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Klipsch Cornwall III and tubeamps!


Thuper

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And then it was time for the last amp I have had with my Cornwall's

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Almarro A318B

The best amp I've heard! The Almarro has an amazing powerful and detailed bass! And the highs were beatiful! Stereoimaging were superb, and the midrange were in typical SET manner. To die for!!! And I think it's a beauty as well... The two fairly large power tubes(6C33C) Glows beautiful, but gets pretty warm. You can feel the heat from it a few feet away! This amp is in my humble opinion, a perfect one for the Cornwall's.

It is a japanese SET amp. It has 2x18w, three pair of input jacks, and the bias adjusting is done manually from the outside.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/almarro5/318.html

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Let's see a pic of all those beauties line up at once!

So, are you done now?

Unfortunately I haven't got all of these amps. I've posted these pictures and minireviews to share what I've been trough to reach my goal in musical listening! I've only got the Music Angel XD800MkIII, the Leben CS300 and of course the Almarro A318B.

The Music Angel is in use at my son's(12) room with a set of Cerwin Vega[:$] It plays his favourit music very nice!

The Almarro is in my main set up with the Cornwalls

And the Leben was just to beautiful to let go... I've got to get som speakers for it some day... Did I hear someone say Heresy II???

I've a couple of ss amps as well, but I don't use them... I like the sound of a good tube amp!

So I guess I'm done for now...[:)]

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my listening experiences!

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Thuper--

Yes, that was an interesting parade of some very nice exotic amplifiers. What is the rest of your system? What is your turntable and cartridege and preamp?

I don't have a turntable for the moment, but I'm in the search for a good one now. I had to get a good amp for my Cornwalls first. I do not use a pre amp either. All of my amps are integated ones.

So my main system is a three pice system. A Electrocompaniet cd-player, http://www.electrocompaniet.com/products/digital/emc1-up.html , Almarro A318B, and the mighty Klipsch Cornwall III.

I've been a solid state man for the last 20 years, with a "highend" system. Untill I, rather by coincident, bought the Music Angel amp. Then I realised how much I've been missing in musiclistening. So I bought the Cornwalls to get some speakers that where made for tubeamps. Then I found out that the Music Angel wasn't a perfect with the Cornwalls, and started my search for a perfect amp. And found that the Almarro was perfect for me. In fact these last 5 months have changed how I listens to music completly. Before I bought the Cornwalls and tube amps, I listened to the system, and now I hear the music!

So now the quest continues. Next is a turntable! I'm trying to find a decent priced good one... Suggestions anyone?

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You know... Klipsch Heresy III, MAE-SET1 and a subwoofer - best of both worlds. great mid and highs, solid, deep bass.

I allmost forgot... I promised to tell you what I think is the best of both worlds.

Almarro A318B and Klipsch Cornwall III [:D]

The Almarro is a SET-amp, with great mids and highs, and it also has a solid deep bass! And teamed up with the Cornwalls it is a perfect match!

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  • 1 month later...

So now the quest continues. Next is a turntable! I'm trying to find a decent priced good one... Suggestions anyone?

Not sure what a decent price is for you, but this is a good model of Basis table, the same well-regarded model that Garymd has, that seems well priced if you don't take the cartridge. The Rega arm is good, not as top-notch as the Basis Vector, some SME arms, etc. I am not familiar with the Benz M2 cart or how good that $500 price is, but I do find Benz's a little bright for my taste.

Pics are needed for this item, and assurance that the table and especially the plinth are not scratched or beat up.

Anyway, if that costs too much, many people on the forum swear by VPI, e.g., the Scout. You might be on the lookout for a used Basis 1400, a somewhat plain-looking table that is very good and no one has been unhappy with.

Larry

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I'm not surprised at all with your results so far.... The A318B would be my guess as the winner out of the amps you have rolled so far.

I found the A318B to be the best amp for me. Great mid's and high's and a superb bass... I'm very happy with it!

I've done some tuberolling with the 6SN7 and 6SL7. 6SL7's I've tried are Sylvania 6SL7GT and 6SL7WGT, National Union 6SL7GT, CEi 6SL7GT and RCA 6SL7GT"Grey-glass" 1950's. 6SN7's I tried so far are RCA 6SN7GTB"Coinbase", 6H8C"Metallbase"(1578tube, Russian military NOS tube) and RCA VT231/6SN7GT 1940's.

The tubecombo I found that I prefer are the RCA 6SL7GT and RCA VT231. But the Russian 6H8C and Sylvania 6SL7WGT are a very good sounding combo too. A bit more "high-end" sound, but not so sweet and harmonic as the RCA/RCA combo.

Does anyone have a recomandation for other tubes that will work well with the Almarro A318B in this setup?

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So now the quest continues. Next is a turntable! I'm trying to find a decent priced good one... Suggestions anyone?

Not sure what a decent price is for you, but this is a good model of Basis table, the same well-regarded model that Garymd has, that seems well priced if you don't take the cartridge. The Rega arm is good, not as top-notch as the Basis Vector, some SME arms, etc. I am not familiar with the Benz M2 cart or how good that $500 price is, but I do find Benz's a little bright for my taste.

Pics are needed for this item, and assurance that the table and especially the plinth are not scratched or beat up.

Anyway, if that costs too much, many people on the forum swear by VPI, e.g., the Scout. You might be on the lookout for a used Basis 1400, a somewhat plain-looking table that is very good and no one has been unhappy with.

Larry

Thanks!

It looks interesting, but perhaps a bit to expensive for me as a entry model? The Basis 1400 seemes more in my price range at this time.

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  • 2 months later...

Thank you very much for your reviews. I have a pair of Heresy I's and have been on the hunt for the "right" integrated tube amp. I've posted elsewhere on this forum and received some feedback. I recently discovered the Almarro A318B and am now inclined towards it. Your reviews as well as the 6moons review may have finally convinced me to take the plunge.

Wm

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And the Leben was just to beautiful to let go... I've got to get som speakers for it some day... Did I hear someone say Heresy II???

Speaking from personal experience, Heresy IIs and EL84 amps play very well together...I think you'll like the Leben with Heresy IIs - just get a good subwoofer for the bottom octaves.

-D

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well i have the cs300 with laScala and so far it is my best match, just wonderful soundstage and beautiful jazzbass listening!

Turntable suggestion: A good rega p5, P7 turntable with aqvox phono preamp sound great, but problem with rega is the ground thing, that don't allow xlr connection! but with some trying, you could tune cart and phono and leben very well and soundstage will be amazing

for cart AT150, AT155, Benz Ace red, dynavector 20x low, ortofon 2m, denon103

Enjoy!

What you think?

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  • 1 month later...

Now I've tried a turntable in my system... It was a Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace. Sounded ok, but not good enough for me to spend so much money on...

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Tried it with a Nottingham Space Ace arm, Benz ACE pu and ASR Mini Basic... I missed some bass definiton and tonal presence in the midrange...

So the search continues...

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Let me bring up Basis again -- you said the 1400 might be better for your budget, and this http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1226866806&/Basis-1400-Acrylic-T-table-w/- seems well-priced at $1700, especially since it includes the all-important and very functional Basis record clamp!

It also includes a Rega tone arm, a popular if somewhat indifferent (IMO) item, and a Benz cart. If you're tired of Benz, the Zu is a VERY good cart that I would take over a Benz any time. Perhaps he would split out the cart if you're inclined to ask him.

No one on the forum has complained about a Basis table, and Garymd's Basis 2001, Basis Vector tonearm (used at a good price) and transfig cart gets raves from everyone who has heard it.

[Edit] Oops, I see you're in Norway. Hope this helps anyway.

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Let me bring up Basis again -- you said the 1400 might be better for your budget, and this http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1226866806&/Basis-1400-Acrylic-T-table-w/- seems well-priced at $1700, especially since it includes the all-important and very functional Basis record clamp!

It also includes a Rega tone arm, a popular if somewhat indifferent (IMO) item, and a Benz cart. If you're tired of Benz, the Zu is a VERY good cart that I would take over a Benz any time. Perhaps he would split out the cart if you're inclined to ask him.

No one on the forum has complained about a Basis table, and Garymd's Basis 2001, Basis Vector tonearm (used at a good price) and transfig cart gets raves from everyone who has heard it.

[Edit] Oops, I see you're in Norway. Hope this helps anyway.

I'm not sure Larry even mentioned his own his Basis "Debut" with the Vector 3 and Transfiguration Orpheus. It's the table that turned me on to Basis in the first place!

I HIGHLY recommend a Basis TT but feel it's worth holding out for the higher priced 2001 or better. IMO, the suspension "pods" or feet of the 2001 (and higher) models really are the secret ingredient that makes these tables so magical. You can find a used table for a reasonable price if you're patient. You will definitely want to mate it with a Vector tonearm and the Transfiguration Tempers ("V" or "W") or the new Orpheus are carts you might want to consider. I've seen quite a few on A'gon at way less than half of retail. In fact, my entire setup was purchased for less than half of retail and I don't think I'll ever need to upgrade........EVER.

Of course this is JMHO although I did test a number of tables before (and after) the 2001 came along.

Very nice thread BTW. Welcome to the forum! Some real purty amps you got there!

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