Willsenton R8, worth buying?

[Thomas Turk]

An update on my issue. It took some time to get the board due to the Chinese New Year holiday. It was not too difficult but the two lower screws were a little tricky. A 90 degree Phillips screwdriver is required. Anyway we've been really enjoying listening to it daily. It is capable of driving my KEF LS50s to plenty loud enough levels. I replaced the 6sn7 and 6sl7 tubes Sylvania nos and a tung sol reissue. Love this amp and my wife approves! Which helps lay the ground work for my future floor standing speaker purchase

Speakers.. You wouldn't go wrong with the Audio Nirvana full range.. say the 15'' in a recommended DIY cabinet. I use their 8'' neo in Oris horns, and at 1/6 the price of previous Swiss full rangers that literally fell to bits, they sound more natural. Present powered by SE el84 tubes. (and subwoofed)

 

[B Side]

I've been looking at the R8 now for about a month or so. I am still trying to find some information about the company behind this brand. The best I could find was a PTO document referencing Guangzhou Meisheng Audio Equipment Co., Ltd.. Does anyone have any other background information?

Hello to the OP! Wondering what tube amp did you finally get.

 

[Kruds]

B-Side, I waited and finally got a KT88 version on EBay. Running NOS RCA's upfront and Shuguang Treasures in the rear.

 

[Rohit2]

@markmcmuz Hello. I am looking to Willsenton r8 too, to drive my Ls 50 Meta. Now that its been some time any thoughts? Can the Willsenton r8 drive Ls 50 without any issue? Any other input/insight?

 

[markmcmuz]

@markmcmuz Hello. I am looking to Willsenton r8 too, to drive my Ls 50 Meta. Now that its been some time any thoughts? Can the Willsenton r8 drive Ls 50 without any issue? Any other input/insight?

Yes it will. I'm running KT88s in triode mode and it sounds great. If you want more power run them in ultra linear mode. I do run a SVS sub with them. I'm super pleased and have no regrets.

 

[Rohit2]

Yes it will. I'm running KT88s in triode mode and it sounds great. If you want more power run them in ultra linear mode. I do run a SVS sub with them. I'm super pleased and have no regrets.

Thanks for quick reply. Looking forward to it. Though I keep moving between the r8 and the R800. I need to make up my mind soon.

 

[B Side]

Yes it will. I'm running KT88s in triode mode and it sounds great. If you want more power run them in ultra linear mode. I do run a SVS sub with them. I'm super pleased and have no regrets.

Been thinking of getting an LS50 to pair with my R8.
My audio set-up is in our living room space which is an open floor plan that flows into the dining/kitchen. Roughly about 65 sq.m. with double ceiling height in some parts. Can the LS50 paired with a sub driven by the R8 be loud enough for said space? I do not really listen at very loud levels, I just don't want the sound to be a bit anemic if I am sitting about 10-12 feet away.

 

[FauxHall]

You'll need a self powered subwoofer. The 45 wpc of the R8 is adequate for the LS50s but just barely. Subwoofers usually need hundreds of watts to work well.

 

[FauxHall]

Let me add that the subwoofer needs speaker level inputs. The R8 does not have a line level output so you have to connect the subwoofer to the speaker terminals even though there is minimal power draw.

 

[markmcmuz]

Been thinking of getting an LS50 to pair with my R8.
My audio set-up is in our living room space which is an open floor plan that flows into the dining/kitchen. Roughly about 65 sq.m. with double ceiling height in some parts. Can the LS50 paired with a sub driven by the R8 be loud enough for said space? I do not really listen at very loud levels, I just don't want the sound to be a bit anemic if I am sitting about 10-12 feet away.

Here is my set up. Plenty loud for my tastes.

 

[markmcmuz]

Yes definitely an active sub. The LS50s do output pretty decent low end for small bookshelf speakers but a sub completes it.

 

[B Side]

Let me add that the subwoofer needs speaker level inputs. The R8 does not have a line level output so you have to connect the subwoofer to the speaker terminals even though there is minimal power draw.

Gotcha. I actually have the R8 paired with Klipsch Heresy III + Powered Wharfedale Sealed Sub (connected via the speaker terminals). Just toying with the idea of connecting an LS50 for a different sound presentation. But not really sure even at ultra-linear if the output would be enough given the room set-up. I suppose the best way to find out is to give it a try once I get a good deal on some LS50s.

 

[B Side]

Here is my set up. Plenty loud for my tastes.

Thanks! Will try them out once I get my hands on a pair.

 

[DAnny45acp]

I know it's hard to get past the "made in China" tag - but it's really is a quality built Amp and worth every penny and then some. If your into tubes or want to get your 1st tube amp it really is the best deal out there and simple to bias with the built in meter for the novice. Been thru many many amps SS and tubes and this one beats out every thing I owned in it's price range. And love you can run EL43's or KT88's with the flick of a switch. I would suggest you purchase it thru Amazon as if anything happens with shipping or anything it's an easy return - they do pack them double box and very well so it shouldn't be a problem. it is very heavy -65lbs

 

[B Side]

Here is my set up. Plenty loud for my tastes.

So finally tried the R8 with LS50. You are right, the R8 has no problem driving those speakers. I have not paired the sub yet, but for some genre the LS50 can stand on their own. I saw in a different thread that you rolled the tubes in the pre-amp. What 6SL7 tubes are you running and can you give some impression on how they affected the sound? Are you using the stock KT88s?

 

[Kruds]

B-Side, I haven't done it yet, but I plan on trying a CV181 in the center 6SN7 slot. I have seen a bunch of others who tried/recommended this. Otherwise I am running NOS RCA upfront and Shuguang KT88 Treasure's in the rear. I still need to put a few more hours on all of them and then I plan on rolling some other tube combinations and system configurations.

Mostly Flac or Spotify>Yamaha RN803 AV PreOut > R8 > KG4's, medium volume, small 12x12 room

 

[markmcmuz]

So finally tried the R8 with LS50. You are right, the R8 has no problem driving those speakers. I have not paired the sub yet, but for some genre the LS50 can stand on their own. I saw in a different thread that you rolled the tubes in the pre-amp. What 6SL7 tubes are you running and can you give some impression on how they affected the sound? Are you using the stock KT88s?

I ordered it with the PSvane KT88 upgrade and then rolled Electro-Harmonix 6sn7 gold pins and the other two 6sl7 were Sylvania vintage. It just sounds good with no listening fatigue. I probably listen a hour every night and often more.

 

[Cooker]

I've had my R8 for about 4 months now, and I absolutely love it! So worth the price point in my opinion.

I've owned several Pacific Creek EL-34 amps, (Separo) and a Cayin AT-88. Also still have a Vincent SV-237 hybrid amp.

Love the dispersion/holographic sound stage and how powerful it is. I've driven Aperion Audio Verus Grand II towers, Apogee Centaur hybrid ribbon speakers, Focal Chorus 706, and RBH MC6-CT towers. The amp had plenty of power to drive them all, and that gorgeous sound stage came through on each of them...

One point of interest: I've never really heard much of a difference when powering 4 ohm speakers on various tube amps, utilizing the 4 ohm output jacks when needed. When I plugged the 4 ohm RBH towers into the right connectors and fired them up, it seemed to provide a substantial increase in dynamics (punch).

I have the Aperion Verus Grand III towers & was looking at both the Willsenton R8 & Vincent SV-237 amps for them. Can you share your opinion on which amp you thought paired best or perhaps something different? I'm using a Cambridge 851a now, it beat out some other amps and is a good match but I think I can do better. Thanks.

 

[Aerobat]

Updating this thread - I got an R8 for Christmas and recently finished all of @StepheK 's mods (thanks, great YT series!). Also running Gold Lion KT88s in it. It's a fine sounding amp although for me a little light on the bottom end/harsh on the top end with some recordings, but just fine on others so it may just be more revealing. My Mirage sub automatically powers on when it sees 100Hz or less, and it refuses to power on with this amp so I just bypassed it.

 

[ceylon]

I've had one for about a year and I'm very impressed - but then it is my first tube amplifier. When I compared the competing models at China-HiFi, it had the features I required and it had one of the best exterior designs. What really sealed the deal was that it weighed a bit more that the comparable Line Magnetic and Muzicshare, etc. I also preferred the big 6SL7/6SN7 signal tubes in the front end over the miniature 12AX7/ 12AU7 tubes which are more prone to microphonics. I've had no problems with the amp so far.

The weakest part is the front end. I recently bought an expensive new Luxman tube pre-amp to use the "pre-amp in" input and it sounded even better - more solid and full and quieter. It better at 4X the price! But then, it has a wooden cabinet so I was seduced by a pretty face.

I ordered the KT88 model and have since rolled in KT90s and EH6CA7s. I found I like the KT90s in triode mode better that either mode for the OEM KT88s. The EH6CA7s sound even better except that the bass is sloppy on the Forte IIIs in both triode and UL. There might be confounding changes responsible - I'm still playing with the 6CA7s.

I also replaced the OEM front end 6SL7s with Gold Pin Tung-Sol 6SL7 and also noticed a slight improvement but I'm not sure they were worth the $100/pair plus shipping.

I've got a pair of new Tung-Sol 6SN7s for the drivers coming along with a quad of Tung-Sol EL34Bs. Down the line I intend to get a quad of KT77s and a quad of Gold Lion KT88s to try. 6550s also work but they are at the bottom of my testing priorities.

So yes, great piece of gear for the money but the differences between the Line Magnetic and Muzicshare look to be minor.

View attachment 2077337

6SL7 are more
prone to microphonics than 12AX7, etc