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My First 845 Tube Amp

Looking for recommendations on a very good 845 tube amps. I have never owned this type of amp; I have always used a VTL push-pull with EL34's (VTL-125MB run in 'triode' mode)on my KHorns.

The KHorns are my second rig and I'd like to experiment a bit with something different. I have heard one of the Cary 300B amps in this rig before, but I was not knocked over by the sound. Some rigs that I have heard at shows with 845's had a very nice 'organic' richness of tone and wonderful decay that was very appealing.

Don't need a lot of power since the KHorns are 104db sensitive; 10 to 50 watts or so would be plenty.

Budget is in the $5k - $7k range.
stickman451
mechans
3,048 posts
 
Look foe DeHaviland's SET 845 amp it is pretty much what you want. 845 tubes can get scarce at times even though they current production. They (Shuguang's) seem to make them in runs. I understand that there is a really super 845 from Germany but I forgot the name and they cst a lot. There are some choices amongst new stuff but I don't know enough to make a recommendation. The DeHaviland amp I heard was owned by a friend and we both like the "Big Tone" AKA richness.
meiwan
399 posts
 
I'm using a Mastersound Compact 845 integrated. Mastersound also make an 845 power amp.

Very nice.
onemug
784 posts
 
Here's 2:

Art Audio Carissa. Owned it and enjoyed it. Go for the Signature version if you can.

Cary 805 monoblocks. Own them now. If you get the AE version, you can use either the 845 or 211 tube.

Re your experience with the Cary 300b: I'm a 300b lover. I tried their 300b SE new a few yrs ago and didn't like it and I've enjoyed even cheap 300b's before. Turns out they are running the tubes real hard. The manual calls for a bias of 80 mA and I think the voltage is over 400. They may have got their 15 watts output but they killed the sound IMO.

Have a feeling you might like the 805's. They have been made for almost 20 yrs so you can usually find them used. The early ones used an el34 to drive the output tube and the later ones use a 300b (my preference).
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