Anyone have Coincident Frankenstein amps?

Coltrane, I look forward to see what you think of that amp. I really liked it. Great looking piece, and I like the idea of EL34 driver tubes for the 300B power tubes. Unfortunately, it's not a match for me. Spoke with Ian Grant. Seems like a great guy. But the 534B cannnot operate as a "direct" option power amp, and my subs can't run off speaker taps. Also, the A534B doesn't have a phone stage, so I'd have to forsake the very nice phono stage in my EAR 868 and buy a separate one.
Too bad. Seems like a very nice amplifier. Still taking a long hard look at the Franks....

Going with the Franks. Should complete the purchase in the next week or so.

Enjoy:)

I think I will...so psyched to try them out, I actually sent the payment today- by overnight express no less. Really want to hear these amps. I see yours have black faceplates- were they the first iteration of the Franks, Montejay? What are the differences between those and the one I will be receiving? Did you get the upgraded tubes? Israel calls them the "black bottle" 300B....are those the KR300B that he used to use as upgrades, or are the the Shuguang Treasure models? Have you tried any other 300B tubes? I have read that the tubes used in these amps can significantly alter the sound. It's easy to roll since they auto-bias.

Hi Afc,
You must be very excited.:)!
My Franks are the last of the original MKII's. Coincident has made several improvements since then. I believe the biggest change besides the cosmetics is that the tranformer is bigger and they now run cooler.
I initially had the KR's but one failed in less then 100 hours.I currently have both TJ carbon mesh plates and black bottles.I have yet to here a 300b that sound poor with these amps, but if you want to flesh out everything the amps can offer the Black Bottles are the best imo.
In my system the Black bottles are clearly superior in the detail and extending out the highs.That is NOT to say they sound more shrill. If anything they sound sweeter and more detailed. In listening to something like Keith Jarrett's trio, Dejohnette's druming clearly shows off what these tubes do over the TJ's mesh plates(also a very nice tube) much better then how I could explain it in this forum.
They also seem to flesh out the holographic placement of the instruments.