Antique Sound Labs
A recent post on Chinese tube amps jogged my memory of this brand. I'm a SS guy, so all I know about them is that they created a minor sensation 20+? years ago with an 8 watt tube monoblock amp for $99. They seemed pretty prolific, with an array of amps using a variety of tubes.
Did they survive their brush with tube world fame (hah!) and the resulting demand for product? Are they still around in a meaningful way? Any opinions out there on their gear and place in the market?
I recently got in touch with Divergent Technologies in Canada who was the North American distributor of ASL for a schematic of one of their headphone amps. I asked what had happened to Antique Sound Labs and was told: On Fri, Aug 27, 2021 at 10:12 AM Tash Goka <divergent@divertech.com> wrote:
Make of that what you will... |
My very good friend has a pair of these Wave 8 Antique Sound Labs mono amps. I borrowed them for 10+ years or so to use in my office. I used these with an Adcom 555 Mk II preamp with a Sumo Delilah crossover into a pair of Kef C10 cabinets (with a small sub). A modest system that I used to playback signals from various PC’s and a ProJect turntable in a very small office environment. The build quality was decent considering the price point. Each amp chassis was quite compact with a power switch on the front of the amp. 1 RCA input with the power socket on the rear. More power than you’d expect. While warm sounding and reasonably neutral, I didn’t think they were overly accurate or revealing, though the mid-fi stuff I was using them with wasn’t exactly top shelf components either. It was fun to have them around, I was thankful to be allowed to use them and I believe my good friend still has them (sitting on a shelf unused). I would not seek out my own pair based on my listening experience. Hope this is helpful. |
I spoke to Tash Goka (owner of Divergent Technologies & former North American distributor for Antique Sound Lab) a few years back and he said that Antique Sound Lab was no longer in business. Perhaps he meant that Joseph Lau, owner of ASL, has decided to get into another business. I still own my ASL Wave 25 tube monoblocks as well as my ASL MG Head DT headphone amplifier, now 21 years old, and enjoy these audio components very much. Antique Sound Lab was a force to be reckoned with in the world of hi end audio back in the 1990's, and much of the 2000's, receiving many awards for their outstanding products. Including a few from The Absolute Sound audio magazine. I was sorry to learn that they are no longer selling products in North America. |
To this day, my main amplifier is an ASL MG SI 15 DT integrated (5 wpc triode/15 wpc pentode) that drives a pair of Belle Klipsch horn-loaded speakers (104 db SPL). It's a very capable little unit, and also has the subwoofer out jacks - a necessity with the Belles. If memory serves, initial models retailed in the $600 range; later versions were closer to $1000. I'll eventually upgrade, but it might be among the last components to go. At their price point, they were a good way to get into tube amplification. (I believe ASL were among the earliest Chinese-manufactured tube amps). |
