Line Magnetic LM-845 Premium - How quiet is it?

I have a LM 216 integrated. It’s a bit old now but I really like it. About 5 years into owning it a transformer went bad. I took it to my dealer and he sent it to the distributor for repair. This was pre-covid and I had it back in 60 days. I am pretty sure the loaner I picked out was a 219ia. Once fixed the amp was fine for another 4 years and going strong. The only noise I have heard was a NOS GE tube that went bad. Replaced it with another pair of NOS tubes. Right now its pushing, ironically, Tekton Double Impact SE speakers beautifully.

I recently purchased an LM 845 premium. I like it a lot with my Tekton Encores.

Thinking about starting to roll some tubes. As I understand it the 12ax7 are the ones to start the ball with rolling. 

Any recommendations along with good places to purchase tubes would be greatly appreciated.

I have read that these should be on the list. What do you think and will these fit the Amp?

 

@neptune123, glad it worked out!

@sbank , I ended up selling the LX-380 and buying a used MQ-300 to mate with the Cornwall IV, and I love the combo. Remarkably, its 8 SET watts are more than enough in my large room. Just a great amp.

My LM845 is quiet, now. However, six months into owning it, a loud hum developed. I sent it in for repair to their shop in AZ.(all under warranty, though I paid shipping $200 one way) It took four months to get parts. It's been working fine since (8 months or so). I really like it. At first, I had it mistakenly paired it with Harbeths (86db). They sounded great at moderate to loud levels, but lackluster at low levels. I now have Klipsch Forte IV (99db). Sounds great at low to earsplitting levels. No hum and it rocks! And terrific with all kinds of music.

Any update on your situation, @neptune123 ? 

@wrm57 What did you end up doing? 

Anyone else have any experiences in the year since this was originally posted? Cheers,

Spencer

@neptune123 , thanks for the report. Sorry to hear about the hum. Your experience echoes what I’ve been reading in a number of forums, that people love the sound of LM 845 integrateds but occasionally--too often, IMO--develop issues. I hope your amp is fixed and making beautiful music again with all speed.

LM amps are still on my radar, although I recently picked up a Luxman LX-380 and think it’s terrific mated to some vintage ADS L1290/2 in my home office system. I actually bought it for Cornwall IVs that are coming this week, but it’s so good on the ADS that it might not budge!

My LM845ia developed a rather loud hum about six months after I purchased it. For repair I had to send it to Arizona (I live in North Carolina) where it's been since the middle of November. I had to pay $200 to ship it. The warranty covers the cost of repair and the return shipping. It's now April and I was told by the repair shop they only just received a replacement transformer from China. Crazy, huh? The pandemic or just simply bad service, I don't know. Regardless, I hope to get my repaired unit back sometime soon. Having said all that, I'm so taken with the sound of my LM845ia that I'm not suggesting you pass on purchasing it. I thought the price was fair and Taylor from Goldprintaudio (who posted above) was a pleasure to do business with.  BTW, I had a Prima Luna Premium prior to the LM and I much prefer the LM: more bloom, inner detail, natural, musical, blah, blah, blah.

Also, I have Harbeth HL5+ speakers 86db. Sounds great, but I'm open to advice on the ideal speaker match.

Giving this a bump to see if anyone else will chime in. It is an awfully tempting unit. But I’ve heard tell of noise and dependability issues from a couple of owners, so I’d like to get more first-hand reports.

Thanks for the info. No, no units near me to audition.

Noise wise, no different than any other large SET amp.  In general, they are very quiet. 

The units I've sold have been reliable.  Only 1 219ia I've sold that had to be serviced and that was due to a tube going bad.

Are you located near a dealer where you can hear one?

Thanks, @goldprintaudio.  Does "no excess noise" mean there's a baseline level of noise that I should expect? If so, how much?
Also, have the 845 Prem or 219IA you’ve sold been pretty reliable? Any caps going bad, that sort of thing?
Best,Bill

I'm a Line Mag dealer.  I've sold several 845 Premiums (and the previous version...219ia).  I've never personally seen an issue with excess noise on one.  And generally, these are basically always used with higher efficiency speakers, so any noise would tend to be somewhat noticeable.

Great integrated by the way......it's really quite good.

Thank you for the confirmation. It is as I suspected.

Bill

The base (with speaker connections) is about 7 inches with the feet.  The actual tube portion of the amp is about 12 or so inches to the top of the 845 tubes and 11 or so inches to the top of the back transformers.  I do not have the cage on which probably adds some height

That's really good to know.

Hey, while I have you, @jlarryk , can you tell me how tall the amplifier unit is? Just the chassis with the tubes. Everywhere I look online, the amplifier unit is listed as being 460mm high. That's 18.1 inches just for the one chassis. I have a feeling this is a misprint, and tht 18.1 is for both chassis stacked. At least I hope so.  Can you confirm, please?

My buddy and I both have 845 premiums and they are dead quiet on my Tekton and Devore speakers, both 96db