Has anyone been able to audition the Line Magnetic 218 IA ?

MWalt said:

No sweat, it's easy to get confused on these monster threads sometimes. I ask that you continue to comment when you see fit because I appreciate reading your comments. You have a wealth of knowledge and experience in high end audio and I always glean something from your comments.

I did get the wife to consent to building another system in the den. That is the direction I am going in the future

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I'm getting a bit confused as well. How about a summary for us Mark.
Can you give us a breakdown on which amps, preamps, etc., you are ultimately planning to match with which speakers. If not in this thread maybe a separate one. You're moving to fast for me man!

cubdog

cubdog said:

I'm getting a bit confused as well. How about a summary for us Mark.
Can you give us a breakdown on which amps, preamps, etc., you are ultimately planning to match with which speakers. If not in this thread maybe a separate one. You're moving to fast for me man!

cubdog

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OK, I can do that. I was trying to avoid too much brevity, hence the confusion, but here goes. I will preface my comments by saying that I can sort of equate building a hi-fi system with building a rock crawler Jeep. You build a Jeep according to the size tires you want to run. I think you can apply that when building a system. I will build by virtue of the room dimensions, type, etc. The wife and I have decided to build a system for the den. At the same time, I am still working on my small office system.

The small office gets the low power/high efficiency gear. Dennis Had amp, preamp, Great Horned Heils, Sim DAC, SBT, and the Basis TT. This room is a continual, ongoing project.

The den gets whatever I can come up with. I am admittedly all over the map on this one. I really want to get some floor standers that are around 90 db or better and or easy to drive. I want simplicity; amp/preamp, speakers and a very nice CDP. That's it. I really liked the Melody mono's and at 70 watts a side, they had the grunt to power most speakers. They were just out of range. I have no aversion to clean used gear, either. New is cool too. I may get a chance to audition that LM 218IA next weekend. I want to see if it has the power I need. We'll see. The den is rectangular, with six windows on two walls and a huge built in bookshelf that spans nearly the entire opposite wall. It is a very relaxing room with a great view of our wooded back lot, but it poses a challenge so I have to get this right. I do regret not buying the used Spendor's I saw advertised. They were the older model similar to ArtK 's new ones. They would have made a great start. I do want a quality system in this room. I am also in no hurry; I want to get this right the first time.

Kegger is building me an amp also. I am getting that one...cause I can

I hope that explains my intent a little better. Winter is my audio hobby season.

This is coming late to this thread.

What does the 218 offer over the 211 and 216. Been reading but did not find much info. 219, I read review online and it sounds incredible but scant on the 218.

Thanks,
UL

Not sure if anyone is still on this thread....but here goes another question.

Would the 218/518 drive a pair of KEF LS50 at moderate volume to do the amp and speakers justice? For the $, I find the LS50 to have high resolution and excellent timbre.

Thanks,
UL

Where do you live? I have a 218, you are welcome to come audition...PM me

Thanks Musiclovr,

I will PM you again.

I am wondering about the pros and cons of the 219 vs 518, beside pricing where the 219 is considerably more.

The 219 is class A SET. I take it this means the unit is running at full power at ALL time.

The 518 is SET but not class A and thus...does it mean that it is not running full power and thus generate less heat? I'm pretty new at this.

I am pretty much decided on one of the LM integrateds and just need some help to sort it out.

So need to figure out the pros/cons of the 518 vs 219.

Thanks!
UL

musiqlovr said:

Where do you live? I have a 218, you are welcome to come audition...PM me

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ultralight said:

Thanks Musiclovr,

I will PM you again.

I am wondering about the pros and cons of the 219 vs 518, beside pricing where the 219 is considerably more.

The 219 is class A SET. I take it this means the unit is running at full power at ALL time.

The 518 is SET but not class A and thus...does it mean that it is not running full power and thus generate less heat? I'm pretty new at this.

I am pretty much decided on one of the LM integrateds and just need some help to sort it out.

So need to figure out the pros/cons of the 518 vs 219.

Thanks!
UL

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You need to go to the factory site. http://www.lmaudio.net/xxcp.aspx?dyiji=10&id=109

Read somewhere (don't remember) that the Line Magnetic 218/518 tubes are decent but that the 12AX7s really need to be replaced. Anyone owning either agree?

And any suggestions as to what to replace them with?

Would this apply also to the LM 502 DAC's 12AX7 tubes?

Thanks,
UL

ultralight said:

Read somewhere (don't remember) that the Line Magnetic 218/518 tubes are decent but that the 12AX7s really need to be replaced. Anyone owning either agree?

And any suggestions as to what to replace them with?

Would this apply also to the LM 502 DAC's 12AX7 tubes?

Thanks,
UL

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Yes the 12AX7s need to go. John Halpern e-mailed me and told me to replace the 12AX7 with any of a variety of NOS (New Old Stock) tubes - RCA, Raytheon, Gold Lion etc. For instance the stock tubes may be fine but if you find the sound a little bright then you want to find a tube noted as being a bit darker or richer - but you may not want to got too far to that side of the spectrum. I am using the Raytheons.

John also said the rest of the stock tubes are quite fine - they are all PSVANE (arguably the best of the Chinese - some prefer Full Music) but regardless the other tubes are fine.

My dealer in Hong Kong suggest a change of the stock tubes in the DAC. I will be buying replacements this weekend. He insists at least a 30% improvement (we'll see).

The tube store is a good place to get tubes but generally not too many new old stock. Still, this isn't hard science. Any given tube may sound better in any given amplifier. http://www.thetubestore.com/

You may say "why would they stock an inferior tube" in the amp you just bought. Well part of this is price but mainly it is that if you sell 1000 amplifiers and each one takes two 12AX7 and you need back-ups for each amplifier they can't be providing rare tubes in the products. There may not be enough of them. So that means you get the standard tube (read the cheapest decent one they can find).

In LM's case they may also have an agreement to buy X number of tubes from PSVANE at a cut rate. The stock tubes aren't as bad as they're made out to be either - it's just that the 12AX7 seems to have a pickier devotion

From what I am told - if you want to buy new tubes and not pay the huge prices of NOS - then Mullard is generally a pretty safe bet for less than $20 each. I bought some years back for something so when I return to Canada I will pick them up and give them a try - problem is I can't remember if I bought EL84 or 12AX7. But they're fairly inexpensive. Northern Electric at $50 each I am curious about but quite pricey for a new tube.

RGA said:

...My dealer in Hong Kong suggest a change of the stock tubes in the DAC. I will be buying replacements this weekend. He insists at least a 30% improvement (we'll see).

... I bought some years back for something so when I return to Canada I will pick them up and give them a try - problem is I can't remember if I bought EL84 or 12AX7.

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Hello RGA, I am also in Hong Kong and I would be interested in hearing about your shopping list of tubes from your dealer here. Unfortunately, I do not know much about tubes at all, but if they are not very expensive, I wouldn't mind changing up a couple on my amp or dac if it will make a noticeable difference.

I've seen your review on the Line Magnetic gear in that other forum. I was quite excited when I found out that you are now in Hong Kong, although most of the things that you look at are a little out of my budget at this time. I am interested in the LM 215 CD player though.

Could you let me know when you write up on your 12AX7 tube experiments?

Thanks!

Have you been to Hit Audio in MongKok? Try to talk to a fellow named King (he knows me) and you can ask about tubes - what sort of sound you're going for. It will be awhile for commentary on the tubes as I am told they take awhile to settle. If you buy NOS tubes be sure to clean the pins - King uses an electronic eraser (kind of like a dentist drill) to clean the pins as they have been in a box for 40 odd years.

Manufacturers typically supply cheap tubes because they're abundant and they have to sell a consistent product. I am on half days for most of the rest of the month so if you'd like to meet up sometime I will be heading back to that dealer as well as a second hand retailer nearby.

I will be selling my wonderful Audio Space Mini-2 at a consignment store (and they only take 10% commission) which I must say is pretty generous. But the amp has sat since I bought the 219IA so no point in having it sit there like a depreciating lump.

Can I change 845 for 211 tube in LM218IA?
Except bias, do I need to change anything else?
Thanks!