joemcten Posted January 30, 2001 Author Share Posted January 30, 2001 Mark, you are right it was a moment of weakness to sell the 8b. I have a friend who is the VP of audioclassics.com. They sell under there own name an improvement on teh original design. Several years back when Marantz decided to reissue the 8B,there head designer set out to improve the original in several key areas with better quality parts and several other small things that would make the classic sound better. The big wigs said no. They wanted an exact replica of the original. My friend Mike being a bright fellow heard this redesign and was floored. They bought up all the parts and the guys improvements and they now build them right at there shop. I have heard them both in an A/B utilizing the mighty Tannoy Chirchhill's. I know I will upset the apple cart here but teh improved version is exactly that. There is not one area where the original was as good. It is definitely worth exploring for someone interested in the old Marantz sound who wants modern parts and a warranty. On there web site is is labeled under the ACL brand. It is a dead ringer for the original. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberman9000 Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Here's an opinion I thought you might enjoy: Vacuum Tube Valley (VTV)magazine #6 compared the Fisher 500c to various SE amps(el34,sweep,300b). Stated SE mid was great, bass mediocre and rolled off highs. Some listeners preferred this sound. Said 500C had seamless balanced sound from top to bottom. Stated all tube receivers like the 500C will never be re-manufactured and would probably cost several thousands of dollars to duplicate the quality and performance of 500c. Equipment used: Dynaco tube cdv-pro, CHORUS I's or B&W DM110's. 500C 1963 list price was $389.50. Output roughly 29 watts/channel RMS.Uses 7591's which are being produced by Sovtek (not 7591xyz). VTV is worth checking out if your into tubes. Bottom line: Regardless of equipment used (ss, tube, cheap, expensive,trendy, old school), if it sounds good to you that's all that matters. Alpine makes decent pots -check their site. Trip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brennan Posted February 1, 2001 Share Posted February 1, 2001 I bought one of these little ASLs a few months ago and use it to drive 35 year-old Altec 605As. The sound is very,very good. They get just barely loud enough with the 98db 1w1m 605s before distorting though, I imagine that with LSs they'd be plenty loud. This ASL is a great bargain, I paid $540. But you need high-efficiency speakers,like I said 98db 1w1m just barely cuts it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemcten Posted February 3, 2001 Author Share Posted February 3, 2001 Mark, They are getting around $1700 for one of the improved 8b's at my friends place. His claim to me is that none have been returned, and most people have come back to buy another one for a second system. They call theirs the ACL 8c. For those that can swing the price of entry, it is a great amp. Tom, did your ASL have the triode,pentode switch? IF so did you have a preference for one over the other? It has more than enough power with Scala's. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brennan Posted February 3, 2001 Share Posted February 3, 2001 Joe---My amp appears to be wired triode and lacks the switch. The rig gets pretty loud but does distort at levels other amps have reached easily. But it works very well for 99% of my listening, I seldom want it as loud as when distortion sets in. The extra 6db of headroom with LSs compared to 605s must be of benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemcten Posted February 4, 2001 Author Share Posted February 4, 2001 Tom, you should call the importer DIvertech in Canada and speak to Mr. Goka. They should be able to set your amp up with the switch quite easily, as they are the ones that install it to begin with. I feel it is worth having and it adds versatility to the piece. I did not feel there was any appreciable difference between the 2 settings as far as sound quality goes. It is definitely more dynamic in the 15 wpc mode. The soundstage was fuller and dynamic passages had much more heft. With my speakers, I could get away with the 5wpc setting 90% of the time. I think it is a great idea to be able to hit a switch and have the extra headroom available for the extra 10%. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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