Line Magnetic 219ia vs Mc225

Charles, i didn't feel you were being argumentative with anyone. All is good!

mb1- My system was originally designed for home theatre and 2 channel but I have recently moved into a separate room to change things to a 2 channel only. Thus, my next move after these speakers is to get rid of the marantz for that very reason. The marantz is not a receiver/AV so to speak, but a pre. None the less, if has tons of video signal components, and will be replaced. Now as far as the sensitive cornwalls.. The most unbearable in this chain would be SS components in concern with the kt77 tweeter and ability of the horns to be shrill or overly bright with my previous SS amps.. I will be adjusting my components and sources further more. I have heard a line magnetic 216ia with lascalas recently and it was a nice sound and very listenable. Very dynamic and detailed.

Regards to trim pots and worries of signal noise. The line magnetics are right up there with the shindo’s in performance believe it or not. Charles1, thank you for your reply. This is the sort of supportive advice i was looking to extract. I am leaning towards the 219ia.

Steve Huff actually made the comment than he felt this 24 watt/channel SET amp drove his 86db sonus fabers better than the 300watt SS monos that he owned.. Obviously due to the high quality transformers and current flow through this amp. He felt this was the only set amp he had ever tried that he felt could almost drive virtually any speaker. We know there are limits to this statement, but it gets its point across.

Charles, i have read just that yup.  The Psvane's aren't terribly pricey from what I've seen, so thats nice. I have read that the tubes it comes with are 'alright', but that things sure do open up with this circuit with a swap of some higher quality tubes. If I shoot for the 219, i will run it with the stock tubes for a few months, and then swap others in, this way I am adapted to the current sound, and can really appreciate the improvements that the other tubes may yield.

Mb and charles i am valuing both of your inputs!   No arguments needed here!  The marantz will be replaced as the next priority.  Thus at this point i will be utilizing the integrated pre amp in the 219ia, and will be opting for a tube phono stage.

jperry- i was intending to use the phono stage in the marantz for a moment, to soon be replaced yes.

mb1, i do acknowledge your statements and realize that synergy between your equipment is vital. as far as the trimpots. i dont believe i could answer directly as to why they put trim pots on shindo amps. All i know is they are used for calibration.

Forum feedback is helpful, and taking some suggestions or input with a grain of salt, of course, needs to be done. I do like to hear input from others whom have experience with particular pieces, or are knowledgeable about their capabilities. 

migueca. I have considered this amp as well.. Had a dealer highly recommend the 508 as well.  I may take a drive in the next 2-3 days to listen to the 219 and 508...  

mbl. I see what you’re saying.. and I can’t dispute you, as it very well may create a lot of noise... I can say, I did listen to a line magnetic 216 loaded with gold lion kt88’s through 104 or 105db la scalas just 2 weeks ago and there was no hiss, hum, or unattractive noise what so ever. We listened to a variety of cd's as well as digital files.  Very detailed and beautiful imaging. It was a nice sound indeed. A local let me come by to hear it actually as I was considering his la scalas but have decided for cornwalls due to the 15" cone vs the folded horn bass.

Okay. I may arrange to have a listen to the 508 and 219 in the next 2 days in this case.. The closest retailer of the LM line did bring this model up on the phone, spoke very highly of it. I’ll have to see what my ears prefer.

That is why i mentioned the LM 210ia as well. 8 w/channel with 300Bs. A guy about 2 hours away has one available at the moment. It is more power than I would need surely. Tonally, Im clueless how it would compare to the 219 or 508 of course. 

Al. Yes they are 60's Cornwall 2's so I presume are the earlier version, so 100db. Good to know 

As mentioned above, I just listened to a line magnetic 216 through la scalas 2 weeks ago. It was dead quiet. 90% of ppl running cornwalls, and there is a tremendous amount individuals running them, run them with tube amps. There are hundreds of members on the klipsch boards running all sorts of pp and set amps with their cornwalls, without any unattractive and avoidable additional characteristics.

Oh i see. Your honing in on the quality of sound reproduction that I may actually yield, not the production of unwanted hiss, hum etc etc. Basically, youre saying that due to the up and downs and impedance dips of the cornwalls, it may hinder the sound.  

Might I ask you this then... Consider the pairing with a set of la scalas.  Would you mind giving me insight as to if the impedance curves created by this speaker would concern you as much as cornwalls would?  Thank you

Came across this.. LM219ia with cornwalls. NO you cannot decyfer truly, the sound in this room. For all I know it is recorded on a phone. However with the bit of audible discernance that is realistic with videos like this, it appears, that this sounds quite lovely.

https://youtu.be/wd1KrxUOaaE

Mb1- not a problem, I understand.  I realize you are trying to help and are advising me in a good way.  Hopefully things work out to satisfaction.  I will be switching up the source material.  I will probably opt for the 219 and use its pre amp for the time being and purchase a separate phono stage.. thank you 

Charles- it’s a daytrip to NY for me to sample them, so it’s hard to arrange. I may fit it in, but as it looks now, I am likely opting for the flagship 219ia. As we know a good bit of the soul in tube amps is in the transformers, and there is a reason the 219 weighs 115lb... Its got quality ginormous ones. This being a fundamental part in why this 24w/channel amp is said to be able to drive even rather low sensitivity speakers very well. This fact also leaves me with more speaker options in the future IF I felt a need to change. I am told the 219 has a denser mid range while the 805 tubes in the 508 offer a tad more transparency at time. Mids are where it counts most if I am left to chose. This was part of my issue with my outgoing setup. Lack of presence in the mids and an abundance of booming bass.. Also a reason I am going SET. Too much bass with heavy music is awful. It’s like going for a run, and getting stuck in mud. It’s drags everything down. My listening room is 8' ceilings and very dense Brazilian cherry hardwoods. The room holds bass very well. I don't think I could go wrong with either model in the end.  With me?

Iopscrl-
i did consider doing just that. The mc225 retains value so well, and with its reputation, hard to argue it.  The one issue is that it could take a while to off on maybe if that was decided. There are about 6 for sale on eBay alone right now.. My general concensus is that the 219ia and other LM amps take the cake over the 225.  However I can't say from personal experience at all....  Steve huffs review of the 219 is pretty eye opening in its potential however and I think would be more universal in application to a wider range of speakers.  I think going from SS to tubes I may appreciate tubes even more when going to a more direct circuit in the sense of single ended triodes.  Your idea totally makes sense however, can't deny that one bit!

Charles. - I feel it is the way to go as well. I am told the 219 has a very 'dense' midrange, with a great grip on the bass frequencies. As mentioned above, putting in some new valves really opens the amp up as well.  It is their flagship, suits a pretty face (IMO), and large high quality trannies.  I think it should be there right move 

Also:  I will need a phono amp. I have not started researching them yet. I have a VPI classic 2 with sound smith zephyr 2 cartridge. It is a moving iron (MM). I would appreciate advice for phono amps!   I dont need out of this world diminishing gains, snake oil special lol. I need a decent phono at a decent price. Thank you

Happy Thanksgiving. (Remember, the indians were here first...No I’m not indian)

So Ive got my cornwalls. 1980 horizontal pair. Heavy and solid walnut, in excellent shape for their age. Here are my thoughts on those in comparison to the outgoing b&w cm10’s, when swapped into my component chain, with no other changes. All of my listening thus far has been LP, my most favored choice format by far, especially for heavy music, as a large majority of the bands I follow, focus their recordings towards analog, and many record in true TAPE rolling studios for this purpose. I cannot stand loudness war CD mixed productions. People who think aggressive music is all about ’cranking it up’ are confused in my opinion.. Ill take quality at the sound of a whisper over loud, fatiguing, smushed, condensed bullshit. Anyway.

It took a good bit of adjustment going from the cm’s to the cornwalls. The sound is significantly different. Ill be honest, I was expecting the cornwalls to possibly be shrill, or harsh in some aspects with my solid state amps, and marantz pre. Polar opposite. FAR less shrill than the cm10’s. These really make me realize how cynical and sterile the cm10’s sounded. My friend pointed it out immediately when I let him hear them. He is a very particular guy with guitar and bass tones as we are both gear heads in that field...I listened till 3am the past 2 evenings. And i was not ’forcing’ myself, I was naturally just doing so, and the time was flying, as I was enjoying it, and not finding myself fatigued at all. The cm10’s had me hanging it up after about one side of an LP... The sound is a little bit ’muffled’ at first, but then my ears adjust, and it doesn’t seem as much... Lets keep in mind, if i upgrade the old wiring, and crossovers, I’m sure it would open things up and fix some of that, but i think once the SET gets in the path, it will change things.

The cornwalls are even somewhat ’dark’. The sound is very warm now. My concepts of maybe it being ’my room’ before, are much lessened. I can crank these and I do not feel like the bass is booming me and the treble is piercing me. The treble is warm but THERE. It is smooth and enjoyable. Midrange is nice too. Now the bass on the other hand... WONDERFUL. These 15" drivers sound SOOO good with the type of music I listen to. Ill try to explain it the best I can. Ive been playing the electric bass for near 15 years now. I have been playing the upright for about 2. I am very familiar with what bass should sound like, and what different recordings bass tones DO sound like. Maybe this sounds weird, but my records now are very distinguishable in bass tones. The cornwalls provide deep, chunky, fat, full bass. Sludgy and crusty where it when it should be, warm, and rounded when it should be. I can hear the vast different in bass tones on different albums now. These 15’s sound like I am in my basement playing my fender jazz bass through my 2x15 bass cab. It is tonally ACCURATE. The cm10’s produced: bass. Period. It didn’t SOUND like a bass guitar should. Whether the bass on the recording is boosted with overdrive, or it is natural, they did not make me feel like there was a bass cab in the room. They do ’boom’ well. They do ’bass’, FOR ME however, they did not sound like these particular band’s bass guitar sounds like through their specific rig. The bass is SUBSTANTIALLY better. Not only bc these dig deeper, but the tone is more revealing and realistic. It is not boomy or overpowered in any way.
I have my SVS PB13 ultra crossed over at 40Hz, handling only the very very low stuff, but the cornwall are taking the grunt of it and doing it beautifully.

The cm10’s sounded like speaker. The cornwalls sound....live. Much more of a ’wall of sound’, which the cm10’s could not do at all. Guitars are not harsh or shrill, as sometimes on the cm10’s they bit TOO hard.

The cornwalls seem like they could use a little more dynamics, but i think this will totally be enhanced when I put a 24w/channel huge transformer’d SET amp in the chain, and replace two so-so emotiva mono’s and a marantz pre which has tons of video processing stuff all built in etc etc., which isn’t going to help any matters. Cornwalls are known to be very dynamic so...

I believe the cornwalls being so transparent and of such high sensitivity, that I am hearing the ’warmth’ of the marantz pre, heavily coloring the sound. However, it sounds pretty nice, an once I do give it some volume the dynamics improve. These speakers are not designed to be driven with 500 watt SS mono blocks so....

To sum it up. In my current system, as it sits NOW, Cornwalls>Cm10’s... The cm10’s were a little more open and dynamic, but as whole, the cornwalls are far more inviting and listenable. Not to mention, more natural.

Mb1audio:   I DO have a hum. My marantz volume goes 0-98, once I get to around 40 the hum is pretty audible. If it is still there once the 219ia is here, which I’m doubting, then I will address it/troubleshoot at that point. Ive heard two line magnetic amps running through two different types of klipsch heritage speakers in the past month, and neither had the slightest bit of hum or hiss at all. And the one pair were la scalas, which are about 5 db higher than what I have here so.. You get my point.

Things will be changing drastically once the 219ia arrives. I can only imaging that low level listening will be heavily improved, the midrange will become denser, as well as dynamic improvement. I had photos sent to me this morning of the amp being boxed up for shipment. Will follow up. I appreciate the help this far.

Fjn-
ill take a look. The zephyr is 'labeled' as a high output moving iron cartridge but I am not extremely well versed in cartridges, so I can't say myself, in regards to how much gain I may need. 

Charles-. Thank you for the hopeful and encouraging words. I am really looking forward to getting this thing. I will upgrade the cornwalls for sure. Mine happen to be Cornwall 1’s will the fully removable back, which makes them very easy to access.

I did not think I would like these as much as I am. Now that I think about it, the midrange is simply better as well. It is more present, while being smooth and unobtrusive. The cm10’s midrange driver can be shrill. The 'low' and substance of midrange frequencies was lacking for me with the cm10's.

Roxy- 
500w SS mono blocks are about the last thing id desire to pair with the cornwalls, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how the LM219 turns out with them. Im looking forward to things opening up and the mids really shining.

charles-
If I'm going to take the time to open these up and modify the caps, i will be sure to make it worth my while with high end ones, no worries there. First thing however, selecting/finding myself a phono amp!

roxy,

That is the path I'm exploring here, and hoping that it proves to be worth it. 

219ia has arrived....

And it sounds..........Absolutely wonderful. The allure of this amp glowing in my listening space alone is mesmerizing. What a cool looking amp. The dynamics that I stated as somewhat lacking in my current setup with the 500watt SS monos, are vastly improved. Drums have totally come alive. Voices have become more natural, and exceptionally SMOOTH. The bass still thick and driving well. The midrange FAR more cutting, present, clear, and clean, while staying smooth. The brightness of the horn tweeters is showing itself now, but it is a nice brightness, because it is smooth and pleasant. Everything just sounds more natural. I have listened for roughly an hour so far, all records. I will get around to more listening later this evening. The slight blanket over the speakers has been lifted. The sound is more inviting, open, and dynamic. Voices are FAR more into focus than they were. This thing makes my emotivas sound poor...

Hum that I was getting before is gone. The signal is dead quiet now, not even the faintest bit of hum. It was obviously the noisy circuits of the emotivas from what I can conclude.

I am still running through my marantz 7701 phono amp. The phono I am most interested in going with is the bottlehead Eros. All tube with a gain of 50db.

Very happy thus far....

Charles-
Yes, the power supply being transformer and tube rather than a SS short cut is what stands out to me with the ZP3 most of all.

Amp is warming up now with the 4ohm taps. Will begin spinning a record in just a few moments....

Charles1/Joeinid.

Thank you. I am very pleased, and relieved that I am this happy with the sound. I listened more last evening. The new ’Black Breath’ album was included.. For any listeners who enjoy heavy music, trust me, give this album a listen. It is dark, heavy, recorded beautifully, and is their best release yet. Sounded excellent at LOW volumes. Jeez I forgot, the best reward of all, and I need not exaggerate, the amp still sounds dynamic and involving at very low listening volumes. If you read above, that was one of the main goals I switched everything up, in order to achieve. Did some more gentle listening to a few contemporary jazz pieces as well. Sounds great. The horns REALLY sound amazing.

I am excited that there is even more potential to be unveiled, not that I honestly feel any ’needs improvement’ areas. Burn in of tubes, and an upgrade in my phono should inevitably do this however. I may even roll the 12AX7’s sooner than later. NOS mullards or something perhaps.. I wouldn’t waste my time doing it, unless if I bought tubes that would REALLY be worth my time.

Just a side note, I decided to try running my SVS in sealed mode last night as well. Never have since ownership. Plugged the three ports, and set the tuning mode to sealed. I was listening at very low volumes, with my wife in bed down the hall, but I could hear the tightening of the bass at this volume, so I look forward to trying it at louder volume today, to see what I think. I have the cornwalls handling the majority of the bass, and I think theyre doing a wonderful job of this, so the sub is basically in the mix for just the very low registers of bass, and extra oomph with the kick pedal, or extra body added to the upright bass etc etc. Ill probably mess around with this a bit furthermore.

Side note.. It is funny. After doing a hands on swap in my own home, with my own equipment, swapping just ONE component, and hearing SUCH a huge difference in sound quality on every level, I have to laugh at some of the philosophies I have read recently. In particular, some of the nonsense spewed by Harbeth’s Alan Shaw regarding how no amps should be showing sonic differences from another. Im not quoting him no, so don’t hold be accountable, but to summarize his statements, what I’ve just said suits them perfectly.
He does not state this in an ’in a perfect world all amps should sound the same and reproduce the natural signal fed to them and that is all’, but rather in the terms of that, today, if you are to compare two amps, being it as vastly difference as my comparison was or less, they will sound no different. He receives plenty of bashing for his BS statements like these, and I can now attest myself to how very different in sound an amplifier is capable of. It is as if I changed half of my components, and not just one. 

I have to add. When you see the amp in person, and especially when you feel the weight it possesses, your are at that moment certain that this amp cannot sound thin or weak. It is a true boulder, very hard to get out of the box even. The remote is probably the heaviest, most robust remote Ive ever felt for its size as well. 

Charles. Being the SET simple circuitry is a large factor in this magnificent sound, I am thinking why not stick with a true SET design phono like the decware zp3.. otherwise there is the bottlehead Eros with 50db of gain ..

Al.-
thanks for your response. I will get around to trying the other taps in that case. 

Further question-

I have been advised to try all of the impedance taps, 4, 8, and 16 ohm with my cornwalls. The cornwalls are rated at 8ohms, so that is what I am wired to right now but should I really, and is it really perfectly fine to run the 16 and 4ohm taps as well?  

With valved guitar amps, you always match your amps with your cabs impedance, especially if tubed, or at least avoid running your head at a lower impedance than the cab.  Are thing different in this situation?  

Thanks 

Spinning Michael buble's Christmas album with my wife right now at 4ohm's.. Also for the first time ever, plugged all 3 ports on my sub and set it to 'sealed mode'. (SVS pb13 ultra).  Everything is sounding very nice. 

Migueca-
Thank you. If you dont mind the price difference, go with the 219ia. It is the flagship of the line, and has its massive transformers and beautiful midrange. It also is a true dual mono design. Is the 508 as well? I know the 518, 218 etc, are not, and believe, that the 508 is not as well. Im happy with the pre amp in this thing as of now. Maybe down the line Ill think about sampling some others in the mix. Id probably upgrade the 12AX7’s in here first for a while. If looks matter to you, that's another thing. If looks matter, I give the 219 the edge, between the silver finish, and large wattage gauge display, it is a beautiful piece, glowing in your room with the lights off (I always listen with the lights off. Makes you focus more on the music IMO).. 

however, to each the own, the choice is yours once you listen

Roxy-
i agree completely. I love how it glows in my room.

charles-
At my low level to moderate listening I am under a watt. When I have it roaring a bit, I’ll get it pushing 5-8. I'm loving this thing. 

Couple days in and I am loving the amp. Currently running off 4ohm taps with the negative feedback off. Cornwalls crossed over at 40Hz to the sub. The amp sounds great at low levels, and as i increase the volume the amp does not cause fatigue.

I admit, my ’new’ listening room is not optimal right now, nor treated by any measures. 14x16, 8’ ceiling, very dense jatoba hardwood floors, and a 3x5 window on one wall. I’m still sitting on the floor while listening! I have a 6x8 throw rug down. I’ll be putting a couch in there later this month. I will also be adding some sort of fabric wall decor of some sort above the couch to help absorb. All of this should help with reflections to a noticeable degree in a rather square and ’hard’ surfaced room.

I am most of all considering the decware ZP3. If a chunk of what I’m liking about this amp is the result of being a SET circuit, I feel like I mine as well stick with a SET circuit for my phono pre amp. Majority of my listening is records, so a good phono is important. The decware stuff maintains its value well anyhow. One just went for sale on the 3rd of this month however, it sold that day so.. Goes to show. I don’t think I could go wrong with it..

Meanwhile I have a confession. This is like I said a ’new listening room’. This being said my amp is sitting on a 2.5" thick wood cutting block with thick cloth feet lol. My friend will be ordering lumber to begin construction a 2 tier custom shelving system out of either walnut or tiger maple, with spike isolation feet on the bottom and between the two shelves. Amp and turntable will go on the top shelf obviously freeing them from any vibrations. 

im just rambling...!

Chris-
I know I am not as well rounded and experienced in the variety of amplification out there. But I can tell you that everything I've read about these amps is displayed with this 219ia. I listen to everything from jazz, to Fiona apple, to behemoth. It is doing is all with grace.

You read a lot about single end triode amps being magical with vocals and acoustics, and this is so true. However, I am loving how amazing something like speed metal sounds at lower volumes. Seperation in instruments, cutting midrange that is smooth, and the worry of bass control with it is out the window. Bass is great, and that is even with NO negative feedback (I prefer it off).

I am considering rolling some tubes now. Not the 845's but maybe the 12AX7's. I'm open to advice on where to start! 

Watersalas-
Similar situation. I didn't even hear a 219ia until I plugged my own in. I heard the 216 which was loaded with gold lion kt88's through lascalas, and then heard a 518ia through cornwalls.  I decided it would be the 219 or the 508 from there and was pretty sure either would be great and wouldn't really matter, 805's vs 845's both being praised tubes when paired with transformers that drive them properly.  I'd love to hear the 508.

Listened to my Original Epic pressing of Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy the other evening. The 219ia smothered any mention of what my previous 500watt SS monoblocks could make of this album. It’s a great album to use as a basis as the songs are dynamic and have a lot of ups and downs in power and presentation.

its funny to see how the discussion of the 'first watt is the most important' is a such a true statement.  

Al. I have an SVS PB13 ultra. No speaker level outs, just rca and XLR. I have the oppo RCA analog outs connected to my 219. Earlier I connected the oppo via XLR L channel analog output, into the SVS and something was NOT right. I got signal through to the sub but it was clearly audibly wrong with what I was hearing. I felt like I was hearing highs and miss come out the sub as well...the sub has L and R inputs.

should i try the 'SW' labeled RCA out of the oppo into the sub instead?? 

i cannot see it necessary to manually adjust my sub when adjusting my 219 volume. That sounds primitive and odd to me???? I would rather not use one if It cannot correlate in volume as I adjust the 219... ugh

Adjust the oppo volume is a no go as well. The volume control on them is useless. It is not like a normal volume control and should be at 100 at all times. Decreasing it sucks the life out of the sound terribly. Oppo likes to pretend the 105 can be used as a pre amp. Not even close.

I've got a rather simple question. I have been listening to vinyl since getting the 219 but have just been trying some digital through it as of last night with my oppo. My question is, I am running the oppo direct into the 219 and using its pre amp. Prior to the 219 I was running my marantz 7701 with XLR running out of it into my sub. Now that the 7701 is out of the mix, how am I hooking the 219 up to the sub?   I have no idea lol.. someone fill me in here with this simple answer please thank you

The PSVANE WE reps run about $800 a pair. Damn pricey for two tubes but perhaps worth that in difference to the shuguangs...Which would be the first pair or two to change in order of reaping results?  12AX7's and what else ?  

Waltersalas-

Congrats on the satisfaction you’re getting with your 508. You are making me want to swap some tubes myself.... hmm.

Advice..?

i would be thinking:
NOS western electric 310A's
NOS RCA or Mullard 12AX7's
Shuguang 845 Natural Series
PSVANE western electric 300b replicas

yes?  No?

Charles-

I am using the 219 preamp section when running my oppo for digital listening right now.

Question... its a pretty silly one but.. I am looking to upgrade my phono as discussed previously. I am still using my marantz 7701's built in phono, but want to order a Decware ZP3 (SET) phono. When running this phono into the 219, or any phono for that matter, I am still utilizing the 219's pre amp correct?  Like, your phono does not act as the only pre (sound defining) in the chain right? Thus changing 12AX7's in the 219 is still a worthwhile move for my (predominantly) vinyl listening. The question is probably so dumb that it is confusing you.  Sorry lol

Charles, Al, thank you guys.

Al, thank you for the link to this product.. While listening to a few digital file sharing yesterday without the sub on, I have to say, the cornwalls provided me with more than satisfactory bass on their own. Integrating the sub just allows the bass 'punch' and feel to fill the room out more.  Without it, I get just as much punch from the 15"s in the cornwalls alone, but you have to be around the sweet spot, which is really all that matters, but $207 isn't bad.. 

Charles, Al-

I think the wise move at this point would be to focus my funds towards the Decware ZP3 first and foremost. This buy will restrain tube funds, so what I will do is replace the 12AX7’s for the time being, followed by the 310A’s shortly after as what Ive collected thus far relays them to be second most effective tube roll beings they are preamp stage along with the 12AX7’s.

Hey Al and Charles.. NOS mullards, teles, or RCA’s you think? I want the stage to open, and the more ’smooth’ the better... RCA’s can be found for the cheapest from what Im seeing.

Also. Can either of you clarify the difference in the silver plate NOS Western Electric 310A’s and the all gold ones??? Thanks for all of the help guys

First off happy holidays.

i decided the right way to do this was to try them for myself and see what I like. So I've purchased 1 pair of excellent tested, matched code long plate telefunkens, one pair of long plate RCA's that test about new, and I'll be buying a pair of Blackburn mullards today as well. I bought each pair from listings that were refundable within 14 days. So the pair I like, I keep, and the others go back and just cost me the few dollars each to ship them back. Will have my own little 12AX7 shootout...

Roxy54-

So officially on the way are:

1 pair of NOS West Germany teles.
1 pair of NOS long plate RCA's.
1 pair of match code Blackburn mullards.

Will return with my results once they all arrive and I do this shootout..

Getting back to the LM-219ia in its current and still stock-tube state. The amp is certainly beginning to open up more. There was a little congestion that is now fading more and more, and there is more separation in the music forming. To sum it simply, the amp sounds MORE natural than it did a month ago for sure. It was quite noticeable today while spinning fiona apple’s extraordinary machine album. Quite a delightful album due to excellent instruments, as her band is just great, her stellar vocal work, and the fact that her stuff is recorded very well. It is an all around audio ’reference quality’ album if you ask me.

Ive also decided to pull my subwoofer from the mix totally and am actually finding that I am far happier without it. The cornwalls are full range anyhow, and I’m finding that the bass is more natural without the sub. No oddities bass waves, free’s things from an extra crossover, keeps things tighter and more in focus. And the 219ia's monster transformers have no issue pushing the low Hz with ease!   Im happy!!