FS: Audion Sterling Plus SET amplifier

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06-03-2018, 11:15
Smegger68

FS: Audion Sterling Plus SET amplifier

Decided to move this on as it's been sat in my spare room doing nowt for too long.

Mk1 Audion Sterling Plus with the nice chrome case. This one has been breathed upon by Anthony Mathews of tube Distinctions, who tweaked everything and threw a bevy of new parts at it about 5 years ago. I used it for 2 years before changing to my current setup, and it's been languishing ever since.

The picture is of the unit, but it has a different valve complement now. Power valves are Tung Sol KT-120s. i checked with Audion before purchasing them and they confirmed that the unit is suitable for powering the heaters correctly. Certainly I had no issues with them. Input valves are a NOS Brimar 6922 and a NOS Amperex Bugle Boy 5687. I can swap out the KT120s for either HotRox KT90s or Svetlana Winged C 6550s if you prefer, and I have a lot of different input valves if you fancy something different.

I'm looking for around £600 delivered in the UK :)

https://i.imgur.com/9GiGNzh.jpg
06-03-2018, 11:23
struth

nice.. what output watts does it boast? might help sale
06-03-2018, 11:32
Smegger68

Quote:

Originally Posted by struth

nice.. what output watts does it boast? might help sale

18 Watts with KT88s or KT90s. About 15 with 6550s and with KT120s you might get a couple of watts more than the standard 18, but the best feature of those is that they are running well within their power envelope and thus will have a nice long life [emoji846]

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06-03-2018, 14:34
montesquieu

Are you sure this is SET and not SEP? Pretty sure for 18w the valves would need to be strapped for pentode.
06-03-2018, 14:40
Smegger68

Quote:

Originally Posted by montesquieu

Are you sure this is SET and not SEP?

It uses the pentode in ultralinear mode. It's semantics really.
06-03-2018, 15:16
Berni217

It’s a lot of amp for the money. Good luck with the sale.

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06-03-2018, 15:21
montesquieu

[QUOTE=Berni217;954982]It’s a lot of amp for the money. Good luck with the sale.

QUOTE]

For sure. Lovely amp.
06-03-2018, 18:42
Lawrence001

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smegger68

It uses the pentode in ultralinear mode. It's semantics really.

Doesn't pentode vs triode change the sound as well as the power? I'm not sure many SET fans would agree it's just semantic.
06-03-2018, 18:48
Smegger68

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawrence001

Doesn't pentode vs triode change the sound as well as the power? I'm not sure many SET fans would agree it's just semantic.

Whatever. I'm just selling an amp here :)
06-03-2018, 19:01
chris@panteg

Interested, is it a power amp or does it have some line inputs?
06-03-2018, 19:14
Smegger68

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris@panteg

Interested, is it a power amp or does it have some line inputs?

It's essentially a single input power amp, but it does have a volume control and a gain stage so you can just use it as a single input integrated if you like. I used it for quite a while with one of those 4 way rotary phono selectors like this :)
06-03-2018, 20:18
montesquieu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smegger68

Whatever. I'm just selling an amp here :)

Actually reason why I brought it up is that I'm quite a fan of Single Ended Pentode. My favourite Unison Research amp is the Preludio which is also a KT88-family single ended design. I bet this sounds super.
06-03-2018, 20:22
ERICLIMPIT

A good price for a very nice amp, I've owned a few Audion amps over the years, all of them excellent.
06-03-2018, 20:27
Smegger68

Quote:

Originally Posted by montesquieu

Actually reason why I brought it up is that I'm quite a fan of Single Ended Pentode. My favourite Unison Research amp is the Preludio which is also a KT88-family single ended design. I bet this sounds super.

The reason I've kept it this long is because it sounds great and I'm fairly loathe to sell it to be honest. But over 3 years of inactivity is too much [emoji53]

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07-03-2018, 00:05
bumpy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawrence001

Doesn't pentode vs triode change the sound as well as the power? I'm not sure many SET fans would agree it's just semantic.

That's true. It might sound wonderful, but it's not a SET.
09-03-2018, 16:42
Smegger68

*SOLD*
09-03-2018, 16:48
bumpy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smegger68

*SOLD*

Congratulations :)
09-03-2018, 19:14
Berni217

Well done!

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09-03-2018, 20:45
Smegger68

Quote:

Originally Posted by bumpy

Congratulations :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Berni217

Well done!

Thanks guys. Tom is the lucky new owner, hopefully he'll write up his findings when he's received it and had a chance to have a listen :)
09-03-2018, 21:22
Berni217

FS: Audion Sterling Plus SET amplifier

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smegger68

Thanks guys. Tom is the lucky new owner, hopefully he'll write up his findings when he's received it and had a chance to have a listen :)

Temptations ... Tom, you will struggle to find room in the house! [emoji13]
Congrats!

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12-03-2018, 00:26
montesquieu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Berni217

Temptations ... Tom, you will struggle to find room in the house! [emoji13]
Congrats!

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Should go well in the study system, total overkill of course :)