pinchechris

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I purchased one of these from Audiogon.com for the mere sum of $600, shipping included. You can find 'em cheaper, one just sold on Ebay for $450 but mine came with full Sonic Craft mods. I haven't heard a stock amp but I can say that I'm REALLY impressed with the modified version. I have heard that these mods help issues of reliability......though I do notice that most of the negative reviews due to faulty equipment are from years ago. I wonder if these issues were addressed in later models? If this one busts or starts having issues I'll fire off another review :)

Till then, I'm superbly happy.

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linn11

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I have bought this power amplifier in very good conditions,as a part of payment of other equipment. I have had many high end amplifiers, and I did not expect much of this amplifier, but after listening I was very surprised with their high qualitu soun in this price range. It is a very enjoyable sound, warm, big soundstage,and plenty of detail... I recomend improved the original 6SN7 with NOS tubes.
Used with more 90dbs or more SPL Speakers, are a very good choice.

Price Paid:  $450.00 from Audio Swap meet

Summary:
Good quality amp for $450. Mine in excellent condition. I purchased from the original owner. He was an electrical engineer - audiophile. He did some tweaks. My model has no tube cage. Not an issue in my child free home.

Strengths:
Clean sound with JJ 6L6's and NOS RCA 6SL7's. Warm enough without midrange bloat nor wooly bass range.

Weaknesses:
Not terribly powerful. I have tried to press the upper dynamic limits with my various pre-amps and digital audio workstation. Sound becomes rather strained & ugly when reasonble input levels are exceeded.

Similar Products Used:
This amp is certainly a lot better sounding than the various Dynaco ST-70's that I've owned. In the dark past of the 1960's - 1970's I've owned other low end tube amps such as: Heathkit, Eico, Fisher, HH Scott, Marantz. Typical consumer level stereos that were mellow enough with a pair of AR / Advent / KLH speakers, but certainly not audiophile level stuff. I'm a music lover, a working musician, & have very unapologetic peasant tastes. I like the good stuff but refuse to pay premium prices for the BEST stuff.

ellisaudio

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.40 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1550.00 from Sound Values/SonicCr

Summary:
I purchased this amp last summer from Jeff's sound values for $550. The price was very fair, and Jeff packed the amp very well. Upon arrival my expections weren't high due to the maladies present from the factory in the Golden Tube amps. My expectations were immediately validated. The amp was harsh & gritty - like a bad solid state amplifier. However, I have modified gear before and was optimistic that Jeff at SonicCraft would be able to help. Jeff isn't smart about everything, but he knows capacitors, and he knows the SE40. I received my amp this past weekend following the full-Glowacki set of modifications and am extremely pleased! The mods cost $1000, but were VERY well worth Jeff's time, experience, and very high quality parts under the hood. There are several very good amps available to hifi DIY folks. The AKSA Nirvana, VanAlstine Ultimate 70, Modified Jolida 302, are all very competitive amplifiers and all easily beat my old Bryston 3B-ST. But Jeff's modified SE40SE is amazing. Oh my! The detail, the nuance, the full musical picture!! It's all there! I suspect @40wpc SET (triode) MIGHT sound better, but this simply doesn't exist for $1500. A further comment: My first hifi amplifier was a Bryston 3B-ST several years ago. Among commercial amplifiers, this unit was and is very respectable. However, I soon learned that quality parts or modified gear in a DIY amplifier will easily trounce any commercial amplifier at the same price point. The very best example of this among SS gear is the AKSA amplifier with Nirvana + guts. When moving past the SS gear towards tubes I find the modifed SE40 at the top of the food-chain. dave@ellisaudio.com

Strengths:
Wow! Depth, detail, warmth, with no colorations!!

Weaknesses:
It only has 40wpc, so don't expect bar-room spl from your speakers. Also, it'll reproduce every piece of information faithfully. Garbage in = Garbage out.

Similar Products Used:
mentioned above.

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choppi

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.86 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1300.00 from Recycled Audio, Boul

Summary:
Bought 2 Golden Tube SE 40 (standard editions) used for $1,300 from Recycled Audio in Boulder, Colorado. These amps sounded clean, strong, and sweet from the time I first got them, but gradually - after two years - stopped playing the treble. I put in a new set of output tubes, changing from the Sovtek 5881 to Svetlana 6L6GC. This made a huge improvement, not only restoring the missing high frequencies, but also causing an over-all more refined and also more dynamic sound. I have usually used these amps as monoblocks but also have bi-amped my speakers - both horizontally and vertically at various times. They drove a pair of Accoustat 2+2 very nicely, with voices and accoustic instruments present, immediate, and 'delicious'. The accoustats have enough bass but it is not well controlled. The 2+2 also roll off the high frequencies. I now use the GT SE 40s with a two-cabinet (per side) system of dynamic speakers, with Raven tweeters, made by Steven Norber. This is a very satisfying combination. Recently, my two amps were completely re-built by Jeff Glowacki of Sonic Craft. All GT40 owners should get, at the least, his low-cost entry level kit because it addresses survivability issues which exist with the stock SE40 design. You can send your board(s) to Sonic Craft and they will do the work for a modest fee or you can do it yourself. You can find them on the 'net. Whenever I have to use solid-state gear, I am immediately relieved when I get my Golden Tube amps back in the system - the harmonic content of voices and instruments is suddenly restored ! I use passive or unity-gain-buffered line stages, not an active pre-amp, and have never had problems with insufficient 'drive' - although I do miss having a balance control, and a remote volume control would sure be nice; I know there are some passive pre-amps with remote-controlled motorized volume pots. Creek makes one at low cost. You might try this before spending several mortgage payments on a high quality active pre-amp. With this system, the differnces between various recordings are clearly heard. The bass is sufficient for me but I don't listen to 'dance' music. The midrange is the most important part of the music and the SE40s (even when kept stock) get this right. There is a forum for users of Golden Tube Audio equipment. You can learn a lot there and exchange views with other enthusiasts. The address is: Yahoo! Groups - golden_tube 1 (you can get there with Google). Happy listening ! - choppi (the musical dog)

Strengths:
luscious midrange. Several inexpensive upgrades available. Flexible (when used as monoblocks, the extra inputs become line-outs !). Easy and fun to play around with tube-rolling. Low cost, rugged build, non-captive power-cord, simple design, easy to repair, high-quality transformers (in both editions).

Weaknesses:
Survivability issues. Some resistors overworked in stock desigh. The voltage to the input tubes is excessive. All these problems are easily cured with Sonic Craft's basic kit ! [ I am in no way financially affilited with Sonic Craft, just another of their happy customers. ]

Similar Products Used:
Experience with Pass Labs monoblocks, single-ended solid-state monsters, cost much more and drink just as much juice. Also have set up and listened to many tube systems. As it is with cars and houses, you can always get more if you have the deep pockets.