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willsenton r800i 845 mods


mopardave

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Anyone here own or modified the Willsenton r800i 845 amp.   Really curious to the mods needed.  I see some others adding resistors and switching caps on the other forums.    Got some pics, but not much info on resistor or cap values and the owners are no help.    

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1 minute ago, mopardave said:

Anyone here own or modified the Willsenton r800i 845 amp.   Really curious to the mods needed.  I see some others adding resistors and switching caps on the other forums.    Got some pics, but not much info on resistor or cap values and the owners are no help.    

Work was performed by this guy.  MFA, Scott Frankland, Wavestream Kinetics

would like to do the work myself.

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Hi Dave, I don't own the R800 I 845 amp but do own the R8.  The China amps get a lot of so called modifications.  Look at the video, the amp is well built, quality components and craftsmanship that will cost you triple if it was American made.  Yes, you can replace some caps or do a few other things but, the amp already functions at a high level and will the changes be noticeable.  I can't imagine any huge gains to be had.  I have thrown everything possible at the R8 without a blink from the circuits. I have used 7N7, 7F7 12au7, 12ax7, 6gu7, El 34 to KT 90.  

 

I have owned five different amps from China HiFi,  they make good amps.  The Chinese continued to make and use tube gear after the transitor ear dominated the late 20th century.  I would do nothing and get some nice tubes and enjoy. 

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On 12/26/2024 at 10:11 PM, derrickdj1 said:

Hi Dave, I don't own the R800 I 845 amp but do own the R8.  The China amps get a lot of so called modifications.  Look at the video, the amp is well built, quality components and craftsmanship that will cost you triple if it was American made.  Yes, you can replace some caps or do a few other things but, the amp already functions at a high level and will the changes be noticeable.  I can't imagine any huge gains to be had.  I have thrown everything possible at the R8 without a blink from the circuits. I have used 7N7, 7F7 12au7, 12ax7, 6gu7, El 34 to KT 90.  

 

I have owned five different amps from China HiFi,  they make good amps.  The Chinese continued to make and use tube gear after the transitor ear dominated the late 20th century.  I would do nothing and get some nice tubes and enjoy. 

think i might do just that.    thanks

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5 hours ago, derrickdj1 said:

This is not the R800 I 845 but, shows the build quality of the r8.  Checkout the parts, wiring, etc. This Jim guy knows his stuff and ran Valves and More and online tube store.

 

 

Yes, they do seem to be well built.  You cant post stuff like that on AudioKarma. You will get a beating for buying Chinese amps, but at the same time they talk highly of amps like Primeluna, Line Magnetic, which are Chinese amps as well.   I currently own the Willsenton R300 and i love it.    I barrowed a friends Cary Insperation and rolled many different tubes thru it including 6L6 kt88, kt120, kt150 and a few others all while ABABABA ing  the r300 to the Cary.  The Willsenton 300B amp was better to my ear until i got to the kt150 tube.  The Cary with the kt150 was the clear winner, but the Willsenton beat out all the other tubes that were run thru the Cary.   I do use GL 300B and nos pre and rec tubes in the Willsenton.    I have performed some mods on this amp including MuDorf caps and Hasimoto output transformers.   The output transformers made no difference to my ear.   Willsentons are mostly point to point.

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What speakers will you be pairing with the amp?  Any Heritage should shine with that amp.  It is twice the size of my r8. I can't say I have not looked at the 805 and 845.  Not sure if I can lift it, lol.  The r805 and r845 are considered to be a significant step up in the food chain but, at a price that is still a bargain.

 

 

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I have a Klipsch like speaker i am building. Similar to the KLF-30, but with a larger cabinet and twin 15's/per cabinet.  Will be using Celesion 15's, PRV2200 mid with the 18x10 horn and DE10 with the Mahl horns.  I have all the components and the lumber, just need to find time to get a good start.   THD+N is helping with the crossover.      I built a pair of vertical Cornwalls 20+ years ago, now CornScala and they sound fantastic with B&C drivers.

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The KLF 30 is/was an excellent speaker.  Something similar should shine with tube amp.  My Focal Aria's are 91.5 db. sensitivity but, even with my Oldchen amp, most of the time I am under 5 watts which is blasting.  Build a good XO for your speaker and no need for multiple amps.  After all, we are in an arena of distortion and not necessarily looking for a flat frequency response.

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4 hours ago, derrickdj1 said:

The KLF 30 is/was an excellent speaker.  Something similar should shine with tube amp.  My Focal Aria's are 91.5 db. sensitivity but, even with my Oldchen amp, most of the time I am under 5 watts which is blasting.  Build a good XO for your speaker and no need for multiple amps.  After all, we are in an arena of distortion and not necessarily looking for a flat frequency response.

 

4 hours ago, derrickdj1 said:

The KLF 30 is/was an excellent speaker.  Something similar should shine with tube amp.  My Focal Aria's are 91.5 db. sensitivity but, even with my Oldchen amp, most of the time I am under 5 watts which is blasting.  Build a good XO for your speaker and no need for multiple amps.  After all, we are in an arena of distortion and not necessarily looking for a flat frequency response.

I hope so.  Claude modeled the cabinet with his software, and picked the best matching Celestion woofers.  I have a universal crossover from Al i am modifying with help from THD+N.    Should be pretty cool.

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