Antique Sound Lab Hurricane 200 DT Monoblocks

I just read a review of this tube amplifier in the Absolute Sound magazine. The two reviewers raved about this amp. I am interested in going to tubes with my amp set up and these puppies only cost $4,400.00, which is not a lot when one is talking about a world class tube amplifier.

Does anyone on here own this product? Is anyone familiar with this product? I would like to hear from real people about the sound and reliability of these monoblocks.

 

Here's the monster:

http://www.divertech.com/hurricane200dt.html

Them's a lot of KT88's!

I've got some Anitque Sound Lab gear that I'm very happy with but they're not in same league as that Hurricane. A MG Head headphone amp and a pair of MG-SPM25DT monoblocks (pair of KT88 each) that have been running just great.

 

I too read that review and it peaked my interest as well. As someone who has enjoyed tube amps for the last 13+ years, I would also like to hear other opinions. The price seems very reasonable based on what you get.

 

Is a more tube like sound something we should be looking for? Too tubey could mean euphoric or colored right?

I wish I could afford that giant one tube amp that wav vac sells.

The Hurricane also has bias adjustment screws for each power tube.

 

I clicked on the link above and on that page it very specifically says "0 NFB" (zero negative feedback). But when I click on "circuit diagram" there's very specifically a resistor connected from the 8 ohm tap of the output transformer going back to a voltage devider from the cathode of the input tube to ground.

I don't claim to know what this amp sounds like but thats a sneaky little inconsistency that I don't like.

I'd also hate to troubleshoot this amp. One of those tubes becomes marginal (and doesn't fail completely) it would take a lot of trial and error to isolate the culprit. Tube rolling the output tubes would be a costly thing to do.

 

Isn't this true with any amp using this many tubes?

 

Yes... but thats why I prefer the beauty and simplicity of single ended triode. I have doubles of every tube and it cost me less than $120. Of course the current make 2A3's like my amp uses are less expensive than a current make 300B (or KT88's).

Lets say every one of those KT88's last 2000-3000 hours (or whatever their expected leftspan is) and they all start dying right around the same time (complete failure/not marginal). The replacement costs of tubes over the lifespan of the amp might make a single ended triode amp more economical.

Another thing to keep in mind. Lets say you have a Marantz 8b or Dynaco ST-70 you have one EL34 fail. You have to buy a matched pair and replace both or distortions increase. Each one of these monoblocks have 3 matched pair of KT88's.

I'm not trying to stir up trouble amongst the pentode crowd (sometimes I still kick myself for not running up Steve's Dynaco Mark III's a little higher on Ebay a few years ago), but do you really need 200 watts? Sometimes I wish I'd have more than the 3.5 watts I have, but I couldn't imagine needing more than the 50-60 from a pair of push-pull KT88's.

There are some who say 50 tube watts are louder than 50 solid state watts.

If your not a DIY'er (I built my SET amps from a kit) I'd keep the Pass Labs 1.2's for parties and buy vintage Dynaco/Marantz/Mcintosh gear for the intimate listening over this equipment, but I'm just tossing out ideas.

The more junk you put between to source and the speakers the more the intimacy and immediacy is taken away, IMHO.

 

Drew, what kit do you have or is it scratch? I'm digging my Decware Zen SET (though i didn't build it) and am really amazed at what kind of sound you can get from only a couple of watts.

Ray

 

RDK:

I have the Bottlehead Paramours.




I'm really just saying (in a long winded kind of way) do you need 200 watts?

 

Drew, the tubes in the Hurricanes do not have to be matched because they each have a separate bias control, this is according to the Absolute Sound. I will admit that if I go with a big tube amp the replacement cost every two or three years would be between $400.00 and $500.00 dollars. My Thiel 7.2's recommended power is 100-500 watts. The sensitivity is 86db. The impedence is 4ohms. I need juice. A three watt tube will not do the trick.

Steve, You also have a hundred watt wavac, right? That would be the one for me if I sold my house. (smiley face)

 

They will give you a trial period to audition the amp and if you don't want to keep it there is a paltry 10% restocking fee.

Here is a quote from the absolute sound, "What some experienced SET listeners have noted about this amplifier is that it sounds much like such a design, but without a SET's usual colorations and with power no SET ever has. You don't hear individual tubes here, as you would if you listened carefully to a pentode design, you hear "one tube," so to speak. The Hurricane has the delicacy of the small amp and the power of the large.