Thoughts on 845 set monoblocks

How does the 845 offerings from Cary and Antiquie sound Labs fit into the excellent amps mentioned above?

Many thanks

Seadog,

Shoot Gary at Trueaudiophile an email (US dist. for Audion). He may know of someone in that area that has a pair. I know that several Black Shadows have sold over the past few months.

The Black Shadows are incredible amps by the way!! They, and the Golden Dreams, are 2 of the best amps that I have ever used/heard.

****Audion dealer disclaimer****

Glai,I listened to the ASL amps prior to my purchase of the deHaviillands.I much preferred the amps I bought but that is only my opinion.Others may disagree.
As for the Cary ...Goldprintaudio,a dealer posted above that two Audion amps are the best he has heard and he is also a Cary dealer.
On 2/6 I emailed the distributor for dealer info but have not heard anything yet.
I looked at your fantastic system and in the future when anyone asks me about Room Treatment I am going to refer them to your excellent post.
very well done

>>How does the 845 offerings from Cary and Antiquie sound Labs fit into the excellent amps mentioned above?<<

While it is difficult to find an 845 SET amp that performs poorly, I don't put the Cary or ASL in the same category as what's been mentioned. Cary build quality is, of course, beyond reproach. But the house sound is too euphonic, obscuring of detail and simply lacking the incisive revelation of the top tier. There are people who prefer this, however.

ASL has traditionally not been up to the same build quality standards internally, to what you can get from not only the top tier but also other Chinese contenders like Consonance, Shuguang, Meixing. The ASL amps of any tube variation have not impressed me as being notably competent enough to rise above average.

Phil

And by the way, don't get me wrong, the Cary 845 amps (211 and 805) are pretty dang good also. Just a different build and design philosophy then the Audions. If you have speakers that need the extra power of the Cary's, then they will do a fantastic job.

I've never had the chance to hear any of the Antique Sound Lab gear.

***Cary and Audion dealer disclaimer***