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Willsenton R8 Integrated Amplifier
I received my Willsenton R8 with EH 6550 output tubes a couple of days ago. I choose the EH 6550 tubes over the KT-88 because I like that tube. I have been listening to it both recreationally and critically in my great room with a mix of hard and soft surfaces. I am listening through a pair of JBL Northridge ND310’s. The source is from my iPad through an InnoMaker Bluetooth 5.0 Audio Receiver HiFi DAC aptX HD Streaming Music Adapter (384KHz/32Bit PCM5122). I am using the Willsenton R8 in power amp mode with the input on the Preamp Inputs through my Adcom GFP-565 Preamp - The tone controls are out and only the “contour” (loudness compensating function) is engaged on the preamp. I like the sound of Adcom’s contour implementation.
This is my first tube type power amp, but not my first high end power amp - I use a Phase Linear 400 in my bedroom also with an Adcom preamp and a somewhat smaller set of JBL speakers there. By the way I am a retired electronic engineer.
Initial Observations on the Willsenton R8 with EH 6550 output tubes in Ultra-linear mode:
(1) It is an amazingly heavy beast at just under 70 pounds - The weight is in the big transformers. Big iron means good low end audio response. Using a tone generator in my iPad via the Bluetooth link, it has good low end response at 20 Hz. The bass is very clean and solid.
(2) The sound is very clean. I have no trouble distinguishing very low audio level sounds from loud passages such as the click of the guitar pick on the strings in Chris Issak’s “Forever Blue” as he plays the guitar.
(3) The stereo imaging is very good on material with good stereo imaging present such as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Will the Circle Be Unbroken vol 2” which is relatively cleanly produced. This means the phase response of the amp and the rest of the system is very clean verses frequency.
(4) I can play my music relatively loud without it tiring my ears which means it is not noticeably distorting the sound from things like slew rate limiting or inter-modulation distortion and handles peak signals cleanly - something that a well designed tube amplifier is better at than most solid state audio amplifiers.
(5) The amplifier looks good and appears to be well made.
Bear in mind that what you get out of an audio system depends on the quality of the source material, the quality of the speakers, and the room acoustics. Also some people have “musical ears” and can hear nuances that others do not hear.
All in all, I am very pleased with the audio quality of my Willsenton R8 for the price. The only slight negative is that after being powered off and then later back on the input selection and Triode/Ultra-Linear functions go to their default rather than the last settings used.
Charles, USA
Date Added: 06/12/2020 by Ch**les Wh**e
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