Absolare Integrated

GuillaumeB

VIP/Donor
Mar 10, 2014
267
85
333
UK
www.boyeraudio.com
Most SET's have high output impedance - around 2 ~5 ohms. This only means that you must choose proper speakers, not that they have "limitations" at frequency extremes. Surely if your definition of "real world speaker" is a low effciency, current hungry speaker optimized for solid state amplifiers, SET cannot ...

BTW, just by curiosity, do you know what is the output impedance of the Absolare integrated? I could not find it in the specifications.

Hi there I happen to know since I asked the designer once. Output impedance is about 0.05 ohm.

Cheers

Guillaume
 

pke10000

Well-Known Member
Jan 22, 2018
84
29
123
Recently my absolare inti. came back to me.

3rd July, my son spreaded water to my amp. When I turn it on I could hear noisy.
That day, I sent it to my korean dealer.

After a week, they said it works well even there was some oil overflow from capacitors.
I requested to send it with my telefucken tubes to absolare in US, I thought just replacing capacotors.
After absolare checked it, they said there were some crossion at 30% of pre part and 70% of power amplifier part, even power block and others were ok. The repairing cost was too high, they suggested me to upgrade from passion to signiture.

I was much surprised. If their validation was true, their suggestion was reasonable.
But it overed my budget. Because I had expected just replacing caps.
I'm an engineer also, I couldn't believe the water made the corrosion, theoretically possible, but not happen in real.
I asked several things and requested to discount.

Then Absolare suddenly cut off direct connection with me, I had to talk to them through korean dealer.
I requested the detail of corrosion and pictures, but finally I couldn't get anything.

After some months, I got the money to upgrade and sent it.
I could get signature inti at the end of Oct.
But I could hear noise at R-channel and some volume control trouble.
I asked it to my dealer then they asked it to absolare, they said to check my tube eventhough they already confirmed the tube was ok.
After several trials with my tube and original rt-tube, all failed. So I re-sent it to my korean dealer.
They checked it by themselves and foun d out the volume has failed. then replaced it.

When they checked it, one guy heard some strange noise at R-channel after 2-days burning.
They rechecked it again, but couldn't find out any reason. the aging 1-week, it was ok.

It returned to me in Dec.
At same time absolare sent me tubes one of Ten's 12bh7 and one of NEC's channel master.
They commented that those were very special SQ and apply it each input(left) and output(right).
Input & output? why not Left & Right? Is it possible to use different tubes for L & R ?
I was so confused and asked it. But Absolare does not answered anything again.

Anyway I applied it as their comment, its SQ was really better than their original RT tubes.
Similar nuance but much more clear, focusing, dynamic and musical. But it has an audible white noise at R-channel.
Untill this time all problem was happend at R-chnnel, I was restless.

After some weeks, from mid of Jan, after burning, the white noise was gone, and it works well without any of strange symptom.
I'm not sure how signature is better than passion, because there were so many issues for 6~7 months.


Anyway, now, every thing is OK.
I think absolare is enough good as a inti-amplifier. And they worked well officialy. But not well humanly.
Accident would be happened to anyone. Man is easy to get angry, sad, .... in front of any accident.

In this article, I hope to apologyze to Absolare if I was too nervous or rude.
But If they had tried to understand me more and did not ignore small korean, it would be better.
 
Last edited:

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,659
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
Recently my absolare inti. came back to me.

3rd July, my son spreaded water to my amp. When I turn it on I could hear noisy.
That day I sent it to my korean dealer.

After a week they said it works well even there was some oil overflow from capacitors.
I requested to send it with my telefucken tubes to absolare in US, I thought just replacing capacotors.
After absolare checked it, they said there were some crossion at 30% of pre part and 70% of power amplifier part, even power block and others were ok. The repairing cost was too high, they suggested me to upgrade from passion to signiture.

I was much surprised. If their validation was true, their suggestion is reasonable.
But it overed my budget. Because I had exected just replacing caps.
I'm an engineer also, I couldn't believe the water made the corrosion, theoretically possible, but not happen in real.
I asked several things and requested to discount.

Then Absolare suddenly cut of direct connection with me, I had to talk to them through their dealer.
I requested the detail of corrosion and pictures, but finally I couldn't get it.

After some months, I got the money to upgrade and sent it.
I could get signature inti at the end of Oct.
But I could hear noise at R-channel and some volume control trouble.
I asked it to my dealer they asked it to absolare, they said to check my tube eventhough they already confirmed the tube was ok.
After several trials with my tube and original rt-tube, all failed. So I re-sent it to my korean dealer.
They checked it by themselves and foun dout the volume has failed. then replaced it.

When they check it, one guy heard some strange noise at R-channel after 2-days burning.
They rechecked it again, but couldn't find out any reason. the aging 1-week, it was ok.

It returned to me in Dec.
At the same time absolare sent me tubes one of Ten's 12bh7 and one of NEC's channel master.
with a comment that has very special SQ and apply it each input(left) and output(right).
Input & output? why not Left & Right? Is it possible to use different tubes for L & R ?
I was so confused and asked it. But Absolare does not answered anything.

Any I applied it as their comment, Its SQ was really better than their original RT tubes.
Similar nuance but much more clear, focusing, dynamic and musical. But it has a white noise at R-channel.
Untill now all problem was happend at R-chnnel, I was restless.

After some weeks, from mid of Jan, after burning, the white noise was gone, and it works well without any of strange symptom.
I'm not sure how signature is better than passion, because there were so many issues for 6~7 months.


Anyway, now, every thing is OK.
I think absolare is enough good as a inti-amplifier. And they worked well officialy. But not well humanly.
Accident would be happened to anyone. Man is easy to get angry, sad, .... in front of so accident.

In this article, I hope to apologyze to Absolare if I was too nervous and rude.
But If they had tried to understand me more and did not ignore small korean, it would be better.

Sorry to hear about your tale of woe :eek:
 

pke10000

Well-Known Member
Jan 22, 2018
84
29
123
As I said above, absolare sent me tubes each of Ten's 12bh7 and NEC's channel master 12bh7.
It was really really good. much deep and natural bass, detail texture, Black background color... eventhouth high was a little hash and focusing was not clear, those tubes were absolutely better than my old telefunken or RT's bundle.

But someday, ten's tube has broken. I tested 3~4 kinds of sylvania's 12bh7. I disappointed because the result was not so agreeable.

Yesterday, I got a news, absolare uses 12bh7 for their new mono-blocks amp.
Is there anyone to know the brand ?
 
Last edited:

pke10000

Well-Known Member
Jan 22, 2018
84
29
123
I'm still testing 12BH7.
RCA's 12BH7 was also good eventhough it is not in same league with Ten&CM combi.

But it made same symptom.
After I use it 1-months, L-ch made a high freq. noise after heating. When I power on, it is ok for 1-hour, then I could hear the high freq. noise.
Ten&CM was same. Always L-ch tube has that noise.

12bh7 is more hot than 12au7, but I'm not sure why.
Is there anyone to use 12bh7 on Absolare?
 

Dthagerty@aol.com

VIP/Donor
Dec 31, 2015
81
60
208
Solana Beach, CA
Tube problems follow the tube. If a tube is bad, and you switch tubes, the problem will follow the tube. If there is a non-tube problem in that channel, the problem will remain in that channel and not follow the tube. It sounds like the latter is the case in your situation. There is a thread on Audio Asylum right now on this topic, and several very knowledgeable, experienced individuals suggested cleaning and re-tensioning the tube pins on the offending side.
 

anan

Well-Known Member
Sep 11, 2019
3
0
66
50
Hi all,
New to Absolare, and loving it. It just sounds whole and rich. Moved from Devialet expert pro; I like devialet (unlike some) and was looking to upgrade to a1000 pro, but got sold on a pre owned Absolare. Sometimes change is good... though probably spent a bob or 2 more than I planned. Probably too early for tweaks, but looking at some of the comments above, trying different tubes might be interesting. Does it make much difference?
 

pke10000

Well-Known Member
Jan 22, 2018
84
29
123
Hi all,
New to Absolare, and loving it. It just sounds whole and rich. Moved from Devialet expert pro; I like devialet (unlike some) and was looking to upgrade to a1000 pro, but got sold on a pre owned Absolare. Sometimes change is good... though probably spent a bob or 2 more than I planned. Probably too early for tweaks, but looking at some of the comments above, trying different tubes might be interesting. Does it make much difference?

Welcome to Absilare. After coming, echol cable and tube rolling is a course for fun.
Echol is expensive...TT
Tube rolling is easy to enjoy. Thease days absolare recommends 12bh7 for more dynamics. You may get it cheap at ebay. Or as I know, absolare supports sellected tube also even very expensive.
 
Last edited:

butler

Well-Known Member
Mar 26, 2013
41
0
311
Hi Anan and congrats on the Absolare purchase....it is a great integrated and still (likely:)) my final amp. Tubes can certainly change the flavor of things, for example, since I'm getting a bit older with some minor high frequency hearing loss, I searched for a tube with lots of sparkle and found just what I was looking for with a pair of Cifte 12AU7's from Upscale Audio here in the States. Figure out what you want to achieve and with some research there is very likely a tube that will give you more of what you want, though the tubes that come with the amp are certainly good as well. Tube rolling can be fun and expensive too, so google is your friend when the search is on. Also note that you can mix and match tube brands in this amp as well. Enjoy!!
 

anan

Well-Known Member
Sep 11, 2019
3
0
66
50
Thanks for the tips @butler @pke10000. Think I will take my time trying these things. Struggling to fault the default!
 

pke10000

Well-Known Member
Jan 22, 2018
84
29
123
It seems that I finished long test of 12bh7 and absolare.
3 weeks ago, I reduced the candidates to 3 : Boroughs which has red-hat mark which means special, Sylvania 1958s which almost similar to absolare choosed, RCA1960s which has orange print which means for medical.

Boroughs has widest scale, punch, rich, clean, warm, but I could listen just under 2-hours, I think it exaggerates something.
Sylvania has good balance, dynamics, dark, but I could listen just under 1-hour because of not clean, sometimes I felt noisy.
RCA has no benefit, foward, but I clould listen 6-hours then I continued to look for lists on Tidal....

Now my choice is Rca 12bh7 1960s.

As an advice to new tube hunter, please use older than 1960s, older is better. Even ebay makes you disappointed, try it again. Someday you will find a treasure.

Thanks
 
Last edited:

Redwoodaudio

Member
Aug 25, 2021
37
38
23
42
I know this is an old thread, but I’ll give it a shot… Anyone use a subwoofer with the absolare integrated?
 

anan

Well-Known Member
Sep 11, 2019
3
0
66
50
Not tried feeding a subwoofer from my Absolare loudspeaker terminals. I have an Ayre QX-5 in front of the amp: One set of outputs to the amp, and one to the subwoofer. Works well enough.
 

Redwoodaudio

Member
Aug 25, 2021
37
38
23
42
Anan, that sounds like an elegant solution. I may not have that luxury, though.
 

Redwoodaudio

Member
Aug 25, 2021
37
38
23
42
I just want to see if anyone has done this because the manual makes the following statement:

"Do not connect unbalanced subwoofer input terminals to speaker outputs! Absolare Integrated Amplifier has a balanced output stage. Neither of the speaker output terminals should be connected to ground. Doing so may permanently damage the amplifier. Please consult your dealer about correct subwoofer connection. "
 

pdubya

Well-Known Member
Oct 30, 2012
77
51
925
Audiophile wasteland
I just want to see if anyone has done this because the manual makes the following statement:

"Do not connect unbalanced subwoofer input terminals to speaker outputs! Absolare Integrated Amplifier has a balanced output stage. Neither of the speaker output terminals should be connected to ground. Doing so may permanently damage the amplifier. Please consult your dealer about correct subwoofer connection. "
best answer from the source: info@absolare.com. Kerem is usually quite responsive.
 

Redwoodaudio

Member
Aug 25, 2021
37
38
23
42
From Absolare: due to fully balanced design all the way to speaker posts, the black post is not grounded. Subwoofers will tend to expect the connection to the amplifier negative post to be ground. Connecting in this way could cause noise or a short, depending on the subwoofer. A separate ground reference post installed on amp could solve this.
 

Redwoodaudio

Member
Aug 25, 2021
37
38
23
42
I received my used Absolare Signature Integrated yesterday. Quite a luxurious piece of gear to look at and touch. I put in some Melos Neotubes that it came with (I don't know anything about them), will try some Mullard NOS ECC82s as well.

Boy, this amplifier is amazing! Bigger and better sound in every way. Best I've ever heard! I can't believe someone would sell this (unless to go to a higher level of Absolare)! I may not even need a subwoofer, after all (I have Graham Audio LS5/5s).

Thanks for the prior contributors to this thread for inspiring this purchase, which was an excellent value overall.
 

Addicted to hifi

VIP/Donor
Sep 8, 2020
4,610
2,039
265
52
Australia
I just want to see if anyone has done this because the manual makes the following statement:

"Do not connect unbalanced subwoofer input terminals to speaker outputs! Absolare Integrated Amplifier has a balanced output stage. Neither of the speaker output terminals should be connected to ground. Doing so may permanently damage the amplifier. Please consult your dealer about correct subwoofer connection. "
Welcome to wbf redwoodaudio.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing