Jadis
Cayin
Line Magnetic
Cayin
Line Magnetic
The best tube poweramp. . What do you think about ?
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even the tube sockets are gold over solid copper ,most are cheap brass.Gold plated tube sockets are unreliable- gold is very soft as metals go; when tubes are inserted and then removed gold is scraped from the contacts of the socket. In time, the underlying metal is exposed; in this case copper. It will then blast the remaining gold off of the contact surface as it corrodes (which is does rather quickly). The result is a bad socket. If you want reliable sockets go for a tin-plated socket. Tin, like gold, does not corrode quickly but its much harder and so the socket can last decades longer. There's no downside for sound quality either since tubes usually have tin-plated pins. |
Old amps like Futtermsn judt asking for trouble their problems were many yes they sounded good but tons of unit failures. Look for a modern amp like Ayon for example transformers are the heart of the unit , Ayon use world class Lundahl for transformers and chokes, And micro processor controlled to monitor each tube for optimum operating range ,then auto bias just adds more resistors in the circuit and averages all tubes in sum too much wasted energy , and no cheap sheep metal that vibrates thick aluminum chassis even the tube sockets are gold over solid copper ,most are cheap brass. the spirit3 highly recommended. |
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I have NY Audiolab Futterman OTLs. Rarer than hen’s teeth. Easier to find than the ones built by Julius, which are rarer than rocking horse s^#*. Jon Specter, cousin of Al Kooper and former NY Audiolab technician, converted them from pentode to triode for me, upgraded all the caps to Jensen foil oil audiograde with help from George Kaye of Moscode, also a NY Audiolabs alumni. I drive a pair of very efficient Altec Lansing 604Cs, (I rebuild them every 10 years, I have a choice of 8 or 16 ohms, I keep them at 16 ohms at Jon Specter’s recommendation), 101 db efficiency. I couldn’t be happier. I can find you a pair of NY Audiolab Futtermans. PM me. theaudioatticvinylsundays.com |
Decware, VAC, Quicksilver, and yes Raven all make wonderful Tube Power Amps and Integrated. Also consider Audio Hungary https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2020/07/17/audio-hungary-qualiton-apx-200-vacuum-tube-stereo-power-am... And Border Patrol. |
VAC is good but I'm a long time c-j fan. That said, if your speakers are at all efficient, Conrad-Johnson has just introduced a new super premium Class A amplifier the ART27A. 36WPC at 4 ohms. Just traded my relatively new ART150s in on it. Ten minutes of better dynamics, detail and timber convinced me to make the change. Plenty of power for my Wilson Yvettes in a big room. |
Thank you very much, for those nice reactions. I live in Belgium (Europe) but it’s always nice to hear response from other audio-fans. And I look forwards to hear some amps.,you described. knotscott :I’ve heard the Magico S5 MK2 but I have to say (my opinion) ,the Ilumnia Magister is more open , detailed en more 3D. |
I'd suggest reading this…https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/02/on-vacuum-tube-power-amps.html |
Lafayette KT-550, modified Counterpoint hybrids, Counterpoint OTL, and the class ! mono blocks that I build. @dynamiclinearity7 - the Melos do you live in New Jersey? We have repaired a few of them. |
Love my Linear Tube Audio ultralinear power amp with volume control (switch allows you to bypass it or not) with DeVore nines speakers. For the preamp I have an eastern electric minimax that pairs exceptionally well with the LTA adding some nice drive and body while maintaining the clarity. All of you have such great systems! Happy listening... |
I've had Cary and VAC for 20 years. Never saw any reason to change. Sound, soundstage, and every other factor has me getting lost in the music every night, without exception. If I had to upgrade my VAC at this point I'd probably look for a used 300i! If you need to upgrade, stick with VAC. They are brilliant, and the best customer service I've ever encountered. |
+1. There are plenty of suggestions, and some are better than others. I would not make any change without a home demo showing a clear improvement ebmVAC stick with a winner. |
The best I've heard is the CAT JL-5 amp, CAT SL-1 pre, Magico S5 MkII speakers. Simply head and shoulders above anything else I've heard or owned. .. |
I have to admit bias(pun intended) since the Melos amps were designed by good friends. But monoblocks putting out a rated 400 watts(they actually put out more) in triode using only 4 output tubes is very imposing. I might add that they had a very high damping factor for tube amps thus greatly reducing the frequency response variation of tube amps into reactive loads. |
That is a wild speaker and your current amp is insanely good. To step up from VAC with power you could always look at something like a VTL Siegfried or something of that sort but I am not sure it will be better. An interesting option, and I mention it because it is very different, is the KR Kronzilla DXL mono. Similar power output and a warmer sound that is between a KT88 and a 300B. They are really lovely amps. The tube replacement cost is painful but the tubes are good for 30K hours so unless you leave them on all the time, it will be a long while before they need replacement. I have no relationship with VTL. I am a KR dealer. |