Amplification

I was fortunate enough to purchase a second hand Kondo Overture PM-2i integrated amplifier from a friend in France. Brand new would have been out of my budget. It is a very special thing as you would expect. Kondo is synonymous with extremely high quality product built with an almost unnecessary level of fastidiousness. The pictures don’t do it justice actually. 34 watts of EL34 push/pull power is more than enough for the DeVore Orangutans with their high impedance and efficiency. “Audio Note’s philosophy of an ideal integrated amplifier. A simple audio system of excellent balance. Capable of giving the best from details, dynamics and musicality.”

There have been a few reviews, linked below:
Inner Magazine
Part-time Audiophile
Stereophile
High Fidelity

I never thought I would ever own any Kondo electronics.
Ever since reading reviews about them in 6Moons many years ago, and the articles in Sound Practices, they have intrigued me.

I was going to re-tube it with some new production Mullard EL34 output tubes and some Electro Harmonix 12BH7 Gold and 6072A Preamp tubes, but the friend I bought it from supplied some really nice NOS Siemens RFT EL34s instead. These are in fact Mullard XF2s made in the Blackburn factory in 1967. In any case, I’m not a fan of chasing unobtainium NOS rare tubes, particularly output tubes. Recently I have installed a set of Ray Tubes Reserve EL34s and they have been outstanding in every way. A new production tube that actually delivers what I am looking for.

There aren’t many other brands that interest me these days as far as amplification goes, really just Robert Koda, Komuro and Treehaus Audio Labs. All of those are very boutique brands that definitely have a captivating quality. Who knows what might happen in the future!