Making of a 801A / 211 Amplifier, Part 4: Listening

Hi!

Here some impressions of the  211 mono blocks, finished in a silver, black and white color scheme:

Although the 4 chassis take up significant floorspace (each chassis is 43cm wide and 31cm deep) fitting everything in was quite a challenge. Especially the power supplies are darn heavy. But the result is definitely worth it.

A close up of one of the amplifier sections:

The power supply of one channel:

Although the amplifier combo is quite large the white transformer covers and caps help to give a less overwhelming look when the set sits on the floor in front of the speakers:

A view from the side:

Some more photos:

So much for the looks, but how do they sound ?

Readers of my blog now that I am a bit reluctant to give sound descriptions of amplifiers that I built. After all the sound perception is quite subjective. So take these with a grain of salt.

Having built many different amps, I am not easily impressed by anything new. But these amps catched me by surprise. So far the flea power 45 has been my favourite output tube, with it's extreme finesse and colourful sound. But these 211 beasts are fully up to par to a 45 in the finesse and color arena! This is thanks to the Elrog tubes. I have noticed this feature of the Elrogs before when listening to them. But in these amps they fully show their potential. All the magic of the 45 but combined with the authority of 10 times the power.

The bass these amps reproduce is simply stunning. Even with the humble Haigner Rho speakers, the room is filled with the lowest registers. Fully controlled bass notes with fine details I have not heard before. The amps excel in layering the sound so that each voice or instrument can be easily picked out and followed. Yet everything plays together well integrated.

Voices are reproduced with full emotional impact. In a short summary: These are simply the best amplifiers I have built to date.

Best regards

Thomas