Western Electric’s 91E Integrated Valve Amp Lands in the UK

Western Electric's 91E combines the company's decades of SET amp development, new techniques, and technologies, including the brand's fully linear SCCS (Steered Constant Current Source) circuitry.

 
Lovingly made in Rossville, Georgia, the 91E features an enhanced parallel feed controlled exclusively by the valve's output voltage while increasing the power available from the 300B output valves to a claimed doubling of traditional 300B-based SET amp designs' seven or eight watts. Furthermore, it eliminates the need for large output transformers and associated hysteresis.

Alongside the matched pair of 300Bs, the 91E utilises a pair of ECC81s with an innovative design resulting in additional power output that increases the range of available loudspeaker pairings with the integrated amplifier.

Additionally, flexibility is further improved thanks to plug-in-plug-out 4-, 8- and 16-ohm transformer blocks, interchangeable to match your speakers.

Although the overall aesthetic harks back to the golden age of American manufacturing, Western Electric's 91E boasts clever technical implementations such as the microprocessor-controlled valve warm-up and auto-bias regimes, an optical-encoder volume control that addresses a relay-switched resistor network, and the switching of filament polarity each time the amp is turned, adding to the 300Bs' lifespan.

There are some nice touches, such as the LCD displaying Western Electric's 'Spirit of Communication' logo of 1914 when it's first powered on before switching to a pair of vertical power meters. The screen also shows the volume level and your selected source.

You get four line-level RCA inputs, an MM/MC phono input, as well as Bluetooth for those wishing to pair their digital devices wirelessly.

The Western Electric 91A integrated amplifier is available now in champagne gold or black at an RRP of £16,99 or £18,500 in the premium nickel finish.

Absolute Sounds is also importing Western Electric's 300B valves alongside the amp.

Visit Western Electric for more information