Does this amp look like a good buy?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5709783228
The finishing looks very nice.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5709783228
The finishing looks very nice.
The finish is indeed nice, but be careful about these units! Make sure the company has a reputation. The thing is, with some of these Chinese amps, their appearance is much better than their sound. Too often have they used cheap, underrated components that blew after only a few weeks of use. I'm not saying that ALL Chinese amps are bad, but I would still recomment to sticking to a respected manufacturer like JoLida. They have some nice KT-88/6550 based amps, if that's what you're looking for.
Very pretty amp, but do you really want to buy an "off the shelf model"? Few things can beat the satisfaction of being the proud parent of something you built yourself.
Advantages:
You know the amp inside out, know how it all works and how to fix it if something goes wrong.
If you get bored with the sound then improving it is easy.
It's seriously good fun!!
Disadvantages:
Addiction / obsession - you start talking in tube numbers and your friends can't understand what you are on about. One amp is never enough!
Other related purchases such as horn loudspeakers, vinyl records and strange things on ebay which might come in useful some day.
Good luck whatever you decide
Advantages:
You know the amp inside out, know how it all works and how to fix it if something goes wrong.
If you get bored with the sound then improving it is easy.
It's seriously good fun!!
Disadvantages:
Addiction / obsession - you start talking in tube numbers and your friends can't understand what you are on about. One amp is never enough!
Other related purchases such as horn loudspeakers, vinyl records and strange things on ebay which might come in useful some day.
Good luck whatever you decide
planet10 said:
Nothin' wrong with your memory Dave. I bought the MingDa (Meixing) MC-34A which is an integrated EL-34 push pull, about 35W/ch. I purchased direct from HK. $410 for the amp, $20 for using PayPal and $150 shipping. It took about 3-4 weeks to arrive but when it did it was packaged extremely well, the unit was in perfect condition, even the bias was set. It is a wonderful performer. You may also want to look at http://www.cattylink.com for other Meixing/MingDa products.
Many of these products are the exact models being imported and modified, then resold for much higher prices. Upgraded caps, little pieces of wood trim, etc.. Granted, there is nobody to call if your amp breaks. You need to decide if the lack of convenience is worth $400. My plan is to make my own mods at some point anyway.
Relevant update
40 days after receiving my amp I walked up to it, flipped the power switch and......nothing. No power. Not wanting to rip into a new amp I notified the seller and described the problem in detail. The response I got back was "did you check the fuse". The actual problem was a separation in the high voltage land path of the power supply PCB. Once again I contacted the seller and indicated this appears to be a manufacturing defect and if they would be willing to cover the repair cost. No reply so far.
40 days after receiving my amp I walked up to it, flipped the power switch and......nothing. No power. Not wanting to rip into a new amp I notified the seller and described the problem in detail. The response I got back was "did you check the fuse". The actual problem was a separation in the high voltage land path of the power supply PCB. Once again I contacted the seller and indicated this appears to be a manufacturing defect and if they would be willing to cover the repair cost. No reply so far.
Re: Relevant update
Thats sucks. Please keep us informed as to what they decide to do.
Regards,
GM.
Thats sucks. Please keep us informed as to what they decide to do.
Regards,
GM.
Timn8ter said:40 days after receiving my amp I walked up to it, flipped the power switch and......nothing. No power. Not wanting to rip into a new amp I notified the seller and described the problem in detail. The response I got back was "did you check the fuse". The actual problem was a separation in the high voltage land path of the power supply PCB. Once again I contacted the seller and indicated this appears to be a manufacturing defect and if they would be willing to cover the repair cost. No reply so far.
Ming-Da
Timn8tor,
I would recommend that since the cost to ship the MC34A back to HK and get it repaired (presumably for free), and then returned, plus you will probably have to eat duties a second time around and take a chance that your amp gets lost or destroyed in shipment isn't worth the over $300.00 this 'free' warranty repair will cost you. You might as well go ahead and bridge the blown circuit trace with a piece of wire yourself. I'd be suspect as to why it blew though. More on this below.
I have set up to sell Ming-Da locally in Ontario because I was so impressed with the look and performance of their amps as well as the prices and happen to have a NIB MC-34A in stock for sale. I stock one of those and the cheaper MC34B as well (P-P 6L6's for 20 watts/ch.). I do not recall seeing any circuit boards in these amplifiers though so I wonder what you are speaking of when you describe a "separation of a high voltage land path in the power supply PCB"?
Just for informational purposes in testing I've discovered the MC34A seems to get a little on the warm side.
I guess Ming-Da makes some gems and also some duds and note also that Ford, Chrysler and GM have also and continue to do the same. I guess they need to iron some things out. For this reason I have decided that I would choose from their line and only offer the units that my own testing showed to be reliable.
I had a big problem with the Ming-Da MC3008AB I purchased for myself. This is a terrific sounding 40 watt/channel stereo SET amp using a 300B as a drivers to drive 805 transmitting triode finals. This new product was apparently not ready for the marketplace and I found my copy to have a poorly designed power supply voltage doubler circuit which was unwisely overfused by ~250% to keep it from blowing on turn-on surge. The voltage doubler electrolytics were not good enough grade to handle the high ripple current, badly overheated, failed and took down the HV winding in the power transformer because the mains fuse was too big to blow. The amplifier was not set up to convection cool properly either as delivered which turned out to be fatal as this amp with the big transmitting tubes processes a lot of energy. The transformer has two internal faraday winding shields and about 12 windings and is easily over $2K to get replaced by ordering a custom wind from someone like Hammond. I bit the bullet, made several custom transformers, totally redesigned the PSU with a quality choke filter in the HV PS and made a custom hardwood maple base for the amp to fit into to create the extra room for now 10 transformers instead of the original three, a large bank of computer grade electrolytics and other extra components. I put about two months of shop time into this project. The 85 lb. amp now weighs in at about 130 lbs and is as big as a full sized microwave oven. The resulting custom amp has upgraded power supply and safety protection circuit features. This is topped off with twenty coats of hand rubbed lacquer piano black finish and a unique control stage representing styling all my own. It is now truly a spectacular amp and has been 100% reliable driven daily as my own personal amp ever since my custom rebuild. See photo linked below. I am very proud to show this piece of work which is amongst the very best of my own DIY.
The reason I relate this story is that because of my experience you might want to check the electrolytics and power supply circuit in your MC34A. If it uses a voltage doubler B+ supply the first set of electrolytic filter capacitors may have overheated and shorted. This would be reason for a HV supply trace to burn open. I don't have schematics but could examine my own MC-34A in stock to advise you if I can be of assistance.
BTW-1, here is my highly modified MC3008AB with the ParallaxTM badge representing my fledgling audio manufacturing enterprise. Although I am also building several model tube amps of my own design from scratch I'm mainly concentrating on speaker development however. At some point I hope to offer my own products for sale.
BTW-2, I have spoken with the fellow in Richmond, B.C. selling the M-Star KT-88 amp and I would like to have an opportunity to try one of those. I think it looks like a nice amp.
Timn8tor,
I would recommend that since the cost to ship the MC34A back to HK and get it repaired (presumably for free), and then returned, plus you will probably have to eat duties a second time around and take a chance that your amp gets lost or destroyed in shipment isn't worth the over $300.00 this 'free' warranty repair will cost you. You might as well go ahead and bridge the blown circuit trace with a piece of wire yourself. I'd be suspect as to why it blew though. More on this below.
I have set up to sell Ming-Da locally in Ontario because I was so impressed with the look and performance of their amps as well as the prices and happen to have a NIB MC-34A in stock for sale. I stock one of those and the cheaper MC34B as well (P-P 6L6's for 20 watts/ch.). I do not recall seeing any circuit boards in these amplifiers though so I wonder what you are speaking of when you describe a "separation of a high voltage land path in the power supply PCB"?
Just for informational purposes in testing I've discovered the MC34A seems to get a little on the warm side.
I guess Ming-Da makes some gems and also some duds and note also that Ford, Chrysler and GM have also and continue to do the same. I guess they need to iron some things out. For this reason I have decided that I would choose from their line and only offer the units that my own testing showed to be reliable.
I had a big problem with the Ming-Da MC3008AB I purchased for myself. This is a terrific sounding 40 watt/channel stereo SET amp using a 300B as a drivers to drive 805 transmitting triode finals. This new product was apparently not ready for the marketplace and I found my copy to have a poorly designed power supply voltage doubler circuit which was unwisely overfused by ~250% to keep it from blowing on turn-on surge. The voltage doubler electrolytics were not good enough grade to handle the high ripple current, badly overheated, failed and took down the HV winding in the power transformer because the mains fuse was too big to blow. The amplifier was not set up to convection cool properly either as delivered which turned out to be fatal as this amp with the big transmitting tubes processes a lot of energy. The transformer has two internal faraday winding shields and about 12 windings and is easily over $2K to get replaced by ordering a custom wind from someone like Hammond. I bit the bullet, made several custom transformers, totally redesigned the PSU with a quality choke filter in the HV PS and made a custom hardwood maple base for the amp to fit into to create the extra room for now 10 transformers instead of the original three, a large bank of computer grade electrolytics and other extra components. I put about two months of shop time into this project. The 85 lb. amp now weighs in at about 130 lbs and is as big as a full sized microwave oven. The resulting custom amp has upgraded power supply and safety protection circuit features. This is topped off with twenty coats of hand rubbed lacquer piano black finish and a unique control stage representing styling all my own. It is now truly a spectacular amp and has been 100% reliable driven daily as my own personal amp ever since my custom rebuild. See photo linked below. I am very proud to show this piece of work which is amongst the very best of my own DIY.
The reason I relate this story is that because of my experience you might want to check the electrolytics and power supply circuit in your MC34A. If it uses a voltage doubler B+ supply the first set of electrolytic filter capacitors may have overheated and shorted. This would be reason for a HV supply trace to burn open. I don't have schematics but could examine my own MC-34A in stock to advise you if I can be of assistance.
BTW-1, here is my highly modified MC3008AB with the ParallaxTM badge representing my fledgling audio manufacturing enterprise. Although I am also building several model tube amps of my own design from scratch I'm mainly concentrating on speaker development however. At some point I hope to offer my own products for sale.
BTW-2, I have spoken with the fellow in Richmond, B.C. selling the M-Star KT-88 amp and I would like to have an opportunity to try one of those. I think it looks like a nice amp.
Attachments
I was also puzzeld by the reference to a PCB in the 34-A or AFAIK any mei-xing amp.
With regard to the attitude of the seller in HK if they're sensible they'll operate a "return to base" repair policy and I see nothing wrong with this in the circumstances. Understand the terms and practicallities of the guarantee (if any) before buying.
It's ridiculous to buy an inexpensive item from abroad and expect the same level of service that you would form a local retailer.
With regard to the attitude of the seller in HK if they're sensible they'll operate a "return to base" repair policy and I see nothing wrong with this in the circumstances. Understand the terms and practicallities of the guarantee (if any) before buying.
It's ridiculous to buy an inexpensive item from abroad and expect the same level of service that you would form a local retailer.
I accept that I took a risk in purchasing this product from overseas. Based on the experiences of others, even those that had problems like mine, I had faith in the seller. One customer even commented that the seller had indeed reimbursed him $70 for a problem he experienced. Even so, I felt that if something did go wrong the potential cost of repair would still amount to less than the mark up of a local seller which has been true so far. I didn't diagnose the problem myself but took it to Precision Audio in Seattle to have one of their "experienced" technicians look at it. He's the one that used the term "burned trace path" in the power supply. When I questioned him that I looked at that amp and it appeared to be point to point wired he said he couldn't remember. Anyway, the seller, known on e-bay as "audioguy" has responded and said he is "thinking of a way to solve this problem". I'm not upset about this at all. I'm enjoying this amplifier and still feel that I got a good deal. I'm sharing my experience so that others may take these factors into consideration.
Thank you for the information. That's another thing, there were no schematics or user instructions of any kind shipped with this amp. Even in Chinese schematics can be good to have. Should this happen again I'll look into your suggestion and take advantage of your kind offer. Resellers like you do earn your keep. I should point out that I'm a fledging tube DIYer. I don't possess the knowledge to design an amp but would like to learn modifications and basic repair which is another reason I took a chance on this amp.
Timn8tor,
You are welcome. I just had a look at your website and enjoyed seeing the step-by-step of some of your speaker projects, especially your experience with the line array. I am building a line array/TL hybrid of my own conception right now!
Tube amps can be a lot of fun to play with and especially to listen to. I'm sure you will enjoy your MC34A. It is quite like the time honoured Eico ST-70 in that it is P-P ultralinear 6CA7's and stereo on one chassis. This Ming-Da amp packs good dynamic punch IMO. Looks wise it is right up there and 40 years from now the mirror polish stainless steel chassis won't rust pit like the classic Eico's and McIntoshes all seem to.
You are welcome. I just had a look at your website and enjoyed seeing the step-by-step of some of your speaker projects, especially your experience with the line array. I am building a line array/TL hybrid of my own conception right now!
Tube amps can be a lot of fun to play with and especially to listen to. I'm sure you will enjoy your MC34A. It is quite like the time honoured Eico ST-70 in that it is P-P ultralinear 6CA7's and stereo on one chassis. This Ming-Da amp packs good dynamic punch IMO. Looks wise it is right up there and 40 years from now the mirror polish stainless steel chassis won't rust pit like the classic Eico's and McIntoshes all seem to.
The diagnosis from the repair guy sounds a little suspicious to me. it makes me wonder if the problem was in fact a blown fuse and the repairer elaborated the fault to justify the repair charge.
Timn8ter, I have a schematic for the 34-A but it's a copy of a fax so the component values aren't too clear.
Timn8ter, I have a schematic for the 34-A but it's a copy of a fax so the component values aren't too clear.
Richard C said:The diagnosis from the repair guy sounds a little suspicious to me. it makes me wonder if the problem was in fact a blown fuse and the repairer elaborated the fault to justify the repair charge.
Timn8ter, I have a schematic for the 34-A but it's a copy of a fax so the component values aren't too clear.
Richard,
Seeing as how many dishonest people there are eager to take your money for nothing these days you might be absolutely right.
The fellow did after all 'lie' about a circuit board trace opening up.
BTW, I would appreciate a copy of that MC34A schematic from you if that would be possible. Pleae email it to me. If you need a fax number email a request and I'll email you my number. Thanx!
rcavictim said:
A fellow i had sold an NAD integrated amp to, took it to a repair shop and charged him for a repair they didn't actually do (new power transformer) After he took it in he contacted me, after he got it back it still didn't "work" -- turned out the amp was just missing its pre-power jumpers.
dave
Kwan Ho (aka Alex aka 18audioguy) is still in contact with me wanting to make sure I'm a happy customer. The fact that he is trying is commendable.
When I took the amp to Precision Audio the fellow at the counter was fascinated by the amp as it was so unusual. I thought the tech would have a better memory of repairing something so unique.
Thanks for the schematic Richard. I'll take a closer look when I get the chance.
When I took the amp to Precision Audio the fellow at the counter was fascinated by the amp as it was so unusual. I thought the tech would have a better memory of repairing something so unique.
Thanks for the schematic Richard. I'll take a closer look when I get the chance.
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