Synthesis A50 Taurus Review - True Love - Also Feat: Line Magnetic 508ia & Dynaudio Heritage Special

[@SmallRoomAudio]

For the avoidance of any doubt, and because, you know, trolls! - This video is not sponsored by or paid for by anyone. I reached out to Henley Audio because I LOVE tube amps, and one of my HiFi friends said that Synthesis were epic and I should try them out...so I pinged Henley an email about loaning a unit and they said YES! Lovely people, who even hand delivered the amplifier to my door - hence why I genuinely wanted to say thank you for making this review possible. I even put my money where my mouth was and bought this beast - no better endorsement for a product than that! Hope you enjoy the review - David and Rita - Small Room Audio.

[@thomastoochal2133]

Wonderful review Small Room Audio. I’d never heard of Synthesis until I purchased a short term temporary amp from a dealer. I’m now upgrading and looking at the a40, a50 and a100. Really is an underrated brand who provides a lot of amp for the money. I’m going to blind test them in the coming weeks. Can’t wait! Thanks for your insight and keep the good reviews coming. 👍

[@MsCorbacho]

Synthesis is so underrated, a friend of mine still has a synthesis shine tube amp, we could compare it to multiple amps , at first listen you would say the other amps ( all of them by the way , more expensive) were superior , but at the long haul the synthesis shine proved to be one of those products in which the balance of virtues won the day , very emocional and well balanced amp ... Makes me wonder why there are almost none ( or none ?) Reviews in English of the a100 titan ?! Why the a100 titan ? Well , is their top of the line ( above only the nyc monsters ) .

[@MsCorbacho]

O.k. i had Just written this , and found ( from this month at hifi news) a very favorable review of the a100 titan .

[@MsCorbacho]

I have had a lm-805ia , never did it for me , always a sort of glare/ hardeness in the mid highs , tried it with a lot of tubes and speakers ....always there , Found the 518ia much better and the 219ia ( which i should never had sold) the best of the bunch . This talking about line magnetic , but i still wish i had the money for a A100 titan , or the nyc200i ...huuuuuummmmm

[@jw-creative-pastimes]

Great review, there are so few on this amp. I was considering the LM805ia but much prefer the look of the Synthesis and it sounds great too. Now I have to see if they will ship to Australia.... Keep up the good work!

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thank you 🙏 You can’t go wrong with either amplifier, they are awesome! Enjoy 😊

[@pietwentzel007]

Love the review. Thanks.

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thank you 🙏 😃

[@DrJum]

How interesting that the soundstage from two speakers can get so large! Great to get a longer video and see a bit of one of your listening rooms. Looking forward to your tube rolling video as I’ve recently ordered my first piece of tube gear, a Freya+.

[@SmallRoomAudio]

I love that preamp, it’s such amazing value for money! If you haven’t already seen it, I have a video about rolling the Freya+ 👍

[@Anand.Asrani]

Enjoyed this review , definitely one of your better ones ...and God what you said about the Taurus soundstage has me hooked !!

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thanks 🙏 It’s quite the listening experience!

[@antonchigurh4125]

35kg a negative? I'm old school: the heavier the better! But seriously, lovely looking amp. Congratulations on your new amplifier. If it sounds as good as it looks (which I'm sure it does) then you're in for a real treat rediscovering your music collection all over again :) I must also say that Line Magnetic doesn't look to shabby either!

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thanks Anton! 🙏 😊 🙏

[@TombstoneTube]

Nice review. Great you compared the amps. Cheers

[@SmallRoomAudio]

You are very welcome 🙏 👍

[@quanyhuang3178]

The video looks pleasant and sounds good. You put your heart into it, so do I, ha ha.

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thanks smile 😊 🙏

[@darrenbarugh9218]

Great review, I hope you’re enjoying your purchase. I’m presently looking for an intergrated tube amp and been busy doing my research. This has more than peaked my interest and I’ve already started making arrangements to have a demo in the new year. Does the Taurus have an auto bias function? Was also interested if tube rolling is an option with this model? It very much sounds like it would be to my taste so looking forward to experiencing everything it has to offer. It’s a stunning looking amplifier.

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Hi Darren - yes I still love it! Hope the demo goes well and it matches your taste. The amp does have auto bias so it’s very user friendly. I’ve changed the tubes in my one to gold lion, and EH gold for the 12bh7, but to be honest tube rolling didn’t really make much difference in this amp, which is quite good in a way because it’s a rabbit hole to go down - I spent a silly amount of money rolling on my last amp!

[@darrenbarugh9218]

@@SmallRoomAudio Thanks that’s really good to know on both counts. Glad to hear that your enjoying the amp Best wishes.

[@dajikbatarang1]

Great video! Cant wait for your video on the dynaudio heritage. Did you change your streamer and DAC? Cant seem to make it out

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thanks Neil! I’ve got a Sonore optical rendu in the background with an innuos phoenix reclocker which is a relatively new addition. Reviews coming for those too! DAC is still the terminator at the moment, but may try out something new soon!

[@dajikbatarang1]

@@SmallRoomAudio how do you find the sonore compared to the USBridge signature? Any chance of a review of your digital front end?

[@SmallRoomAudio]

It’s definitely a better source, digs out more detail and more bass - however, I do find the ROI of streaming upgrades to be much lower than speakers, amps and dacs (probably in that order)

[@HevyGee]

That's quite a testimony (centurio convenit!)

[@JoseGarcia-oo4mc]

Good video , I like your dog in your videos. Jajaj

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thank you! She says hello! 🐶 😃

[@MsCorbacho]

I wouldnt say the weight is a negative , proper trafos are one of the most important factors in tube amps , so i imagine that this amp would not sound as good if it weighted 15 quilos ?! Lets call it a needed " evil"

[@juanfeliu879]

nice review. thanks! did you find the amp to outputs enough current to get the very best out of the Heritage Special?

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thank you Juan! Yes enough juice for the heritage special, it was a great pairing and thats my daily driver at the moment. 👍

[@TombstoneTube]

Will get a pair of HS soon. What's the hight of the stands you're using? Thanks!

[@SmallRoomAudio]

I use the stand 20 - I think they are 60cm

[@TombstoneTube]

@@SmallRoomAudio Thanks!

[@sirjohnpiraan1662]

Hi did you use the heritage special with the synthesis ? Do you think the heritage special could be fed with 25 watts class A ?

[@SmallRoomAudio]

I tried powering special forty’s with a 20w Schiit Aegir and that was lacking punch. 25w might work into the Heritage Specials, but I think it could be on the edge of not having enough juice. If you can demo before you buy that’s the only true way to know unfortunately. My suspicion is 50w is probably minimum, although others may have different experiences.

[@sirjohnpiraan1662]

@@SmallRoomAudio ok thank you!

[@frederickhardman3389]

A DAC in a tube amplifier, who knew

[@domenicofpv6490]

Did you trade it for a class D now?

[@SmallRoomAudio]

I did move on, and do like the Hypex Nilai class D a lot, but my main amplifier is the Luxman 595se

[@domenicofpv6490]

@@SmallRoomAudio the Nilai stereo I have Here for demo, very dissapointing at high volume a big orkest sound compressd. My accuphase e480 sound bigger

[@chuckisidro8624]

Hello mate! Very good review of this amp. 👍🏻. Can the A50 power a 4ohm set of speakers with a sensitivity of 88db like the Buchardt s400 MK2 s? People say that it’s okay to try the different output taps of tube amps to discover which sounds best but I’m quite skeptical to try using the 6ohm tap of a tube amp with 4ohm speakers. Thanks 🙏

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thanks Chuck - I’ve found it has enough to power speakers down to 85db without too much of a problem - however, I’m in a small room, large rooms might need more. 88db 4ohm should be fine though.

[@chuckisidro8624]

@@SmallRoomAudio awesome! My room is 13’ x 15’. Iwas just a bit concerned that hooking up 4ohm rated speakers to the 6ohm tap of my 50w tube amp (it only has 6&8ohm taps) will cause damage to my amp. Thanks and cheers! 😊

[@SmallRoomAudio]

The A50 only has one set of taps, so it can deal with different loads. On more traditional tube amps with different taps it’s better to be cautious just in case! I’d call the manufacturer to check. I used 4ohm taps on the 508ia for 4/6/8ohm speaker loads, but didn’t do it the other way round where the tap was higher than the speaker

[@chuckisidro8624]

@@SmallRoomAudio alright. Got it. Thanks for your input and I’ll be waiting for your next video. Oh, and my wife is looking forward to seeing Schumi. 🐶 🔊🙏

[@raymondchow4392]

@@SmallRoomAudio how big is your room? Have you compare SS amps and tube amps when pair with Dynaudio HS?

[@jim586]

Hiya, Am I missing something here? Regarding your comment about the two amplifiers being “like for like” cost wise. The Line Magnetic 508 can be had new from £1899 adding the tubes is £2000 so is £3899. How is that anywhere near the £6199 that the Taurus costs? I stand corrected if I’ve missed something. Cheers

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Hi Jim! Fair comment, let me clarify. The LM508ia has now been replaced by the 805ia (which is more or less identical) and the RRP of that is £4999 - plus upgraded tubes takes it up to £7k. You are right that a LM508ia can be imported on the grey market from ebay for £1899 - but expect to pay import fees of at least 20% from China as they are especially hot on these fees after Brexit. Plus £550 in delivery charges! You won’t get any dealer support, warranty or guarantee doing it this way - so you take your chances! This is the dealer route below: valhifi.co.uk/shop/p/line-magnetic-lm-805ia-valve-integrated-amplifier

[@pedroluisguillemain5683]

I bought my LM508 from China with no problem whatsoever for about U$S 2.000 and I spent about U$S 1.300 on tubes and U$S 400 on internal upgrades that improved noise and bass considerably.

[@fletchermunson6225]

One should not forget pasta and Italian women. Perhaps Henley it should be called Hernia Audio.

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Indeed - both are exceptional! Honestly Jim, lugging tube amp transformers about is not for the faint hearted!!

[@fletchermunson6225]

@@SmallRoomAudio My Muzishare is about 50 lbs and that is where I top out. I'd love to get a bigger amp but I think I'd have to have it delivered to friends business and it would cost me a couple cases of beer for someone younger and stronger to launch it onto my equipment bench.

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Mytek reckon they can create a gan-fet class D amplifier that’s a sensible weight and sounds like tubes - if they can pull that off I’m all in for the love of my spine!

[@fletchermunson6225]

@@SmallRoomAudio Solid state people always say this and seem to fall short. That said, Switching from my tube amp to the Schiit Raganok2, the differences are not glaring. The tubes add their thing but the solid state performance from the Raggy is close and wonderful. I'm looking forward to better and better equipment.

[@TheMeridian808]

Can you please tell me, Heritage with tubes against ss?

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Both good - I’d recommend at least 50w though

[@truman4956]

Tube cost on the line magnetic is crazy

[@SmallRoomAudio]

It can be reasonable cost, depending on the tubes. NOS is quite the rabbit hole though!

[@WelkySchullin]

Thank you for great video!! Design and the price is not my cup of tea. Keep it up

[@SmallRoomAudio]

Thank you for the kind comment! 😊 🙏 👍

[@jctai100]

Kinda funny looks wise that the Synthesis which is Italian has a Chinese aesthetic and the Chinese Line Magnetic has the Italian flare lol

[@SmallRoomAudio]

It’s definitely not ‘beautiful’ in a traditional sense is it - but the sound more than makes up for it.

[@raphaelmeillat8527]

Very true, the LM looks more refined! Still miles away from classic EAR Yoshino type of design... Thanks for the review.