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antique sound labs wave 8, opinions wanted


joessportster

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I think with what you have currently if you go at SET in the low buck manor you would not be giving it a decent chance of pleasing you. Quality SET costs way more per watt to get great sound in my honest opinion. I suggest if your going to try it do not go half hearted. By something well known as being great or just don't bother. So in short I would not go that route or anything similar.

Craig

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thanks for the input and i agree craig that it usually only costs more to go half hearted, but i just dont know enough about set or tubes in general to know what a good pair of monos would be, but do you think the waves would resale for about the same thing paid if i were to get them under 300. and maybe give me an idea of what the whole set low watt thing is

i also plan to set up a 2'nd system in my basement with my spare k-horns and maybe use set down there

Joe

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Joe,

As long as you keep the cost in context I guess you would be alright giving them a whirl. But by the same token many SET amp exist in the 1K and up range used that you could try which would most likely give you a better window into that type of amplifier. The better amps will hold there value and can usually be sold for the exact amount you paid usually pretty darn quick. The thing is the more popular ones are going to get listed on Audiogon and then quickly disapear. I'm not the best guy to be asking which is the best but all the Welbourne Labs SET amps are well regarded.

Craig

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Yep. If you can, pick up some DRD or Wright amps. I'm sure there's others, but these amps tend to hold their value as long as you don't overpay. They are good examples of the category and the demand is therefore relatively consistent. I remember when the Wave8s came out they were $99. I should have bought a crate full...

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Joe---For what it's worth the Wave 8s aren't SETs, you seem to be under that impression.

i am not an avid tube guy and couldnt tell you alot about tubes i just have to go by what i read and the advice of people i know are tube guys the only reason i call them set amps is because that ois the way i have seen them advertised........... what are they if not set??????

Joe

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Great point the thought never even entered my mind that those Wave 8's are not even SET. It's been so long since anyone mentioned them I completely forget they were PP 6BM8's. I sent (on trial basis) a nice vintage integrated amp that used 2 6BM8 per channel to a young man that use to hang with us here, He is long gone and I guess so is my amplifier grrrrrrrrr. No big deal I bought it for a song. It really wasn't a bad amplifier at all it looked like a Dynaco PAS 3 cosmetically but I can not remember the brand name now.

Craig

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If anyone here (still) wants an amp like the Wave 8 (which was indeed a double-spud push-pull amp), you can buy the S-5 Electronics kit (using a virtually identical triode/pentode tube to the 6BM8) and build it yourself very cheaply. There is a stereo and a "monoblock" version.

This is not a bad amp, although as Craig has already implied (of the Wave 8), we're not talking high-end, here.

http://www.s5electronics.com/tube12.html

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I have a pair that I may sell after Christmas. I am getting a pair of Heathkit W-4M restored by a local tech and I want to see which pair I like better before I commit to selling anything. My pair of Wave 8's are modded as per this Web site:

http://www.geocities.com/asl_wave8/index.html

John

If your local tech does a good job your decision will be fairly obvious and easy to make IMHO.

Craig

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