Custom 845 monos w/ Tango transformers

James Romeyn · « **on:** 21 May 2009, 04:00 am »

My friend is just finishing these. He has built dozens of amps & these 845s are alleged to be his last; top quality parts throughout including Tango output transformers. He may supervise the construction of one similar monoblock for the center (primary) channel of my Trinaural system. These things look just gorgeous. I'm hoping to hear them in a couple weeks on his latest speaker project, an OB design. He also built the 7' horns pictured.

DustyC · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 May 2009, 04:45 am »

Man those are sweet!

James Romeyn · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 May 2009, 06:14 pm »

This friend owns & personally designs & builds a more impressive array of gear than any other individual I know or know of. He is a degreed digital engineer but loves all things audio both analog & digital, tubes & high-sensitivity horns being at the top of his lust list. He owns the estimated $25k TW Acustic Raven, mid-level Clearaudio mc & the recently released $5k Clearaudio WCF arm reputed to far outperform the Graham (The Clearaudio arm was about five years in the making; the Graham was directly in their sites & no prisoners were accepted till the goal was met; several major revisions occurred during the design process; in person it combines a look of bridge-like solidity & jewel-like precision.)

His collection of commercial gear including Cary's allegedly all-conquering 845C monos, is just as impressive as his own self-designed/built equipment. The amps pictured are intended to replace & outperform the Cary. Here's my friend's direct quote today commenting on his current 845 project & his Cary 845C monos (estimated MSRP $10k/pair USD):

Quote

...Yes, when you build your own amp, you always go for the best. I open the Cary 805C bottom plate to look at their (workmanship), it is S-CARY!...

Good play on words for someone for whom English may have been a second language. IMO the ass-kissing between SOME (though definitely not all) so-called professional reviewers & manufacturers is well beyond the pale.

DustyC · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 May 2009, 07:48 pm »

Are the 845's in SET parallel or are they push-pull? Power output?

I often wish I could get my hands on a push-pull type amp using sweep or transmitting tubes. Such amps put out lots of power with a minimal number of output tubes. (i.e. EL509 pairs for 120 to 150 watts a side). Simple designs with the potential for great sonics.

Agreed, the last Cary amp interior I saw was pretty messy. My amps are a little better but still had some spaghetti inside.

Enjoy yours!!

JoshK · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 May 2009, 07:53 pm »

Wow those are attractive! My aesthetics completely!

James Romeyn · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 May 2009, 09:30 pm »

Josh
Couldn't agree more concerning the look. It's flabergasting that commercial makers w/ years of professional experience at the highest level can or will not design w/ the clean, classic simplicity of my friend's 845.

DustyC
Architecture unknown; will forward info when it arrives. Member Bill Berndt's 200W Jolida Music Envoy monos are among my favorites; IIRC single HUMOUNGOUS transmitter output. Give him a holler if you visit the SF Bay Area.

JakeJ · « **Reply #6 on:** 22 May 2009, 06:53 am »

Definitely a pair of the more beautiful amps I have seen.

It would be nice to see the innards, if possible. Hmmm...me thinks I'll have to open the bottom of my VAC amps just for curiosities sake.

Is the circuit itself a common one, or one he designed himself?

JakeJ

Berndt · « **Reply #7 on:** 23 May 2009, 07:12 pm »

Quote from: ro7939 on 21 May 2009, 09:30 pm

Josh
Couldn't agree more concerning the look. It's flabergasting that commercial makers w/ years of professional experience at the highest level can or will not design w/ the clean, classic simplicity of my friend's 845.

DustyC
Architecture unknown; will forward info when it arrives. Member Bill Berndt's 200W Jadis Music Envoy monos are among my favorites; IIRC single HUMOUNGOUS transmitter output. Give him a holler if you visit the SF Bay Area.

Jolida Music Envoys

James Romeyn · « **Reply #8 on:** 23 May 2009, 08:57 pm »

Quote from: Berndt on 23 May 2009, 07:12 pm

Quote from: ro7939 on 21 May 2009, 09:30 pm
Josh
Couldn't agree more concerning the look. It's flabergasting that commercial makers w/ years of professional experience at the highest level can or will not design w/ the clean, classic simplicity of my friend's 845.

DustyC
Architecture unknown; will forward info when it arrives. Member Bill Berndt's 200W Jadis Music Envoy monos are among my favorites; IIRC single HUMOUNGOUS transmitter output. Give him a holler if you visit the SF Bay Area.

Jolida Music Envoys

My bad...I was thinking about a Jadis preamp owned by another friend.

James Romeyn · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 May 2009, 10:03 pm »

Quote from: DustyC on 21 May 2009, 07:48 pm

Are the 845's in SET parallel or are they push-pull? Power output?

I often wish I could get my hands on a push-pull type amp using sweep or transmitting tubes. Such amps put out lots of power with a minimal number of output tubes. (i.e. EL509 pairs for 120 to 150 watts a side). Simple designs with the potential for great sonics.

Agreed, the last Cary amp interior I saw was pretty messy. My amps are a little better but still had some spaghetti inside.

Enjoy yours!!

Update/corrections...OK...output trannies are Tango (described as best available; subject corrected), twice the cost of the previously described Tamura. Architecture is 25W SE, 845 driver/845 output to maintain the sound character of the 845...as compared to Cary 300B driver/845 output. A cap could drive the output but this is considered the least desirable. Cost no object would be to employ the highest quality transformer as a driver, but cost-prohibitive at about $750 for that option.

Will audition his just completed active triamped OB this Monday. JBL 15 paralleled w/ JBL 12 (800 Hz LPxo), JBL 2397 mid horn lens (115dB!!!), tweeter unknown:

Listens2tubes · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 May 2009, 08:38 pm »

Totally SWEET! These pix give new meaning to home theater. I want

James Romeyn · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 May 2009, 09:13 pm »

The subject's pad is um...impressive. Over 5000sf...I thought my 3400sf cave was large till entering his palace. The system w/ the OB speaker may be his third system.

The main system in the living room houses his self-designed/built 7' horn pictured earlier. That system includes the larger TW Acustic TT (about $30k-ish now). Monday I hope to hear his latest arm, the $5k Clearaudio that was targeted to clearly trounce the Graham.

Unison845 · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Sep 2010, 03:33 pm »

This is my latest PP845 ampli "Mikro", the smallest size PP845 monoblock (chassis size 9X13), with 50W pure class A no negative FB, using Tango.

James Romeyn · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Sep 2010, 04:55 pm »

Wow! Sweet! Congratulations for such outstanding craftsmanship! It's still hard to believe DIY can look so good. I can't think of any commercial product that looks so clean, classic, and thoroughly delectable. "Eye candy" doesn't do this justice.

My friend that built the tubes in the OP built speakers with field coil 8" from Europe (IIRC about $2500ea, super high sensitivity) and multiple ribbon tweeters (one ribbon fires forward, one each fires at approximately 30-degrees, one rear-firing). Individual speaker modules can be stacked. He desires no images posted because he tires of seeing his amp and speaker designs copied in Asia (he's from Viet Nam).

Viet Nam's economy is booming, with more multi-millionaires popping up each time he returns. It's nothing for audiophiles there to own $25k MSRP of cables/interconnects...though he is seldom if ever impressed by the performance of commercial systems valued as high as $200k.

A friend of his from Asia has a daughter that lives nearby Silicon Valley. This same friend just bought Wilson MAXX 2s to install at his daughter's home so he has something nice to listen to when he visits his daughter.

Will2 · « **Reply #14 on:** 18 Sep 2010, 05:10 pm »

I must say, those amps in the OP are exactly to my taste aesthetically - and I bet they would be great with my Dream Makers. If I didn't already have Atma's I'd be feeling an irresistible itch. Anyhow - what a fantastic job - the owner is one lucky guy.

JakeJ · « **Reply #15 on:** 18 Sep 2010, 05:17 pm »

Welcome to AC, Unison845!

Very nice looking work and I bet sounds good too.

Unison845 · « **Reply #16 on:** 20 Sep 2010, 05:58 am »

Thanks for the warm welcome.
Below is an all out attempt 300B SE amplifier. 300B driving 300B SE 8W using James Output and Interstage, with fully regulated tube power supply that I build last year. Same size as the Mikro, only 20% of the power.

JakeJ · « **Reply #17 on:** 20 Sep 2010, 03:49 pm »

Purdy!

James Romeyn · « **Reply #18 on:** 20 Sep 2010, 05:48 pm »

Another beauty contest winner fer sure!

I switched back and forth a half dozen times between Unison845s amps and my friend's amps in the OP.

Good luck picking a cosmetic winner between those two! I can't! Well, if I had to I lean toward Unison845s for the gold top plate and wood finish. They look so good you can almost taste it!

Indeed, the only three transformer brands by friend endorses are James, Tamura, and Tango. IIRC he prefers matching the PS and output brands, and if I further recall correctly, Tamura PS transformers come only in 240V, meaning a US user would require a voltage step-up.

I'll shoot an image of my buddy's wireless tube DAC and post it: dual KT66 output tubes, powers the amp directly. Purpleheart enclosure, very purdy...

Question: For the above described wireless tube DAC, how would you quantify/qualify the predicted change (if any) in audio performance, new vs. fully seasoned? Number of hours to achieve fully seasoned performance?

Niteshade · « **Reply #19 on:** 20 Sep 2010, 05:50 pm »

They do look very nice!