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Budget Chinese Tube amps - any good?

In the midst of searching for a budget tube amp. Lots of chinese made models keep popping up. The price on these amps are often really low and would give someone like me a chance to try the tube sound for cheap.

Do you guys have any good experiences with them?

Reason I'm asking is that I hear many conflicting experiences online on each amp. Some say their amps are really good, some say they are really bad - each model might have 5 good reviews and 5 bad reviews. I guess this is par for course with audio, where subjectivity is the rule of the game. However, chinese amps tend to have the largest disparity of opinions.

The models I've read up on so far are: Mingda amps, Miniwatt N3, Yaqin amps etc.
milesandcoltrane
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,134 posts
 
I have the a Excellent Omega Alnico 6 -93 db Xoverless speakers.
I needed a good amplifier .i found the 18 wpc Jas Bravo SET integrated
Amplifier .it uses the Russian 6c33c power triode,also used by Batt audio
Joule Electra ,and Lamm audio.
With dual 5ar4 rectifier tube and military type 6ac7 driver tubes,
And it is a auto hias circuit. It is super quiet and SET amps are known for their 3 dimentional imaging and layering .this amplifier is also rock solid in the midbass -Bass as well as the top end being very controlled it is a outstanding Integrated with tons of headroom it provides excellent dynamics and control Well worth checking out .
dragon1952
181 posts
 
I lived with a Ming Da MC88-C amp in my main system for 7 yrs and was perfectly happy. It used 4 KT88's and was 50 wpc max in ultralinear but I used it in triode at 35 wpc mostly with some efficient bookshelves. The only reason I moved it out was because I went to a pair of Martin Logans and preferred to go with an enormous amount of power.
ebm
9,311 posts
 
They are just ok.
veroman's avatar
veroman
299 posts
 
old thread but....i bought an appj amp on amazon for 220. el84 tubes, i rolled them all. with a 96 db full range driver they are marvelous. so i guess i am lucky or have no sense of good sound.
g11657
41 posts
 
I purchased a unison 845 integrated on the used market for $2000.00.The retail price was7000.00!And it has the most excellent sound.So do yourself a favor and shop around.
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