Tubes Asylum: REVIEW: AudioTropic Mr. Bogangles Amplifier (Tube) by Willie The Squid Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ

For Sale Ads FAQ / News / Events

Model:	Mr. Bogangles
Category:	Amplifier (Tube)
Suggested Retail Price:	Unknown
Description:	Integrated, Push Pull, Class A, Zero Feedback, Triode, 6V6GT
Manufacturer URL:	AudioTropic
Model Picture:	View

Review by Willie The Squid ( A ) on June 26, 2004 at 17:06:06 IP Address: 67.161.120.86

Add Your Review for the Mr. Bogangles

---

A little over one year ago, I initiated correspondence with Eric Kingsbury (aka Poinz) about building me an amp. That’s not quite right….actually I was interested in seeing if he could rebuild a couple of my vintage Bogen DB110 integrated monoblocks.

I had acquired four of these amps. Bogen DB110s are wonderful sounding mid / late 50’s vintage amps – lotsa feedback, 12 watts, PP 6V6 outputs, three 12ax7s for input, phase splitter, & driver duty as well as tone controls, 5Y3GT rectification, and 11K ohm output transformers. They were Bogens for cripes sake – they had no RIGHT to sound as good as they did. But I’ve listened to several dozen vintage amps, extensively, and in stock condition the DB110s are among the most musical vintage amps I’ve heard.

What I proposed was to send Poinz a couple of those amps, and have him implement a modified version of his circuit into the Bogens, keeping the original esthetic. I didn’t really know much about the Poinz circuit. Nonetheless, I did know from reading his website was that the circuit was elegant, ultra simple, and should allow 6V6GTs to display their very best sound in a zero feedback, class A, all triode circuit.

See http://www.AudioTropic.net/blurb1.html

I became further convinced that his combination input / splitter / driver tube choice would be a good sounding tube based on Andy Evans review of the 5965/7062 family of tubes.

See http://www.artsandmedia.com/5965.html

I knew that power would be low, but was somewhat surprised when Poinz informed me that I could expect only 5 or 6 watts per channel – somewhere between a 2a3 and 300B single ended amp. I had lived with both of those type amps – Cary 300B SE monoblocks for the 300B and George Wright 3.5 SE monoblocks for the 2a3. I enjoyed them for a couple of years each…but concluded over the long term that each added its own distinct set of audio characteristics. Part of the issue was the rich second harmonic – which I came to take notice of as a distinct sonic signature. The other issue was lack of drive. I ultimately determined that single ended designs were no longer suitable for me. PP designs invariably had better drive and PRAT. By my own experience I knew this PRAT was intrinsic in quality PP circuits – whether the amp was zero feedback all triode, or lotsa feedback pentode. It didn’t seem to matter…PRAT and drive was available in good PP designs. Would 5 or 6 great watts with PRAT be enough?

Ultimately the issue became: how much of the single ended “magic” could be maintained in a well implemented push pull design? To some extent that question was answered when Lynn Olsen and Gary Dahl twice brought over their Amity and Aurora implementations and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that push pull amps could sing like an angel and rock like the devil. They easily drove my Tannoy studio monitors and are, to my memory, the finest sounding tube amplifiers that I have heard. (They are also quite complicated, big, very heavy, demanding, still evolving, and have to be custom built at $$ serious $$ expense.) Is it possible, I conjectured, to acquire most of the sonic qualities the Amity and Aurora presented with a mere 5 or 6 wpc by way of an ultra-simple circuit? I said nothing about this to Poinz – this was my little kid dreaming…the one I keep locked in the closet when communicating with rational people.

Poinz and I had a fairly long correspondence about the possibilities of turning the Bogens into something special. I sent him full schematics & a parts listing on the Bogens. We continued our discussions and he persuaded me that if I wanted a truly fine sounding 6V6GT amp based on his circuit, I should harvest the Bogen iron, scrap the remainder of the amps, and have him implement his design using quality parts. One issue was whether to implement a true stereo amp or a pair of individual and separate power supplies, essentially two isolated monoblocks sharing the same chassis. I like monoblock separation – it sounds truer to me. The Bogens were originally integrated monoblocks. And since the 6V6GTs would be outputting in triode, with zero feedback, through 11Kohm output transformers, with only 5-6 wpc, I wanted dual mono power supplies in order to extract all juice possible. Another major audio issue was the coupling capacitor – and I decided upon Jensen Copper Foil. Another issue was dual mono volume controls or a quality stereo control. I went with the latter.

So I sent Poinz a pair of my Bogens, waited a few months, sent emails back & forth answering questions about layout esthetic, parts choices, etc. and last November he starts sending me schematics and pictures. What I’m seeing is way cool. If you would like to see, go to the following site:

http://www.Audiotropic.net/WillsAmp

The finished amp arrived early last December. It was gorgeous out of the box. Not very big, even my wife loved the look. I hooked it up and what follows is an exact copy of my first email to Poinz, drafted later that evening: “I got it home, powered up, bias was right on at 1 volt, hit the play switch, and went, "Wow, that's cool." It's about three and a half hours later. Sound is far better now, stable the last hour. This is a fabulous sounding amp. I've been playing both CDs and dual layer SACDs. The SACD layers sound far, far more musical than the redbook layers...clearly the amp is effectively communicating the subtleties inherent in the SACD format. Wonderfully balanced. Harmonically right. Not at all tubey, but really sweet. Magical sense of space. Details! Dynamics to die for. Got PRAT. Quiet as a mouse. Highly communicative. Ultra-fi!! Superb match with those little Spendor 3/5s. (Using 8 ohm taps for now.) Won't play loud, but fills the room and sounds "true." I'll take it down to the big 98db efficient Tannoys in the next couple of weeks and see what's up. In sum, I am most impressed and really pleased with the sound. As you know, I have listened to many, many amps. This little unit is just exceptional, and I'm smitten. Really Eric, just top of the line. It does everything well. Your circuit driving those 6V6s in triode with no feedback, that power supply, those caps and 50 year old 11k ohm output transformers – that such an improbable combination would work so well...a testament to your terrific engineering and implementation.”

I named the amp Mr. Bogangles. The lonely, dancing drunkard from the Jerry Jeff Walker’s exceptional and tragic song was Mr. Bojangles. Poinz’ creation began life as two Bogan amps. My surname is Angle. So Mr. Bogangles it is…but pronounced with a soft leading “g”, just like the name of the song.

My first impressions are important to share here because it’s six months later now and I’ve become quite “accustomed” to what is truly a magical and beguiling amplifier. Mr. Bogangles sounds much, much better now than it did cold out of the box last December. It continued to improve over the next several months – quite noticeably during the first 20 days and very little thereafter. Parts were running in, I suspect especially the Jensen caps.

I’ve done some tube rolling and have stabilized with the following combination during these last three months: 6106 rectifiers from Bendix, Amperex 7062 input/splitter/drivers manufactured in Holland, and 5992 outputs from Bendix. 6V6GTs and 5T3GTs from RCA, Sylvania, TungSol, etc. are much easier to obtain, sound very good indeed, and are far less expensive. However, coupled with this outstanding amplifier, the Bendix tubes deliver greater authenticity and weight, combined with a stunningly natural presentation. They create a sense of listening to real musicians, in real space and time, in my living room, without artifice, that’s most impressive and highly addictive.

Mostly, I’ve kept the unit on 24/7 in the living room, driving 84db efficient Spendor 3/5s. Mr. Bogangles allows me to use a line level out to a self-powered sub (AudioPro D2-40). So the Spendors are driven full range by Mr. Bogangles and the AudioPro runs from about 25 Hz to maybe 60 Hz. Big help for those shoebox size monitors.

On occasion, I’ve snuck Mr. Bogangles downstairs and hooked it up to the big Tannoy System DMT15 MKII studio monitors. These are astonishingly revealing studio monitors, quite efficient at 98db at one meter, but are nevertheless demanding of an amplifier in terms of its drive and PRAT capabilities. The Tannoys represent a very big motor to push around. I have tried mating various small single ended amps with the Tannoys and none have adequately controlled the monitor. The sound has been “slow”, mushy, & boring. That’s not good.

In contrast, with only 5-6 pp watts, Mr. Bogangles sounds just monstrous with the Tannoys! It can easily drive the Tannoys to tremendously loud levels (in a modest size room) with no sense of clipping, walling up, or hardening. It is just amazing...watching this little 5-6 wpc glow in the dark toy...and having the room absolutely thundering with music. My last time downstairs, I was there to do "audiophile" listening with limited time, quick to figure out what's happening, etc....but I found myself playing every song I put on all the way through – because the combination was so immediate and captivating. Mr. Bogangles has tremendous dynamic capabilities within its output limitations…and with highly efficient loudspeakers these capabilities are clearly manifest. Moreover, highly efficient monitors also demonstrate Mr. Bogangle’s downward dynamic range, for those of you that are familiar with Allen Wright’s approach to the subject http://www.netshellhifi.com/VSAC2003.html Except for absolute weight at the bottom, this little amp holds its own against all comers. It is substantially more musically satisfying than the SunAudio PP300B MKII amps I owned for a couple of years. And for some time, those SunAudio amps were my PP touchstone.

In conclusion, Poinz has fashioned a world class amp. It is unlike any other amp I’ve ever heard. Its simple, ultra-fi circuit is strikingly faithful to the signal it’s fed – direct and without artifice. Its bandwidth is truly astonishing. It does nothing bad and most things incredibly well. It has spoiled me in terms of other tube amps. Its only real limitation is absolute power – but even that is not a significant deterrent if matched with proper speakers. It’s so good, I rarely bother to look at the Audiogon Tube Amp web site any more – I don’t much fancy going backwards. Potential clients, potential customers, and DIYs will likely be sophisticated and experienced in things audio, otherwise an ultra-fi 5-6 wpc pp integrated amp just won't compute. They'll have already had to educate themselves about speaker efficiency and dynamics. They’ll probably know that the “lowly” 6V6GT is an astonishingly musical valve. They’ll have to consider that the 5965 / 7062 / E180CC may well be a magical tube in the Poinz circuit – even if they don’t know the first thing about it. Many will own horn systems; or big efficient monitors like my Tannoys; or single driver systems; or crossover less multi-driver systems (like Reference 3a and Epos.) Very likely, this is an amplifier for those that have gone through a single-ended phase, who know they can live with 5-6 wpc but are looking for greater accuracy and drive than single-ended can deliver. In my opinion, this amp could make a lot of guys who now think single ended is the "ultimate" approach, reassess their opinions.

WTS says, “Check This Amp Out! Highest Rating!!”

P.S. In September or October, I would be pleased to invite the Northwest Bottlehead meeting over to my home in Edmonds, WA so that members can have an opportunity to hear Mr. Bogangles in person driving the Tannoy’s. Please let me know who would be the correct person to contact these days. TIA

---

Product Weakness:	See Review
Product Strengths:	See Review

---

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Mr. Bogangles
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Sony ES9000 with ModWright Level III
Speakers:	Spendor S3/5 or Tannoy System DMT15 MKII
Cables/Interconnects:	Decent
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Everything
Time Period/Length of Audition:	Seven Months
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

---

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Sonic Craft

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---