Thoughts on 845 set monoblocks

My Tannoy Westminister Royal SE speakers arrived. My Soundlab M1 speakers, shipped for trade-in to the Tannoy dealer, were destroyed (dropped) by the shippers. The electronics (backplates) were not damaged. But now I have a question (also submitted tonight as a question in the spekaer forums). You have convinced me that a high-quality (Viva or equivilent) tube amp works best with the Westminister speakers. But I have a question regarding pre-amps with the Westminister speakers. The Soundlabs required a high-output power amp (Classe Omega Omicron) with a tube (ARC REF 5) pre-amp. Should I consider moving from my ARC REF 5 pre-amp to a high-quality solid-state pre-amp with my new Westminister speakers? If so, which solid-state pre-amp?

Anyone can comment of monoblock Shuguang S845 MK offered at Grant Fidelity? I just bought a pair blindly because the sale price is hard to resist. They are still burned in (up to 5 hours now). The sound is a bit digested at the mid range and the bass is quite strong but bloated on my Tekton Lore. Not sure if this will go away when the tube and amp are fully broken in. Some exterior parts such as power buttons look so flimsy and cheap albeit the amp seems heavy (50 lbs) and solid casing.

I am interested to know how the Shuguang S845MK comparing with other mainstream such as Cary, Audion, Sophia, Mastersound, Art Audio...

Hi,

I was looking at the same amp? With over a month of burn in time, do you have any more insight on the sounds from this Shuguang Amp?

How is the break in process?

Thanks,

Simon

Hi Simon, my thought on the Shuguang is quoted from another thread:

"S845 has one major flaw that bother me so much. The amp input voltage is 4V which is very high. This input voltage results low sensitivity and therefore restrict the use of passage amp. When I tried to have a passive preamp (lightspeed), at the reasonable loudness, the volume knob turns to 3 PM. Some low volume recordings, the max out output is not sufficient to fill a medium size room.

Overall sound very good that many called 845 tube sound - strong defined bass with a hint of warm and sweet mid range. Drum sounds better than others that I had before including Almarro pentode A205 or solid state Classe CAM-200. However, it doesnot have the drum impact like live music... (I am not certain this is the issue with the amp/speaker or purely recording issue). At low volume, the sound is aweful. I don't know it is just this amp or typical for 845 tube amp.

Built quality is low. Metal looking is average. The power button design look cheap (made in China, right?)... Sometimes it makes you wonder other electronic parts inside. I would not recommend S845 despite the price drop recently. If the input sensitivity is within 0.5 - 2V and better built quality I would say it would be worth a consideration."