Recent content by damonster

Funny that. I owned a Bryston br60 amp then bought a shanling stp-80 valve amp. Sold the bryston a week later. Bryston are beautifully neutral. But couldnt compete with my shanling tube amp. I have wide taste in music from radiohead to fleetwood mac, stevie wonder and rolling stones. None of us...

So what have you decided after all of that?

I think there are slight compromises with tube amps and ss amps. I definitely wouldn't describe them as laid back. You don't get quite the instant snap of ss amps with tubes. But bearing in mind that bands like the stones play through tube amps. This is when a tube hifi amp comes into its own...

I bought my amp being told it was self biasing. Specialists said that they still need setting up to the tubes. Even if one tube is out of sync not matched it will put strain on the others and could cause the caps to burn out. My amp came back sounding the best I'd ever heard it. All caps...

If you take it to a specialist they may be able to supply you with matched tubes and will be able to setup the bias properly for you. I took my tube amp to a specialist and said the tubes in it were poorly matched and I had burnt out a couple of capacitors. When it came back to me it sounded so...

Really happy you like their sound. I heard my friends setup with a valve pre amp, and fell in love with the sound. Everything you've mentioned was there...the intimacy and the feeling of having the players in the room. I've been smitten ever since....I do have a different set of requirements. So...

Thanks Al ears.More than happy with the electro. Just seen names like gold lion and jj,mullard. Everyone claims to be the best. I would presume the vintage ones are. But have to pay a premium price for them. Good to know I have got descent ones in though. Thanks for your reply.

good thing about Shanling. The el34 tubes are self biasing. So pretty much plug and play. If diodes need replacing eventually, no big deal.i swear If you get a descent valve amp you will never go back to ss. It is astoundingly impressive.

I watched a documentary on sky arts . Heartworn highways. There is a guy 10 minutes in called Larry Jon Wilson. I paid £30 for his album on cd.I have heard Neil diamond, Barry white, radiohead. Elvis. I swear Larry Jon Wilson is up there with all of them. I bought a double album. New beginnings...

I have got some electro harmonix in at the moment. Canyou recommend any better?

I totally agree. I have owned Cambridge audio, cyrus, Leema and Bryston solid states and have to massively concede that What valves have to offer are night and day. I can say i have been truly gobsmacked by some of my cds that I have heard. The intimacy the fluidity the emotional involvement...

I can't believe the quality of this thing. The only prices I could see when new were around $2200.considering it has just replaced my Bryston which now retails for double that. don't get me wrong the Bryston is a very talented amp. But the Shanling outshines it on everything but low end snap. I...

I think further on you said that most people who keep upgrading haven't heard a Valve amp. Which probably also rings true. Cheers Cno.

A couple of weeks ago I took a gamble on a vacuum tube amplifier. The first valve amp that I have ever heard. This was partly down to something Cno had replied to on one of my previous posts a good while back about tastes changing with age. Cno's quote was "As I said in another thread, I think...