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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“

chmaiwald
chmaiwald OP
74 posts
 

A quick update:

After testing quite a few 12AX7s I must say: Believe the hype. The Telefunken (ECC83) is the best. Not by far, but overall it does its job extremely well. Second would be the Mullard (current production).

At the moment I´m running old soviet 6SN7 NOSs and really, between them and Sylvania GTB NOSs I´d find it hard to decide. I bought them here for a mere 15€ and I´d be happy to hear what others think about them. I didn´t try too many others, just the stock ones and RCA GTA NOSs, which both just didn´t compare. I heard good things about the bass performance of the PSVane Treasure MkII, if I ever spot a bargain I may be tempted to try these.

5U4G – Svetlana.

805 & 300B – I´m saving for replacments. I didn´t find much info about different 805s so I may go for PSVane Acmes. As for 300Bs the one thing most people seem to agree on is that between cheaper/mid-priced and the more costly tubes it makes most sense to just go for the expensive ones. No secrets here it seems. So the question is which exact model and I´m still not sure. WE (new production), Takatsuki or Elrog? Well, well... I´m favouring the Elrog, maybe just because I tend to support the underdogs. And after some production hiccups some years ago the current tubes seem to be reliable and they give a 1 year warranty too. (When it comes to this the 5 year warranty given by WE is a very good argument as well.) Did anyone have a chance to compare Elrogs with other 300Bs?

Aside from all the tube talk I must say that I´m still very happy with the amp and the prospect of improving the sound even further is thrilling to say the least. I listend to records by Matthew Halsall and 700 bliss today and was very pleased with how well they both sounded even though they are sonically pretty different. Overall I still could do with a wee bit less treble but that´s nitpicking, really.

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,230 posts
 

@chmaiwald 

Thanks  for taking the time to provide an update. I’m happy that this amplifier purchase has worked out so well for you. With the 805/300b combo circuit, this will provide beautiful music reproduction for many years of enjoyment.

Charles

2psyop's avatar
2psyop
1,502 posts
 

The build quality on that amp looks impressive. I think some Chinese made audio gear has some real negative stigma attached to it. I have a Line magnetic amp and it sounds very good.

chmaiwald OP
74 posts
 
I don´t know if it will be of use for anyone here, but I was asked if I can send someone the manual. So I scanned it, along with some more infosheets that it came with, and you can download a PDF below. It´s far from comprehensive but sufficient for a dummy like me.
 
Willsenton R-800i manual scan
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller
1,361 posts
 

Great thread with open minded and insightful comments.

I had to do it! I just bought one of these amps. I’ll be posting about it once it arrives and I can break it in. I’ll most likely upgrade some critical film caps. I’d like to examine the filter caps on the B+. But all that should wait until I put it through its paces.

I am very excited to try this amp out. I’ve had some nice tube amps in my room over the last 8 years so this will be fun.

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