This is what I commented on an audiophiles' YouTube review of the Willsenton: First off: I have no previous experience with high-end tube amps so I was not sure what to expect. Recently I got more into high-end audio and inevitably tube amps caught my attention. I ordered a Willsenton R8 on August31 and it arrived September21. It costed €675,77 and the shipping added €270,77 which made a total of €945,90. Duties added €17,22 Total: €973,12 Customer service is a bit quirky, but I guess that mostly comes down to the mediocre understanding of the English language from mr. Yong Lee or perhaps because of cultural differences. All in all I got the feeling he was really doing his utmost best.
To the amplifier: at first I was underwhelmed by the sound. I thought to myself: is this the famous tuby sound? What am I missing? But it gradually sounded better and better and sure enough, I am hooked on tube amps from now on. The R8 handles two Magnat MSP200 large floorstanding and closed-box speakers just fine and I found the lower frequencies pretty substantial which amazed me, since tube amps do not have a reputation in that regard. It's very powerful, no doubt about it. A few days ago I got my hands on the legendary IMF TLS80 speakers and it's an even better combination than the Magnats. From (ultra)low, to mid to (ultra)high frequencies, it's all absolutely brilliant. Especially some good recordings of piano pieces from Bach/Busoni were so realistic that it almost felt like there was actually a piano in the room. A completely new experience to me and frankly a pretty emotional one. The sound from the amplifier/speakers buzzed around my ears just like actual vibrating piano strings do. The bass from organ works from same Bach goes really low to the extent I could not hear it any more, but feel it through my feet and in my body. I won't say it was just like being in a cathedral, that would be too much credit, but it was a very good attempt nonetheless. This is just what I need in this time of high-corona.
I went for the cheapest option with the EL34 tubes instead of the more powerful KT88 tubes. On top of that, I prefer classical music and vocals in the triode mode, which has "only" 2x25Watts. I found that plenty of power with these huge speakers in my rather small living room. For pop and progrock, the ultra-linear mode seems better (2x40Watts). This tube amp is definitely very well suited to classical music, anything that has strings and for vocals. The ability to change the sound through changing between modes and/or tubes should be great fun to explore. I have two KT88 tubes waiting to try them out, but I enjoy the EL34's so much already, that I am in no hurry whatsoever. They'll probably take again quite a long time to burn in, so for now I am putting it off. Setting the bias is very easy. It would really have put me off if I would have had to use a voltmeter. The manual was not all that helpful in this regard, but fortunately there is a YouTube video for everything. All I needed was a small screw driver and a steady hand. All in all I am very, very happy that I took the plunge and got myself this tube amp.
Date Added: 11/10/2020 by Ha**y Lie**n
