Which Amp?

[Pingushome]

Hi All,
Just wondering which amp, power or integrated, anyone would go for from

Kel 84, 5881 or the kit 88

I know it’s in the ear of the listener at the end, but an opinion would be intresting.
I have the kel 84 atm but just wondering how it stacked up against the others
All the best
Martin

[Greg.]

Martin, have you done any upgrades to your KeL84? If you have, this might effect where you go next. I’ll explain further after your response.

[bob orbell]

My recommendation would be the WA88, in standard form it will beat any modification you do to the Kel, and with an uprated power supply it is subline. Bob

[Pingushome]

Originally Posted by Greg.

Martin, have you done any upgrades to your KeL84? If you have, this might effect where you go next. I’ll explain further after your response.

Hi Greg,
Well the kel 84 is Shane’s amp (I bought a month or two ago) with remote shunted volume, Jenson PIO bypass caps, soniq coupling caps, the new pcb and relay input board.
It sounds good to say the least. I use it upstairs in the bedroom.
I was thinking of replacing the amp in the living room, at present I have a pair of Quad 405s monoblocked.
Not really wanting to do anything(yet) to the kel just thinking of something downstairs
Hope that helps.
Martin

[Pingushome]

Originally Posted by bob orbell

My recommendation would be the WA88, in standard form it will beat any modification you do to the Kel, and with an uprated power supply it is subline. Bob

Thanks Bob will keep that in mind. PSUs are a sore point at the moment lol.
Was looking (thinking) about some thing for the main room as the kel is upstairs as I’ve said I have a pair of audio 405s there now
Martin

[MarkL]

Hi Martin
I had a KAT 88 which I was thinking of upgrading with the sowter transformers etc. However I picked up a built WD 88VA which is a far better amplifier.(A couple of minorish problems notwithstanding.) Granted it is more expensive than the KAT 88, but I'd not change back
Mark

[Shane]

Glad you’re enjoying the KEL84 Martin!

[Pingushome]

Thanks Shane yes it’s good.

I’ll think about your comments Bob and Mark, all food for thought and the bank manager

I note no one has said anything about the 5881 so maybe that says a lot for that model, as with the Kel80s which I once heard at Bristol but sounded not ideal (or least for me)
Thanks for all the advice any other views always welcome

Martin

[Greg.]

Only one way to find out how the KeL84 works in your living room, Martin. Try it! It’ll depend on the room size, and the speakers used but it is quite surprising what the KeL84 is capable of driving in terms of room size and it’s ‘Giant Killer’ reputation is well justified. It has an extremely musical midrange which will out perform many a more expensive and more powerful alternative. I would certainly expect it to have more musical sparkle than your Quads which I have always found a little flat and dull sounding. I often wonder, had the KeL84 been built in a larger chassis, there might have been less of an inclination to regard it as the ‘little brother’ to the larger, more ‘grown up’ 5881, 5660 and KT88 type amps.

A word of caution. I see you have some Jensen PIO caps fitted. Shane will know how long they have been in place, but there has, in the past, been several incidents of these caps becoming both physically (oil dripping out) and electrically leaky. If these caps have been in place for ten years or more, replacing them is a good idea.
Last year I did some extensive maintenance and component upgrades to Intenso’s 6550 and KeL84 amps. The 6550 was fitted with old Jensen PIO coupling caps and although measuring satisfactory, replacing them removed distortion present in the sound. Now here’s a thing. The KeL84 was fitted with Mundorf polypropylene coupling caps and the amp sounded fine. However, I replaced these caps with new (I think they are better made now) Jensen PIO’s and the improvement to sound was remarkable. The whole presentation was weightier and more authoritative with a more prominent yet well controlled bass with no loss of the magic in the midrange. Infact, Intenso preferred the sound and presentation over his Sowter O/P Tx fitted 6550 and he’s a Reggae fan!
Your Soniq polyprops are fine caps for coupling duties, but if you want to experiment with the Jensens, it is easy to do without the need to remove the PCB. The Soniq’s have long lead out wires which can be snipped to leave a good length of wire still attached to the board. The Jensens could then be readily introduced by simply soldering their wires to the wire links left attached to the PCB. The Soniqs could easily be returned if you prefer them.

I have listened to several builds of KeL84, 5881, KiT/KaT88 and WD88VA. All are great performers and all improve noticeably with some component upgrades. The standard 5881 can sound a little dull and grey but upgrading components such as coupling caps can inject the sparkle although the plentiful bass can appear a bit bloated and not too well controlled.
KiT/KaT88 and WD88VA in my experience, once fettled with some nice components, sound very similar. Obviously more powerful than the KeL84, generally more authoritative with fast punchy bass. The original KT88 amps suffered from poor quality PCB’s which didn’t readily tolerate frequent visits from the soldering iron through component changing. The WD88VA is much better here with it’s tag strip construction and overall, it’s internal chassis has far more room in it. Personally however, I prefer the midrange of the KeL84.

As ever, your choices are personal and subjective and may differ from mine or anyone else’s. If you find your KeL will drive your room and speakers, I suggest experimenting with it in your main system would be very worthwhile before you commit to buying a more powerful alternative.

All the above is my personal opinion based on my personal experience. Your experience and that of others may be different. Suck it and see what you like.

[Shane]

Just for the record, the coupling caps are Soniqs polyprops that I put in. It’s the bypass caps that are Jensens. I don’t know if the same advice applies since they will be having a much easier life, but they were in the amp when I bought it ten years ago, so could easily be twenty years old.

I ran the KEL84 in a room 20’ x 13’ driving Mission 782s, which are 3-way speakers of only average efficiency. Despite musical tastes that include Led Zeppelin and Beethoven symphonies I never once felt it was lacking in power!