New Separates from Line Magnetic...

[RGA]

All of the Prima Luna amps can.

You are right - I believe my dealer in BC told me this a long while back about Prima Luna and I forgot about that. Apparently has a switch you flip - but until I looked it up I didn;t realize it also could take several other types like the KT120.

Apparently the PL Premium gets shipped with EL34 which doesn't surprise me. ECL82 recently also made me a believer.

If the 216 can take EL34 I may trade my Audio Space for it. If there is an English manual for the 216IA it would be nice to see what it says.

 

[Art K.]

You are right - I believe my dealer in BC told me this a long while back about Prima Luna and I forgot about that. Apparently has a switch you flip - but until I looked it up I didn;t realize it also could take several other types like the KT120.

Apparently the PL Premium gets shipped with EL34 which doesn't surprise me. ECL82 recently also made me a believer.

If the 216 can take EL34 I may trade my Audio Space for it. If there is an English manual for the 216IA it would be nice to see what it says.

No switch, something they call Adaptive Auto Bias. FWIW, I owned a Prima Luna amp and was not fond of it, however it does have this feature.

 

[Erocka2000]

Good that they mention it in the manual. I will confirm with Tone also.

Are you still happy with yours?

Yes, very much still happy with it. I even had a Leben CS600 for a while and chose to keep the 216IA over it. If i do upgrade it'll probably be for the Line Magnetic 518IA. They are great amps at incredible prices.

 

[RH67]

Tone Imports emailed me and said that the EL34 cannot be used in the 216IA.

 

[RH67]

Yes, very much still happy with it. I even had a Leben CS600 for a while and chose to keep the 216IA over it. If i do upgrade it'll probably be for the Line Magnetic 518IA. They are great amps at incredible prices.

That is saying a lot about the 216IA. The 518IA would be out of my budget, the 218IA would be a consideration but i`m not sure of it`s price point or if it even sounds better than the 216IA as past experience with other manufactures has shown that their costlier products do not always sound better then their less costly counter parts or they produce sounds that are very precise but as a whole are not very musical. Within my fixed income budget i`m hoping that i like the 216IA.

 

[MWalt]

That is saying a lot about the 216IA. The 518IA would be out of my budget, the 218IA would be a consideration but i`m not sure of it`s price point or if it even sounds better than the 216IA as past experience with other manufactures has shown that their costlier products do not always sound better then their less costly counter parts or they produce sounds that are very precise but as a whole are not very musical. Within my fixed income budget i`m hoping that i like the 216IA.

I agree that price is not always indicative of performance, but in this case I can say that although they all sound nice, my opinion is that the 218IA is superior sounding to both the 216IA and the 211IA. The 218IA is a true directly heated triode SET amp whereas the other two are push-pull pentode/tetrode configured. For the record, I have spent considerable time auditioning all three. The 219 is even better than the 218, but way beyond my price point. That said, I would feel good with any of them in my main system.

 

[RH67]

I agree that price is not always indicative of performance, but in this case I can say that although they all sound nice, my opinion is that the 218IA is superior sounding to both the 216IA and the 211IA. The 218IA is a true directly heated triode SET amp whereas the other two are push-pull pentode/tetrode configured. For the record, I have spent considerable time auditioning all three. The 219 is even better than the 218, but way beyond my price point. That said, I would feel good with any of them in my main system.

Thanks for sharing your experience, it`s always helpful to have different insights. What is the price difference between the 216IA and the 218IA? Maybe i can add it to my listening session.

 

[Erocka2000]

I think:

211IA - $1650
216IA - $1850
218IA - $3500
518IA - $4500

 

[MWalt]

Those numbers look correct, IIRC. I believe the 219 was around $7500. That is the real beast in the group.

 

[Valveglow]

Davidro

The heat and humidity in Hong Kong is awful - my apartment is 700 square feet (consider very large for one person). How humid is it? I have three air conditioners and not the small kind.

TimF - they're a bit different from some other Chinese companies - they actually source parts from Japan and Germany like Caps, volume knobs and Cardas wires and connectors etc.

The classic series Preamp - the VV3 is one I would like to try (it retails for $4,000US) and IS carried by Tone Imports. The above products are newly released so there will be lag time on details and availability. The VV3 and the classic series are closer to the Western Electrics products. My understanding is that everything else is their own stuff.

The VV3 uses a pricey autoformer volume control so each click on the knob changes the tap on the transformer.

They have what looks to be a budget preamp coming soon too - hopefully Tone Imports will look into this because it would be nice to have some "within reach" products. LM is very high on value for the dollar but it's still not inexpensive outside of a few models.

The LM 212 preamp is coming - from English Chinese translate it says stay tuned because they're still working on it. No bling at all but it's a perfect Aesthetic match for the 215 CD player.

Then there is this G-212 mono block - based on the HUGE 212 tube which is about twice the size of an 845! 30 watts per channel and a rather modest (for Line Magnetic) 28kg(61lbs) each

I have to say this is the sexy beast of the lot for me - Bigger Tube has to be better right.

The 212 held by LM's owners

Line Magnetic's factory with the 212 beside the 845 and 300b

That 212 tube is undoubtedly a thermonuclear device, correct?...

 

[RH67]

I think:

211IA - $1650
216IA - $1850
218IA - $3500
518IA - $4500

That puts the 218IA out of my reach. Was hoping for the $2500 range.

 

[RGA]

No switch, something they call Adaptive Auto Bias. FWIW, I owned a Prima Luna amp and was not fond of it, however it does have this feature.

Yeah I didn't want to say anything - but I wasn't thrilled with the one I heard. Maybe it's the tubes? Did you try different output tubes?

On the other hand - all the techno gadgetry in the things may be the problem with what I heard like clouding the thing with technology as nifty as the technology is sometimes it just gets in the way of the sound.

 

[RGA]

That puts the 218IA out of my reach. Was hoping for the $2500 range.

I lost my reply due to this site constantly logging me out fast. So to be brief note that the price is not always indicative of the sound quality. the 216IA is $200 more not necessarily because it sounds better (IMO it doesn't) but that KT88 seems to cost more to make - partly the tubes themselves being more expensive).

845 tubes need bigger power supplies - cost more to make - 211 are lethal voltages - cost more to make safely.

Further you're comparing Single Ended Triode amps in the 218 and 219 to Push Pull Class A/B amplifiers. There are inherent differences here that some find to be quite a step up. Still there are good and bad examples of Push Pull and the 211 when I heard it again on vocals was truly wonderful The 515 CD player/211IA and ATC was quite spectacular on vocals nearly regardless of price. It lies by omission which is what good less pricey gear should do IMV.

 

[RGA]

To add to the EL34 and KT88 thing - UHF magazine noted that their favorite PP tube was the EL34 but also noted that it has a wider array of quality from quite horrible sounding to quite excellent. I think some KT88 fans might do well to turn over more EL34 rocks. Granted it's still personal taste and good KT 88 seems to "sparkle" a bit better.

Still I auditioned the Jolida 302B and Antique Sound Labs AQ1003 DT back to back on the same loudspeakers. The Jolida was and is a warm syrupy slightly veiled amp. It's close to what people expect when they want to buy a tube amplfiier - a valvey sounding product. It was quite lovely actually.

The AQ1003 DT is nothing like it. Same EL34 tubes but tight, lean, fast, punchy, grippy. More hi-fi sounding and more pleasing to people who like Bryston.

They could not have sounded more different - both are around the same price.

The EL34 and KT88 comparisons I've done seem to me to suggest that vocals midrange sound better on EL34 and EC82 tube type amplifiers but KT 88 does bigger powerful and frequency extremes a bit better. (speaker dependent as this of course). My ear when listening to any group with a singer focuses primarily on the singer with the instruments in the background - therefore the EL34 makes more sense for me. If your ear focuses on bass or drums/cymbals etc then the KT 88 is likely going to be your cup of tea.

I really don't think the 211 or 216 should be viewed as one is better than the other - They're both good the question is which trade-off suits your ear better. This is why most makers make amps with different tubes.

To me the best PP amps are the ones that make me think I'm listening more to a SET - the 211 on vocals sure makes a case for itself as does the Audio Note I-Zero which is even better but nearly a grand more and much less power.

 

[RH67]

To add to the EL34 and KT88 thing - UHF magazine noted that their favorite PP tube was the EL34 but also noted that it has a wider array of quality from quite horrible sounding to quite excellent. I think some KT88 fans might do well to turn over more EL34 rocks. Granted it's still personal taste and good KT 88 seems to "sparkle" a bit better.

Still I auditioned the Jolida 302B and Antique Sound Labs AQ1003 DT back to back on the same loudspeakers. The Jolida was and is a warm syrupy slightly veiled amp. It's close to what people expect when they want to buy a tube amplfiier - a valvey sounding product. It was quite lovely actually.

The AQ1003 DT is nothing like it. Same EL34 tubes but tight, lean, fast, punchy, grippy. More hi-fi sounding and more pleasing to people who like Bryston.

They could not have sounded more different - both are around the same price.

The EL34 and KT88 comparisons I've done seem to me to suggest that vocals midrange sound better on EL34 and EC82 tube type amplifiers but KT 88 does bigger powerful and frequency extremes a bit better. (speaker dependent as this of course). My ear when listening to any group with a singer focuses primarily on the singer with the instruments in the background - therefore the EL34 makes more sense for me. If your ear focuses on bass or drums/cymbals etc then the KT 88 is likely going to be your cup of tea.

I really don't think the 211 or 216 should be viewed as one is better than the other - They're both good the question is which trade-off suits your ear better. This is why most makers make amps with different tubes.

To me the best PP amps are the ones that make me think I'm listening more to a SET - the 211 on vocals sure makes a case for itself as does the Audio Note I-Zero which is even better but nearly a grand more and much less power.

The best amp for me regardless of PP or SET or what have you are the ones that make me feel as if i`m listening to live music vs sounds generated from a box. I`m lucky, the wife is in the entertainment industry so live music is a norm for us. Having been in the speaker and amplification end of the industry myself for more than four decades i had found that many are looking for sound producing instruments instead of equipment that reproduces music. But to each their own. My own experience has shown me that circuit design is just as important as tube choice in an amplifier.

It`s a wonderful time in audio right now, the choices and sound from new products are way ahead of where they were at just ten years ago. Like it or not we have China to thank for this as some of the fat cats in the industry had to get up off their butts or go down in a sinking ship.

Once again thanks for all of the insight regarding LM, it`s helpful to me and i`m sure to others interested in the brand.

 

[Art K.]

Yeah I didn't want to say anything - but I wasn't thrilled with the one I heard. Maybe it's the tubes? Did you try different output tubes?

On the other hand - all the techno gadgetry in the things may be the problem with what I heard like clouding the thing with technology as nifty as the technology is sometimes it just gets in the way of the sound.

Oh yes, Richard. I tried a multitude of tubes both KT88 and EL34 and nothing made the PL2 listenable. Oh well, live and learn.

 

[Glass Prison]

I thinking of purchasing ASL 845 monos. I was commenting on how big the tubes are and dealer said I should see the 211. Now I see what he was talking about.
So RGA are you going to get the opportunity to review any of the new pieces from LM?

 

[RGA]

211 on the left and 845 on the right. The 212 is the big massive one posted earlier - Shuguang sells the 212 for $1500US each. Ouch.

Here is the T-1610 ($2500 pair) and expected to go 10,000 hours

Line Magnetic doesn't provide review samples. We have to buy them like anyone else. Which may be why there are not a ton of reviews out there for them. Unless the reviewer can borrow one from a dealer which is possible but I don't live near a dealer. Several reviewers live near Tone Imports which is why you see several reviewers from different magazines reviewing the same products. Jack Roberts on our staff and Art Dudley of Stereophile have been getting the same gear - Shindo, DeVore. Jack is currently reviewing the DeVore 0/96 speakers. So Line Magnetic will likely cross their paths at some point.

I am considering the LM 515 CD player/Computer DAC and the VV3 Preamp but a stand alone DAC I could buy for less than the 515 and use the 212 as the transport - since it's the same transport. Mechanism

I do want to get into computer audio. But if I buy a DAC - I'll go with Audio Note. There really isn't anything else like it. The problem is they're very pricey for the level I want. So the 515 could tide me over for a few years (cause it does sound bloody awesome). That way I could go even higher on the DAC at a later time.

Plus I need larger scale speakers. The KEF doesn't do it for me on bigger music - the AX Two does the scale better on unamplified music but not amplified music. Speakers taking a priority. Also thinking of shipping My J from Canada or selling them to put money to new speakers. So much on my mind on what to do with it all.

 

[Valveglow]

^^^No, it can't be...it just CAN"T BE!!!^^^

 

[Glass Prison]

That 212 is insane. It would be nice for you if you could get the opportunity to review the amp. But I look forward to your other reviews.