Been 3 days now since the amp arrived. Still in the box. Kid tried opening the box but gave up Will be reviving the stereo setup tomorrow. Been a while since the stereo was used as stereo. Moving from emotiva to crowns to the R8 for power amp. Still hope to keep the emotiva pre amp unless the R8 beats it silly. For those who have not heard of the shuguang or psvane tubes, based on reviews on thr internet, it's rave reviews and goes head to head successfully with gold lions. I am just an expat in Hong Kong so not looking to promote / peddle Chinese stuff I had used psvane matched pair on a tube buffer I had previously between the DAC and pre amp. Sounded pretty good.
Very thoughtful look at some tubes for the R8. Ordered up a whole new front set, should be here in a few days.
Throwin up some masking tape to get a sense of where and what color I want the stripe. It’s gonna be hopefully tasty side stripe using gray and silver with some expensive amber color I have for those dodge wheels. Stuff was 80 dollars for four ounces. I use it for my work , so no I didn’t buy it for this. when I stripe it , I will clear the whole thing so I bury the stripe. If it sucks I’ll try something else
This is my old vintage amp I did. It was gray primer when I got it. I like stripes That’s dog bed at the bottom
I love the detour this thread is taking . R8: $$ peanuts (relatively, in hi-fi terms) Valves: $$$$ second mortgage Customisation possibilities: partner exasperation territory I did joke to a friend about getting the valve cage repainted in a glorious deep, rich, red. It doesn't seem quite so funny (or mad) now... Maybe China hifi Audio is missing a trick: optional paint jobs for the cage!?! I can already see the options: Basic R8 unit: $900.00 Single alternative paint colour: $400.00 Special sprinkly sparkly pimp-my-cage paint: $900.00 There has to be a TV show in this somewhere...
Straight up 6 hours of work to pull everything apart, clean stuff and then plug the basic connections for player, dac and thr R8. Straight off the bat, sounds very nice. There is space between instruments, the bass I loved loved loved. Never knew my speakers could sound so nice when bass is concerned. Unbelievable difference compared to my previous setup. Have yet to complete the setup of my pre amp to compare which is better. Have to look at the filters in the dac and also see how things sound and also have to see the difference when playing via USB.
In just a few minutes, verrryyy positive. Yet to complete the remaining cabling Will post details once done.
Tube Lab guy says the R8 sounds "awful" with the tubes that come with it. Is that correct? Can a few owners give me their impression?
Hello I never used the default tubes. When I ordered, I have upgraded the tubes. Psvane and shuguang is what I switched to. My first tube amp so I cannot say much.
I think he has played with so many vintage tubes it's easy for him to say that. For me, the R8 sounds ok with stock tubes, and significantly better with tube rolling.
Not heard R8 it yet but relatively, yea it will. I’ve tube rolled amps and preamps, there is a good difference. This does not mean with stock tubes it sucks or is just too lousy to listen to.
Long post but wanted to share the day 1 Here is what I came away with in the first hour of listening. Gear - Synilogy NAS as the source, Teac UDH501 DAC, R8 as pre and power amp triode mode. Axiom M100 speakers. Others - entry level Chinese brand (but then, so is the R8) power conditioner Cables are exclusively Mogami gold across interconnects and speaker cable. No room treatements, have a huge glass French window next to one speaker. Overall, I found the amp (pre amp and power amp) quiet pleasing. The wife let me play music close to midnight. So it must be something nice. There was a few other songs but I was not allowed to play much so I will not comment on them. Overall Triode mode seems acceptable to family. , Am writing this in between tracks so I do not forget. Song #1- deep purple smoke on the water (made in Japan)... The opening riff came across with solid punch and the lead was believable. Wide Soundstage. Song #2 - dire straits you and your friend... This is a great song and I especially love the lead here. Very very believable that it is a guitar string that's being struck here. There is depth to the various notes in this piece. Thretens to overwhelm but kept me on thr edge and never became harsh but never backed down as well. Song #3 - dire straits - your latest trick. The opening sax blew me away. Hits like a tonne of bricks but never overwhelming. "bottle's empty and theres nothing left" this never came across soo clear (maybe am a bowery bum) Song #4 - is an Indian song (am Indian). Damn sounded freaky. Song #5 - Joe cocker - - - - - ( you guessed it ) unchain my heart!! Opening piano riff sounded like it is a piano right here. I know because my kid plays the piano. The drums kick in with energy and midrange with drums is so so clear and the attack of each hit is just perfect. So right there. Oh and thr husky voice Dang this. All the way through, the R8 handles all this with poise. Song #5 - judss priest - blood red skies. A bit underwhelming given the past track record. I did not feel the drums. Quierlt frankly, the hit was simply not there. I did not wait for the rest of the song. Song #6 - Boney M - MA baker. The song was throughly enjoyable. Even the kiddo was swaying. Energy and rhythm was portrayed very well! Song #7 - norah jones - come away with me. Opening crash of thr cymbals is quiet believable. There is separation of the different notes in the resonance of the cymbals but, there is still a bit of a compression. Not roomy enough. Vocals come across well. Overall Triode seems acceptable to family members. The UL mode is probably in the face and not so much enjoyably. Bass freaks will enjoy the believable bass. Midrange is where this unit really shines. Each strike of the snare drums is clear and strikes out. Attack and decay of notes is good. Read above. Piano notes are very believable. Had a lot more umbers in the list but familiy us back home so,
It's one person's opinion. I didn't like Willsenton KT88 valves, nor did I like the Willsenton 6SL7 valves but that's simply another opinion and down to personal preference. If you look at the thread from the start, an ever widening range of different tubes are mentioned by different R8 owners, myself included. All anyone can offer is a brief explanation as to why a particular tube did or didn't work for them. In my case... Willsenton KT88s: too bass heavy Willsenton 6SL7: a hard edge in the upper mids or thereabouts That doesn't make them "awful"; it's just how it sounded to me and I preferred a different audio presentation. Another example relates to the Genalex Gold Lion KT77s (EL34 alternative). Posts in this thread show some R8 owners love them but, at least on first listen, I found them to be too dark and currently have Tung-Sol EL34Bs inserted. At some point, I'll try the KT77s again but perhaps with different 6SL7s and/or 6SN7s. In short, there's no right or wrong. It's finding the right setup that sounds right for you and that might mean a bit of trial and, annoyingly, error. Whatever your setup, happy listening!
Could it be that particular recording / master? Also, it might be worth trying ultra linear mode just for rockier music in your setup. I listen to a fair chunk of classic/melodic rock which sounds rather lovely in ultra linear mode but somewhat lacking in immediacy and sounding a bit "anaemic" in triode mode (in my setup). Just a heads up; if you're using KT88s in ultra linear mode, it might be bass heavy depending on the synergy with the rest of your setup. But, glad to hear there's plenty of other material coming across so well.
This is terrible. Will never get anything done at this rate. All I am doing is playing music. The pre amp on the R8 does compress a bit compared to the emotiva pre amp. Listening to pink floyd dark side of the moon. The speakers disappeared. I was actually looking at each speaker to catch a part of the music being directional but could not. The notes linger around just a wee bit more. It's like each note is being projected in front before being replaced by the next. This is especially true for piano and guitar. If this amp is long lasting, it is certainly money well spent!
