Has anyone heard the (300b) Magnetic LM217-ia?

Just that... Can't seem to find any impressions of this amp out there. Interested in any first hand experiences out there.

I've owned the LM518ia, 218ia, Leben 300cxs and Art Audio PX-25. Looking to jump into a 300b amp and Line Magnetic's 300B efforts don't seem to get the attention or following of I'll their earlier amps. I'll be running it on my Altec 604-8gs in 620 cabs with phase corrected crossovers.

Thanks!

 

Just a quick impression:
I heard the 217ia at a dealer about 2 years ago, comparing to to both the Leben 300F as well as the LM210ia. Speakers were Devore O/93s, the source a Chord Hugo2 (mine).
The LM217 is a lovely amp, a little warmer and traditionally tubey sounding, but also more transparent compared to the Leben - during this session I found I preferred the 217 though it wasn't quite as lively or dynamic. The LM210ia was better in every way - better tonal density etc. but I found the 217 to be a very sweet little amp - I'd recommend it at the price, especially with more efficient speakers.

 

Thanks for this info - particularly in comparison to the 210ia - the other LM 300b amp I haven't been able to find out much about.

I know there's a demo 217ia available right now from a dealer, but aside from that, I wonder if dealers still routinely stock either one of these amps (or perhaps the 217ia is a phase-in replacement for the 210ia?).

Anyone else heard any of Line Magnetic's 300b offerings?

 

Also - sorry for the atrocious thread title and original post guys. I promise I wasn't having a stroke - just on mobile.

Doesn't look like I can edit the ignominious thread title.

 

May I suggest an Elekit TU-8600 to add to your 300b list? You have the right speakers to take advantage of it, and it’s in your price range. Reviews have preferred it over Line Magnetic (and so have I).

 

I don't believe that is the case. The 217 is built on the same compact chassis as their less expensive KT88 and EL34 amps, and probably uses similar if not identical output transformers. My only direct experience is with the 211, but my gut tells me that to really get the most out of the single ended tubes you need the better transformers found on the 210 and 5xx models.

 

I own the 210ia. I absolutely love it. I honestly prefer it to the 508ia I also owned. I loved the 508ia and I often miss much of what it offered but for me and my taste in music, the 210ia is just more enjoyable.
I tube rolled every tube in the amp. It responds very nicely to any tube rolling you want to do. I think the best thing I did to the amp was add Telefunken smooth plate ECC83 (12ax7) tubes. It turned the great amp into a magnificent amp.
I use the amp to drive my Trenner and Friedl Pharoah speakers. 92db, true 8 ohm speaker.

 

My local dealer used to demo his Devore offerings with the 210ia. I thought it was a wonderful sounding amp. Nice holographic sound, a little sweet but not overly so. In a slightly smaller room the bass never seemed lacking either. The Leben cs600 at the time was also very good but a little drier sounding. I would have been happy with the 210 no problem, but I ultimately bought the 518ia and lived with it happily for 6 years. If I could do it over I'd probably go with the 210. A wonderful piece. My 2 cents. Good luck with your research and purchase.

 

The 210IA is a nice sounding amplifier - with HE speakers you may in fact like the sound quality the best out of all of their offerings. But most folks don't have super HE speakers and that's probably why their 845 amps get the most hype because they offer 20-48 watts per channel. But you'll have to listen for yourself. There are a lot of 300B integrated amplifiers abound these days but few offer remote control and the ability to be used a power amp only.

One niggling thing about their amplifiers unlike other Single Ended Triodes is that you have to manually bias LM amplifiers. Most SETs are auto bias. So if you intend to tube roll a lot you might want to look elsewhere.

 

This is true although the 210ia is actually a rare auto bias offering from LM.
The screw adjustment is for the hum balancer.
I very much agree that the previous comment that the amp has a bit of a sweet sound, but I feel that the Telefunken tubes really help bring the amp closer to a neutral sound. Don't get me wrong. It still is a warm sounding amp, but not syrupy or anything distracting. Music sounds very very good though it. Vocals are especially life like.
Long plate mullards proved to be too much of a good thing in that amp. Too warm for my tastes.
I know my speakers are not the ideal match for a 300b amp, but Trenners have a very detailed (not bright) sound signiture, and to my ears, 300b amps pair well with them. It's a very balanced sound I get from them now. Devore speakers, in contrast, have a warmer, perhaps fuller, but more colored sound than Trenner and Friedl.

 

That's good to hear regarding the auto bias. The main reason I sold my 219ia was that you could not change the voltage and shipping it back to Canada and dealing with a step transformer was not something I wanted in the end.

If I didn't get my AN E/SPx AlNiCO the Trenner and Freidl RA would likely have been my speaker or at least in a very small group. I wish they had a dealer near me. I thought they needed more juice than a 300b but perhaps I was wrong.

 

The RA is more sensitive than the Pharoah by 3db. I'd suspect it could be driven wonderfully well with a 300b amp. Trenner also offers a service where they linearize their speakers crossover for clients who want to drive their speakers with tube amps. I did not know this until after I purchased my speakers and ended up emailing back and forth with Andreas Friedl.
My speakers are in a 25'x15'x8' room. The 210ia can pressurize the room effectively.

 

I'm another 210ia owner and was happy to see your post since there's not much conversation out there about this great amp. I'm curious what you rolled into the 310A tube positions? I haven't seen a lot of options there that look better than the stock tube, but I'm far from expert. I did spring for the Psvane ACME 300B which did make a nice improvement. If I can get 5000 hours from them, I'll consider it a good buy.

 

Options are fairly limited for the 310A. I rolled in a pair of Psvane WE310A replica tubes. They are nice. Slightly taller than the stock Shuguang/LM tubes so the cap cable is maxed out. I've definitely been contemplating rolling in WE driver tubes. Maybe a Christmas gift to myself?
How do the ACME tubes perform in the amp compared to stock tubes or other 300b tubes?

 

I've had both of these here in the past as demo units. The 217ia was setup as their "budget" 300B integrated (it came in about $2000 less than the 210ia). The 217 was more in line with the 211ia and 216ia in build.

 

Cool. I'll have to try the WE310A tubes when I can fit them into my audio budget.

Sorry, but I suck at describing what I'm hearing. (Am I the only one?) All I can really say is that with the ACME 300Bs, I enjoy the music more.

 

I'm another owner of the LM 210-ia, have had it for about a year. Changed out the rectifiers to old RCA 5R4GY from late 50´s and instead of stock 12ax7 I rolled in some Siemens(from the 70´s) and some Mullards(from the 60´s). The amp is driving my Tannoy DC8 speakers very nicely.
Future plans would be to get some Shuguang black treasure 300BZ or the TJ Full Music (mesh).

 

I really like the Telefunken smooth plates in the 12AX7 position. The amp is a warm sounding amp and I felt like that tube really balanced the amp out perfectly. The mullard long plates were a bit too much of a good thing to my ears. I have a pair that have only been used for about 25 hours that will probably always be a spare set.

 

Hi, new here and I've just taken delivery of a LM-210ia, bought in the main from the glowing reports in this and other threads. This is my first 300B SET amp. Only 4 days in now, but I am super impressed. I'm using with Audio Note AZ-Two 93dB speakers and they don't seem to be wanting or needing more power at all. I've never gone above 0.5W on the dial, although I've not pushed the volume yet. Everything I play just seems to sound so "right" and just a little bit sweet, just a gorgeous sound. There may be an element of New Toy Syndrome here so lets see how I feel 6 months down the line.
BUT:
One problem I have is that I have now blown 3 fuses on power up. All my source and DAC is powered up first, then I power up the amp. Soemtimes it blows, sometimes not. I have been using an extension cable (two different ones), could this be the problem? I have run out of fuses now and have some more on the way. Also ordered a power cable long enough to go straight into the wall. Currently without music...
Paul

 

Was the unit brand new or used? If used, perhaps the wrong type of fuse installed? I think they take slow blow fuses if I remember correctly. I'll have to check when I get back home.
If new, then there is a problem that is not caused by extension cords or other units that are powered up or powering up after you turn on your amp. Something within the amp is causing a current spike if infact the correct fuses have been installed from the beginning.

 

Thanks. It is a brand new amp. I have some slow blow fuses due to arrive today so can check. The fuse always blows at the end of the 30 second phase of the blinking light, not on the very start of power up. What could that mean?

 

The first 30 seconds is only a soft start to warm up the tubes slowly, after that the amp actually kicks on and can function and begins drawinga it's full current. Keep in mind that in a class A amplifier, its is always running at full current draw. So either the fuses were wrong or what seems more likely to me, something is causing it to draw an excessive amount of current. Not really sure what that is. I'm not a tech. Possibly a tube going bad could do it.

 

Thanks again. Ji received the longer power cable and new tubes, took out the extension leads, and they presto, all good last night and then again this morning. But then damn me tonight the fuse blows again. So it's very hit and miss as to whether the fuse blows. Tubes seem ok in that music plays perfectly as long as the fuse doesn't blow. Must be something internal as you suggest.

 

I've been running a 210ia for about a year and have never blown a fuse. Does it blow a fuse even though the volume is turned way down at startup? Do you have any replacement rectifier tubes that you can try? One other question would be if your power mains are somewhat high? Seems like a problem I'd talk to my dealer about.

 

You might also try running your speakers off a different impedance tap to see if that affects the fuse problem.