Features
| Power Per Channel (8ohms) | 20W |
|---|---|
| Warranty length | 1 Year |
| Brand | Icon Audio |
| Product Award | HiFi News Editor's Choice, HiFi World 5 Globes |
Tech Specs
Output Transformer: Tertiary winding
Circuit: Dual 6SN7 high current driver
Power Supply: Choke regulated
Type: Class A, all Triode front end
Valves: 2x 845B/6SL7/2x 6SN7 (CV181)
AC: 845 heating for max life/reliability
Output: 30.5V @8Ω clipping point
Class A: 20 Watts of Pure Class A
Compatible: Passive or active pre-amp
Sensitivity: 450/1000mv (high/low)
Signal to noise level: -90dB
Hum and noise: 0.5mv (low sensitivity)
FR: (-1/-3dB) 6Hz-27khz/ 6Hz-57kHz
Impedance: 0.7Ω (8Ω, low sensitivity)
Damping factor: 13, Gain 67 (high) 30 (Low)
THD: <0.1% @ 1w. 0.14% @ 8w (1kHz)
Transformers: Custom hand-wound mains
Material: Jap long grain iron, low O2 copper
Resistors: HQ 2W metal film & wire-wound
Capacitor: SCR (optional Jensen Copper foil)
Cable: Silver plated PTFE pure copper
PTFE: Audiophile valve holders for min leakage
Speaker Terminals: Gold plated Inputs
AC: 220/240v (115v adjustable)
Consumption: 180w sient, (290w max)
Dimensions (WDH): 24 x 57 x 28mm (inc cover)
Weight: 33kg each (connection/ventilation)
Product Description
The Icon Audio MB845 MK II M Mono Block Amplifier features upgrades and improvements on the original MB845 including a built in bias meter which greatly simplifies bias checking/adjustment, keeping your amplifier in peak performance. Previously you would need to pay attention to numbers on the meter. Now if the pointer is on the black mark, it’s correct. It couldn't be simpler!
When the MB845's were first released in the UK, they were greeted with great acclaim by the Hi- Fi press and customers, for power and value, but above all their unique sound quality. They have become a reference valve amplifier for Hi Fi World magazine and are some of the finest valve power amplifiers you can buy, a superb match for Icon Audio's LA5 TX pre amplifier.
Why buy these power amps?
For over 80 years this fabulous valve has reigned supreme in the field of audio. Designed by RCA with only slide rules (no computers at that time)! Never bettered and still in production it is a must for those that like a big warm detailed sound. The 845s only down fall is the demands it makes on the amplifier built around it.
Other amplifier manufacturers make the mistake of making an amplifier that is to complex, resulting in a loss of the finer details of your music and strangling its ability to truly sing. The 845 needs a huge power supply to breathe properly. Icon Audio's MB845 MK II M's massive power and unique LDT output transformers allow the 845 to be as refined or as brutal as you wish. The man behind it, David Shaw has kept his design simple and big.
How do they sound?
For some people only a large triode valve like the 845 can give the golden warm tone which is so pleasing, with its feeling of air and space and sense of realism. With Vaughn Williams it will ascend to breathe taking heights, with Hendrix it will give you greasy hot buttered riffs like you never heard before. In our experience the 845 has been a very reliable long lived performer. At 66kg (145lbs pr) they are not for everyone!
The ultimate amplifiers
Icon Audio's MB845 MK I has truly become a legend in the UK, but not content with perfection, the boundaries were pushed even further. With the MB845 MKII M, Icon Audio have used all their expertise to create the ultimate amplifier. Surprisingly enough for such big amplifiers is how well they perform at low levels too. Their agility and detailed texture of strings and vocals is quite astounding. Modern recordings demand low noise amplifiers, the MB845s will give you blissful silence.
Press Reviews
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"Amongst the best amplifiers I have ever heard..." (Hi-Fi World magazine, Noel Keywood)
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"If you want to enjoy music on a huge scal then these are the aplifiers to go for. Both soundstaging and dynamic punch, right up through the midband even, are unequalled...a sense of body and scale that is superb." (Hi-Fi World Magazine July 2012)
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"Smoothly powerful valve amps that set standards on what is (just) possible within the home. Awesome...a great way to enjoy music..." (Hi-Fi World Magazine July 2012)
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"With 120W from big 845 valves right down to low frequencues, this power amplifier has massive dynamics and bass swing, yet is easy on the ear." (Hi-Fi World Magazine World Standards)
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"Hear them with a high-resolution digital source and you'll be astonished to experience a sound that is crisply detailed and vivid - with fast tight bass and immense 'slam' that will encourage an almost careless winding up of the systems volume control." (Hi-Fi News Yearbook 2011)
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"...these Icon monoblocks create a holographic sound image that will bring tears to the eyes of any music loving audiophile." (Hi-Fi News Yearbook 2011)
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"While a pair of MB845 MkIIs will represent a substantial investment when compared with many valve amps, you do get a lot for your money. Of course they offer enormous retro appeal, but they combine this with modern design, build quality and finish, with carefully selected parts. And their ability to swing the musical mood between serenely relaxed and fast and furious is hugely engaging." (Hi-Fi News Yearbook 2011)
