845 questions
 

Can someone give me the rundown on 845 based amps in general. Overall sound qualities of the 845, state of the current market for spare tubes, desirability etc. I have never heard one but I am toying with the idea of buying a new tube amp and ran across some 845 ones that look interesting.

Does anyone think that they would be a bad match for the Focal in my sig, considering they work great with the 30w Luxman driving them now? I would use an AI L3 as a pre.

Thanks

Hey, BeerCan,

I enjoyed an Art Audio Carissa 845 amp for a couple years. This was about ten years ago and I still can't get the sound out of my head. The tone, detail and resolution was the best I have had. I ran it with a deHavilland tube pre and Klipsch Forte speakers (3.2ohm low in the bass with a 12" woofer).

It's been a long time and auditory memory is short but I know it made beautiful music and if budget permits someday I will get another 845 amp. I will say that if I was looking for one I would probably get it from deHavilland Audio.

Samac
Thanks for the reply. I really got it in my head to get the 845 or 300b. 845 appeals to me more for some reason even though I have heard neither.

Good info that it drives the Forte with a 3.2 ohm impedance in the bass, that is similar the the Focal which bottoms out at 3.3. I am close to making a decision on this and really hope I choose well.

I've never listened to a 300b amp. From what I understand the 300b is known to have even better tone than an 845 but the 845 wins the day in regards to muscle. Good luck with your decision and keep us posted.

Cheers,

I used & still own a Yarland 845Pro. Fantastic single ended amp sold at a good price (about $2,500USD), but be prepared to spend more money tube rolling as the stock tubes are ordinary & need immediate replacement for the amp to do its magic.

BeerCan,

I forgot to ask, which ones are you considering? Line Magnetic has some interesting 845 amps that I would like to hear.

Cheers,

Stay tuned . . . :D

Wow 300B and 845 tubes can really get up there in price huh? Forget gold, invest in NOS 845's

Ok, will do. I used current production 845s (Shuguang) and a pricier one that I can't recall. From the sound I was getting from them I felt no desire to look into NOS tubes.

Looks like current production Shuguang run between $200-$300/pr. Not too bad.

I'm using Absolare SET monoblocks with 845s to drive Magico Q7mkII (94 dB) speakers.

The sound is sublime.

I went crazy as I am known to do and traded a bunch of my stuff to get some new tube amps. Both SET one a pair of 300b mono's built by Larry Moore that I have now, and a pair of 845 mono's built by Pure Sound.

300b's so far sound very good, I am digging getting back into tubes again (for the 10th time lol).

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M...0924151845.jpg