Why not more on 845 SETs?

Joe,
A look forward to comparing the Jadis OR with the Bel Canto in my study system (Totem One Sigs, Cairn-Fogg v2 CDP, Acoustic Zen Double barrel S/C biwired, Empress i/cs, Kimber K14 and Signal Magic PCs) Both amps have distinctive and superior sonics and it would be fun to A/B them.

Tom(thetubeguy1954), Single Ended Triode Amps Group Moderator, where are you when we need you!
This is the 845 tube man...he has the Mastersound 845 Reference, parallel tube SET, 40 WPC, and absolutely is a fanatic about this amp. Maybe he'll pipe in here...
Ed...thanks for your input also.
MC

My deHavilland Ios amp is the best amp I've ever heard. I'm wondering how
the dehavilland 845 products stack up against the other 845s? What speakers
work well with 845s? I'm using it with 88 db JMR Trentes and the Ios really
makes them sing unlike any other amp has been able to. I wonder how they
would work with more efficient speakers?

If one were to generalize what are the characteristics of the 845 and the 300b
in comparison? I would appreciate any descriptions here.

I own the older model deHavilland Aries 845 SET
amps-25 watts x 2. And a deHavilland Verve preamp paired with the Aries amps. Both units are 2 years old & bought used from Audiogon this past summer. Got the Verve preamp for 1/2 of retail price & the Aries amps for slightly less than 1/3 of retail price. Kara Chaffee & deHavilland make great sounding amps & preamps. Kara & deHavilland are also extremely helpful & friendly. They provide 1st class support & info even when you are not the original owner of one of their fine products. I am using the deHavilland combo with a pair of 1983 Klipsch Cornwalls. The previous original owner had the faceplates of the Aries amps & Verve preamp goldplated at a plating shop. He also had an oversized volume knob & source selector knob machined at a machine shop for the Verve preamp. The knobs were also goldplated. The sonics are great to my ears and are purty to look at as well to this Texan. The Aries are my favorite sonic flavor of the 4 amps I own. I have never heard a 300B SET amp or 300B PP amp so I
can't give an opinion about their sonics.

My other amps-factory assembled Welborne Labs
Moondog 2A3 SET monoblock amps with Ultimate parts upgrade paired with a factory assembled Welborne Labs Reveille 6SN7 tube preamp. And 1977 Klipsch Cornwalls with an upgraded new Type B crossover using Auricaps. DeanG a Klipsch Forum
member builds new crossovers for Klipsch speakers. The Auricaps are much better sounding than the motor run paper in oil caps that Klipsch used in their stock crossovers. Llano Phoenix CAS 300/VA2 mosfet/tube hybrid amp. The separate VA2 voltage section uses 6SN7,6SL7 & 12SN7 tubes. Currently using a pair of 12SX7 tubes in the VA2 voltage box. The Llano is paired with a Mcintosh C 38 preamp & JBL LX 55 speakers. Have a spare Mcintosh MC 7150 ss autoformer amp.

The deHavilland gear, the Welborne Labs gear & the Llano amp were all bought from here on Audiogon at excellent prices. Audiogon has been very very good to me!

Yes, I'd like to say a little bit, The 845 is the King of SETriode Tubes, Period! I've yet to hear a 300B, 45 or 2A3 that I would trade my Mastersound for. Please don't misunderstand me. I find the 45, 2A3 & 300B, all to be very musical, BUT the 845 is as musical, if not more musical, and has enough nut to drive real world speakers.

I've noticed one thing the fans of 300B, 2A3 or 45 never mention is... how much the triode tube's sound is directly influenced by the tube that drives it! So what we really have is a Gestalt type of thing, where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. Sure a 45, 845, 2A3 or 300B all has a characteristic sound, but so does the tube that drives it! The 300B driven by a 12AX7, the 300B driven by a 5687 etc all sound different. As does every tube we've mentioned.

Now to this day, to these ears the 845 driven by the 6900, is the closest thing to audio nirvana I've ever heard. The truth is, that in my Mastersound when the 6900 is replaced by a 5687, it's COMPLETELY changes the amps signature. It's still an incredible amp, but it's also completely different and NOT as musical. It seems only 845 tube lovers and designers talk about the influence of the driver tube. I know deHavilland talked quite a bit about the influence the driver tube they used on their 845 based amps and how this combination of 845 and driver tube is what made their amp so special.

I know this, "IF" you haven't heardan 845 tube driven by a 6900 tube, you have no idea what an 845 tube can do!

thetubeguy1954 (Tom Scata)