Your Integrated Tube Amp Recommendations and Expertise requested

DSkip said:
I believe the one he is getting might be a generation older than the current one. The newer versions run cooler than previous ones (I only bring it up given the heat concern). I currently have a unit that is less than a year old that I am selling for $5,000 (retail is $8,000). It was a customer trade-in when someone moved up to the Evolution 845. The BoX is an awesome unit but I just sold my last new unit today and it will take me a bit to replenish stock since Italy shuts down in August. I might be able to make something happen on one of the review models though. I do have a new in box Dueventi as well. All of these amps are $5,000 or under.

I was a Triode Corporation dealer until I picked up MastersounD. The Triode pieces are nice, but they were completely forgotten by clients the second they heard a MastersounD amp. Their transformers are world-class and done in-house, so they have an advantage that nobody else can replicate.

As far as customer satisfaction with MastersounD, each client I talk to loves them and most only sell theirs to move up the line. Technicians I have talked to have nothing but respect for their design and build quality as well.

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I just love it when I allow other dealers on my site and they slam not only the brands I sell, but actually use and personally own in my home system. This is your first and only warning.
 
good morning! i do not wish to jump into any argument! but, i LOVE my Triode amp from Mike. my room is 13 by 13, and the heat is no problem. PLENTY of power, paired with Harbeth speakers model 30.2

volume turned halfway up, the Berlin Philharmonic is IN THE ROOM, and wife yelling to turn it down. super amp, and i trust Mike implicitly. maybe he can find you a new/used amp!
terrific sound!
best regards,
bob
 
Mike said:
I just love it when I allow other dealers on my site and they slam not only the brands I sell, but actually use and personally own in my home system. This is your first and only warning.
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I understand your point Mike - but banning a dealer who disagrees with you on a product isn't exactly keeping AS a marketplace of ideas. But instead of selling it like "my customers like this more now" he should have at least said why MS sounds better than Tri or whatever and kept the sales pitch out of it. Maybe there is back history we don't know about but...

Other audio forums have a wealth of dealers and manufacturers on them and no real foul play. I honestly find them quite valuable (as they usually are very experienced with various gear combinations) so I'm a bit confused why this is a big deal or why dealers have to be "allowed" in the first place. If AS is just diminishing into a dealer forum, then my participation will be more limited going forward.

I think you and the mods need to confer and make an announcement of the rules and how you want the forum to proceed.

Just my 2 cents, cheers
 
KeithR said:
I understand your point Mike - but banning a dealer who disagrees with you on a product isn't exactly keeping AS a marketplace of ideas. But instead of selling it like "my customers like this more now" he should have at least said why MS sounds better than Tri or whatever and kept the sales pitch out of it. Maybe there is back history we don't know about but...

Other audio forums have a wealth of dealers and manufacturers on them and no real foul play. I honestly find them quite valuable (as they usually are very experienced with various gear combinations) so I'm a bit confused why this is a big deal or why dealers have to be "allowed" in the first place. If AS is just diminishing into a dealer forum, then my participation will be more limited going forward.

I think you and the mods need to confer and make an announcement of the rules and how you want the forum to proceed.

Just my 2 cents, cheers
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Keith, I'm afraid you don't have all the facts and I don't want to make this into something, because my patience for this kind of nonsense has run out. His rude comments (which you didn't see) are what got him banned, not disagreeing with me. A simple apology or to have said nothing would have worked better than what he posted this morning. I have no tolerance for this level of disrespect. Look, I have no issue with another dealer coming on and saying "the XYZ is an amazing product." But when I'm the guy paying the bills, doing the work, and extending a level of tolerance to these guests, only to have the person say "Triode sucks, my product is better" and then follows up with rude and disrespectful comments, sorry, it's not going to fly. I'm a very patient person, but I have no tolerance for such disrespect.
 
Mike, I understand your unhappiness with what the other dealer commented on, he certainly could have worded things better. I know that I, for one, took your recommendations of Triode Corporation integrated very seriously, as I have heard several of their products demoed and came away extremely impressed. To my knowledge, they have also never gotten less than an exceptional review and are clearly superbly well built.

JC
 
Mikado463 said:
How about Rogue ......... http://www.rogueaudio.com/Products_Pharaoh.htm

he could buy used, save some $$ and put the saved $$ towards acoustical treatments for his room, if he has not already done so.
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Thanks for the recommendation, but while I admire the company, and what they try to do, you couldn't get further from the sound of a Line Magnetic amp than something from Rogue.

JC
 
Slapshot said:
Sorry about the delay in providing the speaker information. However, I don't know that most, possibly any of you might be familiar with the ones in question. They have occasionally appeared at shows, and are made, by hand, in Ohio by an Eastern European immigrant named Bogdan (of Bogdan Audio). Bogdan is an incredibly knowledgeable speaker designer, and a great guy to deal with. These are his Art Deco single coaxial driver models. They are one of the most remarkable speakers for anywhere near the price ($2,000.00), that I've ever heard. They once won best value award at three consecutive regional audio shows.

They are particularly outstanding when used in a small/virtually nearfield environment such as my friend has. They are 8 ohms, 88db sensitivity. The only thing ever appearing about them online is a Stereo Mojo review from some years back. I generally agree with the review, but they will perform at substantially less power than he states. I have heard them powered flawlessly by a 25wpc First Watt, solid state amp, and to any degree of loudness you could imagine with the little PrimaLuna integrated that I mentioned earlier at 35wpc.

http://www.stereomojo.com/Bogdan Au...view.htm/BogdanAudioArtDeccoSpeakerReview.htm

JC
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Can't help you with the integrated question, but funny you mention Bogdan! In 2003 I was just starting out in audiophile stuff, and bought a new set of his "Silver Princess" cables for $90; holy crap they were awesome for the money: pure solid silver conductors (a fairly thick gauge too) in large teflon air tubes with Eichmann bullet RCAs. The amount of air in the tubes was comparable to what AudioQuest uses in their Wild Blue Yonder line, which costs 4500 for a meter! My friend has a set of Bogdan's higher-end Spirit cables (~350 / 1m) from the same era, with a more complex geometry/arrangement, and still loves them. Wish I could still buy these cables at those prices; I'd consider recouping money on my expensive AQ's to "downgrade"!

I think there's a pretty good chance his current products are a great value, too.
 
I have heard the big Triode Corp amps many times at the audio shows and nothing sounded better to my ears than the room playing them. They are just fantastic. If I had the budget for these big Triode monos, I would buy in a heartbeat. There are many youtube videos playing them at the shows - check them out.
 
YouTube?! No.... you didn't :)

Devg said:
I have heard the big Triode Corp amps many times at the audio shows and nothing sounded better to my ears than the room playing them. They are just fantastic. If I had the budget for these big Triode monos, I would buy in a heartbeat. There are many youtube videos playing them at the shows - check them out.
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Mr Peabody said:
YouTube?! No.... you didn't :)
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AVshowreports has done couple of videos on them. I didn't meant to absolutely judge the sound quality but give some idea. Since all his videos are taken by the same camera, you can get a "relative" measure using a good quality headphone. Believe me, I have the same speakers at home as what they pair in the shows but the level of refinement with the Triop Corp is exceptional.
 
Just giving you a hard time. If you read that thread about, "should you comment if yu haven't heard the gear" you'd understand. There's a bit of a tangent on those who listen to gear via YouTube.

Devg said:
AVshowreports has done couple of videos on them. I didn't meant to absolutely judge the sound quality but give some idea. Since all his videos are taken by the same camera, you can get a "relative" measure using a good quality headphone. Believe me, I have the same speakers at home as what they pair in the shows but the level of refinement with the Triop Corp is exceptional.
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Devg said:
I have heard the big Triode Corp amps many times at the audio shows and nothing sounded better to my ears than the room playing them. They are just fantastic. If I had the budget for these big Triode monos, I would buy in a heartbeat. There are many youtube videos playing them at the shows - check them out.
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I greatly admire the Triode amps, and have also heard how great the big ones sound at shows. The issue is that anything that would really work for my friend is simply too expensive for his budget.

JC
 
I have never owned a Tube amp. Pre, Power or Integrated. I had a Octave V110 on loan for a while. It sounded good, not better then my SS integrated amp. But still good.

What I like about Octave is that it doesn't have a overly tube sound.
 
I always recommend the Devialet Expert Pro Integrated amplifiers, they make my Bowers and wilkins sound like something out of this world. I bought them a few months ago from the Devialet NYC soho store and got them hooked up to my 802's. They even do at-home and store demonstrations if you call their Soho location
 
Agree, to me the Octave had some tube presence with control of SS, it's even better with the upgraded power supply.

I haven't heard your brand of amp, it must be good though.

Mordante said:
I have never owned a Tube amp. Pre, Power or Integrated. I had a Octave V110 on loan for a while. It sounded good, not better then my SS integrated amp. But still good.

What I like about Octave is that it doesn't have a overly tube sound.
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