New Audio Frontiers 845SE with Psvane Acme Tubes, and Diesis Audio Aura Speakers sounds amazing
What are some of the top 845 Amplifiers you have heard?
- Thread starter caesar
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Have you ever listen psvane 845-Z tubes which are now end of stock
I'm close to wetting myself with excitement. I bought Phils Audion Black Shadow 845 amps. A couple weeks later they were sent out to be repaired. That was months ago. They have been totally rebuit. Everything upgraded to current levels. And maybe a little secret sauce. Anyhow, Fedex is scheluled to deliver today.
Being that this is the only pair of SET amps I have owned, I won't be able to add much as a comparison to others SET. I have had VAC, CJ, Rogue and Ampsandsound PP KT style amps in my posession for years. And an Altec 811 PP. The 845 immediate jumped out as different. They paired well with my PAP Trio 15 horn speakers. Enough so I decided to spend more rebuilding them than the cost to purchase them. And I really didn't want to spend the money purchasing them in the first place. In short, they sounded dam good. Good enough I more than doubled my max spending limit.
I am now thinking tubes. Phil gave me a pile of Shuguang tubes and one set of Psvane hifi tubes. All budget tubes that work. What they really tell you is the power tube has a significant impact on the sound from this amp. I was told by the USA distributor the Elrog sound best in this amp. $2,000. Ouch. But even the Psvane ACME is $1400??? I think. It's up there.
More to come when they arrive.
Being that this is the only pair of SET amps I have owned, I won't be able to add much as a comparison to others SET. I have had VAC, CJ, Rogue and Ampsandsound PP KT style amps in my posession for years. And an Altec 811 PP. The 845 immediate jumped out as different. They paired well with my PAP Trio 15 horn speakers. Enough so I decided to spend more rebuilding them than the cost to purchase them. And I really didn't want to spend the money purchasing them in the first place. In short, they sounded dam good. Good enough I more than doubled my max spending limit.
I am now thinking tubes. Phil gave me a pile of Shuguang tubes and one set of Psvane hifi tubes. All budget tubes that work. What they really tell you is the power tube has a significant impact on the sound from this amp. I was told by the USA distributor the Elrog sound best in this amp. $2,000. Ouch. But even the Psvane ACME is $1400??? I think. It's up there.
More to come when they arrive.
Good luck w them...my time w the Black Shadows was a lot of fun.
Top level all-silver upgrade was 3x what I paid for them, with no chance of hearing first, and I know 100% silver *can* be uncompromising. Hopefully you get all the good stuff.
With ANY 845 based tube amplifier you better use freight shipping as the UPS & Fedex more often than not damage these heavy beasts in transit. I learned that the hard way, when the Fedex damaged my MAstersound Evolution Reference amp (120 pounds, very heavy on the transformers side, no wonder the average Fedex delivery guy/gal would drop box this heavy from their truck on the pavemant when unloading )... Luckily the USA TUBe store in Arizona quickly took care of the issue and sent a replacement unit, this time with the Old Dominion Freight , strapped to a pallet...$500 for freight was pricey, but so worth it!
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They are not that heavy. Maybe 55 lbs. I ordered original boxes to replace the wood box they came in. The manufacturer boxes are tested for drops from a pretty high elevation. So I am told.
I did have one good experience to note. MEP was pretty upset I talked about this on Audionirvana, but who cares. Anyway, while testing the amps because the damage was not obvious on the outside, I tubed them up and fired them off. One amp would start and sounded great, but after a minute or so the sound would just fade away. The other had some rattling and a bad hum. During my changing of tubes and moving things around to determine just what may be going on, my wife called down form her at home Covid office and asked if I was playing music. I said I was. She was surprised and though it was the neighbors band, but said it sounded too good. As in they were too professional, no mistakes. Anyhow, the amps show promise as nice amps. Very lifelike and real. Pretty different sound than the KT88 PP amps I am using now. I just have to get them home in good functioning order to fully investigate what this SET 845 amp really sounds like. Hopefully the new boxes will help.
I did have one good experience to note. MEP was pretty upset I talked about this on Audionirvana, but who cares. Anyway, while testing the amps because the damage was not obvious on the outside, I tubed them up and fired them off. One amp would start and sounded great, but after a minute or so the sound would just fade away. The other had some rattling and a bad hum. During my changing of tubes and moving things around to determine just what may be going on, my wife called down form her at home Covid office and asked if I was playing music. I said I was. She was surprised and though it was the neighbors band, but said it sounded too good. As in they were too professional, no mistakes. Anyhow, the amps show promise as nice amps. Very lifelike and real. Pretty different sound than the KT88 PP amps I am using now. I just have to get them home in good functioning order to fully investigate what this SET 845 amp really sounds like. Hopefully the new boxes will help.
Years ago, I had Cary 805 amps that are SET with 845 output tube. It came with stock tubes (Shuguang?) which I replaced with a set of Cetron 845s. Much preferred the Cetron 845 tubes. The amps were used with Ruark Solstice which I drove with the 4 ohm output tap. I really liked the sound on the 805 amp, the mid-range purity is beguiling.
After a few years, I upgraded to the Cary 211. It is basically 2 805 amps in push-pull configuration. A lot more power, a little less delicacy, a trade-off from single-ended vs push-pull. I use the Cetron 845 tubes in the 211 amps. The Cary 211 was eventually upgraded to 211 FE parts and I also found a set of RCA 845s. Now we're talking! RCA 845s are a bit lusher in the mid-range versus the Cetrons. The Cary 211s are used with Von Schweikert VR-9 Mk II, which have a fairly flat impedance and also have built-in amps for the low bass (which is great, especially for tube amps). As before, the speakers are driven from the 4 ohm tap.
I did try a set of 211 tubes in the 211 amps, but did not like their sound as compared with the 845 tubes.
I have also tried the KR 845s in the 211 FE amps. They sounded good ... until they didn't. For whatever reason, the KRs only lasted about 6 months, then failed. I checked, the amps had enough power supply headroom to work with the KR tubes, so the amps were likely not the issue.
I also tried Shuguang 845 tubes in the Cary 211 FE (can't recall if they were 845B or 845C). Overall, I prefer RCA 845 and then Cetron 845s. I was lucky to find a couple sets of Cetron 845s before they stopped production.
After a few years, I upgraded to the Cary 211. It is basically 2 805 amps in push-pull configuration. A lot more power, a little less delicacy, a trade-off from single-ended vs push-pull. I use the Cetron 845 tubes in the 211 amps. The Cary 211 was eventually upgraded to 211 FE parts and I also found a set of RCA 845s. Now we're talking! RCA 845s are a bit lusher in the mid-range versus the Cetrons. The Cary 211s are used with Von Schweikert VR-9 Mk II, which have a fairly flat impedance and also have built-in amps for the low bass (which is great, especially for tube amps). As before, the speakers are driven from the 4 ohm tap.
I did try a set of 211 tubes in the 211 amps, but did not like their sound as compared with the 845 tubes.
I have also tried the KR 845s in the 211 FE amps. They sounded good ... until they didn't. For whatever reason, the KRs only lasted about 6 months, then failed. I checked, the amps had enough power supply headroom to work with the KR tubes, so the amps were likely not the issue.
I also tried Shuguang 845 tubes in the Cary 211 FE (can't recall if they were 845B or 845C). Overall, I prefer RCA 845 and then Cetron 845s. I was lucky to find a couple sets of Cetron 845s before they stopped production.
My favorite 845 amps are the Art Audio Quartets. This is a push-pull design and delivers 45w of power with 6dB of feedback. Extremely detailed. They deliver on the ideal 845 soundstage but like anything, they have their limitations.
This is a full review of my amps from Dr. Michael Bump.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/superi...et_Vacuum_Tube_Monoblock_Amplifier_Review.htm
I use them to drive stand-mount speakers at home that start rolling off at 60hz so the limitations in sub-bass response in my system is mitigated.
I do import Art Audio and I am obviously biased but these are pretty great amps. I have also listened to the Line Magnetic amps and Cary amps and I legitimately think these are better. I have not heard the parallel 845 or 211 mono SETs that Tom produces from Art Audio yet. That would obviously deliver a little different of a sound profile but would be limited to like 32w in power output. My speakers are inefficient (84dB) so I need the little bit of extra power which is why I opted for the Push-Pull design.
This is a full review of my amps from Dr. Michael Bump.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/superi...et_Vacuum_Tube_Monoblock_Amplifier_Review.htm
I use them to drive stand-mount speakers at home that start rolling off at 60hz so the limitations in sub-bass response in my system is mitigated.
I do import Art Audio and I am obviously biased but these are pretty great amps. I have also listened to the Line Magnetic amps and Cary amps and I legitimately think these are better. I have not heard the parallel 845 or 211 mono SETs that Tom produces from Art Audio yet. That would obviously deliver a little different of a sound profile but would be limited to like 32w in power output. My speakers are inefficient (84dB) so I need the little bit of extra power which is why I opted for the Push-Pull design.
I own a pair of Mastersound 845 mono s whit 2x845 tubes i keep this as spare amp it is very powerful high level of musicality and in my opinion the very best amp for the price!
I had the Cary 805C which has 845 output tubes. Didn't really care for the sound. Slow and slightly muffled. I also not sure how they managed to claim 50w out of a pair of 845 tube.
Now I own a pair of Line Magnetic 518IA. So much better, clarity and microdynamic is much better.
Now I own a pair of Line Magnetic 518IA. So much better, clarity and microdynamic is much better.
Simply quoting from the Cary web site description of the 805 amp: "The audio signal from the 300B interstage transformer will drive the 211/845 output tube to 27 watts Class A output. With additional volume levels, the amplifier goes into a positive grid mode with a power output of 50 watts Class A2." My listening impression of the Cary 805 would not characterize them as either slow or muffled. But I did swap out some capacitors and swapped some of the tubes. In the end, I went with the 211 amps to get more power.
The only 845 based amps I've owned are the Art Audio Carissa, a very nice UK-built stereo amp, and the Conconance Cyber 845 monos from China. I had on home demo a pair of Union Research 845 monos, wonderful looking monsters but a bit noisy for my high efficiency speakers.
I know somw of us like photos, so here they are!
I know somw of us like photos, so here they are!
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They have been surprisingly good (Chinese built and sensibly priced) in my London home, but they didn't like the move to Portsmouth for some reason. They are a bit noisy, but I put this down to the closeness of router, TV and other electronics. I've rather moved away from tube amps, but I still have the Cyber 845s and will try again soon.
I could use them for the mid and top only and set my Avantgardes to take the preamp line output for bass. This way, noise should be minimised and I could switch from SS amp to tube amp using my new amp switcher. Or I could relocate them to be far enough from other equipment that (hopefully) they'll operate quietly.
I could use them for the mid and top only and set my Avantgardes to take the preamp line output for bass. This way, noise should be minimised and I could switch from SS amp to tube amp using my new amp switcher. Or I could relocate them to be far enough from other equipment that (hopefully) they'll operate quietly.
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