Line Magnetic 518 + Piano, special?

I had not done direct comparison of Lm 508 and 518.

But I am happy with LM 508 with 48 watts twice of LM 518.

It is also a dream amp for tube rolling using pair of 805, 300B, 6sn7 and single 6sl7.

Fellow local Audiogon member hauled his 518 over to my place to run 86 db Vandersteen Treo CT - he was considering-  very relaxed and natural sounding amplifier rich in harmonic overtones - lovely sustain. Certainly not the last word in SPL but would be fine for my purposes.
Have fun, enjoy!

Try it as an amp only and upgrade the tubes.

I have the LM 518, yes to upgraded tubes if one hasn't done so. Forget using it as a power amp with a separate preamp; despite having the hookup to do so the LM 518s preamp circuit stays in play so you don't get the full benefit.

Yes. Sorry should have specified that it is to be used with a preamp. Tube preamp in my system was better than solid state. I have been under the impression the preamp tubes were bypassed when using the pre in input. Do you feel otherwise? Or is the circuit still in play otherwise?

thanks,

mark