First venture into valves tomorrow!

Lee

Oh well had to do it, always had the inkling to try valves so tomorrow all being well i will have a brand new demo amp coming to Henley towers, the amp in mention is the Eastern Electric M88, its quite a new amp and there is not much information on the net about it, for those interested a quick google will reveal a few links. I shall be comparing it to the Luxman, aint got a clue what to expect to be honest and if I don't like it, then off it goes back and the hunt will continue I guess.

For info here are the specs for the amp

Power output: 40W RMS (8ohm)

Frequency response: 20Hz-50KHz（±1dB）

THD: 1%（1W   1KHz）

Input sensitivity: 390mV

Input impedance:  100K

Output impedance: 4, 8 and 16ohm

Signal to noise: 87dB

Power consumption: 250W

Dimension(W×L×H):430mm×415 mm×200 mm

Weight：23KG

 

Some features highlight :

 

- True balance XLR input- Output tubes bias adjustable with meter- Full function remote control- Pre-in- Phase in out switching
The valves are 4 x KT 88, 4 x 12AU7, 2 x 12AX7

mattlynch

hi Lee, the eastern electric stuff is quite well regarded, hope it works for you,
i tried the yarland ariand fv34b recently , it was stunning through the mid and treble but it just refused to do bass, most valve amps need a very benign load ( opposite to trany amps valve amp output drops as the load increases)
i wish it had a bit more oomph low down as the lack of cross over distortion was a real eye opener and it could hang vocals and instruments that work in the upper registers in the air with stunning realism, if all i listened to was solo violin music it would have been the last amp i would have bought, luckily though i recently got an old inca tech claymore(bliss), only took 10 years to track a good one down!!
please let us know how the EE works for you,
best regards,
matt

Lee

Will do Matt, BTW I heard a friends Unison research S6 yesterday which did bass extremely well to be honest, we compared it to his Lygndorf solid state and we both felt that the valve amp performed bass better, he was using 90db Kef reference speakers.

I too had a concern regarding bass but according to the dealer who i sending the amp reckons the bass will be fine, have to wait and see

Lee

RobHolt

23kg - bodes well for some meaty transformers.

If you find the amp lacking in grip or bass control, try the 4 ohm output tap.

This might reduce maximum output a little into your speakers, but it drives the speaker from a lower output impedance, and that means higher damping factor and less response variation.

mattlynch

i think it was the amp in question at fault rather than all valve amps, i was using the 4 ohm tap with my 91db for1w@1m kefs but a bit of further research showed that my kefs have a rather reactive impedence curve across the bass end of of things rising and droping twice quite rapidly from 2.5 ohm to 6.5ohm from 400hz down to 28hz, i also tried the little usher 520 and pmc tb2 which are a very easy load but still got something akin to someone tapping a small cardboard box with a pencil so the amp went back, as Rob says it will most likely have some serious iron on the EE and the kt88's are quite a strong toob too ,
look forward to your thoughts on it.
all the best,
matt

uglymusic

Good luck, Lee.

I've never been a valve man myself, but will still be interested in how you get on.

Brumjam

Calling Lee....come in Lee :-)

I have visions of him sitting there transfixed by the valve sound. Looking forward to your thoughts Lee. I went to a valve amp open day last weekend at a local dealer...very illuminating :-" it was let me tell you.

mattlynch

yeah lee, get your butt away from that system and give us the gen on the eastern, enquiring minds want to know!



:-?

aquapiranha

I have a friend who has an EE M520. It sounds ace, is built beautifully and has remote too! Great stuff.

Lee

OK guys n dolls, had a few days now with the M88 valve amp, here is what Ive got to say, please bear in mind that this is the first time Ive had a valve amp in the house.

Notable differences to these ears are;

Soundstage - wider than the Luxman

Power - Less than the Luxman, all be it this amp can go loud when needed, but it does not have to, if that makes sense!

Presentation - Smoother, the high screeches are not so noticeable, i wouldn't say its dull or less bright but overall allot smoother

Bass - Plenty of it but a bit tighter

Musical - very musical, the Young being a transparent Dac just gets out of the way and lets the amp do what it has to do

Pace - Plenty of it, its quite a fast amp and does not seem to fall behind

Detail - This is a detail monster, much better than the Luxman

Imaging - Deos it very well, but then yet again so does the Luxman

Overall the amp is very listenable and enjoyable. Over this weekend Im going to have a listen to a friends Prima Luna which has a similar valve configuration. Ive kind of made my mind up that Im going down the valve route, and possibly will buy the M88

Brumjam - I take it the a` demo you went to last week was at Audio Affairs, I almost went there myself but decided to play golf as the weather was too good to miss. I live in Dudley and your more than welcome to come and have a listen.

Best

Lee

Brumjam

Hi Lee,

Sounds like the M88 might be the amp for you. I'm busy for the next couple of weekends but would like to take you up on your offer of a listen if you still have it/have bought it by then.

Yes, the open day was at Audio Affair. They had a range of Icon Audio and Shanling amps on demo. Then I listened to £13k worth of Pure Sound pre/power amps :O and my jaw hit the floor. Deeply impressive kit.

There's a new EE Avant valve preamp which has recently been releases. I'm tempted to get hold of one to demo against my current Audio Note M1. Really enjoying having valves in my system....the Audio Note works beautifully with my speakers.

James

Lee

Hi James

Your more than welcome to come round anytime as is anyone on this forum, the EE will be here since as of tomorrow it will be mine, its the best thing Ive done in HiF, couple it with the Young dac, I cant stop playing music, one thing to note is that its quite far on lesser quality recordings.

The amp keeps throwing things at me all the while, the level of detail it brings out is amazing, Ive played Led Zep for years but recently it sounds awesome, even on the Physical Graphiti tracks, Ive even started to play the original cd releases as opposed to the remaster versions, finding they sound better with the valve amp

I had a mate round today who has been into HiFi for 40 years and he is a very enthusiastic guy, he herd the EE and loved it,he actually commented that the EE and Young combo did not sound digital at all and was quite amazed!

Anyway James whenever your available then drop me a PM, Im over in Dudley, same goes for any other members on here too!

All the best

Lee

Lee

Latest update on the M88 valve amp

Status - Brought it

Any regrets - wished I had brought a valve amp before wasting money on Naim and Luxman

Whats different - well everything, a much easier listen especially on poorer recordings, Ive been visiting cd's that i have not played for age's. 

Overall - Im over the moon 

:-D

uglymusic

That's cool. I'm glad you've found something you like.

Alan

Well done Lee, you must be very pleased. TBH, I am surprised it trounced the mighty Luxman, as I had always imagined it (Luxman and also Accuphase for that matter) as having a valve-like presentation. The Naim on the other hand is from a very different school.

Lee

Well done Lee, you must be very pleased. TBH, I am surprised it trounced the mighty Luxman, as I had always imagined it (Luxman and also Accuphase for that matter) as having a valve-like presentation. The Naim on the other hand is from a very different school.

To my ears and a few friends ears, one guy who has been into HiFi for 40 years agreed that it trounced the Luxman, as for Naim well thats another story! LOL