2. amps-preamps
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Douk Audio. Any experience with any of their products?

I've seen several products under this name on eBay in recent history, including a tube preamp board that looks pretty impressive. Especially for the money.   They reference a pretty exotic Audionote preamp in the title.  

Douk Kondo Audionote

I noticed the url on the board, and decided to find out more. Turns out the entire website is blank. Assuming this was an error, I messaged the seller.

"Hi,
I was interested in learning more about the Kondo board, and tried the website to see what info was there, and I get a blank page. Just fyi."

I thought they might appreciate the heads up about the error. Instead, I received this response:
 
"Hi dear customer
wish you have a nice day
the amp board designed by our designers
so you cant find it
best regards
Douk-Amy :)"


Not exactly a confidence builder. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had direct experience with these folks.
128x128pixelriffic
kotta's avatar
kotta
649 posts
 
Well... Today I took out the Chinese 12AU7 tubes which came w/the unit and put in the 1958 RCA tubes that I bought recently just for this pre-amp/buffer. Night and day difference for the better. What a great way to experience such musical sound for so little $. (Maybe the stock Chinese tubes needed more break in? But I have not read on the internet any praise for Chinese tubes, so decided to change out. Glad I did.)
pixelriffic's avatar
pixelriffic OP
26 posts
 
The Chinese tubes themselves are bound to be the weakest part.  Western NOS are best in breed, then the (former?) soviet tubes, and finally Chinese.  It can be quite surprising as to what a difference this can make.  Seems the chinese electronics like this example are quite a bang for the buck.  

Thanks for the update.  
ottoa63's avatar
ottoa63
36 posts
 
I glad to see this thread...I am looking to maybe take a leap with their tube amps'  not intergrated....they are like 248.00 and up   On Ebay model NOBSOUND HI FI EL-34 single ended Class  A 34 amp  13W   245.00  for 245.00 I'm must be total crap... just dont know....If I had 1k to spend, Id buy something we all know...any comments are appreciated on this...Thanks  Otto

pixelriffic's avatar
pixelriffic OP
26 posts
 
This is one of several pieces that interested me.  For a single ended tube amp of this sort, the price is dirt cheap.  I did notice that what appears to be the same amp on Amazon, received several good reviews.  

One thing that did put me off was the response from Douk when asked for more info.  I wasn't necessarily looking for their deepest design secrets.  Although they claim the preamp I was looking at is based on an Audionote design, which is also puzzling.  You could not buy the raw parts alone for these prices, so it is tempting.  
bpoletti
1,553 posts
 
I got their DAC on Ebay.  Quite impressive.  I'm very satisfied.  Integrates well into my all-Herron Audio electronics.  I use an Onkyo CD player as a transport, co-ax works better than optical.  Intend to integrate a PC as a streaming source to the DAC.

I understand they made some recent modifications to their DAC power supply, so their current performance might not be the same as previous. 
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