Tubes Asylum: Antique Sound Lab Wave DT (AV-8) Amplifier (Tube) by Tromatic

Greetings!

My first tube device was the ASL AQ1003, the EL34 integrated. To my 37 year old ears the AQ sounds much better than the NAD/Creek combo. I read about the Wave in Stereophile, and found a local dealer that had them. I spent sevaral hours listening to the the AQ2004 pre, Wave amps and Rotel CD, using many speaker combos. Soliloquy, BC Acoustique and others I dont recall. For kicks, we compared the cheapo ASL/Sol/Rotel combo to the $$$ ASL/Electroacompaniet CD, Ref 3a, big as% PS PowerPlant, garden hose cables system. I much preferred the el cheapo! Several other people were listening to the ASL, Sol and Rotel combo and I heard music I dont normally listen to. Totally excellent!

Finally got a pair home, and hooked 'em up. I first used the NAD 970 pre,
actually an A/V pre, sorry about the sacrilege, with the NAD 540 CD and Boston VR-40's. First impression was lots of bass. The VR-40's are rated as 93db efficient, but I'm not sure I believe it. Tried some Keb Mo. Wow. Loved it. Bass again seems deeper than with the 1003 or my both my NAD's, which are fairly big when bridged. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Mids were very smooth and clear, with lots of audiophile snap and palpability type crap on the guitar. Highs were maybe a tad bit laid back, but harshness bugs me big time, so that's a plus. Soundstage and imaging are great, but I really don't care about that. Dynamics are great, with fairly amazing blast's of music when called for. Volume is more than enough to drown out conversation, but not a party amp. All of the above applies when using the Creek. At tad bit less dynamic, maybe, but the NAD 970 has way to much gain anyway. The Creek gives me more apparent volume before the amps give up. Either way, I prefer the Creek for what it's worth.

Negatives? A few, mostly physical. Mine are the covered version, but I don't have the covers, so I painted the transformers for cosmetic reasons. One chasis is a little skewed, also. One nit is that the Ei tube pins were all badly bent, and one croaked on turn-on, so beware of the stock tubes. These are not party amps, and they do run out of steam quickly when pushed. The caps and transformers are probably the weak link, if I understand my Tube Asylum lessons correctly. My VR's are probably not the best match, and I intend to try the Axiom 3ti. However, for sitting down at night and letting the blues hang out in my room, I've not heard better for a whole bunch more money.

So. Stop asking about them and speakers, buy a pair, and lug them around to dealers and find the best speakers for you. You could do far worse, and think of all the music you can buy. Hats of to ASL and Joseph Lau for a pretty amazing little music box. Give them to your friends for Christmas.

Thanks for reading, hope I helped some!
Matthew

Antique Sound Lab Wave DT (AV-8) Amplifier (Tube) Review by Tromatic at Audio Asylum