Thank you kindly everyone and the amps are sold,
Sadly, I must part with these beautiful Sophia Electric 845 monoblocks. This was my first foray into SET amps and these guys were extremely satisfying.
Sophia changed the look of their 845 amplifiers; what you see here are their earlier offerings which came in two versions-solid state and tube rectified. These are the more desirable and all tube rectified ones that have the thick stainless steel chassis wrapped in solid rosewood sides.
Most importantly though, these amps provided a wonderfully revealing window into the music. Plus, at 22-25 watts per channel, the dynamics were quite good with my 90db Tyler Acoustic D1 speakers which have 7 drivers each. I'm sure they'd be even more impressive with speakers at 91dbs and above.
Moreover, although a difficult decision, these guys are up for sale to help finance some expansion with my Clear Day Cable business. Actually, I may go this route again down the line for they are one of the most refined set of amps I've ever heard.
As for tubes, these 845s are brand new and were hand picked/voiced for these actual amps at Sophia. They have a long life ahead of them and are Shuguangs. The 845 is driven by a Sophia Princess 206. The 206 is basically a 205D in a 300B package--a lovely tube retailing for $525-$600 a pair.
Other tubes include two 5ar4 (Mullard construction) and two 5z3P rectifiers (a total of four, 2 rectifiers per amp). The other tubes are a pair of NOS Hytron 3A5's and all test fine with no shorts or gas leaks.
The potted litz output transformers are Sophia's own and are obviously a very important part of their stellar performance. The parts under the hood are all very high quality. All the tubes but the 845s are self biasing so the amps are pretty much plug and play.
As an added bonus, I just got these back from Richard Wugang owner of Sophia Electric and he put them both back to factory specs. There is no user manual for these amps, but Richard is always available for questions/support and is a great guy to speak with.
There are no power cords included as it will behoove the future owner to get a good set of power cables for these babies. I say this for I've used Shunyata power cords, my own makeup, and off the shelf cords. In each instance, the presentation was noticibly different to my ears.
As for cosmetics, there is minor scratches on the top stainless steel top plate where the tubes go as shown in the pictures. Nothing major whatsoever, but in lieu of this, I'll rate these guys at 7.0 out of 10 to be safe.
As for shipping, the amps/tubes will be well packed in their 3 original boxes. Figure the total weight to be about 95 lbs as well.
I'm asking $3075.00 or best offer and please feel free to ask questions and or make offers.
God bless and these amps will be shipped/insured Fedex,
Paul
Payment and Shipping
Pay By: Personal Check after it clears, Paypal, Money Order/Certified Check
Ships To: USA Only
Shippers/Payer: (none specified) / Paid by: Buyer
