So I bought the Willsenton R-800i
After I bought the Klipsch Cornwall IVs recently it became apparent quite quickly that to make it really shine it needs a tube amp to drive it. (For me at least.) After doing some (=endless) research, considering the options (budget, shops nearby carrying models I´m interested in, etc.) and also asking around on this very forum I decided to go for the Willsenton R-800i. None of my friends here shares my excitement for audio stuff or even has a comparable system, so what´s now in my living room is the one tube amp I know. And I´m delighted. Together with the speakers it gives the music the presence and glow that I so desired.
Of course I can tell that there´s more potential in this amp and I already exchanged some of the stock tubes. There are more on the way and I can´t wait to test them. For now my financial means are a bit limited so I´m not ordering Western Electric and Takatsuki 300Bs just for the sake of comparing them. In fact I´m waiting with those a bit and go for the others first.
Searching online I find a lot of information on English language forums. Somehow tube rolling is not discussed as much on the German forums I checked though – and out of curiosity (and because they were pretty cheap) I went for both West- and East-German ECC83s and a fairly random mix of other tubes from the US and the Soviet Union. I´m waiting for them to arrive and not being able to read about some of them it raises my curiosity how they will sound. Maybe crappy, maybe not so bad, maybe even very good. I´ll see. Tube rolling will take some time and I don´t mind. The amp is there to stay for quite a while.
There´s an exhaustive thread on the Willsenton amps and fitting tubes here but since I found people´s comments on this forum so helpful I´m looking forward to hear from you. I´m open for tube recommendations and would like to hear anyone´s experience with the Willsenton R-800i. Or maybe someone has questions?
As for the tubes:
805 – stock replaced for Cossor
300B – stock
6SN7 – stock replaced for Sylvania GTBs, waiting for Fonon NOS (Soviet, 1979, a bargain for 10€)
12AX7 – stock replaced with current Mullard model, waiting for West German ones from AEG and Telefunken, East German ones from RSD and Funkwerk Erfurt (both used) and also Sylvania JAN 5751 NOS (a military model)
5U4G – stock, waiting for RCA NOS black plate and Svetlana NOS „Coke Bottle“
I;ve read so many good things about the Willsenton KT88 integrated that I actually was seriously considering it as a second amp, but instead just bought a First Watt F7 because I always wanted to try one with my efficient speakers. The one that you got must be really good. I would love to hear it. The build quality of their amps looks great. Congrats. |
Not to derail the thread, but @roxy54 what do you think of the Pass? |
ozzy62, I’ll be glad to tell you after I receive it. It’s coming on Tuesday. I’m pretty excited about this one. I bought it after reading many positive things about First Watt in general and the F7 in particular. It should be a great match with my efficient horns. The only thing that makes me slightly nervous is recalling my short ownership years ago of a Pass Labs X250.5. I hated it. |
I would listen to the amp with stock tubes for at least several months in order to learn its sonic signature (especially because you already love it), and then would start tube rolling - slowly, pair by pair. Just live with acertain pair of tubes for a while and listen to the music. Hectic tube-rolling would not bring you (and me) much pleasure... |
Thanks for your replies! @2psyop I have no thermometer at hand here, at least none I could use for measuring the amp´s heat. All I can say is yes, it does produce warmth or heat, but even after running for an hour you can touch the cage (above the tubes) without getting burned immediately. @unison77 You are right there, but I´m impatient. I can always go back to the stock tubes once I hear how it sounds with others. Maybe some of the outlier tubes I bought will sound crappy and the stock ones turn out to be great in comparison, who knows. Unfortunately without any reference point it will be hard for me to describe the sound of the amp accurately. I mean, that´s always the problem when people describe their impressions: Some of the terminology is so vague and perception to a good part individual, you always have to read what people say. Then factors like sound sources, the room, age of the listener, etc come on top. One thing I have to point out that I found not expressed anywhere else: There is music, that will not work well with this amp and I guess tube amps in general. I tried Alva Noto´s latest record „Hybr:ID 1“: It´s super clean, almost surgical electronic music from Germany (he made great records with Ryuichi Sakamoto), there are high buzzes and beeping sounds paired with nice rolling bass. It feels like my stereo tries to put a human warmth in there but it struggles, it can´t. Which means it´s not designed to reproduce this kind of music the way the music asks for. And that will extend to other kinds of music too. Some brickwalled/LUFS-optimized pop and electronic music. Oh yes, I tried some current Drum´n´Bass – nah. Here´s some music I know quite well that gained a new level of sonic expressiveness with the amp, ie: gave me much pleasure: |
