Interesting tube amp

EndersShadow
EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
edited December 2011 in 2 Channel Audio
Possibly a cheap way to get into tubes:

Attachment not found.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Music-Angel-MINI-YAYI-USB-6P1-6BQ5-Vacuum-Tube-Hi-end-Tube-Integrated-Amplifier-/250960389975?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6e67a757
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
Post edited by EndersShadow on
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited December 2011
    Music Angel doesn't have the best rep. If it were me I'd stay away because this is exactly the type of Chinese product, direct from a Chinese seller that is nothing more than a crap-shoot.

    Plus, the electronic panel that allows you to play an SD card is probably cheap and will add a lot of noise, etc.

    But again, just my opinion.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    edited December 2011
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Music Angel doesn't have the best rep. If it were me I'd stay away because this is exactly the type of Chinese product, direct from a Chinese seller that is nothing more than a crap-shoot.

    Plus, the electronic panel that allows you to play an SD card is probably cheap and will add a lot of noise, etc.

    But again, just my opinion.

    H9

    True, I went through their stuff and found this one which is what I would go with (using a Musiland as the DAC). Still think its not worth the price?

    Attachment not found.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/310367960944?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • punk-roc
    punk-roc Posts: 1,150
    edited December 2011
    I had a music angel tube-pre and while I thought it was neat (and cheaply priced), I got a lot of "hum" through my system with it. Once I got the Dodd ELP, all the hum was gone.
    2-Channel - So far...
    Pre: Dodd ELP
    DAC: W4S-Dac2
    Source(s): Computer and Denon 2910
    Amp: Parasound HCA-1200II
    Speakers: LSi9s - Vr3 Fortress Mod
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    edited December 2011
    Yeah, I might just talk to a local guy I know and see what it would cost for him to build me a little tube amp. He built one for another local guy I know and he's quite pleased with it, all 3.5 wpc :)
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited December 2011
    The best value and best sounding tube amp money can buy is the SPUD Amp offered by Jerry at Hawthorne Audio. I guarantee you will not find a better sounding amp. Frankly, it sounds better than my Quicksilver MidMonos albeit having less watts. Check it out.
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited December 2011
    As time passes these fairly unknown Chinese manufacturers will produce better and better gear. There are hundreds of thousands of first rate Engineers in China who are looking for work. Their skills are excellent, they're bright, and like the Japanese, they will soon be able to reverse engineer anything and produce a "perfect" copy of it. This is just to say that tube amps at lower and lower prices that perform as well as any of the so-called big guys are coming, and some are "already" here!

    I don't know this particular company though.

    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited December 2011
    The problem is a company like Music Angel and several others come from several different plants and the quality control is horrible. My point is, you don't know exactly what you are getting. Sure, some of them work alright right out of the box, but more times than not there are issues, serious issues. These low cost type of electronics for the most part are not in the catagory your refer to. I agree with your assessment, but you still have to weed out the crap and there is still a lot of crap peddled from China.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited December 2011
    I fully agree, Brock. You do have to be "careful" because there is a lot of sloppiness and even "fraud" still around throughout the country. You can go into various Bazaar-like marketplaces throughout China and find knock-offs or every major manufacturer. There is even an entire sector of the port city of Beijing (Tianjin) that caters to tourists (Chinese and foreign) that has an entire area of the city where fake Rolex, Gucci and other high end products are sold at unbelievably low prices. Some of these products are indistinguishable (visually) from the actual product. You would have to open the product up and be an "expert" to tell it is counterfeit. And there is even a hierarchy in counterfeiters with some being "good" quality and others pure garbage. lol

    Actually, the major buyers here are the Chinese themselves!

    So, yeah, you have to be careful. Humming is NOT a good sign.

    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    edited December 2011
    SolidSqual wrote: »
    The best value and best sounding tube amp money can buy is the SPUD Amp offered by Jerry at Hawthorne Audio. I guarantee you will not find a better sounding amp. Frankly, it sounds better than my Quicksilver MidMonos albeit having less watts. Check it out.

    It was a little bit hard to find info so if anyone else is interested like me, look here: http://www.hawthorneaudio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3841
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited December 2011
    Actually the photo of the 2nd amp is a direct knock-off of the Sophia Baby amplifier.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    edited December 2011
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Actually the photo of the 2nd amp is a direct knock-off of the Sophia Baby amplifier.


    LOL..... well I might just stick with integrated SS's for now. I see a Marantz 2226B for 175 on a nearby CL I might try to wheel and deal on....
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • MajorC
    MajorC Posts: 15
    edited December 2011
    Yes, you guys are correct when you mention the quality control regarding items being manufactured in China. I work for a large Fortune 500 company and several years ago we placed an order for several thousand IBM PC work stations. Every single one of them came direct from China. I was an assistant on the team helping with the IBM
    install. Several months later we started experiencing shorts and actual fires coming from the monitors. Before one year was up we had experienced a failure rate of almost 100%. IBM was threatened with a massive law suit and they decided to extend the warranties and IBM replaced all the defective monitors. Oddly the second batch of monitors that came in from China were trouble free.

    The message that was given to us was that China, at the time, had the majority of the their top resources tied up in the production of the Olympic games. So, these "bad" monitors came from a "new" factory that was experiencing start up problems. Go figure.
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  • MajorC
    MajorC Posts: 15
    edited December 2011
    Just went over to Hawthorne Audio's site (first time) and they show no "SPUD Amps." Can you offer a specific name or model?
    Thanks.
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  • Tbone289
    Tbone289 Posts: 661
    edited December 2011
    MajorC wrote: »
    Just went over to Hawthorne Audio's site (first time) and they show no "SPUD Amps." Can you offer a specific name or model?
    Thanks.

    See post #10
    2.1: PC>Schiit Gungnir MB>Schiit Freya Noval>NAD C-270>Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1, HSU STF-2 5.1: HDMI Bitstream>Denon AVR-1910>polkaudio RTE55, CS350-LS, RT3, HSU STF-2, Visio M55-F0
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,804
    edited December 2011
    in case it isn't obvious, a spud amp is a... one-tuber :-)

    tuber... spud... ahem :-P


    Doc Bottlehead's original S*E*X amp was a spud; as is the current incarnation thereof.
    http://www.bottlehead.com/store.php?crn=44&rn=433&action=show_detail

    There have been numerous kits and PCBs for spud amps based on various Compactrons as well.

    Generally the spud amps use tubes that contain a triode voltage amplifier (driver) and a power output pentode in one envelope. There are also some power output tubes that were designed to be driven directly with a line-level input signal (e.g., the 60FX5). This would be a truer "spud"... although the 60FX5 was designed for cheap phono amps and is neither powerful nor particularly hifi.

    60FX5 stereo amp resized.jpg

    (if anyone decided to build one of there - please add an isolation transformer 'twixt the AC mains and the amp!)

    Just thought I'd toss that info into the goulash here...
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited December 2011
    http://www.hawthorneaudio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3841

    Jerry is a member at Hawthorne Audio who makes the amps that they use to voice their speakers. The SPUD amp is available as a kit or assembled. You can also request Jerry to make the amps as a monoblock or without the volume control. In addition, there are various upgrades that can take the amp to a whole other level if desired. As said previously, in stock form, the SPUD has better sound than my Quicksilver Monos.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited December 2011
    These look promising. I've been wanting to build one, but I'd have no use for it since I already have 3 tube integrated's that I swap in and out.

    http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatube&1330135261&/Elekit-Japan-tu-879s-6l6gc-rev

    Step by step with all the parts and even a list of suggested upgrades should you choose to use boutique parts.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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