[Bill O'Connell]

Brand new in the box, KT88 based.40watts
 Normally $2000
AC members  $1800 Free shipping

 These came in about 2 weeks ago and I haven't posted anything about them as I wanted to give a listen.

 I was use to our EL156 monoblocks V cap edition for amps, but since this arrived I could easily use this amp as my Reference. A bit livlier presentation then the warm EL156's .

 Of course being the tube nut I am I threw in a quad of the Treasure Series KT88-Z's. The  money you save on this integrated could purchase a quad of the Treasures.

 I've had over the years a ton of amplifiers and this new integrated is stunning sonicly. I don't want to ramble on&on about its virtues but you know the Eastern Electric name and this is one amp that just needs to be heard.
 You will be head over heels that you made this decision.

If you need pictures email me if interested.
 Thanks for considering ,
 Bill
 

[Wayne1]

If there is anyone out there interested in a 40 watt tube amp, you NEED this amp!!!

Bill sent me one of these to evaluate. Well, it evaluated itself into a new home.

Because of this amp, I have now sold off my HT system. It just sounds so good in stereo, I have NO need for all those extra speakers.

I brought this amp over to Mike Galusha's this past weekend. In his system, powering the GedLee Abbeys it truly was fantastic. A change of output tubes did improve thins considerably. We did not have the treasures, but used a quad of Penta KT88s and some Mullard 12AX7.

As Bill has stated, this is one of the best sounding amps I have ever heard. I preferred the sound of it over that of Mike's Atma-sphere M-60s. To my ears, the Atma-spheres were a little to analytical while the EE M88 has a fuller, rich tone.

We did take a quick look at the amp on Mike's test bench. It easily exceeded most of the specs. It is a VERY wide band tube amp. I believe it was pretty much flat out to 50 kHz. Alex used some VERY good transformers.

It is a true integrated amp. It has an active pre-amp section that is equal to the power amp section. You can run a separate pre-amp into it, but why bother?

I really like this amp. I think you would too.

[mgalusha]

This is a very nice amp, it drove my Abbey's with no problems though they are not a tough load.

After rolling in the Penta Labs KT-88's and some Mullard CV-4004 (12AX7) tubes it got even better. A Wayne mentioned, this amp has a lovely tone and I thought a great sense of space. 

Like all the other EE gear this seems to offer a lot of value for the money. Nice looking to boot, I love the gray metalflake paint.

[pardales]

Is this amp self-biasing or are those biasing controls back their with the tubes? Looks really nice.

[Wayne1]

The amp has a meter, a switch and four bias pots, one for each output tube.

VERY easy to set bias.

[Gopher]

That thing really is sexy!  Is that a 16ohm tap?  I bet these would drive the heck out of my Zu speakers.

I really should have taken it for a spin as I deliberated on a new amp--after hearing Wayne and Mike's excitement, I bet it is really special.  Alas, I was fixed on the idea of SET. 

[Bill O'Connell]

4,8,and 16 ohm taps.
 It's never to late

Later,
 Bill

[Gopher]

You're a bad man, Bill!

I'm actually quite happy with my amps...   which allows me to start saving for the Avant.   

My EE pre is still the longest remaining piece of equipment in my system!

[dynaflo]

What are the dimensions of the M88?

[Wayne1]

8" H x 17" W x 16" D

I have a full set of Pavanes on order for the small signal tubes and a quad of Treasures for the output tubes. After a reasonable amount of time for break-in, I'll bring the amps back over to Mike Galusha's to see how it does on his Abbeys.

[HT cOz]

8" H x 17" W x 16" D

I have a full set of Pavanes on order for the small signal tubes and a quad of Treasures for the output tubes. After a reasonable amount of time for break-in, I'll bring the amps back over to Mike Galusha's to see how it does on his Abbeys.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the Pavanes as they are very reasonably priced.  I have two GE 5751 black plates in the pre amp section of my integrated amp and wonder how those new Pavanes would compare.

[Vulcan00]

This amp @ 40 watts per ch, what minimum speaker efficiency would you recommend for a 18x25x10 room ? 

[Wayne1]

This amp @ 40 watts per ch, what minimum speaker efficiency would you recommend for a 18x25x10 room ?

That all depends on how loud you like to listen and the impedance curve of the speakers.

A rough guideline would be 90 dB and above would be fine for most music. I have used this amp with VMPS 626Rs , which are rated at 90 dB with no trouble. I did take it over to try with a friend's GedLee Abbeys. They are 95 dB and while the amp wouldn't go stupid loud on some ZZ Top, they would play loud enough for most anyone.

[nicksgem10s]

Hi Wayne,

I was wondering if you had any new comments on the M88 and also was curious what speakers you are using it with in your system.

The only EE gear I have owned in the past was the phono preamp and it was a real mistake selling it a few years back.  Incredible piece of gear especially for the reasonable price.  That doesn't happen much in audio.

Thanks for sharing.

-Nick

[Vapor Audio]

I have one and absolutely love it!  I've used it with 4-5 different speakers ranging from 81db sensitivity up to around 89db and the M88 has done a wonderful job on all.  It has incredible bass tone and control with way more drive than you'd ever expect.  Midrange is wonderful of course, and the amp images like crazy.  The only possible weakness is just a hair less top end extension than the best amps I've heard, although you'd never notice if you didn't A/B with one of those.  And Bill at Morningstar told me that some Siemens Silverplates would take care of that if wanted. 

The super easy biasing setup is really nice, and I like the input that bypasses the volume control if you want to use it as an amp only ... and the XLR inputs sound fantastic as well, clearly a fine balanced implementation.