SET Asylum: REVIEW: Wright Sound Company MONO8 MONO BLOCK Amplifier (Tube) by Torris

After reading about single ended triode amps for years in reviews by Sam Tellig in Stereophile and Art Dudley in Listener I thought it was time to hear a SET amp for myself. Warning: I've not heard any other single ended triode amp. I'm posting this in the hope that others with more experience with SET amps that get a chance to hear this amp will post a review of it. I've also gained by reading the reviews in Audioasylum and want to reciprocate. I e-mailed George Wright for information and I didn't get a reply for a week. I then left a message with his answering service and George called me the next day. That is the only problem I have experienced and I have read of others experiencing with Wright Sound. You might, especially with e-mail, not always get a prompt response. I think the equipment is of such high quality, and of such high value that I don't mind having to sometimes e-mail more than once. Also I have found Brenda and George are pleasant and helpful when I get through to them and that means a great deal to me. It also helps to know that they both have full time careers outside of Wright Sound. During our telephone converstaion George recommended the Mono8 amps over the 2A3 amps as a better match for my 88db, 8ohm down to over 6ohm Spendors. I also ordered the WLA12A Line Amplifier and George was very honest about a delay in shipping of the WLA12A as a part was backordered. George also told me they now use JJ Electrics 300B tubes instead of Svetlanas and the amps auto bias.
The Mono8s arrived via FedEx and I was impressed by the quality of the shipping carton, packaging and owners manual. The amps are small and I find them attractive. There was a loud hum through the speakers when I switched them on. George and Brenda Wright responded quickly to a e-mail for help with the hum. Not mentioned in the manual is that you can adjust a control shaft on the back of each amp to minimize hum. This did the trick.

The owners manual states you need to let them break in for 50 hours and I totally agree. The Spendors were also new and I was using my Bryston B60 as a preamp and the Rotel as a cd player at first. Out of the box the bass quality was amazing. Much better that I was getting from the B60 as an integrated or my Rotel 971 integrated amp. I was also impressed by how easily and natuarally the music flowed and breathed. Mr. Doorack of Listener and others are correct: there is less between you and the music with single ended triode. There is a directness to the music I had never heard. There was a thin quality to the sound at first but time and the addition of the Audio Note 1.1 Dac kit transformed the sound. I believe the Mono8s are transparent enough to reveal the quality of the source used. The Rotel is a very good for the money player but the Audio Note Dac was a wonderful addition to my system. It now sounds much fuller and even more organic. There is a sense of rightness to the sound that just makes me want to listen. I'm hearing detail but also nuances of the music that are wonderful. I listen to a lot of jazz such as Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Johnny Hartman. This kind of music sounds wonderful with the Mono8 amps. It really moves rythmically. Hartman's voice sounds real, as does Ella's and Sinatra. I can tell a lot more about the emotion and recording of the music than I'm used to. Big orchestral music like Bernard Herman film scores are handled with tremendous bass impact and quality intact. I've never heard the Wrights come close to clipping or losing control at levels above my usual listening levels but I don't listen at really loud levels anyway -- I prize my hearing and also I sit about 7 feet from the speakers. I'm satisfied with my system now and that has never happened to me before. I have purchased a number of NOS 6S7N tubes so I can tailor the sound a bit and before ordering the Monos I ordered a Audio Note Kit One 300B amp. It should be assembled for me toward the end of June. I'll be happy to get it and use it in another system but I'm not in a hurry for it to arrive or in a hurry to play with the NOS tubes or hear the differences between the Svetlana tubes in the Audio Note, its upgraded Black Gates, etc. I'm so satisfied with the Mono8 amps and the qualities of the SET sound that the desire to analyze and compare has evaporated. I just want to listen to music. The closest I have ever come to hearing this kind of musicality was from an audition of an Naim Nait 3 with CD 3.5 and Flatcap with Naim Intros. Really wonderful, rythmic free flowing, involving sound. The WLA12A line preamp arrived a few days ago and even not broken in it increases the feeling of life in the music. I think it lets the music flow better.

REVIEW: Wright Sound Company MONO8 MONO BLOCK Amplifier (Tube) Review by Torris at Audio Asylum