I am the second owner of this amp, purchased in December 2011. Retail on this amp is around $5900 EURO, or close to $7500 USD as of today. I am asking $2500 plus shipping from zip code 92683 and Paypal fees. The amp is in perfect working order and in good cosmetic condition. I have about 200 or so hours on the tubes. One of the 2A3C driver tubes has a loose bottom which wiggles from the glass and while it works ok it should probably be replaced. Also, the remote control "volume down" button tends to stick but works. (I will include the original TRI tubes that came with the amp and not the tubes you see pictured.)
An excellent review here:
http://highfidelity.pl/@main-117&lang=enThis amp was also used to drive the Zen Acoustics Crescendos at a number of shows. If you dig around the net you will find many positive reviews and comments.
Personally, I found this amp to be an excellent performer. It's much ballsier than its 20wpc suggests (it actually sounds quite a bit larger than a few 150wpc solid state amps I have on hand) and throws a huge and deep stage with tons of presence. The biggest difference for me from an older Cary 805 I used to own is that the Triode is more neutral sounding (maybe due to the solid state linestage?) and open from top to bottom without losing any of the huge presence or staging that SET amps are known for. This amp for me really strikes the perfect balance between having an organic, lifelike, musical sound with plenty of presence while at the same time not going overboard with too sweet or warm a sound. I wouldn't call it dead neutral (because it tends to sound a bit relaxed and not as exacting as very expensive solid state or tube push pull), but it has a realism and utter lack of any grain/haze/euphonics that I have heard in many other cheaper tube amps. Everything just sounds much larger, natural, and more lifelike. I could not ever see going back to a push-pull or solid state amplifier after using this amp unless you absolutely needed more power or lightning fast bass performance was your number one priority. At this asking price, I think it would be very difficult to find a better performer.
This amp also functions as a pre-amp, with a fully functional remote control. The linestage is solid state, and by itself is quite good and comparable to others that I have tried at around $2k. You can also bypass the pre-amp and drive the amplifier directly if you so choose. After spending a lot of money trying different pre-amps, I would suggest using this amp as an integrated. I've tried Cary, CJ, Doge, and Modwright and the differences were very minor.
I am selling only because I have changed speakers and decided to go a different direction. For the fastest response, please email me at Npdang AT gmail DOT com. I am available for local pickup/audition in Orange County, California.
Technical data (according to the manufacturer):
Output power: 20 W (at 8 Ω)
Output impedance: 4/8/16 Ω
Frequency response: 10 Hz-50 kHz ( 0,- 1 dB)
Distortions: < 0,1 % (1 kHz)
S/N level: 89 dB
Input sensitivity: 0,9 V
Tubes: 845 x 2 , 2A3 x 2 , 6SN7 x 2
Dimensions: 460x260x 450 mm
Weight: 38 kg
