View Full Version : John Wood KT88 monoblocks £1800
I really thought these were keepers - my last ever buy but money is tight and the increasing need to buy a newer car means they have to go. No serious interest at the orginal asking price of £2300 so now availble for £1800. Collection only from close to Motorway M1 J27/28 (north of Nottingham)
This pair of monoblocks were custom built by John as mirror images Designed to allow close positioning to speakers or both units on a single rack shelf - probably the top shelf as the transformers are huge, taller than the valves.
Specs
AB1 fixed bias circa 100w
1 RCA input
4ohm and 8 ohm speaker taps
Power switch
1 x JJ ECC81 input valve
1 x NOS USSR military spec 6H8C phase splitter (6SN7 alternative recommended by JW)
2 x matched Gold Lion Reissue KT88
Serviced, checked, revalved and biased in November 2018
6H8C and GL KT88 fitted
W18cm x L38cm (42cm inc speaker terminals) x H22cm
19kg each
Replacement valves available for £120
1 quad part worn Sovtek KT88
1 quad NOS sovtek KT88
1 pair USSR 6H8C
For those unfamilair with John Wood Amps
At a risk of sounding like a fanboy I think I can honestly say that most people who have owned John Wood's amps reckon they are the best they have heard/owned. They are hand built, including the transformers, by John in Nottingham. Build quality is exemplary although the looks might be considered a tad functional. You will note for example on the power amps how the transformers are set at 90 degrees to maximise performance. What you cant see is the other 2 transformers inside each power amp and the super neat and tidy wiring. pots to adjust overall bias and bias on each output tube.
https://i.imgur.com/TqQpOyl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DuIS5O7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/XZgcXdW.jpg
Nice looking amps
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not only nice looking but great sounding!
I would almost like to buy them just to put on show!
Good luck with the sale.
Haselsh1
28-12-2018, 18:29
Absolutely stunning. Those chassis would look superb with a coating of car wax.
Very best of luck selling them.
maverick2000
29-12-2018, 09:48
Oh they are lovely, my mate has an KT88 integrated from JW and their output is awesome.
Drove my Boenicke W8s with ease at the Kegworth show, and I use a 500w pc SS amp at home, these speakers are rated at up to 1000w.
Having experience of John’s work I expect they sound wonderful so very GLWTS
the_doc735
04-01-2019, 14:03
Good luck with the sale. I have a JW KT88 - "2 in 1" monoblocks, in custom blood red. It is awesome!! Before that I had his "6L6", also excellent but I had to sell it to buy the KT88 (i.e. I'm not rich - lol). Excellent build and only took a month to manufacture, despite horrible Siberian weather!
Spotted yours on Hi-Fi Shark.
Happy New Year!
(my sig. is out of date!)
The JW KT88 are awsome amps in any guise, I am sure the wait was worth while.
Most of the JW dual mono single chasis versions I have seen share the mains transformer, my monoblocks use the same mains transformers as the single chasis versions but there are two of them, one per channel.
As I understand it this should give improve the power supply, because the transformers have more headroom leading to a more stable current flow
Good luck with the sale as they look absolutely superb....if only I had spare hifi funds!
Free delivery within 2 hours of Nottingham, or offers anyone?
Hi, I’m intrigued by these amps, I am toying with the idea, always been a solid state person but have grown to appreciate texture in voices and the mid range in general. A couple of questions if you don’t mind, How old are they, what is the name of the model of the amp and what is the output at 8 ohms (OK that was 3 questions). I have some Quad 2912 and I’m wondering if the amps would be up to the job. Many thanks
Hi Russell,
Those are very nice speakers, you will need something like John Wood quality to get the best from them. These are not warm and woolly in the way old valve amps used to be. They give the room filling sound of valves, with the sweet mids and highs but with deep tight bass too.
Moving on to your questions.
1. is easy to answer, they were commissioned in May 2013 and collected in June 2013.
2. is not easy to answer. John's amps dont, as far as I am aware, of have model names. I think most people would refer to these via the output valve type, ie KT8. Having said that these are custom built monoblocks rather than the more usual stereo versions so the power transformers are under less load, which should improve performance.
3. John's 2 x KT88 per channel amps are generally rated at 100w/channel, give or take. The exact power varies depending on the quality of the valves.
The other thing to be aware of is Johns amps come with a life long warranty and aftersales service offer. John has never charged me for fitting new valves, except once when he upgraded/replaced the phase spllier valves and then he only charged a nominal amount for the actual valves.
Thanks very much for the info, I have a budget lower than your asking price so not in a position to buy at the moment but if you decide to reduce the price in the future maybe we can discuss-Im in East Yorkshire so not too far. In the meantime I need to find out if valve amps can be used with a sub woofer connected to their outputs and also some help with the issue of the very low resistance offered by the Quads and how Valve amps respond.
happy to consider offers via private message.
I dont understand the low resitance issue but then again I am not familar with these speakers. I have seen web reviews of them working well with valve amps and the earlier el57/63 etc were designed round valve amps. I am sure some one on the forum could advise if you can outline your concerns in more detail
In terms of subs, I have tried this too both with both valve amps and solid state; high level (speaker/power amp connection) and low level ( pre amp connection) inputs but integrating the subs was never really seemless, the DSpeaker Dual Core probably gave the best results. In terms of compatibility subs and valve amps I have never had any problems.
Just noticed Jamie's (karma67) photos of the inside of a JW integrated and couldnt help thinking theres a transformers missing there. I am mega busy for the next 2 weeks so just dont have the time to take the bases off the monoblock to double check but my old photos seem to suggest the power amps have a seperate transformer feeding each output valve, so 2 per channel.
https://i.imgur.com/v5Jt9F2.jpg
Audio Al
11-02-2019, 18:18
Just noticed Jamie's (karma67) photos of the inside of a JW integrated and couldnt help thinking theres a transformers missing there. I am mega busy for the next 2 weeks so just dont have the time to take the bases off the monoblock to double check but my old photos seem to suggest the power amps have a seperate transformer feeding each output valve, so 2 per channel.
https://i.imgur.com/v5Jt9F2.jpg
You sure thats a JW intergrated image :scratch: look all wrong to me :scratch:
posted to make it easier for comparison.
what the difference is or makes is over my head,both are very very good amps!
https://i.postimg.cc/CKgHvbWF/IMG-3028.jpg
You sure thats a JW intergrated image :scratch: look all wrong to me :scratch:I think it's a photo of Ians mono power amp [emoji6]
no al,the first pic is one of his JW mono blocks.the second is my integrated.
sorry for the confusion chaps, jamie has explained all, I think, many thanks
sorry for the confusion chaps, jamie has explained all, I think, many thanksNo confusion at all here [emoji6][emoji4]
no worries ian,if it helps the sale along.
if anyone near me (brighton) is tempted and would like to hear mine to get an idea they are more than welcome
Amps now sold, many thanks to everyone for their interest and posts
Brilliant! Well done and whoever’s bought them welcome to the JW club :)
vegman1973
12-02-2019, 19:30
Nice [emoji106] I also own J Wood Kt88 PP AMP
Very pleased with it
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