My friend let me borrow the r800i. I know you'll think im weird but I actually like it even better when I run my bottlehead moreplay into it (and NOT through the pre in). I know its like 2x pre amping but it just adds this tubeyness and richness which I really like. Maybe I need to roll the tubes not sure, currently have GE preamp tubes in it.
So I bought the Willsenton R-800i
After I bought the Klipsch Cornwall IVs recently it became apparent quite quickly that to make it really shine it needs a tube amp to drive it. (For me at least.) After doing some (=endless) research, considering the options (budget, shops nearby carrying models I´m interested in, etc.) and also asking around on this very forum I decided to go for the Willsenton R-800i. None of my friends here shares my excitement for audio stuff or even has a comparable system, so what´s now in my living room is the one tube amp I know. And I´m delighted. Together with the speakers it gives the music the presence and glow that I so desired.
Of course I can tell that there´s more potential in this amp and I already exchanged some of the stock tubes. There are more on the way and I can´t wait to test them. For now my financial means are a bit limited so I´m not ordering Western Electric and Takatsuki 300Bs just for the sake of comparing them. In fact I´m waiting with those a bit and go for the others first.
Searching online I find a lot of information on English language forums. Somehow tube rolling is not discussed as much on the German forums I checked though – and out of curiosity (and because they were pretty cheap) I went for both West- and East-German ECC83s and a fairly random mix of other tubes from the US and the Soviet Union. I´m waiting for them to arrive and not being able to read about some of them it raises my curiosity how they will sound. Maybe crappy, maybe not so bad, maybe even very good. I´ll see. Tube rolling will take some time and I don´t mind. The amp is there to stay for quite a while.
There´s an exhaustive thread on the Willsenton amps and fitting tubes here but since I found people´s comments on this forum so helpful I´m looking forward to hear from you. I´m open for tube recommendations and would like to hear anyone´s experience with the Willsenton R-800i. Or maybe someone has questions?
As for the tubes:
805 – stock replaced for Cossor
300B – stock
6SN7 – stock replaced for Sylvania GTBs, waiting for Fonon NOS (Soviet, 1979, a bargain for 10€)
12AX7 – stock replaced with current Mullard model, waiting for West German ones from AEG and Telefunken, East German ones from RSD and Funkwerk Erfurt (both used) and also Sylvania JAN 5751 NOS (a military model)
5U4G – stock, waiting for RCA NOS black plate and Svetlana NOS „Coke Bottle“
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@roxy54 Thanks for the info. Whomever it was, I absolutely love the music and it’s a fantastic recording! BTW…. I have a couple Acme 805 tubes coming in tomorrow to listen to along with a Sophia Aqua 274B. The Sophia I bought the 805s are on loan unless I really like them. Will they be different/better than the Linlai Gold Elite tubes? We will see. I also did something else that may not work out for me financially. I borrowed a set of ZU Audio, Omen Def Supreme towers. These things absolutely rock! I love how good they sound at low volumes. Fantastic speakers, for me anyway. I think they are very efficient and I can tell the Willsenton likes them. Likes them a lot! |
The Zu speakers are fairly high sensitivity and more important (I believe) high ohm speaker impedance, so very easy to drive. Also less current demand and less distortion from amplifier. I can understand why they would pair well with the 805 SET amplifier. |
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