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Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I have really enjoyed AES six pacs paired with Maggie 12's for the last ten years. I have tried a couple of other tube amps during this time including Atma Sphere M-60s and always went back to the six pacs.
After ten years, I am trying to decided whether to spend about $800 and have the caps refreshed/upgraded and hexfred diodes installed. Is this worth the money? Should I try to find a local store that might charge less for labor? Are there any other tube monoblocks that might pair well with Maggie 12s? If I put another $800 into 10 year old amps, I assume that investment will depreciate quickly.
Follow Ups:
AES Six Pacs are crap.......You should sell them to me - Bwah Ha Ha!!!
Seriously, I have been looking for a pair for quite some time.
I have a friend that had a pair 5 years back that were great. Alas, he came into some financial difficulties and sold them without telling me first.
If they were mine I would re-cap them and put some kick as NOS tubes in them.
If you think you want to sell them then PM me.
........I was a vegetarian for 15 minutes... until the main course.
I have Six Packs for sale. Let's talk.
Yeah, those little monoblocks are pretty bad. I'll take them off his hands for a fair price!
I believe they were designed by Dennis Had of Cary. Dennis should get more credit for the many fine products he has designed
Alan
If you like them, I say bite the bullet and get the caps done. You aren't likely to find anything to replace them under 2K. Anything else is just a crap shoot.
Oz
Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
Exactly. $800 is a drop in the bucket compared to buying new amps. I would suggest the Quickie V4's for instance if buying were your only option, but those even used would be around 4K. As already mentioned, your current amps would be impossible to replace with only an $800 budget to work with. I'd refurbish them in a heartbeat.
First, new-to-you amps are NOT limited to the 800 'fix it' cost, which IMO is probably not necessary, anyway. Caps lasting only 10 years? How old are those amps, anyway?
Unless the caps are 85c rated and next to some cookin' hot tubes, they should go a MINIMUM of 20 years before even a look. You'll KNOW when they are going south. ANY audible or visual symptoms of impending doom?
But if they are still working properly AND you are simply getting 'the itch', add the resale value of the amps TO the 800 to arrive at 'true, zero cost budget'. Than you can ADD an additional sum as you choose.
I don't know from 'quickies', except possibly my sex life, but the SAME 4K$ would buy a PAIR of something like Parasound JC-1 mono blocs which have a 2nd-2-none reputation and will drive Maggies to distraction. The good kind.
Other choices? Dozens of 'em, at minimum.
Too much is never enough
I'm thinking he could get 1200-1500 for his amps. Add the 800 to that and he is at 2000-2300. I'm not sure he could do better than what he already has for that kind of money. At best, probably a lateral move.
Oz
Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
Which is BACK at about the original cost of the amps! And with a decades or so worth of INFLATION tossed in for good measure.
I see what you mean:
I still need to know from the OP, whom I wish the best of choices, IF this is a 'got an itch' move or the amps show some signs of impending cap failure? (bulges, noise, etc)?
Too much is never enough
I think he's asking for "tube" mono block advice. In which case, I would think the "Quicksilver" V4s or Silver 88's would be a nice step up. That said, I think he could refurbish his current amps for less than the $800 he was quoted.....and if he's happy with them, why not go in that direction.
Honestly, the Six Pacs look pretty darn nice. Going to be expensive to get something new of similar quality. And why a cap refresh after only 10 years?
I love the AES/Cary SixPac monoblocks! I bought them to replace the first tube amp I ever owned. I had the CJ Premier 11a that cost more than a pair of SixPacs. The AES/Cary SixPacs were significantly better sounding than the CJ and more dynamic.
Unfortunately I sold the SixPacs when I got my larger Thiel CS2.4 speakers that required more power. Now that I am back to using my more efficient Tannoys in my combo home office / listening room, I wouldn't mind having my SixPacs back. I miss 'em. It's a shame they're no longer made. I thought they were one of the best bargains in audio.
My SixPacs before I sold 'em
The sweet sound of EL34s is intoxicating
Nothing fancy but they sound oh so lovely
Abe, thanks for your response. One of the reasons I originally bought the six pacs was because of your recommendation.
Thanks for all the replies.
Try to answer a couple of questions:
1. Cary offers Clarity MR-style caps. They used to offer Jensen and Cardas.
2. The amp is performing fine. I actually had to box them up for several years. I have tried a couple of other amps. I thought the M-60s with all of its awards would be my final amp. Since that didn't work out, I am now thinking the six pacs are my final amp and its been a while and I should upgrade the caps.
3. I upgraded the caps in the maggies cross over and it made a real difference. So I hope upgrading the amp caps will also make a significant difference.
4. I am willing to spend more money $5k) for a tube, monoblock amp that is an improvement. But I think I have I a couple including the M60s and I keep coming back to the texture, lively and hefty sound of the six pacs
5. I replaced the power tubes with Gold Lion tubes. I also upgraded the splitter tubes which made a difference.
The power supply caps are probably just fine. The Clarity caps are coupling caps , and I would definitely invest in upgrading those and upgrading the diodes to hexfreds.
I replaced the main coupling caps in my Rogue Audio stereo 90 to Mundorf Supreme (V-caps would not fit!) and V-caps for the other coupling stages and the diodes to hexfreds. The difference was not subtle. Good caps and diodes are costly and most manufacturers cannot afford to put the goods into amps built to a price point.
If you like the amps this is the most cost effective upgrade you can make IMO. New amps that are significantly better will cost thousands more.
Highly recommended.
My SixPacs were completely basic with no optional cap upgrades but they sounded wonderful, one of my all time favorites.
If you are concerned with your SixPacs due to age, you could have Cary give them a complete checkup and replace some caps while they're at it. This is completely up to you.
Personally, I wouldn't let any tube tech or hack 'modder' start gutting it and willy nilly replace caps unless they have prior experience and references specifically with the SixPacs.
I would go to Cary especially if you want to keep these amps forever and maintain their value.
But that's just my opinion. My other thought is to leave them be if they sound fine unless you want to factory 'refresh' them for the long haul.
If you like how they sound what tube amp would you buy for $800? If you're looking for an investment than maybe an index fund would have a better return.
NT
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