Lt Cdr Data
om
I have one 
atm, its great, personally, I have done a serious comparison of quite a few, I would rate this one and lim's about equal, I preferred lim's just, really just, but his isn't an option, I disliked lim's kt88 triode, it sounded wrongly balanced to me. I reckon the ouput transformers.They are like capacitors in that they are all different and you could play with many, yet none may be 'better'
One point tho' , you could maybe get a lim amp secondhand(his website is a right laugh eh?), they are very good, and all eastern amps aren't the same these two are VERY good indeed, there are some nastier ones around, you have to be careful, these are as good as any big brand. Croft have a nice philosophy.
The icon is great, you may find a tad bright for a valve amp, build is first rate, valves cheap and you can rebias and use 6550's which I really like, kt66 or kt88. They don't sound an awful lot different on this amp tho' I have tried.
Audio innovations s500 is reputed to be a tad unreliable, I think the 800 is meant to be better but that's 2nd hand info. I have seen a few for sale on ebay, 500s, so plentiful.
WADs are great, they need a little work as some of the resistors can go noisy and need replacing with hi watt variants, but they are fab, the kt88 is very good, bit pricy at the emporium methinks, the 6550 is superb indeed, better than lim's, it has a valve rectifier, and sounds lovely, soft yet detailed and addictive s/h around £500.
el34's typcially £10 each, 6550 £25, kt88 £30 last 3+ years. you can get them cheap from the states.
my pic, the icon if its at the right price, trouble free, power is plenty with the meadowlarks, should make a lovely combo, top build, looks great, sounds it too. Component quality is top, even the output transformers are stacked with great care, I have had a look and they are flawless. They are largely all much of a muchness, valve amps i would say. mmmostly...
I actually triode and pure pentode modded the icon, and none sounded much different, so its back as an ultra-linear..these are all connections of the ouptut valve to the output transformer, sometimes makes a difference.
This amp doesn't change character much at all.
One thing tho' there is 1/2 a mile of wire in the ouptut transformer, and this doesn't hurt things one bit, you will see, oh yesss preciousss you will ssseee!!
But it will be the beginning of a great thermionic adventure, and you will wonder how you ever managed with a transistor amp. valves really are better.
best phono stage to look out for is the ear 834p. there are better valve ones but at a good price its a true joy.
atm, its great, personally, I have done a serious comparison of quite a few, I would rate this one and lim's about equal, I preferred lim's just, really just, but his isn't an option, I disliked lim's kt88 triode, it sounded wrongly balanced to me. I reckon the ouput transformers.They are like capacitors in that they are all different and you could play with many, yet none may be 'better'One point tho' , you could maybe get a lim amp secondhand(his website is a right laugh eh?), they are very good, and all eastern amps aren't the same these two are VERY good indeed, there are some nastier ones around, you have to be careful, these are as good as any big brand. Croft have a nice philosophy.
The icon is great, you may find a tad bright for a valve amp, build is first rate, valves cheap and you can rebias and use 6550's which I really like, kt66 or kt88. They don't sound an awful lot different on this amp tho' I have tried.
Audio innovations s500 is reputed to be a tad unreliable, I think the 800 is meant to be better but that's 2nd hand info. I have seen a few for sale on ebay, 500s, so plentiful.
WADs are great, they need a little work as some of the resistors can go noisy and need replacing with hi watt variants, but they are fab, the kt88 is very good, bit pricy at the emporium methinks, the 6550 is superb indeed, better than lim's, it has a valve rectifier, and sounds lovely, soft yet detailed and addictive s/h around £500.
el34's typcially £10 each, 6550 £25, kt88 £30 last 3+ years. you can get them cheap from the states.
my pic, the icon if its at the right price, trouble free, power is plenty with the meadowlarks, should make a lovely combo, top build, looks great, sounds it too. Component quality is top, even the output transformers are stacked with great care, I have had a look and they are flawless. They are largely all much of a muchness, valve amps i would say. mmmostly...
I actually triode and pure pentode modded the icon, and none sounded much different, so its back as an ultra-linear..these are all connections of the ouptut valve to the output transformer, sometimes makes a difference.
This amp doesn't change character much at all.
One thing tho' there is 1/2 a mile of wire in the ouptut transformer, and this doesn't hurt things one bit, you will see, oh yesss preciousss you will ssseee!!
But it will be the beginning of a great thermionic adventure, and you will wonder how you ever managed with a transistor amp. valves really are better.
best phono stage to look out for is the ear 834p. there are better valve ones but at a good price its a true joy.
Last edited by a moderator:
