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Eico HF-87 & HF-89

soundmotor said:
:saywhat:

We both agree they are tube amps but really, the similarities are thin.

8B

Pentode input
Fixed bias
CLC PS filter

Eico HF-87

Triode input
Self bias
CRC PS filter
Click to expand...
Give me a break already! If you look at the HF-89, which is what I have mentioned more than once now as being the more similar of the two designs:

[Eico HF-89]
triode input <- Yes this is a difference, and I already admitted so!
Differentail Driver/ Phase Spitter (6SN7)
Push pull output
EL34 Output tubes
Ultralinear configuration
Fixed Bias output stage

[Marantz 8b]
pentode input <- Yes this is a difference, and I already admitted so!
Differentail Driver/ Phase Spitter (6FQ7 = virtual electrical equivalent to the 6SN7, but in a different shaped package)
Push pull output
EL34 Output tubes
Ultralinear configuration ( <- but optionally switchable to triode mode on this amp)
Fixed Bias output stage

The Power supplies are completely different designs too. Again, as I already admitted. But I guess that 5 out of 7 points of similarities in the topologies noted above count for nothing in your book.

Now can we please simply agree to disagree about the similarites (and differences) in the amplifier circuit topologies (I have never said that there was a tremendous degree of similarity to the power supplies), and leave this alone? Please???
 
goldear said:
The Power supplies are completely different designs.
Click to expand...

I think solid-state rectifiers and voltage doubler circuit counts as two more similarities. That wasn't all THAT common.

So I'm counting 6 of 8, or even 7 of 9.

But c'mon you guys, they are similar AND different. Just as we are all similar AND different. How's that for profound. So fer gosh sakes, have a glass of eggnog, kiss someone under the mistletoe, and hope Santa brings you either the Eico or Marantz.

I'm getting all verklempt.

Happy holidays. May all your tubes glow brightly. In a non-runaway non-cherry-red non-meltdown kind of way.
 
tubino said:
I think solid-state rectifiers and voltage doubler circuit counts as two more similarities. That wasn't all THAT common.

So I'm counting 6 of 8, or even 7 of 9.

But c'mon you guys, they are similar AND different. Just as we are all similar AND different. How's that for profound. So fer gosh sakes, have a glass of eggnog, kiss someone under the mistletoe, and hope Santa brings you either the Eico or Marantz.

I'm getting all verklempt.

Happy holidays. May all your tubes glow brightly. In a non-runaway non-cherry-red non-meltdown kind of way.
Click to expand...
Interesting points. :scratch2: And thank-you for the support! :tresbon: But I'm done arguing about this...

And yes, I will certainly agree and wish everybody (including soundmotor) a Happy Holidays!!! :beerchug:
 
soundmotor said:
:saywhat:

We both agree they are tube amps but really, the similarities are thin.

8B

Pentode input
Fixed bias
CLC PS filter

Eico HF-87

Triode input
Self bias
CRC PS filter
Click to expand...

Actually, FWIW, the pentode in the 8B (6BH6) is triode strapped so functionally it's closer to the HF87 than appears on first glance. It's closer yet to the HF89 with fixed bias and all.
 
And you guys are overlooking that my great-aunt was first married to Sal Marantz and later to the hyper-reclusive and oft-forgotten Ernie Eico, brother of Isaac Eico, who needs no further introduction.

Whaddya mean, that's enough eggnog for me?!?
 
Sal Marantz, I knew him. He was a hotdog vendor in lower Manhatten in the '50s. Saul and I used to buy lunch from him and he'd joke that he was Saul's long lost brother.

I remember his wife wife as she'd come around about then and hit him over the head until he gave her all the money from the business. A bit odd looking. About 2'10", 475lbs and walked like a penquin.
 
Brian said:
Sal Marantz, I knew him. He was a hotdog vendor in lower Manhatten in the '50s. Saul and I used to buy lunch from him and he'd joke that he was Saul's long lost brother.

I remember his wife wife as she'd come around about then and hit him over the head until he gave her all the money from the business. A bit odd looking. About 2'10", 475lbs and walked like a penquin.
Click to expand...

Wait, you mean that hot-dog deal was his REAL GIG?!? Sheesh, my great-aunt had us all convinced that Sal just did that for fun, and he was the real Marantz guy. You know, in retrospect, it's probably good she dumped him for Ernie. Unless you really meant Manhatten, rather than Manhattan, in which case all bets are off.

I bet both those amps shipped with Mullard EL-34s.
 
If you are referring to me, every one of f*rts are new. Never saved any from years ago to use now :). Maybe that is what many are smelling when they open up old gear. The gear were storage units for old f*rts.
 
tubino said:
I think solid-state rectifiers and voltage doubler circuit counts as two more similarities. That wasn't all THAT common.

So I'm counting 6 of 8, or even 7 of 9.

But c'mon you guys, they are similar AND different. Just as we are all similar AND different. How's that for profound. So fer gosh sakes, have a glass of eggnog, kiss someone under the mistletoe, and hope Santa brings you either the Eico or Marantz.

I'm getting all verklempt.

Happy holidays. May all your tubes glow brightly. In a non-runaway non-cherry-red non-meltdown kind of way.
Click to expand...

Yup!! The Marantz sounds a bit better also... of course IMHO ;)
 
...better than a NOSValves EICO HF-81???...
:zoom:...:bigok:...Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukkah, Happy Quanza, Merry Festivus...Happy Holidays...Everyone!
Bill
 
I like Eico 89 better than 8B sonically. I like Fisher SA1000 the most over Marantz 9's and McIntosh 275. The quaility of sound depends on the circuit design topology including power supply, and most critically the output transformer quality dominates the tube amps sonic performance. Also speaker & amp combination + room acoustics are somewhat effective as well when critical listening test. My humble 2 cents worth contribution to AK friends.
 
The HF-89 has an excellent driver circuit, that's what makes them sing! You can build a close clone such as this one I did last year, it has Edcor CXPP-100 outputs and Antek 4TK-400 power trans and you can use EL34, KT88, 6550, or the KT120 tubes.



Or you could build the HF front end on a Dyna ST-70 and have the best of both worlds!


 
Pio1980 said:
The front end pentode in the Marantz 8/8B is triode wired, it's effectively triode like the EICO.
Click to expand...
Wow, PIO, i sure wish you had not waited 5 years to drop that pearl before, i rejected the Marantz from my must have list, because it uses a pentode input tube! Nah, just joking. But, I have always felt that why triode strap a pentode when you can easily wire up a triode instead. I understand that such builders feel that it is superior but my KISS mentality makes me use a triode every time.
 
primosounds said:
Wow, PIO, i sure wish you had not waited 5 years to drop that pearl before, i rejected the Marantz from my must have list, because it uses a pentode input tube! Nah, just joking. But, I have always felt that why triode strap a pentode when you can easily wire up a triode instead. I understand that such builders feel that it is superior but my KISS mentality makes me use a triode every time.
Click to expand...
I have thought about it, certainly not because of 6BH6 availability over 6AV6 or doubled 12AX7. More likely consistent higher S/N ratio compared to the alternatives.
 
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