[Bwilemsen]

Greetings all and thanks for having me. As a relative newcomer to hi-fi (I say that as I was a rabid hi-fi lover in the early 90's but have been away for quite some time now. But that's a story for another time. Anyways, I'm looking for some advice-My current setup is a Rega Mira 3 integrated, a Music Hall mmf 1.5 turntable along with my Wharfedale Diamond 225's. I'm dying for an Ultravalve and am wondering if it would be a good fit in my current system. Especially as a match for my Wharfedales, given that I plan on purchasing a set of the Diamond 11.2's. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance everyone!

[JerryM]

Welcome to AudioCircle, Bwilemsen. 

Call AVA and talk to Frank. He's typically the one answering the phone. You can even tell him that you read this post on AC and, as such, are calling him to discuss your system, room, goals, and strong desire for an Ultravalve.

Just call Frank; ask a legend for advice. 

Have fun,

Jerry

[avahifi]

The Warfdale 225 and 11.2 speakers are both rated at 8 ohms inpedance and 87dB and 88dB sensitivity respectively.

Thus both are easy loads for the AVA Ultravalve vacuum tube amplifier to drive loud easily and astonishingly musically.

Note that we have about a 30 day lead time to build you one right now as business has been great here all winter.

Thanks for your interest.

Frank

[Bwilemsen]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the feedback. Frank-quick question-What would you suggest for a preamp? Solid state or tube? I'm new to the land of pre/power amps.

[avahifi]

The Ultravalve will work great with our inexpensive Vision RB solid state preamp.  The Ultravalve will provide you with the engaging vacuum sound you are looking for while the Vision RB will provide the wide range, great dynamics, transient response and low noise without adding any grain, glare, or nasty brightness.  It is also maintenance free.

https://avahifi.com/collections/preamplifiers/products/vision-rb-preamplifier

If you are concerned about the care and feeding of a pure vacuum tube power amplifier (you will need to own and learn how to use a low cost digital multimeter to set the power amp tube bias once in a while) then consider our Vision SET 120 as an alternative. It is very close to the sound of the Ultravalve but lower cost, higher power, and maintenance free.

https://avahifi.com/collections/power-amplifiers/products/vision-set-120-power-amplifier

Frank

[danielgk]

Here's my 2 cents on the matter:

The hot amp right now at AVA is the SET.  MULTIPLE reviewers have actually bought the SET units they were demo'ing with their own money for use in their own reference system.  The SET gives nothing away to the Ultravalve, and would love your Warfdales.

I'd pair the Vision SET 120 with the Vision RB preamp for a low cost system that can't be beat (for the money).

Next step up would be the Vision SET 400 instead of the Vision SET 120.  This will give you LOTs of overhead even when you turn up the volume on songs that have bass you can feel.  The Vision SET 400 will portray an effortless musicality that you have probably never heard out of your Warfdales.

If you still want to go up the chain a little higher (i.e. spend more money) I'd start looking at the more expensive preamps.  The differences here will be more subtle and probably more dependent on the overall synergy of your system.


Good luck and be sure to have fun


Dan (engineer involved with the SET)

[simon wagstaff]

I have owned an U70 and now an SET 120. I loved the U70 with my Infinity IM 4.1. I now use the SET 120 to drive the neopanels of my VMPS RM2, crossed over at 250 hz. The SET 120 gives nothing away in terms of spatial presentation and is crisper on the top end and more dynamically incisive than the U70. I loved my U70 but the SET 120 is more entertaining to listen to.