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Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial Interests: click here
Source: Esoteric UX-1, Yamamoto YDA-01, Raysonic Audio CD228 [on review]
Preamp/Integrated: Esoteric C-03 (transistor), ModWright DM36.5 (valves), Peachtree Audio Nova, Luxman SQ-N100 [on review]
Amplifier: FirstWatt F5, FirstWatt J2 [on review]
Speakers: ASI Tango R, Zu Essence
Cables: Complete loom of ASI Liveline
Stands: 2 x ASI HeartSong 3-tier rack, 2 x amp stand
Powerline conditioning: 2 x Walker Audio Velocitor S
Sundry accessories: Furutech RD-2 CD demagnetizer; Nanotech Nespa Pro; extensive use of Acoustic System Resonators, noise filters and phase inverters, Advanced Acoustics Orbis Wall & Corner units
Room size: The sound platform is 3 x 4.5m with a 2-story slanted ceiling above; four steps below continue into an 8m long combined open kitchen, dining room and office, an area which widens to 5.2m with a 2.8m ceiling; the sound platform space is open to a 2nd story landing and, via spiral stair case, to a 3rd-floor studio; concrete floor, concrete and brick walls from a converted barn with no parallel walls nor perfect right angles; short-wall setup with speaker backs facing the 8-meter expanse and 2nd-story landing.
Review Component Retail: €2.590 (€180 for optional remote control)
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Minueta. It's a play on mini and the Baroque 3:4 musical dance form menuett. It's also the smallest integrated amp in WLM Acoustics' new range of valve electronics - and the cheapest (but not by much).
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The mini in Minueta refers to the smaller chassis (300 x 200 x 150mm WxDxH) as well as the tiny output tube called 6BQ5 or EL84*. The quartet of output glass here is good for 14wpc in Ultralinear, 5wpc in triode - and class A push/pull in either case. Power wise, it positions the Minueta between single-ended 2A3 and 300B amps on the low side, between 300B and 6C33C SETs on the high. In popular hifi opinion, the EL84 doesn't rank as highly as direct-heated triodes and the beefier pentodes like EL34s, 6550s and 5881s. Yet true valve connoisseurs shopping with their ears and not through the nose know how sonically advanced the Minueta's choice could really be. Decware favors the Russian military version of the EL84 above others, Manley Labs has monoblocks dedicated to it, Almarro's integrated SET was an underground darling and the Glow Audio Amp One runs a pair of 84s to mention but a few.
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* The review loaner was actually fitted with the WSSSR-branded Russian 6H14П equivalent whose Cyrillic letters become 6N14P in the Latin alphabet. As Wikipedia puts it, "... in the Soviet Union, the 6N14P found application in special equipment and to a lesser extent in more expensive FM receivers and television sets in the 1960s. However, in the majority of medium and low-grade Soviet-produced FM radios, a more general purpose 6N3P/2C51 was utilized as the lower frequency OIRT FM band used in the USSR (65.8 to 7MHz) allowed for less stringent noise figure requirements towards the receiver design and its components than the higher frequency Western FM broadcast band (87.5-108MHz) used in most of the rest of the world."
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The Minueta doesn't exist just to fill a spot. Hannes Frick is quite vocal. When higher power requirements aren't an issue, the EL84 is his favorite glass bottle. "I just had to have a 6BQ5 model in the line. I've been into tubes forever and through countless expensive amplifiers. Nothing beats an EL84 for bandwidth, linearity, liveliness and speed."
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Circuit and transformer designer Cokic agrees. "The tube has no prestige and costs very little. I can't imagine a cost-no-issue statement amplifier with EL84s selling for €10,000. More than one 300B amp with less power does of course. But this tube suffers the royal bastard syndrome. Nobody mentions it though everyone knows it exists. Most audiophiles equate it with entry-level and don't give it a second thought. I don't agree. I could easily design an EL84 amp that would give even my own 300B monos a run for their money. Naturally, I'd have to charge for the necessary associated parts of that caliber. Then nobody would buy the amp. For that kind of cash, people have been conditioned to expect direct-heated big triodes without feedback, not lowly small pentodes with feedback. It's sad but consensus reality. Only an idiot would try to fight it. So the Minueta for Hannes was deliberately positioned to be his entry-level amp."
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I didn't have to press further to know how Sasa really felt about that. He'd told me about his dream amp with EL84s already in Cyprus. Whether it will ever see the light of day as a Trafomatic Audio beast remains questionable for these reasons. (In fact, Sasa really loves this tube in single-ended mode where it makes even less power to truly lack street cred.) But when a tube amp designer smart enough to work with pretty much any given valve picks as his ultimate this plebeian mini, the smart money should put preconceptions on hold. At least give the EL84 a fair audition. That's probably also why Hannes decided to dispatch the Minueta from his stable for review rather than the big EL34 Allegro monos.
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Having imported Almarro, E.A.R. and Manley Labs into Austria among others, Hannes Frick has prior experience with well-liked EL84 amps. It stood to reason that once he signed off on the collaboration with Sasa Cokic, he did so convinced that they had a real contender. That, the integrated concept and the attractive price made me accept the review request. It seemed like a timely proposition. For every new statement Lamm amplifier, there ought to be a counter statement to not make those with slimmer wallets feel left out. Does the Minueta have the right stuff?
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It's not as though the competition were asleep. For €2,100, Luxman's SQ-N100 adds a phono stage, removable tube cage, headphone socket, defeatable tone controls and includes the remote without surcharge. Having that exact amp in house of course mandated a friendly mano-i-mano in the audition ring. Questioning Hannes Frick how he thought Luxman could sell a Japan-made amplifier for €670 less than his which is mostly manufactured in Serbia—he supplies the wooden chassis, metal top and front from Austria—he pointed at Luxman's higher sales volumes and their lower distributor/dealer margins. (This PDF lists the current prices for all WLM Acoustics models.)
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For a small outfit like his to get any floor space requires additional sales incentives it seems. Consumers of course care little about those realities.
But it's fair to point out that for less cash, the Luxman offers considerably more features, not the least of which is a truly stupendous headphone output which wires directly into the speaker-level outputs padded down by a simple pair of 470-ohm load resistors. This scheme transfers tone-control functionality to headfi, a particularly useful thing since Luxman's tone controls are quite a few cuts about what survives this norm.
One feature the Minueta throws into the mix which the Luxman lacks is triode/UL conversion via the dual-mono toggles. As tends to be the case in these matters, win some/lose some is the motto. |
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For the auditions, I would primarily use my Zu Essence towers. The recent Stereophile review by Art Dudley makes them a relatable quantity to many and their price is far more in line with potential Minueta buyers than my ASI Tango R. More in due time.
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