And also people always trot out the silly "you'll be sorry when it needs service" comments. In fact any decent tech can work on any brand. There is not much that is groundbreaking in tube devices. Ss on the other hand can be different. Another reason to buy glass not sand. |
The Doge 8 preamplifier I purchased cost me $1399 in U.S. Dollars or about $1800 Canadian. However, it blows away the bryston BP-25 I was using and is much better than other preamps I have used or heard including anything by Sonic Frontiers and the Mcintosh C2500 I was considering. The C2500 price I was quoted was $7500 Cdn. The Doge 8 weighs over 30 pounds, looks great, is very well built and - as many have stated - sounds fantastic for a fraction of the cost of a C2500. In my opinion, the Doge 8 sounds much better.
There are many great amps out there but they are not cheap. VTL, ARC and Lamm make some great tube amps but the cost approaches $20K! Are they that much better that I want to drop that kind of money? I am very impressed with my Doge 8 preamp and I am sure I will be impressed with the Doge 9 amps if I get a chance to buy or listen to them. |
Price Stringreen, it's really price. If one has champagne taste and a ......... what do you do? When it comes time to service will be the time that love can turn into anxiety and even worse. But then again maybe these units are very well built and actually represent good value, time will tell. I've been tempted to try but personal principle more than price always wins out. I'd rather support North American companies whenever possible. |
I can't understand the interest in esoteric entities, when so many proven companies are there for your coins? Service, longevity, Support???? |
Thinman:
I own a pair of Magnepan 3.6 and use a Doge 8 with a Bryston 14B ST. I am thinking of going the Doge 9 route as I absolutely love the Doge 8. You mentioned you did not like the Maggie's / Doge 9 combination. Can you expand on that?
Cheers, |
I have had these amps together with the Doge 8 preamp and the Doge 6 cd player since December 2013 (more than a year and 3 months), bought them directly from China through Mark. (I live in Israel).
At first, the Amps with the original tubes sounded quite crappy to my ears. I changed all(!) tubes to NOS, including the 211 to GE. That last change was critical to the quality of the sound and made the most improvement. Overall the sound is VERY good, in my view comparable to almost anything out there with the usual trade-offs (like when you use low watt amps you will get less distortion but smaller sound-stage etc. ). My speakers are moded Klipsch La Scala and I use the lower negative feedback option on the Doge (but you will get much more dynamics on the high NF option).
From my experience these amps are very sensitive to the kind of cables you use (mine started to really sing only after I switched to an expensive MIT IC). Then I could experience the Nirvana I was looking for.
As for the Doge 8, don't dare using its MC input stage. Its the worst I ever heard. If you have a MC cartridge, use the MM with either a SUT or head amp. Again, change all tubes to NOS.
The CD 6 is also amazing, very recommended at its price.
As for service, don't expect what you get in the US, but the saving in costs makes up for that. I have bought many audio components in my 30 years in audio and this was the best deal, no doubt about it. Will it last 30 years or more like an an old McIntosh or Leak? I doubt it, but what current production amps will? |
I just bought the Doge 9's and the 6/8 also. They are superb. I also bought directly from the factory in Changsha...great buying experience. Units arrived very well packed and on a heavy pallet. After a few days of listening...I can only say fantastic. I am changing out the pre-amp tubes as I think that may be a little bright as some others have reported, but I am looking forward to getting more hours in with these amps before posting a sorely needed proper review. |
Mark,
I am one of the only US dealers for Doge. Drop me a line and I'll get you more information on pricing and availability on ALL the Doge products.
Thank you. |
Hi, I am interested in getting the Doge preamp and CD player, just wondering how you dealt with Doge directly? Thanks. |
I've had a Doge system for over two years now and am very happy with it. This system is comprised of the Doge-6 tubed CD player, the Doge-8 pre-amp, and the two Doge-9 monoblocks. Together they produce the best sound I've ever heard - wide and high soundstage, with a fullness and crispness that is beautiful to listen to, with lots of definition (and space) and dead silence when the music pauses, and all this is with the original Chinese tubes. While I plan to upgrade the tubes at some point, I have frankly been more than pleased by what this system creates, sound-wise, so I am in no real hurry for the upgrade.
I had these units shipped from China (I dealt directly with Doge - although this is not the normal way to purchase these). When UPS dropped them off, they were all on a large wooden pallet, and the delivery man needed help moving them - they are very heavy and very well made. An accurate way to view these units is as higher end Jolidas, since they were designed and manufactured by the same engineer who designed all the earlier Jolida equipment, only the Doge's have higher quality components in them. The same units are sold in Germany under the Lua name (or is it Lau?) for significantly more money and a slighter different outside look. |
Hi
I think that their Balanced on Doge 8 it is ''fake'' balanced(sorry I can not find the right word but I think you can understand what I mean)
I own the Doge 8 preamplifier and it is the finest preamp I ever had.
My best regards |
that is surprising that they don't have balanced inputs since the Doge 8 has balanced outputs.
thanks for the info.
e |
I would guess the Doges can handle pretty much everything, since they handled the Maggies I had earlier on very good, i.e no running out of steam. Unfortunately only single-ended connections, no XLR. I have not tried Tims vinyl gear. |
Does the Doge 9 have balanced inputs? |
Thanks Thinman. I have seen timaudio on ebay. He has a turntable motor I think I want. Have you any experience with that?
As for the Doge 9,they look very nice and I love their preamp.
I like the idea of a high powered tube amp that doesn't break the bank to own or to retube.
I have Acoustat 2 speakers and they require lots of power to sing. They also have a pretty serious load swing, especially in the high frequencies. Do you see this amp as having the ability to handle difficult loads?
thanks for the correspondence.
e |
You must order them from China. I recommend www.timaudio.com. Honest people who have never let me down, and i´ve bought lots of gear from them. Delivery was about a month back then. Unfortunately I´m in Sweden BTW. |
thinman:
How long did it take to get your amps? Are you in the US? Can you recommend who to buy them from?
e |
I´ve had these big babies since August 2009. I have been planning to writing a review since there simply is no information anywhere about them. I went from Nuforce to these and haven´t looked back. I found the Doges to be very, very good indeed, with good resolution, dynamics and are easily biased. To my ears; and I have compared them with tube amps costing about $10-12000, Doge 9 are as good or even better. Dead quiet too, and of course - heavy as hell all 48 kilos each. Stock tubes, haven´t tried NOS or the Shuguang Psvanes.
My setup is Pioneer S1-EX, Opera Consonance Droplet, Ming Da MC-2A. Initially I had Magnepan 3.6R, but that wasn´t to my ears a good match. |
I too am very interested in these amps. I imagine that the Doge 9 is not as popular because they are sold from China and not through a US importer such as Pacific Valve.
They have a very similar configuration to the Jolida amps with the 211 tubes and a 200w output, but with nicer looking chassis.
If they are as good as the other Doge units they are a sure winner.
now who is going to take their chances and order them?
e |
