In case you are not familiar with the name Unison Research, it is an Italian company in business for some 20 years or so at Treviso, a municipality just to the north of Venice, with a well earned reputation for producing some excellent hifi components. Dominic Marsh has a play with their Triode 25 valve amplifier. More »
Eunice Kron of KR Audio dropped us a line to tell us what she would be bringing to this year’s High End Munich show.
In case you are not familiar with the name Unison Research, it is an Italian company in business for some 20 years or so at Treviso, a municipality just to the north of Venice, with a well earned reputation for producing some excellent hifi components. Dominic Marsh has a play with their Triode 25 valve amplifier. More »
The Conrad-Johnson design team say they are particularly excited with the introduction of two new Classic amplifiers, the Classic Sixty-Two (CL62) and Classic One-Twenty (CL120). More »
The iTube2 is a tubed output stage; tube preamp; tube buffer and an impedance-matching device. Put the iTube2 before a solid-state preamp with another iTube2 after it to create the effect of tubing the whole audio chain. Or simply use the iTube2 as a preamp by itself. The iTube2 with trickle-down technology from the flagship ‘Pro’ series has been redesigned with new parts and new circuitry. Only the GE5670 tube remains. More »
The Lab12 pre 1 just arrived at Hifi Pig Towers and here it is being unboxed. We’ll be reviewing this valve preamplifier and you can WIN this very unit worth £1200 by visiting Hifi Pig’s stand at The Indulgence Show that takes place the 14th to 16th October at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith, London. All you need to do is pick up a postcard from our stand, or ask for one if you see us and follow the instructions to be in with a chance of winning! More »
Now in its 81st year, Quad has been making valve amplifiers for home use since the late 1940s. The company’s latest model, the VA-One, brings the concept bang up to date; a compact integrated amplifier that fuses Quad’s traditional valve-based audio expertise with modern digital audio streaming.
With a footprint measuring just 18x33cm, the VA-One is very compact for a stereo valve amp – sufficiently small to sit comfortably on a desk.
Three digital audio inputs – optical, coaxial and asynchronous USB – support data up to 24-bit/192kHz, and an RCA-phono input gives the option to connect an analogue source like a CD player or a turntable (when used with a suitable phono stage). In addition, those who enjoy the freedom of wireless connectivity can pair smartphones, tablets and computers via Bluetooth, with support for the sonically superior aptX codec.
The preamp section incorporates an ECC83 high-impedance triode, feeding an ECC82 twin triode driver and phase splitter stage. The output stage uses two EL84 pentodes per channel in push-pull configuration, delivering 2x15W.
External styling is classically Quad, finished in traditional ‘Lancaster Grey’. The amp’s front panel sports a smooth-acting volume control incorporating a motorised potentiometer, allowing adjustment via the supplied remote control, together with a headphone output and controls for input selection and Bluetooth pairing.
The Quad VA-One integrated valve amplifier is available from mid-August, priced at £1299.95 (RRP). It joins the similarly styled PA-One headphone amp in Quad’s expanding ‘One’ range of valve-based amplifiers with integrated DAC circuitry.
At £885 the Minute EL-34 valve certainly looks to offer good value for money with its separate power supply. Add another £150 and you get a full compliment of cryo’d valves. Ian Ringstead takes a listen. More »
The MQ-300 is a new generation of vacuum tube stereo amplifiers from LUXMAN that “uses the most thoroughly selected parts and circuits to maximise the performance and tonal quality of the latest direct heated triode – the TA-300B”. Following in the design footsteps of the MB-300 released 31 years ago, the MQ-300 combines traditional design with cutting edge technology. 
Since the foundation of the company 90 years ago, and the subsequent release of the MB-300, LUXMAN has pursued certain core principles for sound generation. These principles are embodied in the MQ-300 as ‘honest and natural sound quality, feeling the sound field without exaggeration’, ‘feeling the unity of sound with sufficient data for the whole audio band’ and to achieve ‘fatigue free listening enjoyment’. Expressing the original sound whilst bringing the spirit of each disk to life are qualities intrinsic to the MQ-300 and those principles.
Design History
The MQ-300 is based on the cosmetic design and circuit configuration of the MB-300, the renowned vacuum tube monaural power amplifier released by LUXMAN in 1984. The elements of traditional design and elegant tonal quality that is unique to the performance of the TA-300B, a direct heated triode, have been maximised in the MQ-300.
SPECIFICATIONS:
The MQ-300 is arriving in the UK later this month, with an RRP of ￡15,000.
Introducing Billie, the stereo amplifier that combines the precision of digital with the warmth of analogue sound in a Nordic minimalist aesthetic. An objet d’art designed with attention to detail inside and out, Billie brings back the transcendent ritual of listening, say the company launching it on Kickstarter.
“Our goal is to go beyond soundbars and bluetooth speakers, back to how music was meant to be experienced.” says Itai Azerad, Heaven 11 cofounder and designer. “We believe that the stereo system is still the best way to experience that ‘live in the room’ feeling. We’re not about ‘multi-room’, we’re about ‘in the room’.”
Named after Jazz Icon Billie Holliday, this amp plays ALL your music beautifully whether it’s from your phone, TV, Spotify or vinyl.
“We designed something for the pragmatic audiophile because we couldn’t find it out there. We built an affordable high-caliber amp that plays all of your music collection – be it vinyl, Hi-Res digital, line or wireless.”
Combining the detailed soundstaging of digital to the round, analogue smoothness of tubes, Billie features ICEpower amplification by Bang & Olufsen (120W/4Ω), 32bit/384Kh DAC, AptX Bluetooth, RCA, vinyl and Toslink inputs. It comes with a custom-built tube preamp and a powerful headphone amp. The amp is to be manufactured in Montreal, Canada.
Moving away from the current trend of generic design and disposable materials, Billie’s shell is made of thick, machined aluminium. The cool minimalist casing details are balanced by warm, crafted hardwood knobs.
“Design is not just aesthetics, it’s how we use an object, what the object communicates to us and about us. I believe a stereo’s design ought to be closer to an electric guitar than a cable box -what most stereos look like these days. An electric guitar is quite a functional tool, -not too many useless knobs on there- but it’s also such an intimate object, there’s a mystery about it, you gotta feel a connection, you gotta want to touch it.”
Billie is to be launched on Kickstarter mid-July at the special price of $595 US. After the campaign, the price will be $895/$995 US.
Heaven 11 Audio is a Montreal-based audio company founded in 2015 by Itai Azerad and Andre Keilani, two award-winning product designers with a lifelong passion for music.
Audio Hungary are a relatively new name to Hifi Pig and we first met them at this year’s High End show in Munich where they had their wares on display. This, the Qualiton A20i, is their entry level integrated amplifier. It is very compact, runs 2 x 20 Watts of Class A power and is based on classic push-pull topology.
It arrived, with little help from DPD, in a sturdy double (and surprisingly heavy) boxing, with the amp inside being very well packed indeed. The first thing out the box was the remote…wow, that’s heavy and really rather beautiful! Off with the valve cover to expose the tubes and the gleaming chrome body-work and that’s it all unboxed. More »
Eunice Kron heads up KR Audio Electronics located in Prauge, Czech Republic, a manufacturer of hand-crafted, high quality tubes (all glass is hand blown) and audio equipment. Hifi Pig goes Behind The Brands with her. More »
Tubes/valves hold a real fascination for audiophiles with many many using them and swearing by them. Here’s a selection of tubes we found at this year’s High End in Munich. Of course there were lots of rooms using tubes and most of the pictures you see here were taken on stands where we weren’t able to listen to them. Includes: Angstrom, LAB 12, Unison Research, Audion, Triode Labs, Tsakiridis Devices, Jadis, Acoustic Plan, Fezz Audio, Mastersound, Dared, Cayin, AudioValve, Rumee Audio, Remton
You can read our highlights series of posts here with loads more tube systems as well as solid state. More »
Aries Cerat have announced the completion of the Diana Series of amplification with the introduction of two new models, the Diana Forte amplifier and the Diana Mezzo, Class A pre-amplifier.
Diana Forte Stereo Power Amplifier
The Diana Forte’s circuits are based on the Diana Integrated amplifier output and driver stages. The Output stage is scaled up to deliver over twice the power, achieving 60W (70W peak) per channel. The parallel SET output stage is built around the 813 DHT big bottle tube. This in turn drives an oversized core OPT constructed using special winding techniques to deliver wide bandwidth at full power. 
The amplifier driver stage is the 814 DHT tube, loaded with a double-C core bifilar wound inter-stage transformer. The Diana Forte’s amplifier is connected to its accompanying Diana Mezzo pre-amplifier via Aries Cerat proprietary AC link. As with the Diana Integrated and the Concero amplifiers, all stages are coupled with the company’s AC link method of coupling.
The output stage PSU is a dual, completely separate set of choke-filtered capacitor banks using yhe company’s own Super-capacitors. The SuperCaps come from a selection of special purpose film capacitors with ESL and ESR parameters 100 times lower than any film or electrolytic capacitor.
The driver stage also uses choke filtered capacitor banks, with their own separate power transformer to avoid PSU cross-talk.
All tubes can be biased and monitored on the fly and can be matched using the Diana Forte as a stripped-down tube tester.
Specifications
Max Power: 60W SE Class A (70W peak)
Max Power bandwidth: 15Hz- 110Khz
Noise floor: 100db
Combined gain: X 20 (26db)
Dimensions: 570mmW X 590mmD X 350mmH
Weight: 110Kg unpacked
Tubes: 2X814, 4 X 813
Diana Mezzo Pre-Amplifier
The Diana Mezzo is an improved version of the Diana Integrated’s pre amplifier stage. At its heart, the Diana Mezzo is a Single Ended Triode amplifier boasting an 814 Direct Heated tungsten DHT.
The output transformer is a double-C amorphous core, bifilar wound OPT.
Signal attenuation is performed by a relay-switched array of resistors, in a shunt/ladder hybrid mode.
A pair of Xenon gas rectifiers are used as rectifiers of the High Voltage PSU.
These rectifiers were developed as drop in replacements for some well known mercury rectifiers when mercury was labeled unsafe. So while they present the technical characteristics of a mercury rectifier, they are safe to operate. The high speed capacitor banks are double choke filtered.
Filament PSUs are quadruple filtered using a cascade of choke/resistor-cap pi filters providing very low noise floor for the sensitive filaments of the DHTs.
Specifications
Gain: X7 (16db)
Attenuation level: 61 X 1db steps
Maximum signal input overload: 25V
Signal bandwidth @ 20Vrms: 10Hz-120Khz (-3db)
Dimensions: 500mmW X 350mmD X 340mmH
Weight: 55Kg
Tubes: 2 X 814, 2X 3b28
The new KR VA 200 monoblocks with the KR 842vhd tube application from KR Audio will be presented at the Melia Hotel in Milan for the Milano Hi-End show, Saturday and Sunday, April 2-3, 2016 in the Turchese room by Mr. Luigi Bocca of LAB Audio Technology Amministrazione as a world debut before the official presentation at the Munich Hi-End show next month, May 5-8, 2016 Halle 4, U08.
The VA200 is a circlotron with a Lundahl C-core output transformer. The driver stage is equipped with a depletion mode MOSFET transistors. The circuit is fully symmetrical with a differential input stage. The output tubes 8 x KR 842vhd per chassis) are fully auto-biased so no further adjustment is needed after replacement.
The new VA 200 monoblocks uses not only the KR hybrid circuit with the solid state first stage and the 8 x KR 842vhd tube application per chassis in the second stage, but is innovative for the design concept of the circlotron circuit or floating circuit giving the listener 200 watts.
Technical Data ( one channel )
Power Tubes: 8 x KR842
Output Stage: Circlotron, class A
Output Power: 200 WRMS (THD=1%)
Output Impedance: 4, 8 W
Frequency Response: 20Hz ¸40KHz (-3dB)
Global Feedback: zero
Input Sensitivity: 1VRMS / 100kW @ 200W
Power requirements: 230/115VAC , 50/60 Hz
Power consumption: 1kVA
Operating temperature: 5C° to 40C°
Weight: Approx. 40Kg
Dimensions including projecting parts and controls (w/h/d): Approx. 38.5 x 28 x 55 cm
The Silver Luna integrated valve amplifier from Polish company Fezz Audio uses EL34 tubes and costs £725 in Poland (and 1700,00 Eur for PRESTIGE export version) , which is something of a budget price for tube amp. Dominic Marsh takes a listen. More »
The PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium HP Integrated Amplifier at £2,998 is billed as a fit an forget valve amplifier that avoids many of the 
headaches traditionally associated with valve amp ownership. Ian Ringstead takes one for a spin. More »
Graeme Holland heads up Audion, a high-end valve amplifier manufacturer based in South West France, having traditional values and service, yet at the forefront of tube technologies. Now celebrating 25 years of supplying and creating high-end audio products, Audion goes from strength to strength. More »
The Glow Amp Two is a push/pull stereo tube amplifier producing 15 watts per channel, featuring EL84 power tubes. 
Like the Glow Amp One, it is assembled by hand, utilizing the point-to-point method.
Glow Audio say the amp has a “classic sound, has the punch of a good push/pull amp, without the graininess that is so characteristic of many push/pull amps in its price range. It has the sweet high end of the EL84, a tight, impressive bass output, and a natural sounding mid range. It sounds wonderful on a wide range of music.”
The retail price of the GLOW Amp Two is $1508 and will be available in February in either high gloss black or white.
Hi-Fi distributor Sound Fowndations has announced the addition of the CANOR TP134 valve amplifier to its portfolio of 
high quality audio components.
The CANOR TP134 is a high quality stereo integrated amplifier that uses EL34 output valves to generate 35 watts per channel operating in pure class A up to 10 watts per channel. The circuit boards feature patented CMT ™ (Canor Milling Technology) which means that areas of the circuit board are precisely removed to give the circuit similar electrical characteristics to one direct wired with air dielectric cables.
The TP134 features a high quality relay attenuator volume control which the company say provides a “more direct signal path with fewer contacts than typical volume controls leading to precise control and higher sonic performance”.
All control electronics, such as input switching and volume adjustment, are fed from a separate section of the power transformer and the control circuitry is only active when being used which Canor says avoids degradation of the sound quality of the amplifier.
Further the Canor TP134 boasts double copper foil shielding between the mains transformer to prevent mains noise from affecting the performance, a high capacitance anode power supply filtration providing “tight and accurate bass performance”, audiophile quality polypropylene capacitors in audio signal paths, custom designed bifilar wound output transformers “providing maximum power evenly across the entire bandwidth.
For the terminally lazy the TP134 is supplied with a remote control – Hifi Pig REALLY wants a remote control!
Price is £2495
Cary Audio of North Carolina have announced the new Constellation tube preamplifier from Audio Electronics by Cary 
Audio. The Constellation uses the 6SN7 tube running in Class-A triode mode which is coupled to a fully-regulated power and heater supply. The transformer is a custom R-core power device designed to Cary’s own specifications. The preamplifier was built with as a simple signal path with sonic purity in mind.
The Constellation preamplifier is currently available for purchase through Audio Electronics by Cary Audio’s online store or through your local Cary Audio dealer.
Weight: 22 lbs.
Dimensions: 13” L x 14.25” W x 7.5” H
Retail price: $1,495
Van de Leur Audio is a Dutch company who hand built high-end audio products and as from today, their website is open 
for visits in the English language.
Since the introduction of the Van de Leur Audio 002 tube preamplifier and their Audio 402 Class-D dual mono amplifier the company has received high praise and their high end audio products have been well received in the Dutch media.
Only the two products are in the range at the moment but we are assured a new product is very close to announcement.
Hifi Pig will hopefully have the amp and matching pre for review very soon.
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A Potted History Of The Rise and Fall and Rise Again Of The Thermionic Tube
Janine Elliot charts the rise and fall and rise again of the Thermionic Tube/valve in this fascinating and informative article.
More »