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Which one to choose between two 80K$ tube amps?

There are two interesting 80K$ tube amps on sale at Audiogon.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9jhj0-david-berning-co-211-845-otl-tube

The first one is David Berning OTL design with output of 60 Watts.

it looks beautiful. But I had never used OTL amp yet.

I am curious how it sounds with high efficiency speaker.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa27ii-jadis-ja800-flagship-tube-amplifier-six-chassis-best-ever-made-nos-new-old-stock-tube

The second one is Jadis JA800 with 6 pieces and 400watts.

I had used JA500  (only 4 pieces with 350 Watts) from 2000 to 2002 to drive B&W Notilus 801 with utmost authority and unbelievable slam.

It was kind of lifetime experience to own this beautiful and overbearing monster.

But I could not use it during summer time in modest size room.

Thus I let it go and got Silbatone 300B SET amp to drive efficient full range speaker.

350 Watt to 8 Watt

If you have money or hit the Jackpot, which one will you go for?




128x128shkong78
petg60
1,486 posts
 
hI,
with all respect to op and to the rest of the posts i do not dismiss or snob or don't care but i would not buy an 80k amp and support it every year with so much money on tubes. I do not even have the space for it. On the other hand i believe its a dream for some and was for me in the past. I have the listening experience with Jadis (more) and Futterman h-3a .
Today If i wished to go back to tubed power amplifiers i would consider buying a smaller Jadis or a Kondo or a Mactone. 


shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,485 posts
 
There are some exotic amps beyond reach of most folks.

But after having developed this kind of top end product, they could offer more modest priced ones to general public..

Thus it is not a good idea to deride expensive top end product.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,322 posts
 
Looking at the Skyfi site and prices listed for some items I am familiar with, I think there is room to haggle price on most of their items perhaps up to as much as 30% or so, maybe more depending on how badly they want to sell.
mitch2
4,027 posts
 
Interesting place. I contacted them months ago about their ATC SCM50 ASL powered speakers (still listed) and they had no interest whatsoever in moving on what appeared to be a high’ish price compared to what those speakers typically sell for used.  At the time, I had the impression they were building inventory.  The pictures and equipment on their store site look cool.
thenewguy007
38 posts
 
@tablejockey

Maybe the Jadis has over $10k in parts, maybe, but definitely not the Berning.

(EDIT: I take back what I said, those Jadis amps are from 1997, they're worthless.)


I suggest the OP contact the sellers & see if they will let you audition the equipment. Buying them blind without being able to return them is beyond silly.

You might end up paying $80,000 for something that doesn’t sound any better than a $6,000 amplifier & you won’t be able to resell it for 1/8th of the price.

$80k is Dan D’Agostino & Boulder money, which at the very least look to have parts worth money.
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