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The A-6000 monos ship in stout wooden crates lined with styrofoam. Inside they're packed in well-lined cardboard boxes. All tubes are installed inside their Acrylic chimneys and surrounded by thin foam paper. To get started, unscrew the two hex screws that hold each chimney in place to remove the foam paper protecting the tubes. If you plan to not use the chimneys, unscrew their two retainer shafts as well. The two small screw holes left in the base bezel can be filled with the included dress screws if desired. If you want to run the physically taller KR or EML-style 300Bs with the chimneys (the shorter ElectroHarmonix are stock), be sure to request the optional and free taller Acrylic barrels with their matching retainers when you place your order.


If the amps at first sound drier and more damped than expected; and if your preamp's volume sits higher than you think it ought to for the level and given the amps' power... check the feedback control switch on deck. It will be set to 'on'. The output level will rise significantly when you change it to 'off' and the sound will instantly flourish and bloom as though unshackled. Of course this also depends on your speakers. If your listening suggests that zero feedback is far superior (mine did), don't call the feature useless. Someone else's speakers could react the opposite way.

Our obligatory inspection below deck revealed the below, with the bottom plate sliding out easily from inside the side panel and fascia grooves.
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The hot-glue mounting of the four white capacitors above will hence be reinforced with tie-downs to prevent any possible loosening during the kind of box drops some shippers inflict nearly retaliatory on heavy transit goods. My loaners arrived in perfect shape save for one bias meter which had popped out of its retainer. It reinserted without hassle and operated flawlessly but Allnic is investigating an improved fastening method.

Asked whether the amps could be run with less than four output tubes (if less power was desired or during a wait for a replacement 300B), Kang Su Park explained that "you can pull one or two tubes in case of tube failure. The amp will continue to operate. But our output transformer's primary impedance is 600 ohms (2.4K with 4 tubes) so a full set will give much better sound."

Following a personal suggestion, the 300B orientation will be turned 180° in the future so that the tube labels face the listener. When asked about the ongoing controversy that non-paralleled single-ended circuits sound superior, Kang Su had this telling reaction: "A purer sound of a single tube is good in purist theory but if we choose well-matched tubes particularly with the same Gm, there is no meaningful difference. We think realistic drive power for loudspeakers is one of the most important factors to enjoy music. For a reality check, we must only go to a concert hall to be reminded what real music sounds like. Don't rely on playback through dirty amplifiers."

The fixed-bias operation of the A-6000 assures that the output tubes operate tightly matched. The back-lit bias current meters are always on so adjustments and monitoring are child's play.

Allnic's UK distributor Purité Audio had dispatched a premium set of Emission Labs 300B XLS glass to report on and EML's Jac van der Walle had sent along a matching set of Duende Creatura Teflon tube dampers with Titanium springs.

The solitary NOS driver tube meanwhile is suspended already in one of Allnic's gel-filled damper bases.