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According to Western Electric, Columbia studios has a standing order for a pair of the WE 89 amps -- and they may have them by early summer. In May, Western Electric will be showing both amps in pre-production form at HI-FI '99 in Chicago. All tubes come with Western Electric's unprecedented five-year warranty. |
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Copyright © 1999 |
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Wavelength
and Western Electric held a joint press conference to announce the manufacture of two new
Western Electric amplifiers from designs by Wavelength's Gordon Rankin. The WE 91B is a
design based on Western Electric's renowned 91A mono amplifier whose reputation was for
unwavering reliability. The new design, however, aims at making the 91A into an audiophile
product. It will use custom-designed Magnequest transformers and Western Electric tubes,
including the famed WE 300B. Output power will be 12 watts. The Western Electric 89, a
single-ended class-A design, will output 75 watts in a unique design that Rankin referred
to as "two amplifiers" -- a 300B tube driving an enormous WE 308 (the
tube next to it in the picture is a 300B), which costs $1500 each and is the equivalent of
30 KT88s. The 89 will be the signature WE product. Bell Labs will audit and review the
final plans for both amps, and Western Electric will manufacture both.