2. amps-preamps
  3. 187516-156806

FYI There is no "Upgraded" or "V2" Willsenton R8

Some have said the R8 had been upgraded so I contacted China hifi.

I just received this email from China Hifi:

 

The R8 tube amplifier has never launched an MKII version, and has kept its original model and performance parameters unchanged. The factory has not made any major adjustments to the performance and circuitry of the R8.

The performance and sound characteristics of the R8 amplifier remain original. The factory will not change the model without public notice. The MKII version circulating on the market is purely misinformation.

We will maintain communication with the factory. If there is indeed a major upgrade or revision of R8 in the future, we will notify you in time. Thank you for your understanding and support. If you still have any questions, you can contact us at any time.

Willsenton Audio Factory and China-hifi-Audio

chedga

Showing 1 response by tedhersh

tedhersh
1 posts
 

Well, here we are in April and this is the information on Amazon about the R8 (seller is Tube AmplyStore).

Description 


Currently sold in the United States is the Latest Model updated in December 2023. 
Currently sold in Canada comes with a 115/230V power switch selector.Due to storage capacity limitations, we are temporarily unable to send the Latest Model to Canada warehouse. Please choose to ship from TubeAmplifier ST got the Latest Model. 
Features 
Pure hand-made, the whole machine is welded with scaffolding. 
Use a square power transformer specially developed for this machine. 
The output transformer uses two high quality wideband EI output transformers. 
The voltage amplification and boost stage uses a 6SN7 for power supply filtering. 
The voltage amplification stage and the push stage use two pairs of 6SL7 and 6SN7 tubes, respectively. 
The rear stage uses four KT88/6550/EL34 tubes for class AB push-pull power amplification. 
Triode and ultra-linear selection are available. 
External independent BIAS-ADJ current display header. 
External EL34/KT88 tube selection function, easy to replace different types of tubes, adding endless fun. 
Infrared full-featured remote control. 
Use thick silver plated signal leads. 
With pure post-level function, it can be connected to independent preamplifier signal input. 
Power on mute delay function (about 30 seconds). 
Select Japanese ALPS high-end motor potentiometer. 
Easy-to-install plug-in tube shield. 

Product parameters: 
Frequency effect: 10Hz 40kHz (+/-0.5db) 
Total harmonic distortion: 1% (1kHz) 
Signal to noise ratio: 91dB 
Input sensitivity: 380mv (when Integrated amp input) 820mv (when pure power amp input) 
Input impedance: 100KΩ 
Output impedance: 4Ω, 8Ω 
Power supply voltage: 230V ± 5% (50Hz/60Hz) ~ 115V ± 5% (50Hz/60Hz) 
Machine volume (400*203*390) (W*H*D) mm 
Use vacuum tube: 6SN7*3.6SL7*2.KT88*4/6550EH*4/EL34*4 
Power consumption: 310W 
Net weight: 26kg 
Rated output power: 
25W+25W (RMS triode working state) 
45W+45W (RMS ultra-linear working state) (KT88) 
25W+25W (RMS triode working state) 
40W+40W (RMS ultra-linear working state) (EL34)

Features & details 

  • The model currently on sale is the New Model upgraded in December 2023.
  • One amplifier can used wiht tube EL34, KT88 or 6550, so, you can get 3 kinds of sound from different models tubes. The default matching tubes of this machine is KT88. If you need another 2 new sets of tube, please purchase in addition. There is a Red selection button on the Back of the amp to switch.
  • Can be used as an Integrated amplifier, power amplifier or Headphone amplifier. Pure hand-made, the whole machine is welded with scaffolding.
  • Triode and ultra-linear selection are available, which can be switched by the button on the amplifier. With a remote control,Vacuum tube protective cover,Fuse and an English manual.
  • We recommend that you spend 100-300 hours to RUN-IN this amplifier to get a better sound. Generally, you could get a better and stable sound after 100 hours, and you could get the best sound after accumulating more than 300 hours.

As you can see, the R8 was updated in December 2023. The description clearly states “New model”. What this means I don’t know, but there it is. 

More to discover