New System for 2013 - On Wall, Valve Flavour, Good DAC

[WishTree]

Hi,

I am planning to put together the following system. Requirements are wall mounting, Value For Money, Possible short term future Proofing, Bass (Quality preferred over Quantity). SQ wise - my general requirements - no harsh / bright sound, clear mid range and over all clear dynamic sound.

DAC And/Or Pre-Amp -> Oppo BDP-105 (Nice resolving DACs, Offers Bass Management)

Amplifier -> Jolida 1501BRC (Valve Flavour with possible tube rolling with decent power)

Speakers -> Anthony Gallo Strada (Wall Mountable and offer low range extension with wall reinforcement)

Sub Woofer -> B&W ASW 608 (White in Color & Small in Size for WAF, Quality of bass is very tight and controlled)

Speakers and Subwoofers are already bought in 2012

Oppo is ordered and waiting for delivery

Amplifier will be auditioned this week and is still open topic.

Do let me know if you have any thoughts / suggestions.

I will keep this thread updated with pictures once the set up is done fully.

 

[shooter]

Morning WishTree.

I agree Anthony Gallo and valve power are a good blend, I heard the 3.5 and 5 Ref and the sound was very engaging.

A couple of points, what is your budget and are there any valve brands available for you to demo?

 

[WishTree]

Thanks Shooter. I can only demo Pathos (hybrid) but I know the sound pretty well as I had Inpol2

Jolida is possible for demo and so is CAYIN. I am not really keen about full valve amplifier as I want the amp to be fit & forget. Also, I have about 5 to 6 inches in my cabinet to hide away the amp. I prefer a Hybrid amp which lets the Valve effect come through (I do not like what Peachtree did with Valve buffer as the difference with the buffer on or off is too little for me to even notice)

Also, from price perspective a 1250 USD is the max that I intent to spend on the amplifier.

 

[hoopsontoast]

I would certainly recommend Icon Audio and Ming Da if you can demo locally. You can pick up an AudioNote Oto for around £1k which is a cracking amp, plenty of drive and balls for a ~10wpc EL84 PP amp

 

[shafesk]

Thanks Shooter. I can only demo Pathos (hybrid) but I know the sound pretty well as I had Inpol2

Jolida is possible for demo and so is CAYIN. I am not really keen about full valve amplifier as I want the amp to be fit & forget. Also, I have about 5 to 6 inches in my cabinet to hide away the amp. I prefer a Hybrid amp which lets the Valve effect come through (I do not like what Peachtree did with Valve buffer as the difference with the buffer on or off is too little for me to even notice)

Also, from price perspective a 1250 USD is the max that I intent to spend on the amplifier.

Hi Wishtree, as a Cayin user I would like to say that the amp I own is really fit and forget. I have heard quite a lot of tube amps the past year, a lot of them hybrid and they just don't cut the mustard....to be honest I think they are a sad gap between the talents of a solid state and the talents of a tube amp. Most importantly they just don't have the amazing vocals you get from an all tube unit. I have also lived with an Icon Audio amp for a while and next to the Cayin it just felt lacking, it cost double the Cayin but it wasn't nearly as powerful, the build quality is not great compared to the Cayin, the Cayin feels and sounds more substantial. The Cayin has also been able to drive comfortably all the speakers I have tried in my large bedroom (Dynaudio DM 2/7s, Wharfedale Dentons, Tannoy DC6T and my Mezzo 6s). The Icon Audio had required more thoughtful matching. The whole replacement tube set for the Cayin goes for 120 USD, I have been using the amp for about 6 hours a day for the past 1.5 years and the tubes show no signs of giving up, IIRC the tubes should last around 3000 hours according to my dealer. This should be enough time for most user to move to another amp

If you can find the room in your shelf I strongly will recommend a demo, I think you owe it to yourself and your system. I have given up opportunities to trade for amps such as the famous AR integrated tube amp.

 

[acalex]

Thanks Shooter. I can only demo Pathos (hybrid) but I know the sound pretty well as I had Inpol2

Jolida is possible for demo and so is CAYIN. I am not really keen about full valve amplifier as I want the amp to be fit & forget. Also, I have about 5 to 6 inches in my cabinet to hide away the amp. I prefer a Hybrid amp which lets the Valve effect come through (I do not like what Peachtree did with Valve buffer as the difference with the buffer on or off is too little for me to even notice)

Also, from price perspective a 1250 USD is the max that I intent to spend on the amplifier.

Wish, a good valve amp is fit and forget if you are not planning to keep it for more than 2 years

 

[Al ears]

I believe the OP said he did not want a full valve amp as he wants it to be 'fit and forget', and as it has to go in a 5-6" slot then that just about finishes it for all talk of Icon Audio, Cayins et al.

 

[CnoEvil]

Hi WT, still tinkering, I see.

I haven't heard any of this kit, but from what I've read, it should sound well.

The only suggestion I would have for a wall-mount speaker would be something from Audio Note, which should be happy against a wall or close to a corner (and useful if you ended up with a Valve amp).

 

[WishTree]

Thanks for the advice on the amplfier. Unfortunately I have few constraints - Budget & Space which I guess is ruling out many full blown valve amplifiers though I have a feeling that I am ready to try them out. I have heard some recently and will also do a dealer audition with Jolida's full blown valve amplifiers as A/b to my current short-list just to see where they fair. However I have a feel that I might not be able to stuff the valve amp into the cabinet that I have

 

[WishTree]

Hi WT, still tinkering, I see.

yeah Cno ! The last bits.. things have changed at my end and I am unable to take out as much time as before for the hobby and now I have space constraint to make the equation even more interesting !

Regarding speakers - I already have the Strada wall mounted and they feel home. I already like the sound of the Strada speakers when I had the HK990. Also, since the Stradas are a recent purchase and I like what they do to the sound in conjunction with the sub, I am quite satisified in that area. It is just that I want to pair it with the right amp so that I am sorted for next couple of years!

 

[Macspur]

Hi,

The two other hybrid amps that spring to mind are Croft and LFD, but expect size constraints would rule them out.

Valve amps to consider; Leben CS300 Mastersound Du Trenta, or the little Mastersound Piccolo

Mac

 

[DocG]

Hi,

The two other hybrid amps that spring to mind are Croft and LFD, but expect size constraints would rule them out.

Valve amps to consider; Leben CS300 Mastersound Du Trenta, or the little Mastersound Piccolo

Mac

Think LFD are solid state, Mac. :? Great amps nonetheless (Ever heard LFD driving a couple of SHL5s? Now that's a nice combo!)

 

[Macspur]

Hi,

The two other hybrid amps that spring to mind are Croft and LFD, but expect size constraints would rule them out.

Valve amps to consider; Leben CS300 Mastersound Du Trenta, or the little Mastersound Piccolo

Mac

Think LFD are solid state, Mac. :? Great amps nonetheless (Ever heard LFD driving a couple of SHL5s? Now that's a nice combo!)

Oops, just waiting for someone to spot the deliberate mistake... glad to see you were paying attention LOL!

No, never heard that combo, but have read elsewhere how good it is... but never had the chance to hear for myself.

Mac

 

[WishTree]

Hi,

The two other hybrid amps that spring to mind are Croft and LFD, but expect size constraints would rule them out.

Valve amps to consider; Leben CS300 Mastersound Du Trenta, or the little Mastersound Piccolo

Mac

Thanks Mac. Piccolo is particularly interesting!

 

[artist]

Hi,

Try the UNISON RESEARCH UNICO PRIMO hybrid amp.

Lots of power and valve- like sound .

 

[Macspur]

Hi,

The two other hybrid amps that spring to mind are Croft and LFD, but expect size constraints would rule them out.

Valve amps to consider; Leben CS300 Mastersound Du Trenta, or the little Mastersound Piccolo

Mac

Thanks Mac. Piccolo is particularly interesting!

Apologies, forgotten where you're based, but if interested,

Jordan Acoustics in Scotland have a Piccolo ex dem for under £1400

Mac

 

[WishTree]

Apologies, forgotten where you're based, but if interested,

Jordan Acoustics in Scotland have a Piccolo ex dem for under £1400

Mac

I am based out of Germany though travelling alot these days. I will try to contact them. I am planning to go for an audition of the Jolida tomorrow.

 

[WishTree]

Hi,

Try the UNISON RESEARCH UNICO PRIMO hybrid amp.

Lots of power and valve- like sound .

Thanks Artist. Somehow, I never heard the Unison amplifiers. The one suggested fits my needs as well. Do you know how the Unison sounds compared to Pathos Classic?

 

[shooter]

Apologies, forgotten where you're based, but if interested,

Jordan Acoustics in Scotland have a Piccolo ex dem for under £1400

Mac

I am based out of Germany though travelling alot these days. I will try to contact them. I am planning to go for an audition of the Jolida tomorrow.

Let us know how you get on with the Jolida demo WishTree.

 

[artist]

Hi Wish Tree,

Have'nt heard the Pathos, but found that the Unison in combination with an Audiolab M-dac had more controled power and sweet definition with my B & W Matrix 800's(1990's) than other non hybrids including Classe, Musical Fidelity,

Regards

 

[WishTree]

I did audition the Jolida 1501 BRC and it is a very nice amplifier. I auditioned it on unfamiliar speakers and room. Luckily I could compare it with Pearl Lite amplifier which I am familiar with. Though Pearl Lite is one of my favourites, I found Jolida to have a slight more mid range sweetness, higher dynamics and tighter bass control. Transformer is very quite (Unlike Astin Trew. I am a bit too concerned at this price range from semi boutque brands with respect to the transformer noise. BTW, transformer is quite big & heavy). Also the design is fanless which I like. My HK990 which i had for few days used to make some noise with the fan (it is just that spinning sound but gets annoying when there is aquite passage in the music).

I liked what I heard with the Jolida so went ahead with the purchase.

Hooked the amp last night! It is totally clean and very neutral and a hint of sweetness to the sound in the midrange. It feels that the amp is out of the way which is what it should be, I guess. The amp is just out of the box and run in for less than 10 hours. So there might be some improvements in 50-100 hours of running. For some one interested in has stock Tung Sol 12AX7A. (I did not yet open the case to verify but was told so by the delaer. But once I open the case I will post some pictures as I found none on the web). I might roll the tubes to Sovtek 12AX7s once I am more familiar with the amp.