R800i 300B 805 Tube Single-Ended Class A Integrated Amp & Power Amplifier with Balanced XLR Input

I ordered this just before Christmas. It arrived about three weeks early. Took about a week to get here. It was well packed. Foam inside a box, then another box with foam outside that. It's heavy.. .no joke.. I rebuilt the shelf in the picture with real birch wood to support the weight. The MDF bowed. It's well made. Looks fantastic. Sounds even better. I am running Martin Logan motion 15's which are nothing for this amp. I am using my Marantz as my DAC and only using the PRE-INPUTS on the Willsenton. This allows me to control the volume through the Marantz. The remote on the Willsenton is well made but there is not enough control over volume. (Moves in too large of an increment.) Finally, this thing gets hot. You could easily heat a small room. That's the case with any tube amp though. But if you want something high quality that doesn't break the bank this is it. I think you would have to spend many times this amount to get the warmth that this unit produces. I love listening to John Coltrane, or Kenny Dorham, or even Norah Jones. It's just sooo smoooth...

Use as intended, great sound, great potential to roll tubes for even better sound. I replaced all the tubes with better sounding units. Psvane Acme series 300B and 805, Sophia Aqua 274B, Psvane CV181, these units greatly improved the character of the music becoming much more lifelike. A greater soundstage with more depth and clarity, the notes have a sustained presence. Vocals now feel like they are in my room, horns are also devine. To this point, I am very impressed. I own Audio Research D 79,SP10, McIntosh MC60 mono blocks, Ampzilla, Precision Fidelity C4, NAD, Willsenton R8, and more

I just received the R800i, as soon as put it on noticed a huge hum noise, try it xlr, single ended and as a power amp. I have a true balanced DAC and it will not work with the R800i, the xlr input are not true balanced. It's not my first tube gear, the hum balancer doesn't do anything (the screw diver is missing), will give it a couple of days to see if it miraculous improve, after that will send it back. Not happy at all with this amp.

I have had this for almost 2 years now and in the meantime have added the R8 as well. I have 4 tube amps at the moment and these are the cheapest. These are great amps. Heavy but that is what you want. I strongly urge you to swap out the tubes that come with it and upgrade over time. This amp is as good as the tubes you put in. Currently have WE 300B replicas and these makes this thing sing. Tube amps (good ones) are usually expensive and the price point here is low for the sound.

So, first off, the good.The amp sounds fantastic. Much better than the R8 I have. When working properly, it's great.The not so good:After 6 to 12 months, I noticed a channel had stopped working. Turned out to be one of my 300B Gold Lion tubes. Swapped in the Willsenton stock tubes, and the amp would not bias properly. I couldn't get it within the required specs...both channels too high.The bad:There are design issues with this amp. How do I know? Because I sent it to Scott Frankland to get fixed, knowing he would be able to diagnose not just the problem, but any issues with the design. The R800i shares plate voltage nodes between the L and R channels. Because of this, it needs bypass caps. There are none. Scott added 4 caps and a bunch of resistors.Also, there isn't enough filtration for the hum. Scott added more.It's well known that Skunkie Designs took apart the WIllsenton R8 and identified numerous issues. It should be known by more people that the R800i has some as well. And if you spend this much money on an amp, it shouldn't require ANOTHER $600-$800 to address the design/cicuit shortcomings.

Very happy with this purchase, great sound quality, notably nicer than my Yaqin Mc-13s push pull tube amp, clean background, no hum or hiss or anything. Great build quality, nice finish, looks top-tier high-end hifi gear! Highly recommended!!!

Increíble respuesta en la banda alta, además de una gran claridad, una buena compra!

Great sound. Highly recommended.