A LM518ia followed me home today.

I really want this amp. Too bad I have to wait until the new year.

Can you speak of anything you would change on the amp?
 
I really want this amp. Too bad I have to wait until the new year.

Can you speak of anything you would change on the amp?

I`am buying a power cord from http://triodewirelabs.com/american-speaker-cable.html It sounds really good with the stock tubes and i have just started some tube rolling with the 12 AX7 tubes to see if the sound might get even better.

The one thing negative about the amp is that it runs really hot and after about an hour even the faceplate gets very warm to the touch. A foot away you can feel the heat from the 845 tubes so placement of the amp needs to be thought out. There is also hum from the transformer when you are close to the amplifier but from a listening position it cannot be heard, the hum does not come from the speakers, the speakers are dead quite.

Having owned a 216IA as you do, multiply what you like about the 216 by 2-3 times with the 518, the 518 has a fuller presentation, voices are locked in and have authority, the bass and bass detail cannot be compared, the highs are crisp and clear with no sparkle, inner detail is almost scary with the excellent 3D imaging. The amp has a very natural sound it just sounds real, but the big thing for me is the tone, instruments sound real and musical and not like test instruments in a signal source.

There is no question that the 518 sounds like a SET tube amp but this is a 21 century SET amp, it has all of the best qualities of what SET amps are known for but add in the best qualities of the best SS amps without interfering with the SET tube signature.

The amp is not perfect, we always want more, i actually want the band or group in my living room lol. I have heard $200,000 amps that cannot do that, i have also heard the 219ia and while it adds a different flavor to music it does not bring me any closer to a live performance than the 518. So i`m very satisfied with the 518 until i hear another amp that blows me out of the water, but i`m not looking.
 
Good for you...I also have the Triode Wire Labs Power Cord, and they are excellent.Man, once you get it...you will notice the resolution! They are Deep Cryogenically Treated !
 
Good for you...I also have the Triode Wire Labs Power Cord, and they are excellent.Man, once you get it...you will notice the resolution! They are Deep Cryogenically Treated !

Just ordered the 7 plus today. Always believe in good power cords. I`m even thinking about trying his speaker cables.
 
I think I remember reading something about the hum. There's apparently a way to get rid of it. Something about a wire that's too close to one of the transformers. Apparently it was an easy fix. I'll try to find the article.
 
Just ordered the 7 plus today. Always believe in good power cords. I`m even thinking about trying his speaker cables.

Well, once you get that power cord and hear the resolution, your going to want the speaker cables. Trust me...they are great! They add no coloration what so ever. Mind you, he runs it in for like a hundred hours on his cable cooker. The power cord I heard the difference right away...but after about a month I was ready to send the speaker cables back. Pete told me to go ahead and give it another month and if they didn't come into their own, I could send them back for a full refund. Well after another week they came into their own. I love his cables, if I didn't already have Analysis plus Crystal Copper which are also excellent, I'd have his interconnects as well, you can't beat the performance to price of his products..see them here at the CAF 2014. Go down to the 11th video. It's still through the computer, but if one has a ear, you can get a feel for what they'd sound like.

http://www.avshowrooms.com/Cap_Fest_2014_Vids_2.html
 
the hum someone else had where there was a loose wire. I had an issue with intermittent hum from the transformer and John halpern said nothing unusual for this amp. the faceplate of mine got warm but never uncomfortably so. the transformer cover on the other hand got pretty hot. I traded mine in to Don better so if its not gone already it should be at a good price and MINT. got rid of it because the wife not the sound, oh well.
 
the hum someone else had where there was a loose wire. I had an issue with intermittent hum from the transformer and John halpern said nothing unusual for this amp. the faceplate of mine got warm but never uncomfortably so. the transformer cover on the other hand got pretty hot. I traded mine in to Don better so if its not gone already it should be at a good price and MINT. got rid of it because the wife not the sound, oh well.

Someone could get a good deal.
 
Well, once you get that power cord and hear the resolution, your going to want the speaker cables. Trust me...they are great! They add no coloration what so ever. Mind you, he runs it in for like a hundred hours on his cable cooker. The power cord I heard the difference right away...but after about a month I was ready to send the speaker cables back. Pete told me to go ahead and give it another month and if they didn't come into their own, I could send them back for a full refund. Well after another week they came into their own. I love his cables, if I didn't already have Analysis plus Crystal Copper which are also excellent, I'd have his interconnects as well, you can't beat the performance to price of his products..see them here at the CAF 2014. Go down to the 11th video. It's still through the computer, but if one has a ear, you can get a feel for what they'd sound like.

http://www.avshowrooms.com/Cap_Fest_2014_Vids_2.html

I`m excited about the power cord. Peter seems to have the right approach. So many of these cable companies just want to be different for the sake of being different and they get so caught up in that, and the goal of natural correct music is lost in the shuffle.
 
Well, once you get that power cord and hear the resolution, your going to want the speaker cables. Trust me...they are great! They add no coloration what so ever. Mind you, he runs it in for like a hundred hours on his cable cooker. The power cord I heard the difference right away...but after about a month I was ready to send the speaker cables back. Pete told me to go ahead and give it another month and if they didn't come into their own, I could send them back for a full refund. Well after another week they came into their own. I love his cables, if I didn't already have Analysis plus Crystal Copper which are also excellent, I'd have his interconnects as well, you can't beat the performance to price of his products..see them here at the CAF 2014. Go down to the 11th video. It's still through the computer, but if one has a ear, you can get a feel for what they'd sound like.

http://www.avshowrooms.com/Cap_Fest_2014_Vids_2.html

Which speaker cable do you have? Standard or the Bi-Wired? Thanks.
 
The Emotiva CMX-2 works!!! No more hum from the transformers and dynamics do not seem affected.
 
518ia

For anyone looking or interested,... I have a 518ia I picked up about 2 weeks ago. It replaced a Decware SE34i.3 which I loved. After seeing pics of and reading about the 518ia, there was no turning back, I had to try it. I am driving some Zu Omens that have a few internal mod's. My particular 518ia is dead quite, no transx hum. Even with the volume wide open, on ~98db speakers there is very little tube rush and no hum and only heard with my ear physically at the speaker,... (the input tubes I mention below (5751) are an order quieter than the stock ones). The mains transformer does get very hot, the 2 output tranx's not so much. I do use a PS Audio Power plant for line regulation,....

I found the stock 12ax7's to be very 'glassy' in my setup. A pair of JAN Sylvania's helped this a bit. I am currently using some GE- JG5751 triple mica-blackplate ('57). These tubes are literally in another class,... so smooth, excellent extension! Could not be happier and doubt I will ever look for other expensive 12ax7's. Most will read that the 5751 has 30% less gain than a 12ax7 and while that is true is does not necessarily mean that your amp will operate at ~30% less volume. Actually I can not tell that they decreased the volume level for a given volume knob setting much if any at all. Regardless they are a fantastic tube for the input section of the amp. I also found that I preferred 6L6gt's to the stock 6P3P's and to EL34's. I have some 6V6's on the way to try. I have used a 5R4GYS rectifier and felt it was a little soft/spongy due to the greater voltage drop compared to a 5AR4, but it is compatable and did not alter the bias of the 845's. I'm tempted to try a 5U4G I have on hand but they draw ~1amp more current from the transx tap and I'm not sure as to the transx spec's,... I emailed LM and have received no answer (not to surprising). My gut feeling is that it'd be ok, but that transx is already supper hot and the extra current would certainly add to that, so I will hold off and wait for a definitive answer.

I did 'pop the hood' and look at the guts, although quickly. I can tell you that the 12ax7 closest to the volume knob (V7 I believe) is the true input tube, with the sections being the Left & Right channel input. I didn't have time to follow the wires and determine exactly how the second tube is being used,.. ie, Mu follower, SRPP, etc,.. I am also curious as to whether the rectifier (5AR4) is only used for the input and driver tubes B+ while the 845's B+ are utilizing the 2 diode bridges I saw. I will ultimately reverse engineer and draw a schematic of this thing but it is not a top priority. Soldering is top notch! The main coupling caps between the driver and 845's are (if I remember correctly) MKP's or metalized polypropylene in construction. Yes the are German N-Caps (no name), what ever that means,... marketing in my opinion.. I do personally believe that a nicer cap could be easily replaced there for a nice improvement.

For now though, I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy the sweet music this thing puts out. It really does sing!
 
Thanks for the post. How does the sound compare to the SE34? Obviously they are in two completely different price categories so I'm wondering specifically what the improvements are with the upgrade. Congrats too!
 
Thanks,... sonically very different from each other. The SE34i.3 is polite compared to. It has a very warm (typical el34) type sound to it. It presents a very ethereal or holographic sound though. Great sound stage, is very even or flat from a freq. standpoint. Is really quite nice.

The 518ia on the other hand is brute compared to. You feel like music just wants to jump out of the speakers. Drive is a good word to describe it. The 518 is not as holographic or ethereal but it presents itself with a weight or fulbodiness to the sound that is intoxicating. Nails the tone. Great definition, soundstage, etc,....

For the price, the Decware is a outstanding amp,.. I think a lot of the company and have owned a few of their amps/pre. Prior to my Se34i.3 I owned a Manley Stingray. I bought the SE34i.3 to compare and my mind was made up within the first song. The next few days only added more nails to that coffin. The Manley was sold immediately. No comparison to the clarity and presence that the Decware possessed. The 518 is much like the Decware except a lot faster sounding and a lot more powerful at the expense of some of that ethereal vibe.

If I only had $1000 and 6 watts would work, I would look no where else than a used SE34i.3. They really are that good. All that being said, I'm in bliss now with that 518ia.
 
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