2Dculture

I don't have your speakers but in my opinion is yes. They all have different sound quality. I've a bluesound2i and CXA81. Through this forum, met a fellow suburb who has an external dac but wanted hear the bluesound coz wanted to minimise the system and have multiroom streaming. So we swapped one afternoon. So I streamed and ran 1) Bluesound to CXA via RCA. So Bluesound is both streamer and DAC, CXA is power amp 2) Bluesound to CXA via digital coax. So bluesound is streamer and CXA is both DAC and power amp 3) Bluesound to external DAC via digital coax, external DAC to CXA via RCA. All component separate. Based on the above, sound quality and experience are good to better to best in the above order, i.e. 1, 2 and 3. I'm guessing the more revealing your speakers, the better the effect. I'm rather conservative and would go for the bluesound first. See if you appreciate the difference between the Bluesound DAC and CXA DAC. Once you know what is lacking and desire it, then find the DAC. Seems like there are a lot of good options for DAC around $1k to $1.5k. So you'd be spoilt for choice but you'd be looking for sonic characteristics by then *fingers crossed*.

Awesome amp. Have used both CXA80 and CXA81. I would say the CXA80 is easier to live with coz of the tone control and buttons! GLWTS!

I think your guess is right. Its been weeks since I sent the faulty 6SL7 back to China Hifi but I have always been running the signal from the pre out from my CXA int amp to pre-in on the R8. And I get the hum from the faulty 6SL7 tube at the associated speaker. Yes, volume control at the R8 does not work. Maybe should ask China Hifi if this is an error in their design. Or having the signal run thru the pre-in and via the pre-amp tubes, they are trying to do a partial Schiit Freya.

I get a bit of buzzing when I switch to pre-in with the stock Wilsenton 6SL7 tubes. When I went to another peramp tube, the buzzing went away but I had a faulty tube that hums. As Atmaj suggested, other input sources are ok. But that hum only came from 1 tube/speaker. The other tube/speaker was quiet. Will be interesting to see if anyone else tube rolling from stock 6SL7 will experience something different. When I get my replacement tubes back, I'll let you know as well.

If you can hear 1m from the speaker, its quite bad. I didn't get any unusual noise from the R8 when I first got it. Sometimes I get some type of feedback noise when I switch the RCAs between the terminals. But after turning the amp off and on (I need to bear in mind the 5 mins delay as advised by Atmaj), the sound goes away. There's a pre-out on the R8? There's a pre-in, which I connect from an external amp's pre-out. But no noise. However, after I upgraded my preamp tubes, there was a humming sound coming out from my right speaker after some time. Its quite faint and you need to put your ear near the speaker to hear it. Coz I do nearfield when working, I can hear it. Back then, the R8 was on my desk and sometimes the humming noise gets louder like when my laptop goes close to the amp. I contacted Yong and troubleshooted. Found out it was one of the upgraded preamp tubes. I never noticed before but when I moved my hand near the 'faulty' tube, the speaker will hum louder, like when my laptop was the near the amp I'm back on stock 6SL7 tubes and the humming is gone. As of now, I don't get any buzz, hiss, or hum. Once I detected a crackle or buzz? But only when I put my ear real close to the mid woofer cone and had to strain to hear the buzz. I previously get speaker pops a few seconds after turning on the amp. But Atmaj advise me to turn off the amp when music playing and let the music died out (usually 1 or 2 secs).. like gas BBQ =). No more pops since *knock on wood*. Have you tried troubleshooting? Is it from one speaker like me or both?

Looks really good! Was there a blue tinge on the power tubes or it was reflecting off something? Anyway, looks real classy. The missus came into my listening session yesterday evening and without asking, took my phone and keyed in her songs through spotify. Then stood in front of me and complained: why does the singer sound so far away? I stood up, walked to the amp and hit ultralinear. She was happy. Love the amp. So versatile. ?

OH... you got the smell too!!! hahahaha! It does have quite a smell. I quickly moved the box and all its packaging out of the room on the first day and the smell stayed on for 3 days!! After that, you don't smell anything unless you put your face near the tubes when its hot... which is always a good idea for an accident waiting to happening. I have upgraded the tubes but foresee very limited tube rolling. Too heavy on my wallet. But I noticed those from local shops are usually a few suspects. A kind forum fellow shared with me a link to an overseas site with more variety but I'm hesitant. Anyway, still enjoying the music.

Thanks for writing this. It has given R8 owners like myself more info on the amp that we can appreciate. It was a risk that we took buying an amp that is not from a dealer but my experience with Yong at China Hi Fi has been wonderful. I recently upgraded the preamp tubes and after a week or so, there was a humming sound coming from one of the speakers. Yong helped me diagnose the issue and now the faulty preamp tubes are being exchanged. Back to the R8. Its comforting to know that its well built. I wasn't expecting the R8 to be punching well above its weight but rather hoping it wasn't a unit that just reeks of people cutting corners. Well.. maybe a bit, like you pointed out in the warm up delay. Nevertheless, its value for money. Love the sound, love the package and its versatility. Pairs really well with my sonus fabers. I'm keen on your point 5 coz I ran the signal from my bluesound 2i (streamer) to cxa81 (DAC) to R8 (pre-in). Yes, the volume knob was not working but I felt there was difference in the sound and sensitivity. Now I'm running direct from the bluesound to R8 for the time being. Hope this thread can be a useful source of info on the R8. Maybe we can have our own discussion here after Thomas Stereo does his review of the R8?

Did'n't try but wasn't there another video on 'LOTS' by the same channel?, which is his speaker placement guide? Great concept but room is too messy. Need to clear the room first ?

With my limited experience, I noticed the entry level speakers are less fussed on power but the higher end ones need that little bit more kick. 140w to me is more than enough unless you're really pushing the speakers. But could be how loud you like your music. That said, I think most speakers respond better to better quality amps but coz of the SF sound and the colouration, the pairing is more important? On the air part, I think the speakers plays a part. The higher you go in the range, the music starts to change, I think the components like cables will help narrow the gap but after some time, you might hit a wall. I got a pair of pre-loved concertos and a pair of pre-loved guarneris. They are just different. Imaging, soundstage, transparency, air, etc. Pianos sound better on the concerto, strings sound better on the guarneri. Building the older SFs is like a black art.. can't get enough of them.

The challenge in my opinion is the difference between a 10k speaker and a 2k speaker. A 10k speaker will have different characteristic to a 2k speaker, and 5 different types of 2k speaker will not necessarily be equal to 1 -10k speaker. It just gives you different types of 2k sound. The way I listen to music is that I would prefer to keep listening to a good system because the sound will keep drawing me to listen more and more. So I will waste my money buying 4 other speakers because they will not be used that often or at all. Assuming I can tell the difference between a 10k speaker or a 2k speaker, I will choose the 10k speaker.

Hope you like it. I've been very happy with mine. Would be interested how you go with the EL34 tubes. I'm running the KT88s. I don't know what got into me but I subsequently ordered the preamp upgrades and they were good too. The setup matches really well with the SFs in my opinion.

Thank you. I recently changed the preamp small tubes and there was a remarkable difference.

Aww.. sounds like you're really enjoying yourself. That's wonderful to hear ? Do keep sharing.

Then my concertos are the grand daddy of entry level.. ahahahaha! I read somewhere the concerto range was the model to make the sonus faber range more accessible to main stream folks. Doesn't say entry level more than that. They tried to cut some corners to lower the price but the end result was sonically very good. People still praise the concertinos.

Hi Ravin, Always good to hear that you're enjoying your setup. I have a sonus faber setup. I have a pair of pre-loved Sonus Faber Concertos on my desk (old dining table that we no longer use for meals), with a Cambridge Audio CXA81 amp, Willsenton R8 tube amp, REL T7i sub and Bluesound 2i. I'm very happy and enjoy listening to the music. I like the Sonus Faber characteristic, like you said, no fatigue. Its intimate and musical and handles what I like to listen to very well. When I work, its nearfield listening. When I want to relax, I just roll back the chair for about a metre or so, and the listening experience changes. The sub is there and its turned on 1/4 of the time. When I work, the sub is off. The old Concertos also need some periodic external maintenance which I like to do.

This is so cool. Thanks for your thread. I'm another nearfield listener and spending more time at the desk of the COVID19. Having a larger desk does work. Family got a new dining table last year and now I'm using our 10 year old Norden dining table from Ikea (link below), where my speakers are parked at the 2 extreme ends and sitting on yoga pads. Its awesome. So much detail and wide soundstage. And if I kick back and move the chair backwards for a break from work, the music changes. Not suggesting anyone go buy a dining table but if you've got a spare one lying around... ? https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/norden-extendable-table-birch-80256407/

Tube rolling is rather expensive tho... keen to know from veterans here on where is a good place to shop for tubes. I received delivery of a Willsenton R8 and quite interested to experiment in the future but the prices are putting me off. Or is this just the name of the game?

Hi bbc802, not sure if you saw this video before. Was looking through his videos, saw this and thought of what you're experimenting. I'm sure your knowledge is more than this intro video but thought it was cool to share.

Perhaps not a song per se.. but I feel is good music to burn in the sub. Just leave on and walk away or stay for the music.

Amazing how you have preserved their condition and even the boxes. GLWTS1!

Thanks!! That was unexpected and brought a smile to my face. I've played the game a couple of times and never noticed.. but I never played with the subwoofer on.

Now that you mentioned it, I do recall from the speaker manual that the frequency measurements change when the tweeters align with the listener's chest and the listener's chin. The later produced a flatter response. I'm quite surprised at the changes you experienced when you isolated your amp. Out of curiosity, what are you isolating your amp from?

Thanks for the insights. My journey is way limited compared to yours.. My bookshelves speakers were resting on speaker stands and now isolated with yoga blocks sandwiched between the speakers and the stands. I think there is a difference in the imaging.. but could be just me, maybe its the extra height. But I'm happy I did it.

I'm running a pair of bookshelves with a separate sub (REL T7i too). Like Kevin said, setting up is straight forward. Reason I went this way and not floorstanding was because of the sub bass. If running passive floorstanding and I don't like the bass, I felt I will be screwed and I would then need to bi-amp or run an EQ to adjust to the way I like it. If I ran the REL, I could play with the crossover point and the gain level from the subwoofer. But that's my preference.