2. amps-preamps
  3. 194637-205947

Cayin, Line Magnetic, and Willsenton with 805 Feedback

I am considering one of the following integrated amplifiers and I'm looking for feedback from others familiar with these amplifiers or have experience with the brands. We listen to a wide variety of music but classic rock and jazz are at the top of our listening list and our speakers are vintage JBL L100s. I'm familiar with the PrimaLuna 300i so any comparisons to it will be appreciated. I am interested in how well it sounds, it's build quality, reliability, and anything else you think is noteworthy. The manufacturers are Cayin, Line Magnetic, and Willsenton so do you have feedback on them?

The amplifiers are:

  • Cayin CS-805A
  • Line Magnetic LM-805ia
  • Willsenton R800i with 805 tubes

Thanks in advance for your help.

bannon

Showing 2 responses by atlvalet

atlvalet
58 posts
 

I have no experience with the Cayin or the Line Magnetic, but I do own an R800i that I’ve had modified by Scott Frankland (had a 300B tube blow and the amp wouldn’t biasing correctly). Here’s a cut and paste of a post I made on StereoNet:

"Sent my amp to Scott Frankland (https://scottfrankland.com/) to give it a look over since I had a 300B tube blow and it wouldn’t bias properly. For any unfamiliar with Scott, he’s the "F" in the old MFA preamps including the Luminescense and the Reference, both of which have cult-like status with some. In short, he’s a very experienced circuit designer/tech.

He is upgrading the caps to VCap ODAMs and we switched out a bunch of resistors.

He also saw there was a design issue...there are no bypass caps on the plate voltage nodes near the tubes. Scott said since the two channels share the same nodes, it’s especially important that these nodes are bypassed."

Scott also added more capactiance to help battle hum, as he thought what was there wasn't enough. I do really like the R800i and consider it a keeper as I’m kinda over going down the new gear rabbit hole ATM. The R800i is in a different league than the R8, and I liked my R8.
 

atlvalet
58 posts
 

To be clear, these were the two design issues Scott found with the R800i:

• The lack of bypass caps on the shared plate voltage nodes (major)

• Lack of enough filtration for hum (minor)

The mods Scott performed were (in addition to the design issues):

• Upgraded caps (VCap ODAM)
• Upgraded resistors to 1% values (from ~3% with stock)
• Lowered bias so it was within range to be adjusted (had wandered out of spec)

Amp sounds better than ever IMO, but these issues should be made known. Lots of talk on the R8 (re: Skunkie Designs), less on the R800i.

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