spkrman57
09-21-2006, 12:01 PM
I'm not a reviewer and I'm posting for the curious who are seeking info about Almorro products.
I already own the 205A EL84 SEP amp and found the build quality and circuit design to be very good.
So I was curious when Brian mentioned to me about Almorro's biggest tube amp. I have had the amp sitting for some time now without powering it up due to the hot summer and not wanting my AC to battle "8" 6550 power pentodes. The filaments alone for 8 tubes is 80 watts consumption. Now that the weather has cooled down I now have the living room "portable heater" up and running.
I will start with the size and weight. At 22" long and 66 lbs, this is not for a weak or flimsy audio rack(I use a coffee table myself). The biggest amp I had before was my MC-240 and this is slightly larger and heavier.
The instruction manual needs to be reworked, it is difficult for the translation from Japanese to English. I have received much needed technical info from Brian who worked hard with Yoshi(Almorro) to get it to me! :thmbsp:
I have ideas on how to remedy that and will try and get with Nathan(Almorro USA rep) to get that accomplished.
Recommended bias is 150mv(considered direct comparison to 150ma). I have set mine at 140 and check often as these tubes have less than 20hrs prior to my receipt of the amp and drift slightly. Manual warns of biasing to 165 as damage to the amp/tubes may occur.
I have cut little white labels into 1/4" squares with "A", "B" and "+" on them to stick on the chassis at the bias adjustment screws and test points. This makes it easy to adjust the right tubes.
When the unit is 1st turned on, the mute(input selector position) must be used. The power supply feeds only the filaments for 2 mins(approx) and then bias and B+ voltages are turned on by a relay(sound like it at least). I like the "soft-start" approach, especially with a amp like this with a huge power supply.
2 electrolytics visable on top of the chassis are just soldered in and no physical mounting is evident here. I would think a physical mount for these caps would be advisable. The caps are rated at 1500ufd/450v. There is a top mounted choke(nice size) and the power and output tranny's are covered with metal cage. They look to be nice sized for the power rating(125wpc).
I only have 8 hrs on this so far, and used 2 Pi towers(95db/watt - 10" 2-way) yesterday, today JBL consumer 10" 3-way(JBL model 4800) - 91db/watt.
I believe in breaking in speakers and amps slowly when new or new components are used.
Since the tubes and amp have less than 40 hrs on them the next part is really just initial impressions.
The amp has a lot of bottom end grunt, this will settle down after 100hrs and will develop into a smoother sound character. I won't use any heavy duty speakers and push the amp until 100hrs of break-in have occurred.
There is also a fan with a switch on it, I run the fan anytime the amp is on as it brings in cool air and runs it through the inside of the chassis and vents out the top of the chassis in a spattering of small (1/8") square holes. A good idea to me as components other than tubes create heat(resistors), this will lead to longer life for the components.
The input level control(Volume) is decent quality, due to high power and sensitivity of this amp will keep you close to the bottom of the controls tracking and for the lower levels will be slightly off between chnl tracking. I do not consider this a issue as if you bought this amp, you are not planning to listen to whisper levels. Same with the fan, barely heard but some will complain anyways.
I will post further observations once the 100hr mark is hit and I can use some JBL pro components that are made for handling the power that this amp is capable of.
Last but not least, special thanks to Brian who always makes things work out right! :thmbsp:
Regards, Ron (audio maniac at large!) :smoke:
I already own the 205A EL84 SEP amp and found the build quality and circuit design to be very good.
So I was curious when Brian mentioned to me about Almorro's biggest tube amp. I have had the amp sitting for some time now without powering it up due to the hot summer and not wanting my AC to battle "8" 6550 power pentodes. The filaments alone for 8 tubes is 80 watts consumption. Now that the weather has cooled down I now have the living room "portable heater" up and running.
I will start with the size and weight. At 22" long and 66 lbs, this is not for a weak or flimsy audio rack(I use a coffee table myself). The biggest amp I had before was my MC-240 and this is slightly larger and heavier.
The instruction manual needs to be reworked, it is difficult for the translation from Japanese to English. I have received much needed technical info from Brian who worked hard with Yoshi(Almorro) to get it to me! :thmbsp:
I have ideas on how to remedy that and will try and get with Nathan(Almorro USA rep) to get that accomplished.
Recommended bias is 150mv(considered direct comparison to 150ma). I have set mine at 140 and check often as these tubes have less than 20hrs prior to my receipt of the amp and drift slightly. Manual warns of biasing to 165 as damage to the amp/tubes may occur.
I have cut little white labels into 1/4" squares with "A", "B" and "+" on them to stick on the chassis at the bias adjustment screws and test points. This makes it easy to adjust the right tubes.
When the unit is 1st turned on, the mute(input selector position) must be used. The power supply feeds only the filaments for 2 mins(approx) and then bias and B+ voltages are turned on by a relay(sound like it at least). I like the "soft-start" approach, especially with a amp like this with a huge power supply.
2 electrolytics visable on top of the chassis are just soldered in and no physical mounting is evident here. I would think a physical mount for these caps would be advisable. The caps are rated at 1500ufd/450v. There is a top mounted choke(nice size) and the power and output tranny's are covered with metal cage. They look to be nice sized for the power rating(125wpc).
I only have 8 hrs on this so far, and used 2 Pi towers(95db/watt - 10" 2-way) yesterday, today JBL consumer 10" 3-way(JBL model 4800) - 91db/watt.
I believe in breaking in speakers and amps slowly when new or new components are used.
Since the tubes and amp have less than 40 hrs on them the next part is really just initial impressions.
The amp has a lot of bottom end grunt, this will settle down after 100hrs and will develop into a smoother sound character. I won't use any heavy duty speakers and push the amp until 100hrs of break-in have occurred.
There is also a fan with a switch on it, I run the fan anytime the amp is on as it brings in cool air and runs it through the inside of the chassis and vents out the top of the chassis in a spattering of small (1/8") square holes. A good idea to me as components other than tubes create heat(resistors), this will lead to longer life for the components.
The input level control(Volume) is decent quality, due to high power and sensitivity of this amp will keep you close to the bottom of the controls tracking and for the lower levels will be slightly off between chnl tracking. I do not consider this a issue as if you bought this amp, you are not planning to listen to whisper levels. Same with the fan, barely heard but some will complain anyways.
I will post further observations once the 100hr mark is hit and I can use some JBL pro components that are made for handling the power that this amp is capable of.
Last but not least, special thanks to Brian who always makes things work out right! :thmbsp:
Regards, Ron (audio maniac at large!) :smoke: