ANDYLASER said:Returning to the subject matter at hand.
KT88's & 6SN7's does seem an iinteresting combination of valves. I wonder how much sound quality would improve by using some western/vintage items instead of the low budget items currently fitted.
Heh...
If somebody wants a decent amp I can rebuild one. However, I can't guarantee a very good bass with such transformers, but the amp will sound decent with most of records that don't go below 40 Hz on full power.
I have been very tempted to buy one of the Yaqin MC-100B amps on eBay. You do need to search and sort on Price+Shipping to see who has the lowest price. One other note on the listing for free shipping (and they do ship to the US for free) is buried down in the fine print - no PayPal for free shipping. That means no recourse when or if you don’t get the item. At least with PayPal there is some peace of mind...
There are lots of posts on Yaqin amps in other forums. They supposedly sound very good when you roll the cheapo tubes. They have some questionable components (possibly counterfeit) and one poster noted dangerous rail voltages right out in the open but I think they are a DIY’ers dream. A mod here and a mod there and you got yourself one very nice sounding amp for a song.
There is also a seller in Canada that tests and biases the amps before he resells them. They cost a little more but he stands behind them.
Lastly, I have noted many versions of these cheap Chinese valve amps online from various sources in the US that have simply been rebranded and marked up 100-300%. Pretty enterprising – to put it nicely.
Martin
There are lots of posts on Yaqin amps in other forums. They supposedly sound very good when you roll the cheapo tubes. They have some questionable components (possibly counterfeit) and one poster noted dangerous rail voltages right out in the open but I think they are a DIY’ers dream. A mod here and a mod there and you got yourself one very nice sounding amp for a song.
There is also a seller in Canada that tests and biases the amps before he resells them. They cost a little more but he stands behind them.
Lastly, I have noted many versions of these cheap Chinese valve amps online from various sources in the US that have simply been rebranded and marked up 100-300%. Pretty enterprising – to put it nicely.
Martin
Many manufacturers have similar problems from time to time.A friend's "world class" pre and two monoblocks that have cost him a fortune,all had problems.The pre had to be sent back to the factory for checking and replacement of many components,while the two monoblocks were replaced under guarrantee.
For now, that's the only drawback vrs the quality control debate- the SHIPPING costs to the US and most countries.... This $500 Yaqin MC-100B is $200 or more in shipping like others have said. Knocks your whole cost-per-dollar out of whack... (and you need to be able to fix it or modify it yourself or get it to a local expert if there are problems).
Still, like mhconley and most others, I want one!
Seems the Chinese will not or can not get distributors or retailers into Europe or N. America (yet). If or when they do, the name brands you have heard of and know better watch out because they will sell like hotcakes. After months of heavy research, thats still one of the only things from having them all take off in the mainstream- shipping costs and warranty repair or replacement (locally in your own country except Asia).
Still, like mhconley and most others, I want one!
Seems the Chinese will not or can not get distributors or retailers into Europe or N. America (yet). If or when they do, the name brands you have heard of and know better watch out because they will sell like hotcakes. After months of heavy research, thats still one of the only things from having them all take off in the mainstream- shipping costs and warranty repair or replacement (locally in your own country except Asia).
Rockmore said:
The problem with having a distributing chain is that the price would at least doubles the current price.
In luxury goods like audio, the gross margin needs to be at least 100% before you can get a decent profit to survive.
Once the amp sells for USD1k, it may not sell like hot cake. DIY then becomes attractive.
Part of the low cost of the amp is the purchaser absorbed the cost of repair and support. Fixing a broken amp can easilty cost USD 200 in parts and labour.
My personal reason for taking the DIY route is not just because of cost, but the fun of learning through building. For cost, it may be a better to buy second hand, because you can always resell it with not much loss. I had once bought a Marantz 8B for USD1500, used it for 18 months and then sold it for USD1400.
I would buy this amp and then start modifying it, even ripping out the guts and rebuild it. Personally, I hate chassis work and I do not have enough tools to do it properly.
rtsang said:
Yes, and it is called recyclonomics that replaced economics. But why all Chinese manufacturers I contacted quote higher prices, for production of parts of similar complexity and manufacturing technology, than this complete amp costs? It's a miracle that I am trying to solve. Can you help me?
Wavebourn said:
Wavebourn, I am sorry to hear that. Maybe their mind set was to make a fixed amount of money on an order, so a small batch would cost much more.
Large companies, like Dell, used to squeeze every single cents from their supplier in China. Margins for selling to Dell were around 5%.
That was before oil hit 150 a barrel. With the rise in raw material cost in the last 2 years, many companies actually hit a loss.
Hundreds of factories in China have closed and tens of thousands of peasants were laid off. Most of them went back to the countryside, a few left behind and became criminals. Crime rate in the industrial towns in Southern China had risen considerably.
These factories now dare not to compete with low margin like before, as they fear any rise in the raw material cost can drive them to bankrupt.
Also, did you talk to them face to face or just by emails? You need to talk to these guys face to face to get a real quote. Otherwise, they just quoute an outrageous sum and see if any sucker would take it.
I rep a high end Chinese lab here in the US and our agreement keeps prices very reasonable for the quality and workmanship. No children here. Very skilled techs 12 in all produce hand wire point to point . Their specialty is SET amps with no pcb board. We use James OPT , F&T caps, teflon wire, Mundorf M cap oil in paper, dual mono layout,two volume pots, amd more. This wholesales for $1500.
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Steve M said:
I owned an Opera Consonance CD-120 Linear for about two years. Zero issues and the thing was built like a tank. I sold it for almost what I paid new only because I had always lusted after the Parasound Halo D 3 universal disc player and finally found one at a price I could not pass up.
I was so impressed with the quality of the CD player and what I read about their LP-5.0 turntable that I purchased an Opera Consonance LP-2.0 about a year and a half ago. I could not be happier - it is an excellent turntable. It was not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but it certainly is worth well more than what I paid when compared to other, more well known turntables.
Martin
Panicos K said:Actually this is a Yaqin amplifier not audio space.So I guess what you said you meant for audio space not Yaqin
Tubes on a Yaqin I have are Shuguang,not bad at all.
Hi Panicos,
Haven't heard the Yaqin yet, so good luck on it.
Some Shuguang are great, brought some mid 60s twinpack Shuguang 6v6(6P6P), and they were great. I perfer those glass bottle 6SJ7 (6J7 in chinese tube number, forgot) than those Black GE metal tubes (haven''t try 5693). Older Nanjiang 6L6 (6P3P) and 80, 5Y3 are also good.
Nanjiang was the tube factory estiablish by the Nationalist Govt before the civil war (pre 1948, 1949), and early tubes are suppose to build with materials from Western Europe. In the late 90s or early 2000s they sold their audio tubes toolings to Shuguang, heard they are still making tubes but only take take orders from the arm forces, so i guess they are transmitter tubes only. One of my friend's grandpa used to work for that factory.
There were another tube factory in GuangXi that operate until 1997, don't know the brand in english, but the one that build the 4300B. The tools had resently been brought and resently relocated to the area south west of GuangZhou, and they are making 4300B again.
http://www.diybuy.net/attachments/month_0906/20090602_1724403de8e6c3ca5accrrL7SKmCQWMo.jpg
You guys remember those tennis ball 6SN7 from china? Shuguang ended up selling it only to a guy in Guangzhou, who calls it a CV-181, and sell it at $170 USD a pair locally, NOS 6SN7 is about $3 USD each, sick huh?
http://diybuy.net/attachments/month_0901/20090129_ad041980509868133a27BVX2ultIygH8.jpg
Panicos K said:Hi Willleung,yes exclusivity is not a good thing,but it has its antidote"don't buy it"till they are forced to lower the price
"Sino" is a generic English language term pertaining to China or Chinese as in "Sino-Soviet Block" during the early days of the cold war, etc..
One definition here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sino
Importers here in the USA have used this term to generically indicate tubes of Chinese origin, most Chinese tube manufacturers other than Shuguang and TJ are relatively unknown here.
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