Description
very unique and rare incorporating high-quality components, beautiful Italian craftsmanship, designed by Luciano and Cesare Sanavio and exclusively built by the company MastersounD under the VAIC brand name*. Transformers, materials, and electronic design were a combination excellent choices. *brand rights and distribution (official sales) were not by MastersounD, but Vaic Valve (VV, Czech, predecessors to the current KR Audio Electronics products) and Vaic Audio respectively, later sold under the Ayon brand by Living Sound (Austrian company) between circa 1999 and 2002/3. price of new piece was more around 7000 Euros! „2 in 1“ - single-ended triode pure Class-A (operation with 0 negative feedback, valve rectification in the power supply) power amplifier, and active line-level preamplifier, which are totally separate circuits, so it can be used as an integrated amplifier (preamp+power amp) with volume control and source selection, or power-only amplifier by using the „Direct“ stereo line input which bypasses (takes out of circuit by means of relays) the volume pot and line-level gain stage altogether (in which case signal feeds directly into driver tubes - i.e. larger tubes in the middle), used with an external line-out preamplifier of your choice. power: 25 Watts per channel at 8 & 4 Ohms (one of the most powerful SET integrated amps ever made ! - much higher power than a typical 300B amp thanks to parallel power/output tubes configuration (i.e. pair for each channel, i.e. 4 tubes all together !) and very special power/output tubes used, thus it can drive low-efficiency speakers which other 300B SET amps cant, and in comparison to similar high power Japanese SETs, seems almost cheap) remote control: included (new price was ~175 € ! for volume control) tubes complement: -output/power*: 2 pairs of 300B type AVVT (Aleša Vaic Vacuum Technology) / Vaic Valve AV 302B SL (out of production, price was around 500€ per piece !) - modern high-performance version of the normal 300B (21 Watt in maximum conditions per tube !) with extra cooling plates and larger filaments, sounding much more open top end and much better bass, super long life (10 000 - 40 0000 hours), unique Super-Linear Patent (AVVTs patented ribbon filaments with 16 flat surfaces for more linearity), high quality hand built, bulb is larger, unbreakable hard-glass, anti-microphonic suspension in tube top, ceramic UX4 socket with gold plated pins, ultra high vacuum, thermionic, „Like new“ sound almost the entire lifetime!I have 1 spare brand new (NOS) power/output tube for sale for 450€ (value nowadays ~650 € !) -driver: 2x 6SN7 type 5687WB (twin/dual/double triode) allow the 300B to be fully driven without the effects of slowing down and rounding the bass usually found in amplifiers with 6SN7 type drivers, have exceptional musical characteristics - delivers crystal clear sound with a warm and robust tonality, equally impressive technical specifications boasting a low noise floor and high gain -pre-driver/preamplifying: 2x 12AU7/ ECC82 type - premium version original TESLA military production ECC802S (twin/dual/double triode, replica of the famous Telefunken ECC802S - rare and special, one of the leaders of the 12AU7 family with different internal construction compared to other 12AU7 tubes - longer plates and more solid structure, highly reliable, low noise and microphonics, vibration and shock proof, tight tolerances, extra long life (over 10 000 operating hours), produced in former Czechoslovakia ( now Czech Republic) in the 1970s, sound very quiet and musical, liquid, very tight and controlled bass with very transparent top, balanced and lifelike with great in-room presence, leans more to the accurate side of the spectrum but without any harshness, good speed and tempo *a wide variety of alternative tubes can be used, like 300B, TJ 300B/n, AD100, 320B-XLS, 320, 32B, 520B, etc. inputs: 4 line (CD, Tuner, Aux, Direct*), input impedence: 100 K Ohm outputs: 2 lines (monitor, source) speaker terminals: for spades and/or banana plugs, separate taps for 4 and 8 Ohm speaker load impedance (selectable) volume potentiometer: ALPS (conductive plastic - noiseless, DC servo motor remote controlled) output/SE top-class Mastersound custom made double potted transformers specially from Litz wire (!), leading to wide bandwidth - 15 Hz - 50 kHz (- 0dB), dynamics and outstanding detail. very well controlled start of power tubes: slow start of filament voltage, then after 10 seconds pre-glow, HV will switch-on of the power tubes, then analog electronic circuit will provide slow ramp-up of the plate current (5 seconds) after applying high voltage. output tubes are heated with DC, thus the absence of hum adjustable tube filament voltage and bias voltage all signal functions switched by signal relay board, operated with stabilized DC voltage internal fuse + external fused. Mains fuse can be replaced by user electronically stabilized DC power supply for infrared receiver deck plate and front plate are rhodium plated! (today rhodium is more expensive than gold) - this gives a beautiful shine, and will not scratch (it is a hard metal, so even when wiped off many times unprofessional, still the amplifiers should shine like new). Wooden sides and remote control unit are piano laquered. robust original spikes with rounded bottoms sound: quotes from review by Stereophile magazine of the 300B SE model (with only 2 power tubes, so much lower output): “very wide bandwidth...That quality may indeed have stemmed from a superior approach to designing and making output transformers. ..enjoyably open sound, with a better-than-average—if not the absolute best degree of realistic detail and texture...musically expressive. Melodic and rhythmic nuances remained largely undistorted, and the amps sense of flow was satisfying. Tonally, it was surprisingly uncolored overall: Hobbyists looking for a decidedly warm, sweet sound will be better served by other SET amps, while those who cherish tube amplification for other reasons, and who prize timbral neutrality above all else, will find much to enjoy in the 300 B SEs performance...nice tone and an above-average sense of flow... https://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/208mast/index.html ) dimensions (width x depth x height): 51 x 40 x 25 cm weight 34 kg mains voltage: 220-230delivery costs: rough estimate, will be specified exactly depending on the delivery address
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