845 SE Valve Integrated Amp

[Lee Henley]

Been pondering the next move and I'm contemplating changing my Eastern Electric M88 which uses KT 88 golden lion reissues and PSvane signal valves.

One option thrown into the mix is the Ariand 845 Pro amplifier, looks nice on paper but I'm a bit nervous regarding quality issues in the long term. FWIW this amp is UK supply and not me buying from China.

An alternate is to try Black Treasure KT88's or try some 6550 valves.

Anyone else got any further suggestions for an 845 amp or would care to comment on my options

Cheers

Lee

[Si74]

Hi Lee,

looked at the Ariand 845 Pro with interest myself with interest. At that price could it best my Supratek pre and Audiopax monoblocks?
Having bought a few things direct from China in the past they go straight to a trusted engineer to make sure they are not time bombs (metal case with no earth), For the most part have with a few mods been well worth the money.

On the other hand you may find that it's a great 1500 quids worth till it breaks outside the years guarantee and you'll find your UK supplied means squat unless you know a good engineer who can fix it for way less than the sixty five quid an hour you probably get quoted for the latest flavour of the month 'brilliant' engineer.

Seen it with a couple of the big M's but at least you won't have been shafted for multiples of a grand & a half.
Amazes me that an American amp that cost say $4k becomes £4k+, so USA trade is approx $2k and the company is making barely enough to stay in business, so lets say dealer cost is $1k?
So your £4k amp goes tits up two years later, big surprise, there's been more spent on glossy feckin adverts than it cost to make the thing!

I'd love to know the trade price of the Ariand.. and see photos of the poor b'stards making it's bicycles compared to the Ferrari's of the Maestros making Mastersounds at seven times the price:lol:

I'd suggest a valve tester or buy from trusted UK valve suppliers rather than the latest overpriced fad from China. I've had nos GEC & EAT kt 88s at silly money and now stick to JJ teslas that sound fine and don't take out my amps.

[Reffc]

Hi Lee,

looked at the Ariand 845 Pro with interest myself with interest. At that price could it best my Supratek pre and Audiopax monoblocks?
Having bought a few things direct from China in the past they go straight to a trusted engineer to make sure they are not time bombs (metal case with no earth), For the most part have with a few mods been well worth the money.

On the other hand you may find that it's a great 1500 quids worth till it breaks outside the years guarantee and you'll find your UK supplied means squat unless you know a good engineer who can fix it for way less than the sixty five quid an hour you probably get quoted for the latest flavour of the month 'brilliant' engineer.

Seen it with a couple of the big M's but at least you won't have been shafted for multiples of a grand & a half.
Amazes me that an American amp that cost say $4k becomes £4k+, so USA trade is approx $2k and the company is making barely enough to stay in business, so lets say dealer cost is $1k?
So your £4k amp goes tits up two years later, big surprise, there's been more spent on glossy feckin adverts than it cost to make the thing!

I'd love to know the trade price of the Ariand.. and see photos of the poor b'stards making it's bicycles compared to the Ferrari's of the Maestros making Mastersounds at seven times the price:lol:

I'd suggest a valve tester or buy from trusted UK valve suppliers rather than the latest overpriced fad from China. I've had nos GEC & EAT kt 88s at silly money and now stick to JJ teslas that sound fine and don't take out my amps.

I wouldn't personally touch a relatively unknown Chinese branded 845 amp with a bargepole. That's a serious valve in a circuit with serious voltage and current and if not properly done could be a hugely expensive mistake. Come to that, I wouldn't touch most Chinese sourced 845 amps either. You're paying for transformer quality and circuit design/components, and I've yet to be convinced that the majority of valve amps emanating from China have either.

There only a handful of 845 designs I'd personally recommend and one which I've just bought myself is amongst them (not least because it uses properly specified 240 volt transformers and comes with a 5 year no quibble guarantee (how many Chinese amps come with the same?). Have a look at Mastersound if you want to go the 845 route. Not cheap but have a great rep for reliability and quality. Laugh if you like at the Mastersounds, but they'll still be singing long after the Chinese ones have expired. you get what you pay for...within reason, and certainly where transformer quality is concerned. It' not just about reliability it's also about design and getting decent bandwidth and low distortion. Cheap valve amps rarely deliver in this respect. You pays your money...

[lewis]

Hi Lee,
There's a Mastersound compact 845 for sale over on the wam, from SMEagol, doesn't say it's sold... :)

[Reffc]

Yes, I think that one's still available and it is possibly still under warranty for half the price of a brand new one!

[Ali Tait]

If you want a great 845 amp for not much money, consider importing a Mr Liang, now called Audio Renaissence. These are great amps IMHO, and incredible value for money. 50 kg of battleship build and they don't use crappy generic Chinese transformers but wind their own in house, and very good quality they are too. I used to own one, and at one of our DIY meets, it easily saw off a 4.5k Unison Research 845. Not bad considering you should be able to import one for £800 or less. See website here, I understand if you contact them direct they will be happy to send you an amp.

http://www.lsyx.com/cn/index.asp

[Ali Tait]

Open the English version and there is an email address at the bottom.

[Lee Henley]

Cheers as always guys

Paul - I love the look of the Mastersound 845 and may well consider one. If I was to buy a chinese amp I would buy it through a UK dealer and not import it.

I too have my worries about the stuff from china and will edge with caution.

Does the 845 Mastersound get hot? I will be putting it into a unit that does not have any room above the amp, see picture

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff129/bootlegboy1/DSC_0459.jpg

Cheers

Lee

[Ali Tait]

Fair enough if you don't want to import, but don't let the low price of the Liang put you off, it really is a very good and reliable amp.

[Reffc]

Cheers as always guys

Paul - I love the look of the Mastersound 845 and may well consider one. If I was to buy a chinese amp I would buy it through a UK dealer and not import it.

I too have my worries about the stuff from china and will edge with caution.

Does the 845 Mastersound get hot? I will be putting it into a unit that does not have any room above the amp, see picture

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff129/bootlegboy1/DSC_0459.jpg

Cheers

Lee

Hi Lee

Official importers are the only way of guaranteeing UK specification for imports and for warranties worth the paper they're written on, so a sensible thing to stick with them for Chinese amps.

The 845 does get VERY hot. You won't find a Class A 845 amp that runs cool. Think "convector heater on full blast" hot after 30 minutes or so. They may run a little cooler with more power going into the speaker load with higher volumes or less sensitive speaker loads but I'd imaging they'd still run quite hot.

You'd really need to reconsider where to site one or stick with something cooler running!

[Haselsh1]

Jesus, there's no way I would put any valve amplifier in a cupboard. Think of what you're doing to the valves...?

[hifi_dave]

Think of what you are doing to the shelf above..:doh:

[Lee Henley]

Never had a problem to be honest, I always play it with the door open.

I've contemplated making a pull out shelf so that I can use it outside of the cabinet

[Ali Tait]

Would be wise IMHO, you would extend the life of the components and the valves.

[Reffc]

Your pull out shelf would have to be capable of holding very securely, a weight of between 70 and 100lbs! There's a challenge for you ;)

[Lee Henley]

For the time being guys I'm going to keep the amp and do a spot of tube rolling

[da2222]

The mastersound compact is very good but I opted for the New Audio Frontiers 845se 25 w instead, which IMO is unsurpassed in its price range and ultimately mor satisfying sonically than the former.