Nat Audio - giant killers?
- Thread starter spiritofmusic
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With the Lampi GM70 and Tektron GM70. Laid back, musical sound, whether you get midbass or not will depend on the speaker. Have done compares to other SETs on horns Universum
Hi everyone, been a bit busy configuring the new room, and eagerly awaiting return of my NATs SE2SEs w new set of biased tubes
Re the comment on variability of parts, yes that does sound strange and potentially unsatisfactory
Not quite up there w the Lexicon debacle of a few yrs back, and reliable reports I've heard of a hugely respected, and huge price tagged, US uber amp manufacturer, w truly shoddy internals/wiring/soldering, and a make of again much lusted over super spkr w impossible to believe QC issues and choice of bargain basement parts
Maybe Dejan really is a bit of an artist and chef who can generate magic in lots of ways
Or maybe every individual component sounds a tad different from the next
All I know is that my Utopia pre and SE2SE 211s are truly stellar, but yes, maybe i AM a tad concerned about any need for factory service
Re the comment on variability of parts, yes that does sound strange and potentially unsatisfactory
Not quite up there w the Lexicon debacle of a few yrs back, and reliable reports I've heard of a hugely respected, and huge price tagged, US uber amp manufacturer, w truly shoddy internals/wiring/soldering, and a make of again much lusted over super spkr w impossible to believe QC issues and choice of bargain basement parts
Maybe Dejan really is a bit of an artist and chef who can generate magic in lots of ways
Or maybe every individual component sounds a tad different from the next
All I know is that my Utopia pre and SE2SE 211s are truly stellar, but yes, maybe i AM a tad concerned about any need for factory service
There is nothing in them that can't be worked on by a competent technician who is well versed in tube circuitry. There must be some guys around that can do this without trying to send them to NAT. A guy I know in Germany had all of his NAT amps serviced/upgraded by a good German technician/engineer. I have a guy here in Switzerland who is a wizard with this stuff, so if it breaks I know where to take it and it is only an hour drive.
Peter of Alternative Audio returning my retubed/biased Se2SEs on Wedn, plus installing my upgraded Soundsmith Straingauge
Woo-hoo!
For first time in 12 months I'll be up and running listening to music again
My new room is showing immense promise, already stupendous even w mismatched gear and non optimised setup to kick off
Who sang "it can only get better"?
X1000
Woo-hoo!
For first time in 12 months I'll be up and running listening to music again
My new room is showing immense promise, already stupendous even w mismatched gear and non optimised setup to kick off
Who sang "it can only get better"?
X1000
Congratulations Mark, hopefully you will have a system and sound worthy of Mahavishnu at full tilt.
All the best.
And 12 months is waaaaay too long to be without your system. A friend of mine was without his for about the same period while he built a house, never again he told me after his tunes were restored. Did you develop any twitches during the process?
All the best.
And 12 months is waaaaay too long to be without your system. A friend of mine was without his for about the same period while he built a house, never again he told me after his tunes were restored. Did you develop any twitches during the process?
Hey Sencha, good to hear from you
Yes, I shall be loosening the rocks in my ears w some Birds Of Fire and Lost Trident Sessions in the first couple of days
Ditto re being away from music, a chastening experience
However, it was well worth it for an upgrade I'd have shelled out anything for had I known it's worth
12 months and £50k was a price well worth paying
You're v welcome to visit if you can find the time for a couple of days in the Norfolk countryside
Bring yr first pressing vinyl Inner Mounting Flame
Yes, I shall be loosening the rocks in my ears w some Birds Of Fire and Lost Trident Sessions in the first couple of days
Ditto re being away from music, a chastening experience
However, it was well worth it for an upgrade I'd have shelled out anything for had I known it's worth
12 months and £50k was a price well worth paying
You're v welcome to visit if you can find the time for a couple of days in the Norfolk countryside
Bring yr first pressing vinyl Inner Mounting Flame
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No problem, Mahavishnu, RTF and Electric Miles on the playlist already
Check out Mahogany Frog, my new retro futuristic fusion/prog/plain crazy faves
My GF will insist we come up for air every so often
Munich? Maybe
I very much want to hear the new $30k Zu Experiences flagships being launched at the show, plus gems like the Aries Cerat Symphonia horns planned to be showing
Check out Mahogany Frog, my new retro futuristic fusion/prog/plain crazy faves
My GF will insist we come up for air every so often
Munich? Maybe
I very much want to hear the new $30k Zu Experiences flagships being launched at the show, plus gems like the Aries Cerat Symphonia horns planned to be showing
Sencha, apostrophe alert! Check Ron's thread on General forum
Zus not Zu's LOL
I'm pretty guilty a lot of the time
Don't hold yr breath for a good room, last show Zu were shoehorned into a cramped space w the German distributor
It's a world launch rollout, so I'm hoping for better
One thing you can be sure of, Sean will play some of the best music at the show, audiophile plinky plonky crap will be barred
A big reason to make the visit is to hang out w Sean, he's just a bundle of energy and technical know how
Zus not Zu's LOL
I'm pretty guilty a lot of the time
Don't hold yr breath for a good room, last show Zu were shoehorned into a cramped space w the German distributor
It's a world launch rollout, so I'm hoping for better
One thing you can be sure of, Sean will play some of the best music at the show, audiophile plinky plonky crap will be barred
A big reason to make the visit is to hang out w Sean, he's just a bundle of energy and technical know how
In some ways I have never heard anything else like it. It had a presence that stands out in my mind more than 10 years later. I did not have to think about the sound in normal hifi terms...it transcended that. It was also with Wavac preamp but I don't remember the source but it was not analog.
The speakers were quite special too; all ceramic drivers that I normally dislike but in this setup there was no hint of "whiteness" that I often heard with speakers using this kind of driver.
Wow...i did consider Wavac 805s many years ago, but could not get comfortable with the vendor and passed. In any event, know someone who had the big Wavac 833 Mark 2...the 4 box and kept it for YEARS after it bested over a dozen or more SOTA amps of every make, shape, size. Only after many years has he gone within the last year to the Vitus Masterpiece Reference Series.
Peter of Alternative Audio, my NATs dealer, has spent the day reinstalling my NATs SE2SEs (rebiased with a quad of NOS '49 GE VT4Cs)
Gosh, after a year w'out my music, the jump back in w these amps is quite something
NATs really have this addictively substantial sound, just solid but fleet of foot as well
No doubt you are drawn to the power of the lower mids and low registers generally, but then you notice the freedom further up the frequency band, and realise these amps really have a natural weight and open airiness that is extremely hard to match
Gosh, after a year w'out my music, the jump back in w these amps is quite something
NATs really have this addictively substantial sound, just solid but fleet of foot as well
No doubt you are drawn to the power of the lower mids and low registers generally, but then you notice the freedom further up the frequency band, and realise these amps really have a natural weight and open airiness that is extremely hard to match
It is one of the amplifiers that attracts my curiosity - the Wavac SH833. The 833 is really the king of the DHT's. Do you know what were the speakers being used with the Wavac SH833's?
I think you could do better than GEs, Marc. Really annoyingly Amperex are quite considerably better in my amps. I say that because scoring a set is hard. I actually own 7, so have some not for sale spares.
I had something like 28 NOS 211 tubes at one stage. GE, RCA, United Electronics, Chinese, Amperex etc. Have sold a few (2 maybe LOL?) now though.
I had something like 28 NOS 211 tubes at one stage. GE, RCA, United Electronics, Chinese, Amperex etc. Have sold a few (2 maybe LOL?) now though.
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Someone on the Gon has triamped SH 833 MkIIs, costing well over 600k. Someone posted a comment on his thread asking him what his upgrade path was
Hard to say how they compare sonically. I have my reservations about the 833 tube, it is not a terribly linear triode (ok neither is the 6c33c but sounds good). I haven't heard this amp model from Wavac...only the HE805.
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