Thanks for the clarification. Now I'm really confused by reading all the reports in this thread of music sounding better by adding another preamp into the signal chain. Would that not just make the sound less transparent? Was LM 508ia's volume control really bottle necking and degrading the sound to such a degree?
I don't know that I have read many definitive reports saying that through their personal experience, a preamp added to the 508/805 would result in a noticeable benefit to the musicality of the system. I was wondering the same but really think that this is one of those, "you won't know unless you try" sort of things. I was in the process of adding a good preamp to the 805 but due to some unfortunate circumstance, the preamp did not arrive in great condition. That experiment will have to wait.
I ran a Mytek Brooklyn as a preamp for the 508ia and thought it sounded better than running the amp straight, but that also introduced a new phono pre and DAC into the mix so who can say? I could happily live with the Brooklyn/508 combo. I wonder what a Manhattan/508 combo would sound like.
The Mytek Brooklyn DAC probably has a good deal to do with that sound improvement. Nice combo to have!
One of Psavne Acme 805 tube went bad with distortion with bias reaching only 50mA instead of 120mA after use of just 7 days. I had tried to reach seller five times asking for replacement tube for 6 days. But he did not respond to my message at all. I had ordered tubes three times from him.. Previously, he used to respond to my inquiry within 2 days. Now I do not have any faith in reliability of Psavne Acme tube which is pretty expensive. I recommend you not to order any item from this terrible dealer. PSVANE Acme Serie 805 Vacuum Tube High-end tube Be
Thanks - Trying to decide whether to try the experiment again or to do something else (ie. add an REL sub to the system).. I have rolled tubes with the 805ia and have really enjoyed the effect that it has had on the overall sound. The preamp tubes had the greatest effect. I don't plan on doing anything with fuses however.
Ouch... Sorry to hear about that. Hope he does respond to you and fixes this for you. I ordered from Grant Fidelity. The new 805 tubes are fantastic so far. More transparency and airiness overall. Listening to well recorded piano tracks is an even greater treat than it was previously. Only about 15 hours on it so far though.
I am considering to buy 508 Acme via Ebay. Is it possible for me to meet the same Chinese dealer that you met if I ordered through Ebay?
With reliability issue not settled, I do not recommend you to buy Psaven Acme yet. Cossor Valve may be safer bet with 1/3 price but 80% performance.
I ordered three pairs of tubes from him last year. The dealer used to respond to my e-mail within 2 days with fast shipping. The Psavne Acme 805 tube went bad after 7 days of use. But with claim of bad tube, he stopped responding to me at all.. I sent him 6 e-mail within 7 days. Will Paypal refund be the best way to punish him? PSVANE Acme Serie 805 Vacuum Tube High-end tube Be Please note that both tube are made by same company Psvane. Cossor valve was league above from stock tube with refined bass and deeper bass. As soon I replaced Cossor Valve 805 with Acme 805 today, I noticed clear window of transparency and more details. It seem like I had inserted pre amp since the change was so drastic. The soundstage got wider with 3-d holographic with clear window. It had not been burnt yet so it may be possible to change its sound for the next 2 weeks. But the first impression is very positive. I will keep you informed of the progress. I also have pair of NOS United 805 tubes which I had not used yet. After Acme got fully broken in, I will also compare it with NOS United. Order Confirmation Thomas Kong, Thanks for shopping with us today! The following are the details of your order. Order Number: 11720 Date Ordered: Thursday 20 December, 2018 Products 1 xPSVANE Acme Serie 805 Vacuum Tube High-end tube Best Matched Pair (Psvane Acme Serie 805)$732.99 USD ---------Sub-Total:$732.99 USDFREE SHIPPING! (Free Shipping Delivery Charge.):$0.00 USDTotal:$732.99 USD Hello As usual, I expect you to ship it fast thanks United States Payment Method PayPa
I only buy expensive tubes from authorized dealers with good warranty policies. The best company I've ever worked with when I needed to utilize a warranty was Sophia electric. The second best, Grant Fidelity whom I have purchased my set of ACME 805 tubes from. I know that if something goes wrong, Rachel from Grant Fidelity will take care of the issue fast. Piece of mind is worth the few extra bucks they charge over an Ebay seller.
Yup. I purchased my Acme 805s from Grant Fidelity as well. She was very responsive and prompt to answer questions.
when i purchased the 805 a/t tubes from ebay chinese dealer, it didn't seem new at all and came with a lot of fingerprints on it. i sent it back for a refund and purchased them from tubeampdoctor in germany. i feel the ACME is a real upgrade for this amp rather than sound manipulation but it is also expensive and a new design so there is some risk to that. time will tell. i bought mine from grant fidelity as well.
Update on the situation. Since I was busy with some other thing, I had not filed complaint with Paypal yet. It seems that somehow the dealer read message belatedly (about 1 week later). If it works out fine, I will update it again. dear sir.sorry about that your email is in trash so we not received it we are read you email and with contact with you as soon. dear sir.if you received our message please send some picture to us we will deal with it tomorrow please don’t worry about it if it bad we will ship an New one to you thanks
I had exchanged e-mail with dealer. His virus program filtered any e mail with enclosed files to spam mails The dealer will ship new replacement 805 Acme tube on Monday. I will update the situation after I receive the 805 Acme tube.
I have not decided where to buy 805 Acme. I will wait and see until your updated situation makes me think it's safe to buy ACME.
Nothing new to report but I am still breaking in the 805 Acme's from Psvane. Listening to Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight and I am getting chills. Played through my Spendor D9's, this song is reproduced so beautifully and so organically. You can feel the emotion from this track - I mean, really feel it. The separation of the violin and the drawn out notes just conveys the pain of this song. Weird when songs get you emotionally but this setup allowed this song to be played in such a way that I was completely drawn in.
I will report after I am back to my home on 19th, Saturday. But it seems that the dealer try to do his best to help me with replacing bad tube. If I found the new tube to be good, then I can recommend this dealer to you with good price and fast shipping.
I also enjoyed Acme 805 while it was working well. After I am back to my home on 19th, I will try replacement tube which will be at my home by the time.
It is not cold around Seattle during winter time. But it rains too often. I will visit Disney World in Florida with my family next Monday. Then I will drive to Charlotte, NC to audition the following speakers on 18th, Friday. https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9980i-arion-audio-the-apollo-system-open-baffle-line-source-ful... I consider driving this high efficiency speaker (105db/W) with my Silbatone 300B SET amp. Silbatone Acoustics JI-300B Integrated Amplifier Review By Steven R. Rochlin I will report my impression after serious audition at his showroom with 300B SET monoblocks. I had landed around 30 states of United States. North Carolina and South Carolina are among the states that I had not visited yet. But this time I will go through it. I will have fun in Disney World and do audition this speakers seriously. It will be difficult to drop in the forum next week. If I can spare more time, it would have been nice to visit your place to listen to your Altec A7 speakers. Thomas
Thomas, If there was one person on this entire forum that I would love to hear my A7's with their associated equipment, it would be you. I can't tell you how they would stand up to the real WE speaker's that you had in consideration. I can't tell you how they would compare to the LM and different WE replica's or even WE inspired speaker's. It never was a contest, it was only me trying to reproduce the best sound that I could figure out how to do, nothing more. However, I retired early last month and no longer live in or operate a motel. The A7's and everything else that was in the photos are now being stored in two climate controlled warehouses. Sorry... but our timing is off by a couple of months. But, I would have loved for you to visit with me at the motel. Rumor is, that I'm a pretty decent cook too!
