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Thread: A tale of two amplifiers

  1. #1
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

    Default A tale of two amplifiers

    Ok, so I've been happily going along listening to and loving my system which in brief is Allaerts cart, custom built sigwaan wooden arm, Technics SP10 feeding a Hashimoto sut, feeding a Vida phonostage feeding a The Truth line stage feeding Cary 805c monoblocks into audio note ane spx speakers.

    The Cary's 300b and 845 tubes give out a ridiculous amount of heat and here in Spain in summer it's not pleasant or sensible to run them. So I bought a Hiraga amplifier from Jake aka lordmortlock with the intention of using it in summer. Here it is.



    I really didn't want to swap amps and shillishallied for weeks before finally hooking up the Hiraga. Wow - jaw dropping moment after letting it play for a couple of hours before sitting down. Jaw dropping.

    It beats the Cary's in bass dynamics to an astonishing degree, it's less refined in the top end but gosh does it play loud - way louder than the Cary's and without any breakup. It's less liquid but it's better controlled and although it has less depth the soundstage is wider and out of the speakers in a way the Carys just don't do. It truly sounds exceptionally good with a bottomless low end, sweet midrange and a top end that isn't the most refined. But gosh does it make you want to listen to music.

    The Cary's are rated at 45-50rms in class A - the Hiraga 20 in class A - so how come it goes louder, has more balls? Are the Cary's in need of a service and total overhaul? This is my suspicion - but we're talking a lot of moolah.

    I recently started a post about pimping up the Hiraga with better components - because I could quite happily live with what I'm hearing but I know that with it's age some components may be out of spec. If only I had a Jez living down the road!
    Last edited by farflungstar; 19-08-2017 at 19:30.
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  2. #2
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Bristol

    Posts: 6,843
    I'm Justin.

    Default

    If it is any help my 80 Watt 211 monks blow AN/Es wide open and sound very dynamic and ballsy.

    A much less powerful 211 based AN Tomei sounds markedly similar sharing many traits if not quite the same volume levels. Still very good SPL delivery though. Way better dynamically than any other AN amp I have heard on AN/Es and I have heard a good few.

    So maybe the Cary's are fucked. Hard to tell without being there.

  3. #3
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    I have a feeling you may be right.... Something else to add to the hi fi list of purchases. Though I have to say this Hiraga is extraordinarily good and I've never had SS in my life! Of course it's unfair to compare when the Cary's may be fucked. There must be a synergy because I've never heard the anes sound so alive.
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  4. #4
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Bristol

    Posts: 6,843
    I'm Justin.

    Default

    See what you think in three months time. Seriously. Changes are as good as a rest. Wow moments sometimes. Then constant exposure to the new sound often results in less than the initial enthusiasm.

  5. #5
    montesquieu Guest

    Default

    Can't say I was overly impressed by the Cary 300bs I heard. And while I'm not a huge fan of AN-Es ( despite trying out three different pairs of ever more expensive ones from AN HQ ) the best I've ever heard them was with a seriously tricked out chip amp - better even than the Jinro I heard with one pair. So nothing surprises me here.

  6. #6
    Join Date: May 2012

    Location: London

    Posts: 423
    I'm Spartacus.

    Default

    Have to agree with Tom that Cary amps, especially the 300Bs, are the woolliest, softest of the 300B species I've tried. A Tripath amp will give you similar improvements in bass and dynamics.
    Cheers, Jeff

  7. #7
    Join Date: Apr 2016

    Location: Gravesend and France

    Posts: 1,498
    I'm paul.

    Default

    50w rms in class A from a 300B, I doubt that very much. It's not a hybrid is it. Solid state will give more controlled bass. The reason I ran three amps with my horn set up. The best of all worlds. Compromise is the name of this hifi game.
    Bakoon 13r Denon DP80 Stax UA-70 Shure Ultra 500 in a Martin Bastin body with jico stylus, project ds2 digital Rullit aero 8 field coils in tqwt speakers

    Office system, DIY CSS fullrange speakers with aurum cantus G2 ribbons yulong dac Sony STR6055 receiver Jvc QL-A51 direct drive turntable, Leema sub. JVC Z4S cart is in the house

    Garage system another Sony receiver, cassette deck


    System components are subject to change without warning and at the discretion of the owner.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Apr 2016

    Location: Gravesend and France

    Posts: 1,498
    I'm paul.

    Default

    Ok, scratch that, having looked into it the 300B is the driver.
    Bakoon 13r Denon DP80 Stax UA-70 Shure Ultra 500 in a Martin Bastin body with jico stylus, project ds2 digital Rullit aero 8 field coils in tqwt speakers

    Office system, DIY CSS fullrange speakers with aurum cantus G2 ribbons yulong dac Sony STR6055 receiver Jvc QL-A51 direct drive turntable, Leema sub. JVC Z4S cart is in the house

    Garage system another Sony receiver, cassette deck


    System components are subject to change without warning and at the discretion of the owner.

  9. #9
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by paulf-2007 View Post
    50w rms in class A from a 300B, I doubt that very much. It's not a hybrid is it. Solid state will give more controlled bass. The reason I ran three amps with my horn set up. The best of all worlds. Compromise is the name of this hifi game.
    The 300 is the driver - 845 tubes output and certainly not wooly. The 805c's are highly regarded - but I bought these 2nd hand and they are over 10 years old. Maybe the seller decided to move them on rather than pay out the not insubstantial amount needed for service and upgrade.
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  10. #10
    Join Date: Dec 2008

    Location: East Riding of Yorkshire these days

    Posts: 4,779
    I'm Shaun.

    Default

    Adrian, my partner Sue and I absolutely bloody love moments like this. Jaw dropping realisations. Absolutely brilliant.

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