This is a long ad so, please, bear with me.
I have for sale two of the venerable Golden Tube Audio SE-40 single-ended, zero feedback class A amplifiers, modified and voiced by Jeff Glowacki of Sonic Craft to sound identical to each other, as he upgraded them both, himself, by installing all three levels of his well-respected modifications. Now, they constitute a hardy pair of eighty watt per channel monoblocks that more than hold their own against amps selling for two to three times their price on the used market.
I will not sell them, separately.
The sonic perfection of these amps has been a pursuit of mine for many years. Unfortunately, hard economic times have forced me to, finally, set my children free. Many extras are included, which I shall list, below.
Externally, I have had Analysis Plus make custom jumper cables from their excellent Oval 9 speaker wires to bridge the left and right channels of each amp. They have bananas on one end and spades on the other. That affords you the versatility of being able to use speaker cables that are terminated with either one.
Internally, some of the caps have been treated with Marigo Audio Labs VTS dots, in addition to Jeff‘s mods.
The complement of tubes included is quite comprehensive and is the result of choices I feel to be ideal and made only after many years of tube rolling.
As driver tubes, I use a pair of ‘60’s era military 6SN7GT Sovteks of Upscale Audio's platinum grade that I purchased from Kevin Deal. I had auditioned many brands in this position and, perhaps, nearly a dozen pairs of different iterations of Sovteks over the years before settling on these particular ones. (I do, have the stock Sovtek 6SN7GTBs that came with the amps, still, but did not like them and have used them very little.)
I have found that the use of these particular powerful, clear, wide-open, but still musical Soviet era Sovteks in the rear position as drivers, coupled with the use of mildly warm, but punchy, signal tubes up front, is the ideal way to maximize the sonic performance of these amps, rendering great clarity, dynamics and musicality, while offering holographic imagery and a huge soundstage.
However, for added versatility, I have a pair of GE side-getters to use as drivers, as well (an application for which they are well noted), which I obtained from Brent Jessee to get a more vintage sound, when so desired. In addition, I, sometimes, use a pair of RCA 6SN7GTBs, either up front, or in the rear, as they are electrically ideal for these amps and allow for an even greater amount of versatility.
For the line stage tubes, I settled on a pair of rare Pope 6SN7GTs, also from Upscale Audio. These are Amperex’s labeled for export and are no longer obtainable from Kevin, unless they are for gear purchased from him.
All of the 6SN7GT-types are matched, of course, and, except for those stock 6SN7GTBs, are of the highest possible grade.
Also included are THIRTY output tubes, all in matched sextets. Three of the sextets are of SED “Winged C” 6L6GCs, with each sextet having matching date codes. These were, also, obtained from Upscale Audio and chosen by Kevin to have output levels (yes, they do vary) ideal for these particular SE-40s. The remaining two sextets are of the original Sovtek 5881s that came with the amps. Again, I used these only briefly, as I did not care for them.
All of the above tubes have very low hours due to replacement over the years, constant rolling, and to the amps, themselves, being used only rarely, recently, now that I have gotten into low-powered, high dollar SET amps. (Currently, I am using a Viva Solista.)
All of the tubes listed above have just been tested and given a clean bill of health by a certified technician.
Now, let us break down my total dollar investment in these amps:
$995.00 per amp, originally; $300.00 for each of the sets of Sonic Craft modification parts; $300.00 each to have Jeff install them; $140.00 for each of the custom jumper cables; $300.00 for the matched pair of Pope platinum grade 6SN7GTs; $50.00 for the platinum grade Sovtek 6SN7GTs on which I, eventually, settled (this excludes, of course, the cost of all those other Sovteks I auditioned and rejected); $80.00 for the GE 6SN7GTA Side getters; $50.00 for the RCA 6SN7GTBs; and, $150.00 for each of the three sets of SED “Winged C” 6L6GCs. (Although, they are $210.00 per set, now.)
That brings my total investment in these amps to $4,350.00!
I, also, have the original packaging for one of the amps, the bias adjustment tools for both, their original ac cords, and a copy of the owner‘s manual.
Prior to sale, I will clean all tube pins, RCA jacks, speaker terminals, etc. with Caig DeoxIT
and treat them all with Walker Audio SST contact enhancer.
The packed amps weigh fifty pounds each, and, with the extra packaging required, coupled with the need to ship all the extra tubes, separately, the total shipping costs, including required insurance, could easily approach, or exceed, $200.00.
However, these amps are such a labor of love for me that I would prefer not to entrust them to any shipper.
Therefore, I AM WILLING TO PERSONALLY DELIVER THESE AMPS ANYWHERE IN THE CONUS for that amount.
Moreover, I would love to set them up for you, should you so desire.
However, you must pay in advance, no “cash on delivery”.
Moreover, I accept PayPal only, although there is no fee.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Link to audiogon ad w/pics:
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstube&1228678077&item
