In an earlier post I had extolled the virtues of the Pass XA25 driving Atria II speakers.
A week or so ago I got an email from the Tube Depot about the Elekit TU-8900 kit on sale. I guess I was feeling bored (poor weather for golf or something) so I ordered the kit, and a pair of decent ECC82s (gold pin JJs - I had previously used JJ 300Bs in my VAC 30/30 so I was positive about the brand). I had no idea whether 8 watts would drive the Atrias.
The kit went together fairly easily, taking perhaps 10 hours total - the hardest parts were filing sharp tags off the circuit boards and pushing the extension onto the on/off switch. I did much checking looking for solder bridges and dry joints, and checking 3 times that all the components were soldered in the right place in the correct orientation.
I disconnected the XA25, lugged it to a table and hooked up the TU-8900, the binding posts OK but not perfect with the old Tara Labs spades whose insulation is close to the opening. I have a quad of WE 300Bs and a pair of those went in - the 4 pin sockets are VERY tight - and inserted the ECC82s. I powered up everything - no smoke and the the LEDs showed blue indicating that the 300Bs were recognized as such.
I played various pieces without listening critically for an hour or two. Then I started to listen.
Interesting. Compared to the XA25 the sound is perhaps VERY slightly veiled, akin to the effect of speaker grilles, but so, I expect, would almost any amp. The resolution at the lowest level lessened, decays a tiny bit truncated. The mid-range is glorious, the slow movement of the Op. 132 played by the Takács quartet indeed took me to another universe and the Beethoven sonata #32, played by Primakov, was luscious. The bass is there; I was expecting perhaps some wooliness comparatively because of the XA25's damping factor, but nothing was noticeable. The highs are pristine, delicate or crystalline as appropriate, and delicious. On a Hilary Hahn LP there was a real sense of sound from the violin body.
I also played Mahler 2, not your typical SET material, and it was rendered very satisfactorily, the 2nd movement was gorgeous and the finale, while it did not hit me in the chest, was there in all its glory. The vocal passages gorgeous. There was, perhaps, a bonus of a somewhat wider, deeper, soundstage than from the XA25.
I would rate this experiment as a success. My kit had the basic, standard, Rs, Cs, and OPTs, I am wondering if upgrades to the coupling caps and OPTs might be worthwhile. I'll leave the amp in for a while, a plus in this weather is less heat than the SS amp!
Has anyone else tried low power amps on the Atria speakers, or have experience with the TU-8900?
A week or so ago I got an email from the Tube Depot about the Elekit TU-8900 kit on sale. I guess I was feeling bored (poor weather for golf or something) so I ordered the kit, and a pair of decent ECC82s (gold pin JJs - I had previously used JJ 300Bs in my VAC 30/30 so I was positive about the brand). I had no idea whether 8 watts would drive the Atrias.
The kit went together fairly easily, taking perhaps 10 hours total - the hardest parts were filing sharp tags off the circuit boards and pushing the extension onto the on/off switch. I did much checking looking for solder bridges and dry joints, and checking 3 times that all the components were soldered in the right place in the correct orientation.
I disconnected the XA25, lugged it to a table and hooked up the TU-8900, the binding posts OK but not perfect with the old Tara Labs spades whose insulation is close to the opening. I have a quad of WE 300Bs and a pair of those went in - the 4 pin sockets are VERY tight - and inserted the ECC82s. I powered up everything - no smoke and the the LEDs showed blue indicating that the 300Bs were recognized as such.
I played various pieces without listening critically for an hour or two. Then I started to listen.
Interesting. Compared to the XA25 the sound is perhaps VERY slightly veiled, akin to the effect of speaker grilles, but so, I expect, would almost any amp. The resolution at the lowest level lessened, decays a tiny bit truncated. The mid-range is glorious, the slow movement of the Op. 132 played by the Takács quartet indeed took me to another universe and the Beethoven sonata #32, played by Primakov, was luscious. The bass is there; I was expecting perhaps some wooliness comparatively because of the XA25's damping factor, but nothing was noticeable. The highs are pristine, delicate or crystalline as appropriate, and delicious. On a Hilary Hahn LP there was a real sense of sound from the violin body.
I also played Mahler 2, not your typical SET material, and it was rendered very satisfactorily, the 2nd movement was gorgeous and the finale, while it did not hit me in the chest, was there in all its glory. The vocal passages gorgeous. There was, perhaps, a bonus of a somewhat wider, deeper, soundstage than from the XA25.
I would rate this experiment as a success. My kit had the basic, standard, Rs, Cs, and OPTs, I am wondering if upgrades to the coupling caps and OPTs might be worthwhile. I'll leave the amp in for a while, a plus in this weather is less heat than the SS amp!
Has anyone else tried low power amps on the Atria speakers, or have experience with the TU-8900?
