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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
2psyop's avatar
2psyop
1,832 posts
 

I have only had a Line magnetic 216i and not the others. I had see a lady technician on YouTube who stated a Willsenton amp has a design flaw that is critical. She offered a fix but I don’t recall which model. Skunkie Designs.  I went with a US dealer who stated LM Audio would back any part or design failures and I had a transformer fail after about 5 years that the company fixed. I wouldn’t buy from a Chinese dealer.

bannon OP
4 posts
 

Thanks for the feedback. Who was the dealewr?

chenry's avatar
chenry
269 posts
 

I have the Willsenton R8, the model modified in the series on Skunkie Designs Electronics Youtube channel. The "critical" mod is a bias board pot resistor bypass to prevent a potentiometer wiper failure leaving the circuit wide open and causing the power tubes to red-plate and cause further downstream damage to the output transformers. The R8 is a KT88 push-pull design. The R800i is a SET design IIRC with an 805 triode transmitter tube as the power tube, one per channel. Willsenton makes two variants, the other using an 845 tube with slightly lower power output.

bannon OP
4 posts
 

Thanks. Are you happy with your R8? Anything interesting about the sound or build quality?

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