Unison Research Unico Series of Hybrid Integrated Amps

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Dream On, Oct 13, 2021.

  1. Dream On

    Dream On Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    I thought I’d create a thread on Unison Research’s Unico line of hybrid integrated amps. I’m specifically interested in whether people out there have tried rolling tubes and how much of a change have they heard. This is something I will do down the road after I’ve put some good mileage on my amp.

    I’m currently running a Unico Nuovo. Picked it up recently; a nicely discounted demo model. To say that I am enamored with this Italian beauty would be an understatement. I think it’s bar none the most impressive amp that I’ve had in my room thus far.

    The imaging is just stunning. Instruments and voices have body and texture, and are precisely placed within a wide soundstage. There is a real sense of being there - hearing a lot more spatial cues than I have heard before, coupled with that body and texture, really drives this feeling home. But most impressive to me is the depth. My speakers are diagonally placed in my room. I’ve heard depth before, but it was always sort of vague and extended back only so far. This is the first time I can clearly hear depth that goes beyond the corner wall of my room, and there is no vagueness as to where the sound is coming from. Wow!

    The amp is also very quick sounding, with plenty of authority (near 100 watts) and a nice amount of detail that isn’t fatiguing at all. And while the bass doesn’t stop on a dime or go incredibly deep, it is nicely controlled and punchy. Music has a real sense of flow to it and a lack of grain that allows me to just enjoy the tune.

    So the stock tubes (whatever they are) sound excellent. The thought that I might be able to improve on or tweak the sound by changing them is exciting. The amp takes 2 12AX7 tubes in the preamp stage. I have a bunch of options already as my phono preamp also uses this tube. At some point this winter I will probably experiment with some tube rolling. Looking forward to reading some impressions from folks who may have already tried this with their Unico.
     
    jonwoody likes this.
  2. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    I had the Unico Primo. Changed to Gold Lion 12AX7. Can’t hear much difference if any. It’s a nice amp, just that the bass is slightly loose.
     
    Dream On likes this.
  3. Dream On

    Dream On Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    It is, but it has nice weight, authority, and decay, so I'm not finding a lot to complain about.

    Thanks for the info about the tube change. I understand 12AT7 tubes would work as well, just with lower gain.
     
    jonwoody and tIANcI like this.
  4. Art K

    Art K Retired but not tired!

    Location:
    Corvallis, Oregon
    I had a Unico driving a pair DeVore speakers. I liked it a lot. I eventually replaced it with a Sonneteer Alabaster.
     
    jonwoody and timind like this.
  5. Dream On

    Dream On Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    I remember you were (still are I imagine) a big fan of the Alabaster, and kept it for a good chunk of time.

    I am surprised that I am enjoying the Unico this much more than my old Sugden. I am sure it's a synergy thing. My ProAc speakers likely enjoy the extra power, though they don't really require it. The Sugden did just fine, but there is more magic now. Much different presentation than my Nait XS2 as well.

    Been considering grabbing a pair of P3ESR's or Classic 4/5's, but now I'm not so sure. Might just stick with this, though I definitely want to spend some time with one of the above at some point. Think there'd be a lot of synergy there too.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2021
    jonwoody, Jazzabana, timind and 2 others like this.
  6. Aereoplain

    Aereoplain Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC
    I own a Unico and use with Harbeth P3ESR’s. Great synergy.
    Telefunkens work nicely in the Unico , some prefer Mullard and Cifte.
     
  7. iluzun

    iluzun Forum Resident

    I’ve a SR-1 which was the original Unison hybrid. It’s set to go in for repair as it developed a rattle in the right channel a while back. My understanding is that it may need a new pair of mosfets. Anyhow, i thought it worked particularly well with a pr. of Kef LS50’s as presenting a beautifully refined treble. I rolled both Mullards and Amprex Bugle Boys so it was probably with the BB’s that the treble synastry was displayed. Mullards are a more mid focused tube, smoother, without the sparkle. I also liked mine quite a lot, refined and musical…
     
    Dream On likes this.
  8. Tawaun A Williams

    Tawaun A Williams Forum Resident

    I had a Unico with Mullard tubes that drove some Totem Arros....spectacular setup, still was 1 of my best setups if not my best setup and this was 17 years ago....and i've had many since then....
     
  9. Steve Lawrence

    Steve Lawrence Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Did you find the Mullards a big stepup over the stock tubes?
     
    Tawaun A Williams likes this.
  10. Vinylleroy

    Vinylleroy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Netherlands
    I've had the Unison Research Unico Nuovo and loved it, powering my Elipson 1303 FT speakers. I sold my Unico to a friend of mine, when I bought the Unison Research S6 MKII.

    He (the friend I sold the Unico to) has the same speakers as I do and we compared the to amplifiers last weekend. We first played a couple of LPs with the Unico and then repeated the albums with the S6. The speakers enjoyed the extra watts of the Unico to control the bass, and it made the presentation of the music incredibly fast and quiet. The S6 made the music much more open in the mid's and highs, altough it wasn't out of breath, it did lack some power to control the bass as good as the Unico does.

    The Unico still had the origional tubes in it. But I did some tube rolling with the amp when it was mine, and replacing the origional tubes for Phillips tubes did make a good and quiet big difference.

    Greetings, Leroy
     
    jonwoody, AnalogJ and Dream On like this.
  11. Tawaun A Williams

    Tawaun A Williams Forum Resident

    Yes it was pretty big...the clarity and soundstage got deeper with more midbass snap....
     
    Dream On likes this.
  12. Adagio

    Adagio Forum Resident

    I also have a Unico Unison (First generation hybrid from 2004, Single pair of MOSFET power stage with two 12AUX tubes input stage) and found Mullards to be a huge step up.

    I've gone through the the following tubes:
    • Cifte - This was my first replacement and these sounded much clearer than the stock tubes. But not terribly warm.
    • Genalex Gold Lion - Re-issue tubes; matched pair with gold pins ($85 each). Great sounding, full range tube with wide, deep soundstage. A bit fatiguing
    • Tung-Sol - Re-issue tubes. Warmer sounding. Really nice midrange. Overall a bit boring compared to the Gold Lion, but not fatiguing ($25 each)

    • Mullard NOS CV4003 - These are my current tubes. These sound amazing. HUGE improvement over any of the above. Midrange and bass definition is holographic, harmonically rich - completely life like. A bit rolled off in the highs but for me this is just fine. No grain, no hardness and the bass dynamics with the MOSFET is so much better than an all-tube amp.

    I also found that the Unico benefited from sitting on three Symposium Roller blocks combined with some small foam blocks to dampen out any ringing of the chassis. Oh... and a good power cord made a big difference.

    A couple of years ago I had a chance to get a New $7,500 VTL all tube integrated for 1/2 price. I took my Unico into the shop to compare. The Unico sounded much better (to my ears)
     
  13. Tawaun A Williams

    Tawaun A Williams Forum Resident

    I love the Gold Lions....had a ball with them in a friends Cayin Class A amp....and my Melody amp...
     
  14. BWL

    BWL New Member

    Location:
    NJ
    I have the Unico Nuovo (stock tubes = Tungsol 12AX7s) driving Vienna Acoustics.
    I found the Tungsols a touch bright for rock/pop music & replaced them with (new production) Mullards. The Mullards are abit more relaxed sounding, which I prefer for rock/pop music.
     
  15. akabek

    akabek New Member

    Location:
    Canada
    Has anyone owned the older Unison model and the newer 95W/ch Unison Nuovo? Is there a big difference between these two models?
     
  16. aceace262626

    aceace262626 New Member

    Location:
    indonesia
    I've seen my unison research unico primo .
    fuse inside is :
    2 pieces 5A.
    2 pieces 1A .
    2 pieces 1.6A .

    can I replace the 5A fuse with 6.3A fuse ?

    According to manual there are:
    F1, F2, = 1AT/250V
    F3, F4 = 1.6AT / 250V
    F5, F6 =6.3 AT 250V

    Does anyone have change 5A fuse with 6.3A ?

    Thanks
     
  17. tuannguyetxm

    tuannguyetxm Member

    Location:
    vietnam
    Is anyone using Unico Due ? I need some advice whether to buy it or not, i had Dali Opticon 8 floor standing speakers with 4 Ohm, 88 Db.
     
  18. Fletcher Munson

    Fletcher Munson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, Ca.
    I had Unico Primo for about a year, sold in favor of a Rogue RP5 and Belles Monos and yes, they are better. That said I enjoyed the build quality, power and tube spin on the sound. I bought after Shawns review before the price went up $500. I liked it a lot. Shawns suggestion to try a Genelex Gold Lion was spot on and the sound was excellent. I did a lot of tube rolling and also liked the PSvane but not a NOS Mullard.
    I just picked up a couple Wathen 12AU7 tubes for my Rogue RP6 and based on my experience I think a Wathen 12AX7 might be a very good match. I spent some time looking for a Unico PRE preamp before getting into the Rogue. It looks like a substantial preamp.
     
  19. Adagio

    Adagio Forum Resident

    I was running Genalex Gold Lions on my Unico Unison and the sounded really good. However, one of the tubes failed in an unusual way and sent straight DC current into one of my speakers. Burned out the mid-bass drivers voice coil on my ProAc 1SC. Fortunately the crossover protected the tweeter. But cost me $375 for a replacement driver.

    Needless to say I was not super pleased with the Gold Lions. (but they sounded good when they were working)
     
  20. Fletcher Munson

    Fletcher Munson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, Ca.
    Yikes!. I have not experienced that. Just gave a try to four in my Rogue and no problems ever. Bad Luck.
     
  21. Adagio

    Adagio Forum Resident

    So my understanding that this only occurs with Hybrid Amps. On the all-tube amplifiers their is no way for DC current to get through the transfomers to the speakers.

    In the case of a Tube Pre-amp with Integrated Solid State Monoblocks not sure if the same risk exists.

    As long as you are there when the tube fails you will hear a distinct 'pop' from the speaker as the driver bottoms out in one direction, followed by a steady hum; you should be able to switch things off before the coil burns-out. My mistake was I left the room while the amp was warming up. When the power switched on I was not there to turn it off. By the time I returned (30 min later) the voice coil had burned out.
     
    Fletcher Munson likes this.
  22. turbo2288

    turbo2288 Well-Known Member

    Mullard NOS CV4003 is a 12au7 /ECC82 tube, Unico Primo & Unico Nuovo use 12AX7 tubes as far as I know.
     
  23. Adagio

    Adagio Forum Resident

    Yes.

    But the very first Unison Unico in 2002 ran a pair of 12Au7 tubes....

    6moons.com - audio reviews: Unison Research Unico

    "Component of the Year 2002"

    "From our Italian peers of high style comes the suave, shockingly affordable Unison Research Unico 80-watt integrated with radio-frequency (i.e. wall-penetrating) remote and 12AU7 triode-based twin-tube input & MOSFET output stage. Then add the following: Sandblasted, very substantial natural aluminum fascia with wooden logo insert. Super-chunky yet immaculately contoured knobs with luxo action. Understated silver-gray silk screening. Wooden handset. $100 optional phono stage. Four inputs, one tape loop and dual-pair speaker terminals. All for a paltry $1,395 without phono..."


    [​IMG]
     
    Glmoneydawg likes this.
  24. Glmoneydawg

    Glmoneydawg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario Canada
    Unico DM mkii power amp here.Neutral,powerful and clean at all frequencies.If the integrated amp is similar it's a no brainer.I don't "hear" the amp,just the music...what else could we ask for?
     
    Slippers-on and jonwoody like this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine