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Posts: 347
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Post by Guest on Sept 11, 2015 17:54:30 GMT
Does anyone have an opinion of this amplifier please?
At £300:00 does it represent reasonable value for money, if not what would you recommend in this price bracket please?
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Post by pre65 on Sept 11, 2015 19:58:21 GMT
It might not be the case now, but in general Chinese amps were optimised for 220v European use and with our 240-250v mains the amp voltages could be a fair bit higher than desired.
Best ones to check are the valve heaters which should be 6.3v.
Not sure the words "high end" are applicable to these amps 
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Post by ChrisB on Sept 11, 2015 20:27:08 GMT
I like a good valve amp. Trouble is, at that price, it's not likely to be a good valve amp. A good valve amp needs certain components which just do not come cheaply if they are to be of adequate quality. I've never heard or seen one of these, but I'm pretty sure that you could get yourself something exponentially better on the secondhand market for that sort of lolly. For example, ten seconds on Ebay, and I come up with this one. Plenty more where that came from! |
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Post by MartinT on Sept 11, 2015 20:31:33 GMT
Pretty much agree there, Chris. That Sony is a nice piece of kit and a bargain at that price.
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Post by ChrisB on Sept 11, 2015 21:06:11 GMT
It's solid state but a good amp is a good amp, whatever technology it uses and I think the presence of cheap but functioning valve amps on the market has been a retrograde step. I suspect a new solid state amp for £300 will outperform that thing. It won't have that lovely 'warm valve sound' though.....the sound that a good valve amp doesn't have!
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Post by MartinT on Sept 11, 2015 21:12:27 GMT
The problem with valve amps at that price point is the output transformers, which are not going to be up to much.
Power, control, damping factor will all be in short supply.
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Post by ChrisB on Sept 11, 2015 21:55:39 GMT
Yep. Them there is the 'certain components' I was referring to.
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Post by julesd68 on Sept 11, 2015 23:21:24 GMT
Pretty much agree there, Chris. That Sony is a nice piece of kit and a bargain at that price. That's good if it's a bargain at that price as I've recently sourced one for my brother for 100 quid less! The build quality of those Sony ES amps is quite superb. That's what worries me about the cheap Chinese valve amps. They are cleverly built to look pretty enough, but how long are those cheap components going to last and is the thing going to be safe?? |
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Post by ChrisB on Sept 11, 2015 23:26:36 GMT
There are lots of them about. I'm pretty sure we won't be saying the same about the subject of the OP in 10 yrs time, never mind 30!
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Post by ChrisB on Sept 12, 2015 6:32:48 GMT
I didn't know what the going rate for the Sony is, so the fact that you found one for 200 quid or so reinforces my point rather well!
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 12, 2015 7:26:59 GMT
I'd like to throw in a tentative vote on the contrary side. 
Some of those cheap'n'cheerful Chinese amps can sound pretty darn good. I can't recall what the make or model was now, but Stu ("Russ Abbot" on the Wigwam forum) had something similar and was very pleased. He even demmed it at the Wigwam's Scalford Show and there was nowt wrong with the sound at all, quite impressive, in fact. It was widely praised as a fine sounding and looking piece of kit.
Yaqin make some good stuff. Personally, I'd give it a go.
Is this it?
Cor .... it looks fab, imo 
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Post by MartinT on Sept 12, 2015 7:57:02 GMT
You got a lot of quality muscle for the price then, Jules.
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Guest
Rank: Quartet
Posts: 347
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Post by Guest on Sept 12, 2015 9:09:24 GMT
I'd like to throw in a tentative vote on the contrary side.
Some of those cheap'n'cheerful Chinese amps can sound pretty darn good. I can't recall what the make or model was now, but Stu ("Russ Abbot" on the Wigwam forum) had something similar and was very pleased. He even demmed it at the Wigwam's Scalford Show and there was nowt wrong with the sound at all, quite impressive, in fact. It was widely praised as a fine sounding and looking piece of kit.
Yaqin make some good stuff. Personally, I'd give it a go.
Is this it?
Cor .... it looks fab, imo
That's the one Jandl, it does look lovely doesn't it? |
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Post by julesd68 on Sept 12, 2015 12:02:40 GMT
For me that's the point - these amps look rather alluring and can no doubt sound rather good, but how long they keep going for would be my concern.
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Post by Chris on Sept 12, 2015 12:49:15 GMT
I'm a fan of these chi fi valve amps - but with constraints. First off I'm going to declare an interest as I own 2 - an AVC EL34 and a Bewitch KT88. If you are buying one then the best bet is to budget a few extra quid to have it modified in the UK. Eduardwobblechops was very kind and modded my AVC and the Bewitch had a lot of work done by its previous owner which was all documented.
I have to say I've been delighted. My view is that these amps sound very good and offer good value for money - but get them looked at in the UK first.
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Post by Chris on Sept 12, 2015 12:54:29 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Sept 12, 2015 13:00:48 GMT
Reminds me, I have a World Audio EL34 amp almost completed that I want to sell to someone who wants to complete the project. Fancy a project?
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Post by pre65 on Sept 12, 2015 13:54:01 GMT
Reminds me, I have a World Audio EL34 amp almost completed that I want to sell to someone who wants to complete the project. Fancy a project? World Designs (successor to World Audio Designs) have a forum which would be of great help to anyone working on one of these amps. www.world-designs.co.uk/forum/ |
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Post by MartinT on Sept 12, 2015 14:28:09 GMT
Thanks, Philip.
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Post by John on Sept 12, 2015 16:22:01 GMT
Reminds me, I have a World Audio EL34 amp almost completed that I want to sell to someone who wants to complete the project. Fancy a project? I heard a few and they all sounded good |
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