Gary PearceIt’s a brand you may not be aware of, but Brian Smith and Wayne Cooper of Transmit8 are two Kiwi audio gurus with a passion for the magic of the tube. This homegrown duo (Wayne is the engineering brain, while Brian is well known in NZ as a valve amp designer/technician) have been quietly working under the radar for the past few years and have now launched a most impressive amplifier system onto the world market.
They’ve combined to create the massive 805 output tube basedTransmit8 SE50 SET monoblocks, a double act of brooding single-ended 45wpc valve architecture that pictures can’t really do justice to.
I met up with Wayne at his Auckland workshop last week for an afternoon demo, and to say I was impressed was somewhat of an understatement. He had the SE50’s singing with a pair of giant Ambience ribbon hybrid loudspeakers running through Transmit8’s prototype tube line stage – this in turn was fed digital goodness via a very rare battleship Sony SCD-1 SACD player.
The resultant sound was simply amazing: involving yet dynamic, the SE50’s/Ambience/SCD-1 combo blew me away with its ability to both communicate and convey the music with gusto, while being respectful of the subtleties contained within each disc. It’s one thing to have great attack and dynamic swing, but this usually results in the manifestation of a certain amount of brightness/hardness to the sound. Not so with the Transmit8 SE50’s: they combine reference solid-state like speed and dynamic impact with the warmth and involvement of the best of valve amplification, which is a rare ability for any amplifier regardless of price.
As good as the demo was, I wanted more – so Wayne has gladly allowed a pair of SE50’s into my home for an in-depth review. I’m genuinely excited at the prospect of having the Transmit8’s in my home and am really looking forward to pairing them with my easy to drive Voigt Vofo’s – this should be a match made in heaven.
This is just a quick press release to whet your appetites, look out for the review appearing on Witchdoctor very soon.
As they say in politics, watch this space…
They look stunning! Lucky man. I look forward to your thoughts. Glenn
Hi guys,
Sounds like the usual local audio guys overpriced bullshit as I’ve come to expect.
Murray.
Murray – yet another thoughtful, well informed comment as I’ve come to expect. Well done. I take it you’ve heard these amps and spoken to the makers? No. Of course you haven’t. How’s your Bose?
What happened to the review? I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts
I’ve been away for a few weeks Kaka, but I’ll contact Wayne when I’m back at the end of next week and sort out a good old listening session or 2. I’m looking forward to it as well 🙂
hi,
today i had the pleasure of inspecting wayne and brian’s excellent and very well priced amplifiers. the care and precision with which they are made is inspiring. wayne is dedicated to making the very best equipment he can and i encourage any witchdoctor readers in auckland to contact wayne and see for themselves what a good job he’s done, triode8 deserves every success,
regards,
adam
hi,
sorry, that should be ‘transmit8’,
adam
If they sound as good as they look they will be quite something.