Hi Brian,
I have heard many good things regarding your Almarro line. I have many loudspeakers but am currently using my Altec Iconics as my main speakers. The A205A Im sure would work well but would the A318A be a good match also? I have read the the 318 was designed for less efficient speakers but I wanted to get your opinion.
Thanks
Ron

** Edited **

It is in poor taste to pawn an item in this forum not being sold by this vendor.

Venus is a seller of Almarro if im not mistaken doug s.



Also, Help me out doug. What is being "pawned"? I do appreciate the lesson in what is in good taste however :scratch2:

I see, Brian prolly deleted Doug's post.

Alan

Alan. I have tested both Almarro A208B and A318B aka MKII versions.

I have to say there was a big difference between two. A318B's bass dumping factor was much larger than A208B, and the sound stage was bigger for sure. In addition, A318B got much cleaner high and more transparent mid. I'd def go with A318B if I were you.

In my case, I used them with 91dB low efficiency speakers... also, these were MKII versions.. so the comarison doesn't directly fit to your answer, though. Just my $0.02.

I'm gone for a couple of weeks, and look what happens!

First off, if anyone's posts here have been edited or deleted, don't blame me - this is the first time I've been able to check out this thread.

And secondly, I am indeed an Almarro dealer, so all Almarro inquiries are welcome in this forum.

Let's try to get this thread back on track. I'll go first:

Hi Ron,

Thanks much for your inquiry! I have heard several Altec designs in the past, but am not familiar with your Iconics. Can you tell me how sensitive these speakers are? And what is their nominal impedance?

The A205A and A318A do indeed sound quite different. However, there are certain types of speakers with which I believe the A205A would sound more natural than the pricier A318A. Also, there is now the new A318B, which will sound better than the A318A when used with some speakers, but not with others...

Cheers,
Brian

Thanks for responding Brian, I beginning to think that you were not interested in any more customers :D


As far as my Altec Iconics are concerned, they are a large cabinet 2-way, sectioned horn mid-highs with a 15" woofer. Actually they are the same as the Altec Valencia's. Both woofer and horn are 16ohm and around 100db sen.

I was driving them with a pair of 8w/ch push pull tube monos without problem. Now I have them running with a Sherwood S-5000 tube integrated (@17-20 w/ch) and the bass is much more "there" and more defined. I think that these, although easy to drive are liking a little more power.

RC

Hiya, Ron!

No, I'm always interested in more customers! However, our recently-purchased home in East Lansing, Michigan is almost completely torn up on the main floor and in the basement due to some big renovation and repair projects, and we've had to stay out of the house a lot over the past couple of weeks. It's been difficult to keep up with e-mail and AK postings during this period...

At any rate, my hunch is that the less-powerful A205A might actually be the better match for your speakers. Despite it's 5-watt power rating, this little amp offers almost unbelievable bass output. I would suggest getting yourself on the AK demo list for this amp, and finding out for yourself if it would work with your speakers.

If not, then the new A318B might be the ticket, and I could probably arrange to have one sent out for you to audition, depending on where you are located.

Cheers,
Brian

Thanks again Brian,

Let me think on that. A home audition would certainly be the best solution. Im almost hoping that the 205A would work prefectly but the flexability and beautiful appearance of the 318 has me spellbound :naughty:

Maybe we could arrange for a blind test audition :D

I will let you know. By the way, How does one get on the list for auditioning of the 205A? I followed the thread but it seemed to "die out" with our fearless leader Kam. :lmao:

RC

To be added to the AK demo list, just send me a PM stating your desire to audition the A205A, along with your shipping address.

FYI, it looks like we've got a bit of a backlog of such requests, and I'm going to need to sort through them again this week to see what audition schedule makes the most sense...

Thanks again Brian,

Let me think on that. A home audition would certainly be the best solution. Im almost hoping that the 205A would work prefectly but the flexability and beautiful appearance of the 318 has me spellbound :naughty:

Maybe we could arrange for a blind test audition :D

I will let you know. By the way, How does one get on the list for auditioning of the 205A? I followed the thread but it seemed to "die out" with our fearless leader Kam. :lmao:

RC

you have no location in your avatar except for "up north", I'm in Columbus, Ohio and have a unit. Tell me where you are located please!

Ron

you have no location in your avatar except for "up north", I'm in Columbus, Ohio and have a unit. Tell me where you are located please!

Hey Ron,
I should probably change that. Actually, Im in the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburban area. I think that Im still on the waiting list for the Almarro 205A original version for audition here. I havent heard anymore about it recently.

RC

Thanks for the location.

Be patient and I'm sure Brian (Venus HiFi) will get back to you when he gets through his dilemma with his house!

Brian has a excellent reputation with customer service and support, you can't go wrong if you buy his products.

I have bought many from him, and I am probably his "pickiest" customer and have never felt left out in the cold no matter the situation I am always happy with the end result!

Ron

Hello again, Ron (doucanoe)!

My apologies for yet another belated response to your audition inquiry. The AK administrators and I have been talking, and it looks like the original A205A that we've been sending around is going to be retired from service. There are a few reasons for this:

1) During the past few months, it became more and more difficult for us to figure out (a) where exactly the demo A205A was, and (b) where it should go next. This was due in part to having more than one of us arranging for auditions.

2) We now realize that we need to create and enforce somewhat stricter audition rules for any gear added to the AK Demo Room, as the current policies haven't been working very well (at least not recently).

3) The A205A that was sent around is now outdated, and Almarro has a new and rather improved version of this amp.

Don't worry too much, as I will be arranging for the new A205A to be added to the AK Demo Room in the not-too-distant future. However, we will need to work out some new Demo Room guidelines before this happens. Hopefully, everything will be worked out before AK-Fest...

Cheers,
Brian

Brian,
You gonna offer the old, "outdated demo" A205A to us AK'ers in an almarro blow out thread?
Tal

That's not my decision to make, as the amp actually belongs to AudioKarma. However, the next A205A to be sent around will probably be on loan from me, and may indeed wind up being sold for after a period of time to some lucky AKer...

Whoo! This little thing sounds bigger than you would think! It's so much smaller than my Levinson in size LOL. I'm gonna post more on the break in. Thank You Brian,You Da' Man! :thmbsp: :D

Whoo! This little thing sounds bigger than you would think! It's so much smaller than my Levinson in size LOL. I'm gonna post more on the break in. Thank You Brian,You Da' Man! :thmbsp: :D

And thank YOU for your purchase! I am looking forward to reading your comments on the amp once it's burned in...

Sorry have not posted in a long time which is a good thing cause I've been listening to music LOL. Sold my Levinson 29, no longer need it. Put a GE12AX7 in the 205, also a few magical pixie dust tweaks (quarts crystals on the trannies and Z-sleeves etc.) sounds friggin great! My only complaint would be power but hey, considering it's made in Japan AND the nice price fuhgeddaboudit. Also it can be modded with wire change, coupling caps etc. Highly Recommended! :music: = :D

This IS an incredible little amp, isn't it? And swapping out the stock 12AX7 for a nice NOS tube (which can be done for not all that much) is perhaps the easiest and most obvious upgrade - and one that results in an incredible sonic improvement!

At any rate, thanks again for taking a chance with the Almarro A205A. I just KNEW that you'd wind up loving it...