VALVET Amps & Pre: any feedback from Audiogoners?

Has anyone heard either the Valvet bricks ER1 or bricks AR1? Unfortunately, the A.35 MKIII are out of my price range. I'm seriously considering this brand, but there aren't a lot of reviews from consumers.

I had the L1 pre (with 6SN7 tubes on top) plus the Er1 power amps.

The pre is very fast and the power amps are warmer and darker than the AR1s (that I also had for a month).

The bass is very well defined and controlled.

The mids and highs are good.

What I could not get with that combo (compared to my Leben CS-300) is:

1.- Bass does not go as deep as the Leben

2.- The body and timbre I get, in the mids, with the Leben;

3.- The air and 3D presentation I get with the Leben;

As usual, try to listen to them with your own gear, especially with your loudspeakers. I used them with Zu Druid Mk IV.

Hope this helps.

Daniel

Jesusa0,
Thanks for the feedback, it's very helpful. The problem is that I can't audition the amps or listen to them with my own gear because there aren't any dealers. Don't you buy the amps directly from the U.S. distributor?

Daldridge76,

I bought directly from Valvet as they don´t have distributor in Spain, where I live. Knut -Valvet´s owner- is a great person to deal with.

Why don´t you ask the U.S distributor to get a "trial period" pre and power amps to try them. I mean you pay for the gear and you get a 30 days trial period. And, if you don´t like them you send them back.

Regards,

Daniel

Daldridge76- I have the Soulshine/A3.5MKII combo at home for the past 6 months. Feel free to email me offline and I might be able to answer your questions...I've had 15 amps in the past 4 years of all topologies.

KeithR