Yaquin Tube Buffers? Any users here?

trav0810

I am going to order a tube buffer and the name that keeps popping up is the Yaquin. How is the quality? Are the factory tubes worth while or do you have to upgrade them? Is there a better value out there?

98Badger

I had one for a short time. It was minimally better with the electro harmonex tubes I put in, but ultimately a failure in my system. It muddied up the bass and midbass, although it did smooth the high end a bit.

pietro944

I have the Yaqin CD3,which I bought about a year ago.It's heavy and built like a tank.I dumped the stock tubes and replaced with Rca and Sylvania 6sn7's.....Rca VT-231's and various other 6sn7's...All for short money.The way i can shape the sound to my taste with different tubes is tremendous.

Don't listen to the naysayers.....For $164 shipped,the CD3 was one of the best investments,I ever made......Short of a $500 tube pre,this is the way to go,imo...peter

DollarDave

I agree with Peter, I have a CD2 and a CD3 and have enjoyed both of them. The CD3 is a tad better and I haven't used the CD2 in a long time - I think a tube buffer in my garage system would be a great idea..

trav0810

Thanks for the info. I was wondering about the difference between the CD-2 and CD-3. Wasn't sure if it was worth paying nearly double or not. But it sounds like the CD-3 is the way to go.

mhardy6647

If he's not seen it, this thread might be of interest to the OP...
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?100094-Principle-behind-a-tube-buffer&highlight=buffer

pearsall001

I find my Yagin CD 1 buffer very satisfying for my tastes. I mainly keep the EAT ECC88 Cool Valve running most of the time but I will swap it out for the Amperex Bugle Boy just to shake things up a bit. It is a very nice addition to my system.

inspiredsports

I went through the progression of all solid state to all tube starting with a Musical Fidelity tube buffer I purchased from a member here a few years back. Because of the low price, I also purchased a Yaqin (a one 6922 tube CD1 at the time).

Both were modded, tube rolled and sounded great but . . . . I realized I was simply on a learning curve spending money to learn about tubes.

I don't want to sidetrack you from the journey, especially if you have the time, but predict you will end up with a good all-tube pre (perhaps then amp too) within the next 2 years.

I now have several complete all SS, mixed, and all tube rigs and have to say . . . tubes rule!

zingo

2/3 of the possible increase in sound quality would come from the buffer aspect of the unit (high input impedance and low output impedance) and adjusting any impedance mismatches in your system. The other 1/3 would come from the tubes, and I'm parting the "tube sound". I think tube buffers aren't for most people as if you want tubes, get tubes, but tubes buffers are pretty cheap which draws interest.

My father-in-law and I recently built a FET buffer for his integrated amp (a custom class-D always being customized), and it provided an increase in SQ simply because it improved the interaction between the source and the amp.

trav0810

mhardy6647 wrote: »

If he's not seen it, this thread might be of interest to the OP...
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?100094-Principle-behind-a-tube-buffer&highlight=buffer

Thanks for the link, It was informative but a lot of the technical jargon was beyond my limited knowledge. But it did give me a little better understanding of how the buffers work.

trav0810

pietro944 wrote: »

Don't listen to the naysayers.....For $164 shipped,the CD3 was one of the best investments,I ever made......Short of a $500 tube pre,this is the way to go,imo...peter

Glad to hear that, at $100 the CD2 was kind of appealing. So I was wanting some user feedback so I could decide whether or not it would be worth it to go to the 3. At under $200 it is still the most inexpensive piece in my system. And from the people that own them there seems to be a consistent level of satisfaction.

trav0810

inspiredsports wrote: »

I don't want to sidetrack you from the journey, especially if you have the time, but predict you will end up with a good all-tube pre (perhaps then amp too) within the next 2 years.

That doesn't sidetrack me at all...it actually tells me I am on the right path. I think the upgrading and the addition of new components is half the thrill.

pietro944

trav0810 wrote: »

Glad to hear that, at $100 the CD2 was kind of appealing. So I was wanting some user feedback so I could decide whether or not it would be worth it to go to the 3. At under $200 it is still the most inexpensive piece in my system. And from the people that own them there seems to be a consistent level of satisfaction.

If you go with the CD3,get it from these guys,not on ebay(more Expensive)http://www.hi-end.on9mart.com/cart/Yaqin_SD-CD3....I bought the Cd3 and the Xiang Sheng DAC 02-A from him,good people,takes only 10 days from HK..........Also,if you go CD3,let me know and I'll send you a nice pair of upgraded NOS 6sn7's......freebie,just pm me....peter

dhart86

inspiredsports wrote: »

I went through the progression of all solid state to all tube starting with a Musical Fidelity tube buffer I purchased from a member here a few years back. Because of the low price, I also purchased a Yaqin (a one 6922 tube CD1 at the time).

Both were modded, tube rolled and sounded great but . . . . I realized I was simply on a learning curve spending money to learn about tubes.

I don't want to sidetrack you from the journey, especially if you have the time, but predict you will end up with a good all-tube pre (perhaps then amp too) within the next 2 years.

I now have several complete all SS, mixed, and all tube rigs and have to say . . . tubes rule!

+1 all day
I started out in tubes with the yaqin cd3 (6sn7 tube) loved it, but ended up going to two tube pre amps.
the dared sl2000 and the wright wla 12a

tubes rule and the tube buffer is a good intro for a little $$$$$$

trav0810

pietro944 wrote: »

If you go with the CD3,get it from these guys,not on ebay(more Expensive)http://www.hi-end.on9mart.com/cart/Yaqin_SD-CD3....I bought the Cd3 and the Xiang Sheng DAC 02-A from him,good people,takes only 10 days from HK..........Also,if you go CD3,let me know and I'll send you a nice pair of upgraded NOS 6sn7's......freebie,just pm me....peter

Wow! Thanks. I'll certainly do that. I just bookmarked that page and I'll order one this weekend!

trav0810

dhart86 wrote: »

tubes rule and the tube buffer is a good intro for a little $$$$$$

I'm looking forward to getting started!

erniejade

Are you looking to expand? Like get into digital files flac type stuff? If so, you might look into a Grant Fidelity Tube Dac11
http://shop.grantfidelity.com/Grant-Fidelity-TubeDAC-11-D-A-Converter.html

With this, it is a buffer, and a good sounding dac both. There is a few threads out there on it on some of the other boards about tube rolling it as well. A while ago when I was debating about adding a buffer into my system, i called Grant Fidelity and they said in his eyes, this unit sounded better than a tube rolled cd2 or 3 ( they sold both) Just giving you other options to help give you the sound you are looking for as well as something that you can upgrade, use as a pre, make your cd's sound better with an external dac, and it you wanted, it also can be used as a preamp or headphone amp. If you dont like how the tube part sounds, it has SS outputs as well as tube. For the $ it does a lot!

trav0810

CD is really the only digital media I will be using so I don't know if I would get enough benefit from this to justify spending over doublt the cost of the CD-6.