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Michaelson & Austin TVA-10 power amp?

Ha. The veil of smoke may have lifted in a very different way: I have been offered an EAR 912. I wonder if it is a worthwhile step up from an 868PL. It comes at a price.

I know I have the quality source available: Amazon-Audio Reference TT with a Morch UP4 and a Benz Gullwing SLR.

If... and I mean if,... I do go for the 912, all dreams of an EAR power amp will go up in smoke. For now.
 
Had a TVA 1 Export back in the day driving ELS57s with a Meridian 101 pre amp.

Absolutely loved the system in fact I still have a hankering to go back. T

Unfortunately the TVA was 50% back at the repairers for one thing or another and in the end Eddie Fincham recommended I got rid. He admitted it sounded great but it had every likelihood of self combusting.

BTW I paid just over £650 new from a Hi fi shop in Dusseldorf
 
I'm surprised there are any TVA-10's still running. This can only be down to Tim's good design, and the few that were made safe and fitted with some protection, earthing etc. I remember doing about three back in the day.
 
Jesus. I thought that Tony L was just messing with me when he spoke of it going up in flames.

I am sure that the TVA-10 for sale has been fire-proofed.
 
Rosewind said:
Ha. The veil of smoke may have lifted in a very different way: I have been offered an EAR 912. I wonder if it is a worthwhile step up from an 868PL. It comes at a price.

I know I have the quality source available: Amazon-Audio Reference TT with a Morch UP4 and a Benz Gullwing SLR.

If... and I mean if,... I do go for the 912, all dreams of an EAR power amp will go up in smoke. For now.
Click to expand...

I'm lead to believe the 912 is something rather special, but you really need the best power amp possible to hear all that goodness...
 
You lot makes it sound more like a fire bomb than a power amplifier. Perhaps we need a new rating system for how powerful an amp is? Not watt but firepower.
 
scolarest said:
Had a TVA 1 Export back in the day driving ELS57s with a Meridian 101 pre amp.

Absolutely loved the system in fact I still have a hankering to go back. T

Unfortunately the TVA was 50% back at the repairers for one thing or another and in the end Eddie Fincham recommended I got rid. He admitted it sounded great but it had every likelihood of self combusting.

BTW I paid just over £650 new from a Hi fi shop in Dusseldorf
Click to expand...

Seems there were a few like minded souls back in the day ... I had a TVA 1 with Meridian 101 pre, partnered with Gale 401s and LP12/Grace/Supex. I thrashed the 1 on a daily basis for hours on end with no smoke or fire that I remember. Its only blip was a failed rectifier diode which cost pennies to fix. The TVA 1 black and chrome look perfectly complimented the Gales and the combo worked really well together. Good times :)

Mr Tibbs
 
Very interesting that it was happy driving Gales! As I’ve mentioned previously one of my friends blew up various allegedly powerful amps trying to drive his pair (early Naim 160, Lescon etc). I’m surprised any tube amp would take to the apparently reactive load.

PS He likes far higher volumes than I do, so that is likely responsible for some of the amp carnage.
 
Since I have this thread going, I might as well ask for advice here on a good vintage valve power amp that will go well with an EAR 912 and 85db / 4 ohm rated, 47 Laboratory 4722 Lens standmounts (maximum input: continuous 25 watts / peak 40 watts). My room is around 2,5 x 3,75 metres(c. 9 square metres) with speakers on the long wall (wall mounted) on either side of a window. The quality listening position is a triangle of 2,25 metres x 2,25 metres x 2,25 metres.

Obviously the Michaelson & Austin TVA-10 would be fine. But are there better options out there below the 1000£ mark, ideally as low as 400-500£?

Rogers Cadet III is probably too low in wattage (2 x 8-10 watts) and may not work well at 4 ohms?
Radford?
Leak?
Quad?
 
I had a demo at the time when I was running Concordant Quad II amps. Nothing I heard from the M&A made me want to change up.
 
EDITED:
Just delivered my EAR 868L to Troels Gravesen. He is going to use it in his workshop together with an EAR 861 that he has modified slightly to yield a better representation of depth. Sounded very good to me. It replaced a Troels Gravesen DIY valve power amp. He has sold that one on.

In his main system he runs a new EAR 912 that bettered an Air Tight preamp. I did not see his main rig so I will have to look up what he uses as a power amp: GlowMaster KT88 balanced power amp by SAC, Thailand. Here is a few links to his pages:
- http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/GlowMaster-KT88.htm
- http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Loudspeaker_Projects.htm#My_System (here he has typed in my 868L)
- http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/EAR-912.htm

I will want to wait for an EAR 861 and see if I can coax Mr. Gravesen to repeat his mod on it.

What to get in the meantime is still an open question.
 
G T Audio said:
I'm surprised there are any TVA-10's still running. This can only be down to Tim's good design, and the few that were made safe and fitted with some protection, earthing etc. I remember doing about three back in the day.
Click to expand...

I can't comment on the M&A amps other than what I've already said.

There seems to be some use of TVA-10 and TVA-1 interchangeably here. Very different amps AIUI. I've never seen a TVA1 but am led to believe it used completely different power valves ( ( KT66/88?) c.f the TVA 10's EL34.

There is no reason on Earth why any number of Papworth TVA10s should not still be running. As I said above they are very well built. There are no earthing problems.. except that the first one I sold was grounded to 'true' earth which produced a hum/buzz on the customer's system. Eddy explained to me that this 'true' earth or whatever. (Can you tell I'm not an Electronics wizz?) was demanded by far Eastern customers. Eitherway, Eddy sent me a suitable resistor with instructions for how to fit it to the earth, thus lifting the earth 'above ground' as it were. It cured the problem. That was 20+ years ago and the amp in question is still in daily use in a very fine system a couple of houses away from here.


Mull
 
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