laurenc319 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Hi, I sprung and got a dealer demo CARY SLI-80 Signature integrated tube amp to use with my Fortes. 80/50 watts per channel in the ultralinear/triode modes using KT-88 tubes. Up till now I was using a EICO HF-81 (14 watts/channel). Compared to the EICO it can play a heck of a lot louder, has more bass authority and still has the very sweet mids and highs, espicially in the triode mode, which I favor. The bigger amp really made the Fortes come alive. It has the ability to use 6550, 6L6, KT88, KT66 or EL34 output tubes, so there will be a lot of tube rolling fun going on. It's a dual mono design with a 5U4 retifier a 6SN7 driver a 6922 input tube and 2 KT88's in each half. Do I still like the EICO ? Yes very much. It's one heck of an amp with the sound only the EL84/6BQ5's can give. Is the CARY better with the Fortes... Yes, not 5x better (price ratio of the two) , but a definite step up in quality of sound. Besides, it just great to look at, those big tubes really glow. A keeper for me for sure, Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Congrats on the new amp! While I have never heard my Fortes with a low power amp, I do have a 6550 based unit that produces 55wpc and my Fortes SING! I have found that I like the Tung-Sol tubes much more than the Russian tubes that the amp came with. Tubes do make a difference, who knows, you might find some tubes that give you even BETTER sound! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smuttynose Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Larry, wanna sell the EICO? Just hoping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenc319 Posted April 28, 2005 Author Share Posted April 28, 2005 hi Smutty, I'm thinking about it, I like it so much I may not it give it up. I'm thinking about selling my B&Ws and getting higher efficency speakers to use it in my second system. Give me a few days to think about it. FYI I got this amp on EBay for $475.00 plus shipping in early January of this year. The amp was rebulit and retubed by Hot Glass Audio (http://hotglassaudio.com/) by the previous owner about 6mos prior to my buying it. The amp has no issues I know of and is plug and play. The previous owners first name is George and if I do decide to sell it I'll give you his email address should you want to get some additional info. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenc319 Posted April 28, 2005 Author Share Posted April 28, 2005 hi Smutty, Here's a link to the EBAy page which has a picture of this amp ( with the cover removed ) and a description of the goods http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5746038073&indexURL=2&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted May 8, 2005 Share Posted May 8, 2005 Hi, I am also useing Eico HF-81 with my Forte and a seconf system, melody tube pre amp with Cambridge SS power amp 2x100 watts. When I listen to Vocal , Jess and Baroque music I switch to the Eico and the other time I use the SS system. Like you said the Eico is sweet that only El84 can produce. I also got my Eico from E-bay last year. I modify the Eico with some new capacitor (the old one die on me after three months), Ihave to replace the old one with Jesen and Auri cap, which open up the dynamic range, and give the Eico a little bit of moden sound which goes well with the Forte. I dont know what tube you are useing in you Eico, I am useing Mullard CV4004 (12ax7) and CV4003(12au7) and Mullard El84 as power tube, it give me a very full base which I like very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Congratulations on getting an amp you like better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 laurenc319, Congratulations on the amp improvement. If you haven't already, I suggest you try the amps' 4 Ohm output: lower distortion, better handling of speaker impedance dips. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 ---------------- On 4/28/2005 12:20:30 PM laurenc319 wrote: hi Smutty, Here's a link to the EBAy page which has a picture of this amp ( with the cover removed ) and a description of the goods http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5746038073&indexURL=2&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting Larry ---------------- Do me and yourself a nice favor and pull the bottom cover off the amplifier and snap some shots of the work done to it and post them if you could. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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