies are creating.

Also, Joe Fratus at Art Audio and Kara and George at deHavilland are wonderful. The customer service and support from these companies are second to none.

Cheers

I ended up with the deHavilland Ios partly because they are local. It is simply an incredible amp! I've not heard the Art Audio. The Ios offers dynamics, deep, tight bass, and the energy and emotion of the performance really flows through. I use it as an integrated and I have the stepped attenuator (one note on this: the first step of the attenuator in my small room is quite loud even with my 88 db speakers, though my CDP has high output). I've dealt with Kara and George a few times and it's refreshing to see such talented, professional and friendly business people. When the amp was first ready they hand delivered it and we listened to music and talked audio for over an hour. Nice foilks!

I recommend the 845B tubes from supertnt.com. One of mine went microphonic and I'm trying to get a new pair from them right in the middle of Chinese new year. Right now I'm using the stock 845 tubes and though good the 845B is better.

Budrew:
Have you tried the 845M? I have heard it is quite good.

Nope, I have not tried it. There was some discussion on the Asylum of whether amps would have to be retrofitted to use it and this may or may not be true but I don't know enough to know if it is and try it. The 845B is good enough for me. I'm not much of a tube roller. But that's a nice thing about the 845 tube, that there simply aren't very many of them available so it's easier to tube roll and find the one you prefer.