Do chinese tube preamp/amp clones interest you?
No, whenever possible, I avoid purchasing anything from China. They are responsible for the deaths of over 1.2 million people worldwide, and have not so little as apologized. I don’t feel that way towards other countries that manufacture and export. I realize that this is an audio enthusiast forum, and apologize for using it as a political retort. All the best, |
To all having owned a Audiostore ,and on average 25% or less actually goes into the build,speakers or electronics,Thst being said especially after what China did and withheld information for. 6 weeks before informing the world,,and buying up all Ppe,and medically related products ,to resell after announcing China is a Cancer ,nothing more to be said and use cheap parts,inside and low grade lead solder , there are a few foreign controlled pieces that are ok. Taiwan, and Hong Kong ,which like U.SA build much high quality on average, China at this time No Thankyou and resale Gorget it much worse no more then even keep that in mind plenty of other quality products out there Rogue audio-USA Schiit Audio USA good quality vacuum tube at a decent price many other options these are just a few examples.🎻🇺🇸 |
Mentioned above a very old China ploy they list say 5 brand name parts a few old carbon resistors ,$20 alps volume pot a select few name brand capacitors the rest China special brand. Solder,wire, tube sockets switches all junk Period I know from past mistakes years ago ,and still holds true today primaluna for that kind of money cheap sheet metal chassis Ayon much more advanced microprocessor tube circuit , machined thick anodized aluminum non resonate chassis ,Worlld class Lundahl transformers and chokes , all rca machined gold copper ,and many more things all within $500 and made in Austria . Knowing parts quality well, a Torroidal transformer much better suited in a SS device not Vacuum tube ,all World class tube products never use Torroidal transformers which are the heart of the amp,preamp.Lundahl,Everyone knows . |
The cheap shitttttt is exactly that, you get what you pay for, here or China. I tried something inexpensive sold on amazon, to use in my shop, really just to find out, wondering: Their low labor cost, their lack of mark-up, volume purchasing, perhaps you can get .... for not too much money. POS, returned it, ok I learned something. However, 'made in china' can be excellent. I read reviews, took a chance, bought a used Cayin A88T, eBay, returns accepted, original owner. There has to be other high quality stuff I don't know about. Proper research, I would not fear 'Made in China'. Says 'Designed in Germany, Made in China'. Received, immediately took bottom cover off, extremely impressive layout, hand point to point construction, high quality parts. I've seen many innards of vintage Fisher's, McIntosh, Sherwoods, Tandbergs. IMO this unit's quality meets and/or exceeds them. Plenty of ventilation space. this is mark 1, only one that has 16 ohm taps. later models have external bias, mine is inside. https://6moons.com/audioreviews/cayin/a88t.html thread here popped up https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/cayin-a88t-my-favorite-amp-out-of-numerous-fyi this quick search, I now see they have been around for 20 years, who knew? https://www.ultimateaudio.gr/en/proionta/cayin/integrated-tube-amplifiers/cayin-a-88t-mk2-20th-anniv... |
Wow...did I just say Jehova? English being my 2nd language I do realize now the difference in semantics regarding clone, my mistake. Let me tell you where I come from...I like to build things, try stuff out, so there is a long list of components and three "systems". I currently feel the itch to build a balanced tube preamp from a kit. I have rediscovered the fun of soldering ;-) Used to build main tube amps, at some point was even lucky enough to have access to a transformer winding machine, but had always thought to not need a pre. BTW...I remember comments even back in the 80s that in tube amps there are only so many iterations, most of the general circuit design is well known since decades...but that may just be hearsay. The search for a balanced tube preamp had me find two kits, one quickly described as a 4 channel car amp and I do not understand how that would be a balanced one (unless you tied ones ground to the others "+") or the one that I referenced to in it's completed version in the OP. I do not expect it to be a copy of a specific model, at least on a quick search I could not find a model with only two inputs and no tone controls, it would however allow me to connect the balanced outputs from the component upstream (dbx venu 360). Cheers brxl |
