Almarro A205A single-ended integrated tube amplifier

[BrianB]

Hiya, Cleve!

So, can you tell us about your ultimate listening impressions of the A205A? Inquiring minds want to know...

Cheers,
Brian

 

[Cleve]

Hiya, Cleve!

So, can you tell us about your ultimate listening impressions of the A205A? Inquiring minds want to know...

Cheers,
Brian

Sure, Brian. Unfortunately, the Almarro arrived at a particularly busy time for me, both professionally and personally. Additionally, the length of my audition was far shorter than the majority of AK'ers who've demoed it. Therefore, I didn't have the opportunity to make many of the in-depth comparisions/analysis I would have preferred.

My two channel system consists of a McIntosh MAC4100 receiver used as a pre-amp, and a McIntosh 2205 driving Klipsch Epic CF-4s. I used the Almarro integrated amp in two different configurations - first, with my source (cd/dvd player) plugged directly into the Almarro, and then with the preamp outs from the 4100 connected, which relegated the Almarro to amplifier only.

I loved the minimalist aesthetics of the Almarro - elegant in it's simplicity, there's only two RCA input jacks, one pair of speaker connectors, an on-off switch, and a gain control. The Almarro is obviously good, solid construction. The speaker terminals... well, no point in discussing their shortcomings since they've already been substantially improved by Almarro in Ver. 2.

In the minimal A/B tests I conducted, I didn't detect a significant tonal or timbre difference between solid state and tubes. What I did notice was that the soundstage seemed enhanced and more defined. Perhaps too, piano music seemed a tad less harsh and grainy.

The amp had plenty of "horsepower" for most musical applications. Most people seemed surprised that a 5 watt per channel amp would provide adequate amplification. However, with my 102 db/watt Klipsch speakers, I find in practice I rarely use more than 1-2 watts of power when listening to music at satisfying levels. That's in a 20 x 20 room, with approximately half of it carpeted, and a suspended ceiling. So for music, with my speakers, the Almarro is an amp I could live with. I never noticed any deficiencies in the bass department that supposedly tube amps suffer from. I suspect that, with most smaller, less-efficient speakers, more than 5 watts of power is needed for deep bass. But not so with the Klipsch/Almarro combination.

However, this is NOT the amp for home theater applications. Out of curiosity, I did try it - but the unnatural, sub 30hz deep bass of most movie soundtracks was beyond the capability of the Almarro to reproduce. I've often caused the power guard lights on my big 2205 to flash during bombastic films like Lord of the Rings. If 200 watts gets maxed out, obviously 4.8 watts won't cut it. But at least the Almarro is gracious about clipping. When I turned the gain too loudly on music, a gradually increasing fuzzy distortion warned me to back off. That's completely different than the potentially speaker damaging distress that solid state produces when pushed too hard.

Overall, I would highly recommend this amp to anyone looking to build a high-quality two channel system on a less than sky-high budget. I think it's a great value for the price.

 

[Srayle]

A

Hey there, folks,

I had a chance to demo the little Almarro after Cleve. I had a chance to compare it to several different amplifiers, and it really held its own.

In my system, it had a musicality that was very satisfying to listen to...it had plenty of power for my Zu Druid speakers, I didn't need to go beyond the 10 o'clock position. It seemed to have a sweet musicality that I could listen to for hours with satisfaction. I also have some Wright WPA 3.5 2a3
monoblocks, which I compared to the Almarro. The Almarro was less impressive in the midrange than the mono's, but went deeper in the bass. I also compared it to my RedWine Audio modified Teac digital amplifier...the Teac has incredible bass, and the Almarro couldn't keep up with it. Putting on some female vocals, however, the Almarro sounded just right. I also enjoyed listening to the Almarro from different rooms in my house, away from my system. It never sounded hi-fi, but sounded good, and I found myself listening to the music rather that analyzing how my system sounded.

The Almarro seemed to me like an excellent, solid amp that could be the'workhorse' of any system, as it didn't sound flashy or unnatural, but just solidly listenable. Thanks, Brian, for the chance to audition it, and a tip o' the hat to Grumpy, who kindly allowed geography to take precedent over numerical right-to-audition :thmbsp:

 

[BrianB]

Many thanks, Cleve and Steve, for two more fine reviews of the Almarro! :thmbsp:

 

[olson_jr]

We are fine, but the garage contents got totalled by the smoke and heat. There is also smoke damage throughout the house. Wound up filling 2 30 yard dumpsters with stuff. Tomorrow the structure folks will tear out the drywall in the garage and the flooring in the attic so the adjuster can fully assess the damages and authorize repairs.

Here's a link to a thread I started with pics:

Fire Thread

We are staying here during the restoration, and although it may be awkward, it sure beats packing out to a hotel with the 2 kids, semi-invalid father-in-law and 70 pound dog.

Thanks for asking; everyone here has been great :thmbsp:

Damn Andy, never heard of your fire as it was before my time.

Funny thing is that I picked up one of these amps 13 years after the fact.