AES/CARY Sixpac Mono Amps,Anyone have these?

Hmm, Sburton, excellent question. Actually, I have to plead stupidity and say that I do not know.

Though, with my own Granites, which I can also switch between triode and ultralinear, and as you pointed out, the differences are immediately obvious. And, I am much more keen on the sonics in triode; very much sweeter, more immediate and alive, taking only a step back in power (more noticeable on some speakers than others - again, load may play a role here). Also, I much prefer the bass in triode mode, which very much goes against conventional wisdom, but there I go again...

If I had to venture a guess, I would say the V12 was in triode, as I found its sound to be immediately superior to the Sixpacs, but again, this goes against your experience. The resolution, refinement, and openness really jumped forward when we tried the V12, and ultralinear NEVER does that for me. My dealer and one of his assistants felt this was just the way they always heard it as well. He was willing to sell a demo V12 for something very much in the neighborhood of the list price of the Sixpacs, though he also would give me a nice deal on the Sixpacs.

In the end, I ended up with the Granites, as I felt them to be soncically superior to both of them, though I still recommend the V12 highly, as well as the Sixpacs. Also, from the one complaint I have heard regarding the V12 was from people trying to run it with KT88, and the Granites do so swimmingly.

Thank you again for this discourse!
Joe

The V12i I own performs nicely in triode. I was interested in the Six Packs at one time, but since I got a real good deal on a pre-owned V12i I went in that direction. I have played with two-thirds triode and the sound is a little less sweeter than triode, but much better than ultra linear, which I thought had the oomph, but not much more. A little flat actually.

As for tubes, I could not stomach KT-88s in the V12i. I am now using Siemens NOS EL-34s from the 70's. What a difference. Greatly improved the sound, especially in the bass. Much cleaner.

I'm going to disagree about the "upgrade" to the 12 series tubes in the Cary line - 6922's in the Rocket are much more linear, balanced and less euphonic. Many tube gurus I have talked to agree that the reason for the change was the circuit became easier to work with as a result of the change.