Power Amplifiers up to £2,499.
The Series 7 is a hybrid power amplifier which uses an ECC83 dual triode valve in the input stage and high quality Mosfet devices for the output. It is hard wired and hand made in the UK and produces 45 watts into 8 Ohms. This power amplifier is the ideal partner for the Micro 25 pre amplifier (please see the pre amp section for more details).
More details will follow shortly once I’ve had a chance to properly run in our demonstrator and audition it.
Croft Series 7 Power amplifier: £700
Tsakiridis may not be a well known make in the UK, but this family run business was established in 1987 in Athens. The Achilles are monoblock 300B single ended zero feedback amplifiers with a 6SL7 driver tube. These amplifiers are hard wired and feature high quality parts throughout and are beautifully finished in their polished chassis with matching transformer endcaps.
They offer extraordinary performance at a very reasonable price, sounding crisp and immediate with the great dynamics and speed that well designed single ended amplifiers excel at.
Tsakiridis Devices Achilles monoblocks £1,445 pair.
Audion Sterling EL34 SE
The Audion Sterling EL34 uses a single El34 per channel in single ended topology, producing 12 watts per channel. Like all good dingle ended amplifiers these have remarkable speed and openness, and an ability to drive speakers that belies their low rated power output.
Two versions are available, the mk1 which has uses a PCB and the Anniversary which is hard wired and features superior components, output transformer and polished top plate. As standard they come with a centrally mounted volume control which ca n be deleted if preferred (please note that the picture here is of the integrated version, so features a different front panel from the power amplifier).
Audion Sterling EL34 mk1: £1,350.
Audion Sterling EL34 Anniversary: £1,850.
Usher Reference R1.5: from £1,550
The Usher Reference R1.5 is a very substantial transistor power amp which weighs an impressive 40 Kg. It produces a sound that is refreshingly free from the grain and smear normally associated with high power transistor amplifiers. This design is quite heavily biased into class A so it runs reasonably hot, but not excessively so and produces 150 watts per channel giving it the ability to drive pretty much any speaker you care to think of without strain.
Usher R1.5 power amplifier: £1,550
Usher R1.5B power amplifier with balanced inputs: £1,750
Rega Exon 3
The Exon 3 shares the case as the rest of the Rega range (including the Maia 3 above) but is a much more potent version (125 watt) which has tremendous grip and control, making it suitable for even the most difficult of loudspeakers. These monoblock amplifiers have two transformers per channel and are available in black or silver finish.
Rega Exon 3 monoblock power amplifiers: £1,630/pair
Audio Note Vindicator
The Vindicator is a single ended amplifier that uses the wonderful 2A3 output valve. As with the Paladin amplifier (detailed below) the smaller output valves given an even cleaner and crisper sound that their larger brothers, but naturally at the expense of output power. The Vindicator produces 3.5 watts and so is recommended with higher efficiency speakers, I hate putting figures to such things as it depends upon listening distance, background noise and listening levels, but I’d suggest 95dB+ sensitivity speakers are a good starting point for most people. However 3.5 watts goes a lot louder than most people would expect, so don’t let it put you off an audition.
There are three different versions of the Vindicator available, all have a choke smoothed valve rectified (5R4GY) power supply and are available with silver aluminium or black acrylic fascia. The wonderful Sovtek 2A3 output valves are supplied as standard and they’re driven by a 6SL7GT input stage.
The standard version has copper foil coupling capacitors, Beyschlag resistors and Audio Note wiring. The Silver and Silver Signature versions add higher quality parts including resistors, capacitors and wiring.
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Audio Note Paladin
The Paladin is based around the classic Conqueror amplifier (detailed elsewhere here) but instead of 300B output valves it features the stunning 45 tube. This much smaller valve is quite possibly the best of the directly heated triodes to make their way into commercially available amplifiers, their small internal structure means that the treble is perhaps the most dynamic and seductive available, and throughout the registers they have an incredibly purity. The downside is the power output, which at 2 watts means that speakers of very high sensitivity (approx 98dB+) will be needed for anything other than very near field listening.
There are three different versions of the Paladin available, all have a choke smoothed valve rectified power supply and are available with silver aluminium or black acrylic fascia.
The standard version has copper foil coupling capacitors, Beyschlag resistors and Audio Note wiring. The Silver and Silver Signature versions add higher quality parts including resistors, capacitors and wiring.
Please note that the prices below do not include the pair of 45 output valves, however Audio Note selected New Old Stock valves are also available separately, please see pricing below:
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The Orpheus are single ended 845 based mono block amplifiers from Greek manufacturer Tsakiridis (pronounced Sakiridis). These wonderful amps are incredible value for money, in fact I’d have said it was almost impossible to make this design in Europe quite so cheaply. They perform wonderfully, sounding dynamic and involving and are a brilliant partner for the matching Tsakiridis pre amplifier. They use a 6SN7 and 6SL7 to drive the mighty 845 output triodes, which produce 25 watts (class A naturally).
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