[Gopher]

I recently rolled the dice and decided to try a pair of 845 monoblock amplifiers made by Shuguang.  I bought these pretty much on a gut feeling to mate with my Zu speakers despite there being virtually no information available on them online.

They came equipped with Black Treasure CV-181 and 300B tubes and red label 845Bs and weigh in at almost 60 hefty pounds each.  I bought them from Pacific Valve and they carried a list price of $4500.  Since last night, however, it appears theyv'e removed them from their page.

I'm on my second day of listening to them, and even without burn in I'm enjoying what I'm hearing.  Really good tone, staging and drive. 

Does anyone know anything about these bad boys?





I can't wait to compare it to my Atma-sphere S-30 when it gets back from a servicing to pick a winner.  Very different presentations--will be interesting.  Both are ideal mates to my Zu Soul Superfly speakers at 101db 16ohm.

On a side note, I've gotta say it's amazing what China is doing to the "value" scale of hifi components.  I grew up listening to my dads McIntosh and Counterpoints gear and now I'm getting better sound with affordable Chinese products. 

[Wind Chaser]

Those Treasure tubes (in the case of the 300b anyways) define what is possible.  I've read one report from someone who doesn't particularly care for the 300b sound in general say that the Treasure 300b was the best tube he's ever heard period.  Another person claimed that these tubes in his amps sounded every bit as good as his McAlister OTLs.

[Gopher]

Cool to hear.  I think they sound pretty darn good without break in. 

One of the things that appealed to me, is that this is supposed to be an amp built/voiced around the black treasure tubes to showcase what their premium line is capable of.

[davidrs]

I've had my eye on Shuguang amps also. Looking forward to hearing more about your experience, and especially driving the Superflys.

Nice clean look to them, inside and out.

[Wind Chaser]

Those are nice looking amps. 

[TONEPUB]

How much power?

[Berto]

How much power?

I'm also curious how much power they have as well?. And also as a Atma owner curious how much heat they give off since my Ma1s need serious a/c pumping to listen too come summertime.

I got two quads of BTs in my Atmas as well as a pair in my source , these tubes are def the real deal.

[Gopher]

TONEPUB,

I read 25wpc in one location and 28 in another.  I imagine how high one biases it plays a role and I plan to play with running them towards to the top of their recommended range.  Right now I'm dead center.

Berto,

Heat is not a real concern so far with these amps.  The S-30 and First Watts both put off more heat.  I wouldn't touch the 845B while its on, but I don't think AC will be an issue like it has been with prior amps here.

Very cool to hear the Atmas like BTs.  When I get my S-30 back from Ralph's servicing, I'll be sure to throw in this pair of BT CV-181s in the first position (with my Ratheons in the next two) to see how things fare.  I suspect I'll be in for a treat and picking a keeper may be difficult. 

[lonewolfny42]

Fred...

Nice.....

I thought you were worried about "little hands" touching the tubes.

Are the amps in a safe place?

[JohnR]

Just be aware that an 845 SET may well have a supply voltage on the output tubes of 1000 volts... or more.....

[Mariusz]

Nice looking amps Gopher.
You might strike some kind of compromise between finesse, intimacy and power for your Zus with these 845s. 

[Mariusz]

A little video for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFJiuVItzIc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[jriggy]

I wonder why the amps were pulled from the Pacific Valve site? Maybe you bought the last pair? Does Grant Fidelity sell them? Cold not find them on their site.... It does look like "iGrant" tried them out back in Feb. but then never reported further (audiokarna)...
I look forward to seeing how this works out for ya and if they ever show again somewhere for purchase...

Best of luck

[Gopher]

I thought you were worried about "little hands" touching the tubes.

Yeah...   That started out as my criteria and somehow I ended up with an Atma-sphere amp and a pair of 845 SETs...       fail!

I put them on top of my TV console flanking each side of my turntable, so at least they aren't on the ground for now.  My son isn't walking yet and my cats have no room to fit up there.

--

yeah, I know these suckers are high voltage when my son is more mobile I'll probably put them on the floor in a corner of the room on my amp stands and fence off the area with a child fence assuming these are keepers for the long term.  It won't be pretty but it'll be safe at least.

--

Thanks for the link.  I actually came across the video before.  There is very little out there on these amps but they sound pretty good so far.  I'm hoping as they break in and relax further the emotion will step forward a tick, but they're no slouches now. 

[jtwrace]

I'm just waiting for the smokin' deal on your Atma-Sphere.   

[Gopher]

I wonder why the amps were pulled from the Pacific Valve site? Maybe you bought the last pair? Does Grant Fidelity sell them? Cold not find them on their site.... It does look like "iGrant" tried them out back in Feb. but then never reported further (audiokarna)...
I look forward to seeing how this works out for ya and if they ever show again somewhere for purchase...

Best of luck

From what I could tell the first two revisions of this amp had some reliability issues, and under built PSU, lacked  a soft start circuit which negatively impacted tube life and probably a couple other things I can't recall.  They were on their way to a few reviewers as the importers seemed to believe them quite special, but the reliability concerns led them to pull out. At least this is the understanding I took away from a Canadian dealer forum.

This pair is the fifth revision and is supposed to have cured all the prior concerns yet still be flying under the radar.   

JT,

Heh.  We'll see which amp stays.  If I do have to sell the Atma-sphere though, I won't be able to let it go for the same smoking deal I got it at as I've now spent hundreds on repair work being performed by Atma-sphere (should re-instate warranty if I understand correctly), NOS driver tubes and new power tubes. 

Either way, I did like the Atma-sphere before and it probably wasn't very healthy, even initially, so it may blow my mind when it returns from the manufacturer...

[jtwrace]

when it returns from the manufacturer...

When is that?  What version is it?  2.1 or 3.1? 

[Gopher]

When is that?  What version is it?  2.1 or 3.1?

I suspect it will come back somewhere in between the two.  Ralph mentioned that whether I could afford to do the full upgrades on top of the repair or not that at least some of the updates would find their way into my amp when he services it...   I guess where it falls between the two is contingent on his generosity. 

[jtwrace]

I suspect it will come back somewhere in between the two.  Ralph mentioned that whether I could afford to do the full upgrades on top of the repair or not that at least some of the updates would find their way into my amp when he services it...   I guess where it falls between the two is contingent on his generosity. 

Awesome!  Way to go Atma-Sphere (Ralph)!!!!

Makes me want to purchase one even more.   

[Gopher]

Can any of you internet whiz kids find me a manual for these monoblocks.  I didn't see one when I unpacked them and I'd have to sort through gigantic boxes of peanuts to search (i.e. huge mess/big to do).

Biasing was straight forward but I haven't touched the 300B or 845 AC offset adjustments yet because I don't know what the heck they should be.