ALMARRO 205 mk2 Japanese single ended class A amplifier

[flemo]

Aren't these supposed to be a good amp?

They don't seem to come up all that often, and the price seems reasonable, if it's a good product?   

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ALMARRO-205-mk2-Japanese-single-ended-class-amplifier-/250731776323?pt=AU_Electronics_Audio_Amplifiers&hash=item3a60c74943

[omodo]

thanks for the heads up, I might bid on this

[tuyen]

Hey omodo,

I've never heard EL84/ECL84/PCL84 SE amps before. Have you ever compared to them to 300B/2A3/45 DHT ?

I like the idea of how the these small pentodes circuits don't consume so much power  unlike their DHT brotherens.

[vitavoxdude]

Just my 2 pennies worth.

I have heard these pentode valves in 3 amps before and owned them in two.  IMO they do not approach SE designs such as 2A3's etc.  They sound more congested and 'thick' without the free flowing dynamics and detail that SET can give when implemented well.  Quite a few small guitar amps use them including the famous Vox AC30. Old Leak designs such as the stereo 20 and the Mullard 5-10 used EL84's.  They can bring welcome extra body to thin sounding full range paper speakers such as Lowethers to advantage, other than that I would suggest a triode to be better all round. It's larger brother EL34 is a safer bet as you get good driving power with this valve and I feel it's tone is a little more flushed out and vibrant.  The older implementations sound rolled off and soft but in the Almarro it could be a differnt story.

It's nice to have at least 4 amps to be able to try with different speakers and front ends to see whats a nice balance.  The Ebay price is not outrageous so add it to your collection, valves are not too expensive for it either.   I hope this posting does not offend those with a penchant for reprisal as its just my view.

[tuyen]

Cheers for the post vitavox. I value your input especially with your many decades of experience

I have all the parts needed to build a PCL86 SE amp (http://www.iol.ie/~waltonaudio/pcl86.html) so when time permits I will give it a go!

Is it true the SE amps are only as good as their output transformer?   So using a top notch 45 tube but with low quality (cheap?) opt   vs the almarro  which uses decent EL84 tube with its "good" japanese opt.  The almarro might  come out with better dynamics/clarity/etc ??

I guess it's all abit subjective in the end and only real way to find out!   

[vitavoxdude]

Check out these amps as they are available as a kit and are configurable for either 2A3's or 300B's which gives you the best of both worlds.  Not too expensive either.  Bottle head equipment fights it out amogst some real high rollers and can be found in some very high end systems.

http://www.bottlehead.com/et/adobespc/paramount/paramount.htm   

Simple to construct with good back up.

Just my views, less valves = eaiser tweakability = purer sound.

Vitavoxdude