Chinese tube amp or stick with ss Quad?

How did your Little bear t10 phono preamp compare to your Quad 34s phono stage? If your going full tilt boogie with tubes I'm sure you must of like the 'Little Bears' sound.
I inherited the Quad and could only get very slight sound out of the phono stage, so it maybe mc as opposed to my mm cartridge. Either that or it just does not work properly.
Before the Quad I was using a Phono box e preamp with a NAD 80w integrated amp with my Thorens td160 B mk11, and the same B&W speakers. The Quad plus tube pre blew it out the water.
I wish I could have compared them. Good question.
 
There's a guy up in Canada who sells Yaquin on fleabay after giving them a full test and burn in. I hear good things about him.

Only concern I'd have with them is the OEM tubes supplied with the amps tend to suck. Good idea to budget for a decent of replacements.
 
I did, hopefully it turns up tomorrow. The KT's and CV's turned up today, they are beasts! I'm still waiting on the Russian ones and a bias meter.
The wife is definitely looking at me funny.
The Chinese tube amp is a phono preamp.
RFTYLS ??

Hey that K3 is a beaut. 45 wpc? I bet that'll sound massive.
 
There's a guy up in Canada who sells Yaquin on fleabay after giving them a full test and burn in. I hear good things about him.

Only concern I'd have with them is the OEM tubes supplied with the amps tend to suck. Good idea to budget for a decent of replacements.

Is it allowed to name sellers? Yaqin has an el-84 push-pull that I've heard good things about.
 
Not sure ... if it's allowed, the seller name is tabnaac. If not, forget I mentioned it ... ;-}
 
Well, I swapped my Oldchen K3 for the Quad 405 + Khozmo Akustyk passive preamp and have been extremely impressed..... For a solid state amp that is.

It has the widest sound stage I've heard from an SS amp and sounds very punchy while remaining smooth and easy to listen to. Very revealing of the source content revealing whatever is on the recording though lacks the depth, naturalness and the sense of actually being there that my Oldchen has, I really suspect that with a decent tube preamp these failings would disappear. I feel it would be a good match for a Martantz 7 based pre. Especially if there's one to be found based on the more linear octal tubes rather than the midrangey noval tubes.

Anyway, thats my experimentation for today. I've stuffed it in the top cupboard and will investigate again with tubes down the track. Will probably sound fantastic with my EAR 834P copy.

Having said this, I feel the Hood amp is the better sounding of the two though the Quad 405 is definitely worth looking at if you've a less sensive speaker. I was quite surprised that the Quad 405 can drive my 4 ohm 89db Aurum Cantus F620 speakers with no issues. Basically if your speakers are sensive enough and the room is small, buy the Hood. If not then the Quad 405 is a worthy option. Still, I prefer my Oldchen though that's in a different price range and has all the usual maintenance issues of tube amps.
 
For those of you who have the Hood amps, which output transistor configurations do you have? . I've seen three per side and four per side Sometimes mixed with what looks like a MOSFET.
 
I wonder how the Goldmund copy plays, or the DartZeel or the Naim? They are springing up everywhere.
 
Ok, paired the Quad 405 with my Xiang Shen DAC-01A and B&W DM16 speakers today. Totally transformed using the DAC-01A as a preamp rather than the Khozmo Akustyk passive pre. It's actually the best I've heard these speakers.

I also visited a mate who has his Quad 405 paired with a Schiit Saga preamp and Sony SS-F9000 speakers and it sounds absolutely spectacular . It seems that the choice of preamp is critical to getting the best from it.
 
I wonder how the Goldmund copy plays, or the DartZeel or the Naim? They are springing up everywhere.

Got a darTZeel NHB-108 copy on the way now.... I'm expecting it to be on a completely different playing field to the Quad 405 copy which is in itself and extremely nice sounding amp. I've been very impressed with it. Seems to drive my 4 ohm Aurum Cantus F620 speakers beautifully which goes against what I'd been expecting based on user reviews out there. The first solid state amp (apart from the JLH 1969 Hood) I've heard that is right up there with tube gear. I've lost my tube bias (pun intended) now. Good gear is good gear irrespective of whether it's SS or tube. Lesson learned. ;)
 
I'm watching your progress, and the choices seem endless. Personally, I've found the cheap class D amps to be pretty good but lacking compared to my better tube and SS amps. But these amps you have been buying have me hooked into considering.
 
I'm watching your progress, and the choices seem endless. Personally, I've found the cheap class D amps to be pretty good but lacking compared to my better tube and SS amps. But these amps you have been buying have me hooked into considering.

Yes, the little class D amps are good for a computer sound system or in a shed or some such. Certainly not in the same league as better tube or SS amps.

I'm really hoping I can squash my upgrade bug with this acquisition. It has the potential to sound incredible and looks like a work of art :)
 
Yes, the little class D amps are good for a computer sound system or in a shed or some such. Certainly not in the same league as better tube or SS amps.

I'm really hoping I can squash my upgrade bug with this acquisition. It has the potential to sound incredible and looks like a work of art :)
Did you get the gold faced one? That a fine looking amp.

A couple different versions-





 
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This one:

N-007 The newest Study/Copy Dartzeel NHB108 Standard Version power amplifier HIFI AMP NO Negative feedback amp circuit power AMP
http://s.aliexpress.com/26zu2mee?fromSns=Copy to Clipboard

I'm torn regarding the actual appearance of the amp. What I'm really hoping for is 90% of the performance of the real thing for a fraction of its cost
 
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Yes, I believe it will give greater transparency and resolution than feedback circuits. I'm very keen to try this one out.

I think my only problem after that will be squashing the upgrade bug.... It's always so itchy damnit! ;)
 
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