Ming-Da MC34A

WAD are good, but I wasn't up to building one. Try bottleneck, he had one I think

 

The WAD kit that uses the 6550 tube is very highly rated indeed, its proving to be reliable (not always the case with past WAD's) and you cant tweak to your hearts content. Im sure Andy Groves designed the amp (I think he did the Quad forties too) so its got a good start. If your good with the iron and can read schematics then Id go for one, its definately on my 'to do' list.

Id be wary with the 300b's, they arent the most ballsey tube and their sound is unique. Some will rip me to shreds and swear the the 300b is the tube to have, from the amps Ive heard Im yet to be won over. Def demo before you buy.

BTW, how are the Ming's biased??

 

Hi.

If you want a pair of quad II 40's, they really aren't that expensive - 400-600. You would need a pre.

If you are looking for a used GRAAF, I saw one at the emporium for around 1,000. I like GRAAF amps, and think they sound very direct. I suspect this is their OTL topology.

WAD kits are good, and can be bought pre-built, and of course pre-built on the used market.

So much depends on available budget.

Cheers
Chris

 

Do the quad II 40's use KT88's now?

 

Going to bristol show tomorrow, so intend to have a good look/listen. Will spend a fair bit of time on the Quad and WAD stands me thinks.

The II40's use 2x KT88's each for their 40w

 

Do you have an e-mail address for the emporium please?

 

Make sure you check out the Primaluna Prologue amps, they have an excellent auto-bias function and very nice transformers.

 

Where do you shop? They are over 3k unless you mean the original ones?
I have seen a pair with the matching pre for £2500 2nd hand, I only want to pay around £1,500 with a max of £2k.

Are the old quad 40's worth looking at? I guess you won't lose money on them if they dont suit

 

The Graaf 5050 I had was not OTL.... the Graaf OTL amps are very very expensive, the cheapest 20 watt model is around £2000 used.

What one have they got at the emporium and what happened to their website?

Rob - if you do go for a valve power amp I'd recommend a passive preamp to go with it - that's what worked best with the Graaf. Oh look I've got one for sale....

 

Alan,

Emporium website has been back working for a couple of days.

Ken

 

What's the address?- cannot find it on google anymore.

 

[email protected]

 

or if you like...http://www.emporiumhifi.com/

 

This could fit the bill:

http://forum.hifichoice.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=15223

 

you mentioned these:
GRAAF 50-50 yes you guessed 50 watt power amp, boxed 1400
QUAD IIS pair with kt66 VALVES 700----------- see also vintage section
WORLD AUDIO kt88 amp excellent 475

also worth an earwig:
EAR 509 monoblocks mk1 just serviced by EAR 1350
EAR V20 integrated amp, very smooth sound 1400
AUDIO INNOVATIONS 800 ANNIVERSARY,power amp. silver pcb boards etc boxed 750

 

similar yes please (I'd better check my diary) I'm in Saddleworth and I suspect you're somewhere nearby...

 

Heywood. I'll start a separate thread on Saturday when I have a tad more time!

 

well done lords, I have one of these amps, and really rate it, the build is first rate.
Quite right it is a bit bright for a valve amp, but you do get used to it.

For speakers, its not really the lowness of the load, ie 4 ohms that is significant, it needs not to veer around too much.

Proacs suit this amp extremely well indeed.

t-bone, all correct, I am a bit of a wad expert, earlier wads were a bit unreliable due to poor resistors, but pretty much all were designed by A.G. the circuitry is first rate, I highly recommend all 2 watt resistors as a basic minimum for reliability and chunkiness whereever. Interesting in the icon/ming all resistors are quality, at least 2 watts +. great sign.

6550 is a great tube, airy and addictive, but can sound a bit thin and transistory at first, kt88s are more ballsy. el34 bit of both. it depends massively on the amp as well, in the icon, different tubes didn't sound massively different to me.

the icon amp is grid bias, so you can vary tubes if you know what you are doing, but it takes a bit of calculating...the volts are about 410-430v on both anode and screen grid. FWIW, the icon uses quite a 'cool' bias of around 50% of the valves max rating, I have found to hot causes a thick colouration to the sound, and shortens valve life considerably. I am currently of the opinion class A operation is unnecessary.

transformer changes are a pain in the ass they are like coupling caps in that they differ, but all have some attractive qualities. the icon ones are particularly well made

wads now are either cathode or a combination of the two!!

I don't think most 300b amps are worth it for the price of valves, the circuit has to be right otherwise they can be weedy, its uniqueness arises as a result it can be used without overall feedback, along with a handful of other valves, the effect of this is quite astounding. it makes other amps sound flat, much like going from a transistor to a valve in the first place.
there are only a handful to my knowledge of seriously good 300b amps, one of which I am fortunate to own.
A valve rectifier has a colossal effect on the sound, I tried both in the same amp, suprising, as its just dc, and it wasn't all about bass, the valve was far more airy and nicer, single ended tubes are particularly fussy about the power supply

 

rsand - email 'Lilolee' from this forum.

I spoke to him yesterday at the show and he has a very nice original pair of quad II 40's for sale. I'm guessing they would be considerably below your 1,500 budget.

Cheers
Chris

NB
Lee has been on Zerogain for many years and I would trust buying from him totally.

 

Indeed, Lee is one of the nicest guys to buy stuff from you could imagine.

Data, it's interesting, the overbright treble I first heard has gone away, I think it sas just the out of the box sound. Just sounds fabulous to me now. It's a bit of a bargain TBH