Line Magnetic LM-845 Premium

[sonduciel]

I thought I'd see if I could "wake up" this thread. I'm new to tubes and new to Line Magnetic. I know only one other owner of the LM 34ia, which is basically their entry level integrated amp. My experience with it has been outstanding. I demoed the Rogue Cronus Magnum II and the Primaluna Evo 300, and with my Tekton speakers, the LM was the clear winner. Perhaps I'll consider stepping up to one of the juicier models in the future, like the 805 or 845.

[Formerly YB-2]

Before 'stepping up' to an 845 or 805 tube you might want to do some research on the tubes. Limited choices and fairly expensive. A good KT88 based integrated amp makes 75wpc in UL or 40wpc in triode.

[sonduciel]

The amp I have now, model 34ia, already has the capability to accept KT88 tubes, as well as EL34/KT77's. It comes with the EL34's, but has an EL34/KT88 toggle switch. In addition, it has individual manual bias adjustment for each tube. I was thinking my next step up could be the Genelex Gold Lion Kt77's. I have heard these have some of the extra punch of the 88's, but retain a lot of the mid-range presence of the EL34's, kind of a compromise. What has been your experience with KT88's, vs. other tubes, and in what equipment have you used them?

[Formerly YB-2]

Of that genre of new tubes my favorite is the Tung-Sol 7581a followed closely by the GL KT77. They are, like the EL34, an excellent tube for the mid-range if you are into voices, classic jazz, chamber music and the like. The GL KT88 is the best tube in my current amp, which is rated at 20wpc in triode (where I also run the EL34 genre tubes at a lower bias setting - likely makes around 15wpc with them). I find the KT88 to offer a bit more "authority" in lower-mid and down and only just a bit less tone with voices. I also found it to be the best tube in a couple of McIntosh amps I used (MC75 monoblocks & MC275IV). The GL small signal tubes are also very nice sounding (12AX7, 12AU7, etc.) though there are many others at reasonable prices, including NOS.

Before I forget, there are some nice tubes listed at very fair prices in the classifieds here. I've purchased several and they are just as Joe describes.

[sonduciel]

Good tips. Thanks for the feedback. I'll check out the classifieds at some point. Right now, I am auditioning upgrades to the pre-amp tubes. I have a couple of Brimar NOS black-plate 12AU7's (1953) from Brent Jessee. Still waiting for them to break in. Initially they are warmer and very musical over the OEM tubes, but a little dark or even murky at times, in terms of detail loss. I am told that should disappear after 60 hours or so. They actually do sound better today than they did yesterday, so we'll see.