Trelja's new tube amplifiers - Granite 860.1


In the past month, I have purchased a pair of Granite 860.1 tube monoblock amplifiers for my main system, and could not be happier.

The first thing I would like to say is that I have absolutely no relationship to Granite whatsoever. Although, since buying these amplifiers, I have been in contact with Don Hoglund, and have developed an incredible amount of respect for the man. Don has built an American (VERY important to me) high end audio, which produces incredibly great sounding gear at prices I find extremely attractive. In the short time that I have gotten to know Don, I see that customer support, and service after the sale are two things that Granite goes out of its way on. These traits are actually followed through on, not just lip service.

I had purchased a Granite 657 tube CD player in the winter, as some will recall the CD players that have really impressed me most in my audio journey were the Audio Aero Capitole, Electrocompaniet, Granite 650, and YBA. Based on my pleasure with the 657, I decided to take the next step and try a pair of the 860.1 tube amplifiers.

One small anecdote I would like to share with everyone here before I get too deep into this is that while playing these amplifiers the morning after getting them, my wife asked if she could have them in her system! She was simply enchanted by the sonics. On top of that, the very manageable size and attractive cosmetics had turned her into an instant Granite fanatic. Within one song, she enthusiastically commented to me that she has never heard anything as special as what she was currently hearing. No matter what, when your wife gets bowled over by a purchase, you know something VERY different is going on.

Allow me to give a general introduction of the Granite 860.1 monoblock tube amplifiers. These amps are about half the width of a typical component, and their weight is also manageable. Side by side, a pair should fit nicely into a rack, presuming said rack is tall enough to accommodate their 9" height. Despite this, I can assure you that no corners have been cut whatsoever. The amplifiers look very attractive to me with their exposed tubes, covered transformers, polished stainless steel bodies, and acrylic matrix faceplates with the luxuriously relaxing cool blue Granite logo glowing soothingly bright.

These amplifiers are sure to please a very wide variety of individuals due to their myriad settings. They can operate in triode or pentode, and with varying amounts of feedback, from none at all to a moderate amount. Each setting is different enough that one will get the impression they just bought a stable of amplifiers, and can choose the one they feel suits them best. And, while the included tubes are the fantastic JJ KT88, tube rollers are sure to be in heaven. The amps can run 6L6, EL34, 6550, and KT90 as well. Don has definitely built the amps for the ultimate in ease as each tube is independently biased, mitigating the need for matched pairs.

Although I was told the amps were optimally set up to sound best, triode with no feedback, the curiousity in me drove me to try all of the possible combinations. In the end, it served nothing more than proving what I had been told. Operating the amps in triode with zero feedback produced the best sonics - alive, beatiful, sweet, incredible!

I had been warned that the Granite monos were not warm amps, but they were sweet. Interesting, I thought, but totally accurate. Theirs is not the lush, warm euphony a lot of tube amplifiers exhibit, masking over detail and excitement for ease of listening. No, these amps had as much detail as anyone would ever ask for, but there was something quite magical about the sound. I keep going back to the words sweet and beautiful when describing the Granites.

Anyone who has known me here for the past five years knows that, as opposed to the tubes themselves, I always harp on a tube amplifier's transformers. Let's face facts, the heart, soul, guts, and expense of a tube amplifier are its transfomers. What separates the good or not so good tube amplifiers from the great ones, the Air Tights, Audio Notes, BATs, Jadis, Lamms, and Thors of the world, are the transfomers. Add Granite to this very esteemed list.

Although Granite doesn't hype them much, my own opinion is that the secret weapon of these ampifiers are the transformers. First off, they are huge. Overspeced to be sure. These massive trannies are the reason I simply laugh when I read the amplifiers are rated at a mere 30 watts per channel in triode. The Granites are without a doubt the most powerful two EL34/KT88/6550/KT90 tube a side amplifiers I have ever encountered. Suffice it to say that they absolutely drive the pants off of my Coincident loudspeakers, sending their 10" woofers flapping around with authority - my own personal judge of an amplifier's bass response. A lot of amps require the owner to make the switch to pentode when the situation becomes demanding, not the Granites. You can run them in the pure, sweet, dimensional triode mode all the live long day.

A very interesting feature of these amplifiers are the integral Alps volume controls. This lends the capability of being able to run a line level source, such as a CD player, directly into the amps. The immediacy, clarity, refinement, dynamics, and slam I observe in this configuration flat out make me believe I may never use a preamp ever again in my life if I can help it.

I do not hesitate to say this is the best sound I have ever gotten from my system. Late night listening marathons are now once again a regular occurrence for me. They are simply a joy. While the sound includes everything I have outlined above, there is no listening fatigue whatsoever. I can listen all night, pulling out CD after CD after CD. Discs I have written off long ago not only become listenable but downright enjoyable for me.

From a service perspective, one major concern I had voiced to Don was that some in this field will not make the circuit diagram available to the consumer. While it would surely be nice if products didn't break or companies did not go out of business, but the reality is that both of these happen. As such, if the company dies, then the component dies, you may be stranded up the creek with no paddle. Don assured me this was no problem, and at that moment I knew I had found the company I would throw my full faith, allegiance, and support behind.

In short, I honestly believe I probably have just come into a lifetime purchase. The combination of wonderful sonics, outstanding value, American craftsmanship, a great company which stands behind them, and Don himself make me wonder why I have taken so long to find this path. I encourage anyone who is able, to give the Granite tube ampifiers an audition. I think you may just come away thinking they are one of the absurdly best buys in high end audio today, definitely reference level components for a quite modest pricetag. Granite is the type of company that leaves me confident that an American company can compete with the best from the rest of the world. The requirement being a young, agile, clear thinking, creative, passionate, smart company such as Granite. I recommend the Granite 860.1 monoblocks, and the Granite nameplate unconditionally at this point.

Enjoy,
Joe
trelja
Trelja

I agree with you whole heartedly,not only about the amps, but about Don. I have owned the 860.1's for almost three years and during that time have had dozens of conversations with Don about the amps and ways to tweak the performance. He is always there and willing and happy to talk. Like Pat from Meadowlark, Klaus from Odyssey, Roy from GMA,Mike from Quicksilver, and Dave from Belles a rare breed indeed and a real breath of fresh air in an industry full of B&W's, Levinson's and Harmon's. As for Stephen, your assesment of him as a dealer is spot on too. I have dealt with him on at least four occasions, from thousands of miles away and got the same level of service.

JackD
Fatparrot, it seems we more or less agree! Yes, thank you for mentioning the word "affordable" when bringing up Ralph's AtmaSphere amps. The older version got to be $4650, and the new MKII.3 are something like $5150 - please correct me if I am wrong. The Granite monos list for $5000, but Stephen will take care of anyone interested.

These kind of prices for innovative, competent, well designed, great sounding AMERICAN amps really set the bar. Is there value in buying an inferior product for $3000 from an overseas company with precious little US experience and not much in the way of a track record? I guess it is for each of us to decide. I will say that both companies, and I will add Cary and Quicksilver to this list should have a good run in the high end audio marketplace for the forseeable future.

You will not see many Atmas or Granites on the used market, and those who find them are getting one heck of a deal and amps in the process.

I was running a Blue Circle BC3 preamp with the Atma Spheres. I tried JAN Philips 6922, then Valvo 7308 tubes in it. Somehow, I was never able to tame the M60s to the point I wanted. I am dumping the preamp, as I have completely lost respect for the company(believe me, you will not get the same level of service from them as Don and Ralph provide), and in my current configuration, a preamp(also tried the Joule LA150) robs the system of a tremendous amount of immediacy, slam, extension, excitement, detail, and reality.

My speakers are Coincident Digital Masters w/Troubass subwoofers. They are a good match with my AtmaSpheres, Granites, and Jadis(forgot to mention I also have one of these) amps. They seem to take to tubes well, but also are nice with solid state as the bass really perks up with a "sand amp". I overhauled the Digital Masters this spring, rebuilding the midbass drivers, installing a ScanSpeak Revelator, damping the box a bit, stuffing the insides, and rewiring the speaker. The improvements are not subtle, and produce more detail with an easier to listen to sound, combined with tremendous slam. One of these days I need to start a thread about the importance of getting a loudspeakers drivers right which I feel are akin to the tires on an automobile. Sadly, most of the high end audio drivers(from Europe) are not as wonderful as we are led to believe - they need to be rebuilt to really play correctly, to "sing".

Interestingly enough, while I was breaking them in, I turned them up a bit with the Atmas and a friend called. He said it sounded like I was playing them pretty loud. I measured it and they were playing at a rock steady 115 dB. The Atmas were not even breaking a sweat as I can reach 120 - 125 easily. ANYONE who says an OTL amp cannot rock is just flat out wrong. I also believe the Atmas are probably the most reliable and rugged amps in the world - another OTL myth debunked. How many other amps can be shorted and suffer ABSOLUTELY no damage? I have done it many times. I will have to be more careful with the Granites, but their build quality seems spectacular, so I have no doubts that they will last me a long time. Again, I am leaning towards thinking they are a lifetime purchase.

It's also good to hear that Stephen has some fans around here. I feel it important to support dealers who represent the hobby in such a positive and good natured way.
One thing you are oh so right about Fatparrot that I forgot to mention are your last comments regarding music versus gear.

The weekend before last I was around a bunch of audiophiles. One particular guy was there who ALWAYS goes on about technical minutiae, measurements, specifications, square waves, and gobbly gook. Of course, this particular day was no exception.

On the ride home, I got to wondering why this guy bothers with audio at all. I have never heard him once speak of music, the actual target of an audio system. He seems to get no enjoyment once the music comes on. In fact, it seems to annoy him, getting in the way of his audio pontifications. What a sad, sad thing. He might be much happier at a meeting of audio engineers, discussing the latest circuit and looking at data.

The whole point of this hobby is the music. My goal is quite simple when it comes to audio. I like to sit down at night, with or without a small amount of lighting, and just close my eyes and get totally into the music. Everything else(meetings, readings, research, discussion forums, this technology versus that technology, etc.) is secondary to that.
I've gone and bought a pair of 861s from Stephen - been hankering after Granites for a while now and this thread made me jump to action. I'm pairing them with Merlin VSM-Ms, Cary 306/200 CD/transport and have a Supratek Chenin on order due in August. The solid state Marsh A400s is going to have to go as will the p2000t pre-amp, for financial reasons mainly as they are both nice pieces. This is going to be a fun year!