Canary Audio, EL34, any good?

[Reid Malenfant]

I'm hanckering after some kind of decent valve amplifier with a bit more power than the average 40W or less ;) It appears i missed my chance with the Ear 509 monos :( But i happen to have found what look like a nice pair of monoblocks which are capable of 140W RMS (ultralinear) or 100W RMS (triode) using quite a few EL34 tubes per channel.

Right now these things are just over 1/3 the new price & are still new :eyebrows:

So, any knowledgable people please stick your oars in ASAP & give me your opinions if you'd be so kind :)

[Alex_UK]

Not too hard to "find" Mark. ;) They do look rather nice... No experience of them, though. (I too am lamenting not pulling the trigger on the EAR 509's... would have loved them. :() Good luck if you go for them! :)

[Reid Malenfant]

:lolsign: Ah well they still aren't cheap at that price so i don't expect them to be snatched up :eyebrows:

Now you have been in this room which is very modern looking if not a tad quirky, but the other living room has a wood fireplace surround with tiling etc & frankly looks like the kind of thing that Marco would love (if it wasn't full of stuff :doh:)... Frankly i'd like some kind of glowing vacuum tube amp to complement the room but i'm not prepared to sacrifice power & control in that equation..

Cheers for popping in Alex, hopefully some vacumm head (:D) will be along to help me out.

[Reid Malenfant]

These things look pretty interesting to (http://www.iconaudio.co.uk/Mb150.html) :)

Maybe Marco who loves his KT88s might chirp up now :lol:

Here are the Canarys (http://www.canaryaudio.com/160.html)

[Macca]

Don't want to sound like a Statto:) but looking at the spec you get 140W in ultra linear mode with .06% THD and in triode mode you 'only' get 100W but 0.5% THD - isn't 0.5% THD quite a high figure? What's that all about?

[Reid Malenfant]

You can get 10% or more THD with a solid state amp if you clip it Martin ;) 0.5% isn't a great deal at full power & it'll most likely be pretty innocuous low order harmonics rather than higher order harmonics generated by high feedback class B solid state stuff ;)

[Macca]

You can get 10% or more THD with a solid state amp if you clip it Martin ;) 0.5% isn't a great deal at full power & it'll most likely be pretty innocuous low order harmonics rather than higher order harmonics generated by high feedback class B solid state stuff ;)

Why select triode option if it gives less power and more distortion (even if it isn't high order distortion)? What is the advantage?

[Reid Malenfant]

When going triode mode there is far less local feedback applied around the output stage (as far as i know) & this makes the thing more musical :) It's high feedback that generally makes amplifiers sound bland & samey. As far as i know a triode is the most linear valve configuration which results in the least distortion without feedback (which is what the ultralinear thing is about). In Ultralinear mode there is a tap on the output transformers that feeds back to the valves to make them more linear (feedback) but this while reducing distortion makes them less musical at the same time :doh:

& here's me saying i know nothing about valves :D


Hurry up before i decide to use a couple of 1KVA toroids & make myself a pair of 200W class A monoblocks but solid state :rolleyes:

[Macca]

Cheers Mark, sorry for interrupting your thread, just interested and I figured you would have the answers. A little slow on here tonight, I think summer has come early. No doubt there will be a slew of vacuum heads along later to say 'No don't buy that, buy this! etc.

Catch ya later mate:)

[Reid Malenfant]

No worries Martin, lots of replies gets people looking m8 :eyebrows:

All the best & have a good one :)

[Ali Tait]

Never heard those amps Mark, but I'm sure Nick could build you what you want for less than the price of the Canarys.

[John]

Marc I might be selling my Glowmaster its rather nice can be used Balanced or single ended The bass is awesome on this but with the Hawthornes I just do not need the power these things dish out. A few people have heard them Spur07 HifiGuy and Neil and I think they will confirm pretty special
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:VKfKoYdJQZoJ:www.acousticperfection.co.uk/assets/files/glowmaster%2520kt88.pdf+sac+glowmaster&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShMySGMCP2S5__gm1nP6ZvuVc8rajQEeSX2-5LCWXQ0Yp8GImWNsdQmoXGO0fumTc-3v_EfhAnEUQR7Q5k1-Pujo3wybHE2f9mMsyEyi7evzKDZ65byxwLPg9pjAqP3wurM211 F&sig=AHIEtbS8kAEWISweuXXwba8sBnFWiD7mGw
I might replace with something like this http://www.sansui.us/AU-919.htm which will be in my system on Sunday

[Reid Malenfant]

Interesting John ;) Looking at the specs it mentioned a line voltage of 225V RMS though, this sounds more like it's dedicated to a 220V supply & may well require a step down transformer to supply it :scratch:

[John]

nahh I have no issues I just have a dedicated spur and earth powering it
If you willing to pay petrol money I bring it up to you and you can borrow it see what you think
The transformers are hand wound and I think the transformers on this are pretty special
Here are some people talking about the amp I done the tube rolling and work for me too
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1252710203

[Marco]

Hi Mark,

Lol - most interesting... You seem to have caught the valve bug! I wonder how that happened? :eek: ;)

I hear where you're coming from, dude. The Canary and Icon Audio products are good (as good as commercial products can be), but my advice would be to give your money to Nick (lurcher) or Anthony TD and have something bespoke built to your requirements.

You'll know exactly why - because you'll get a much bigger 'bang for yer buck'! TBH, Anthony or Nick would design you a powerful valve amp that would piss all over anything you could afford to buy commercially - it's as simple as that, so that's the route I'd go.

If they don't see this thread (although I'm sure they will), send either of them a PM to discuss your requirements.

You may also want to wait to see what happens when I try some KT120s in my Copper amp later in the week (and I report the results), as that might be a fairly 'naughty' valve for you to use in whatever amp you have built... It's designed for high power! :eyebrows:

Marco.

[John]

Marco copper amp is wonderful probarly a bit more refined than my amp (so hard to tell on such different systems just say everyone who has heard this amp has liked it but that enough from me) but I would have a good listen first and then make you own mind up

[Marco]

Hi John,

I'm not so much thinking of the Copper amp, but rather KT120s perhaps being an ideal valve from which to base around the amp Mark would like built :)

They're idea for achieving high power from valve amps:

http://www.hotroxuk.com/kt120-tungsol-14043-0.html

Marco.

[Jonboy]

Those Canarys look valve hungry like OTLs, as the others said get something built more bang for buck for sure as you know, i do like EL34's though, i've been lent a very interesting home built Radford ST15 to play with when i get a spare 5 mins to fire it up, its got bloody XLR sockets all over it which i don't have adapters to hand :steam:, thats slowed me down a tad

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Mark,

Lol - most interesting... You seem to have caught the valve bug! I wonder how that happened? :eek: ;)
Bug, bug :eek: I must be ill or coming down with something :doh:

I just fancied something that would fit in with the other room :eyebrows: It looks decidedly old fashioned & glowing bottles would really go in there a treat :)

Can't say i'm smitten but i did like what your copper amp did with the 66s @ Scalford & as i have the very same....

I think you can see where i'm coming from, i'd just like something that could power the things fully though so when i turn it up (& get things walking off the top of the speakers as i have previously :lol:) it doesn't run out of steam ;)

[Marco]

Yep, dude - I getcha... Sounds like an interesting room you've got, too :)

Are you free tomorrow, early afternoon? If so, give me a bell, and we'll have a chat. I've got a few ideas you might like ;)

If you need my number again, PM me :cool:

Marco.

[Alex_UK]

Sounds like an interesting room you've got, too :)

Have you ever seen "Steptoe & Son"? Sorry Mark, couldn't resist, buddy! ;)

[Reid Malenfant]

:lolsign: I'm glad you didn't see the other room when you were here Alex :lol:

[alfie2902]

I've heard a couple of the Canary amps, not the CA-160 mono's though!

The Canary amps I've heard are the CA-608 a 40watt EL34 integrated, it had been modded by Kevin @ Definitive though & a pair of CA-303 18watt 300B Mono's. Both very fine amps though in there own right & worked very well into my LV's.

Build quality of the Canary amps is top draw they are built like tanks not to be confused with ChiFi! Very quiet in operation & according to Kevin & one or two owners I spoke with very reliable, They were on my list of amps to hear before I bought the NAF.

They were both very nice sounding to, Lovely communicative valve mids, superb with vocals I seem to remember! Also one thing that sticks in my mind was a large soundstage, very impressive fine amps IMO.

Get a listen if you can & if the price is good could be a no brainer!
I guess as said you could get better bang for buck having something made but good iron aint cheap. So depends how good the price is IMO.

Very very nice amps the Canary's!