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chinese tube amp

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TubeHead Johnny said:
For the EL84 amp, you may want to check the output tubes before you take it to the shop. A few years back, Chinese output tubes had a bad reputation for shorting out. Try putting in another fuse, then pull all the EL84's. If the fuse doesn't blow, it's the tubes. EL84 tubes are very inexpensive these days, and you can get a good quad for $40 or less. If the fuse does blow, it can be something serious, like a shorted power trannie.

~~~John~~~

Hi, Chinese don't marked EL84, They marked 6P14, which is eq. to EL84 or 6BQ5 with a lower spec.
 
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I had amplifiers OEM'd by an outfit based in Hong Kong in the late 1990's and early into this decade. These amplifiers were actually built in Shenzen. About 20 of these amplifiers were built, and they have all been quite reliable - the only real problem has been with bad output tubes which in most cases were very inexpensive Chinese made 300B. Amplifiers fitted with JJ 300B tubes have been trouble free.

These amplifiers were made to sell for under $1000 at retail and I can't say there was anything shoddy about their construction or overall quality - my design and they bore my name on the front panel.

I also had several other products that I designed contract manufactured in very small quantities by this same outfit and those units have been entirely trouble free.

I would still be doing business with this vendor today, but the stock market crash of 2000 killed my business.

There is probably as much variation in the quality of Chinese amplifier vendors as there is in car makers, kitchen appliances or anything else worldwide.

(Badly OT: For example some European cars offer the ultimate driving experience, but will leave you well acquainted with the dealer's service department well before the 100K mile mark is reached, certain Japanese cars OTOH never seem to need anything fixed until they are quite elderly, but are usually a little less fun to drive. Most cars made here unfortunately offer neither the reliability, efficiency or fun of their European or Japanese counterparts.)

One bad experience with a fly by night outfit, while important does not tell the whole story. In general though people ought to be careful about buying anything from people they know little about, and who are located in faraway places. Sadly eBay feedback ratings don't always tell the whole story, but those with bad feedback should obviously be avoided.
 
Well, I ordered the 6550's on monday and got them on friday, not bad. So my music angels are up and running! Sound great too. It's pretty obvious I need new speakers now. I did change the fuse and pulled the tubes from the el84 mini and the fuse did not blow again. I put the input tubes back in and still no blow. So I will replace the outputs and try it again. Thanks guys. Getting closer to nirvana. I did pop the cover to look it over and it is tidy and obviously brand new.
 
squirtacious said:
I got the electro harmonics cryogenically treated ones. Snake oil? maybe but it cant hurt. If it will work on a crank shaft and set of rods why not a tube?


So does a good synthetic 20/50, it may even make the sound smoother and flow effortlessly from your speakes......Joke....;)
No opinion on Cryo'ed stuff.
Ron
 
Well I ordered the EL84's monday and they showed up today. Great service from these guys. I put them in and the fuse did not blow! It works! I am playing steeleye dan two against nature right now. I would say this amp is not as smooth as the others. But I'll let her run for a while. Thanks for the tips guys I am now happy. All four amps work fine. I ended up getting tesla cryo treated ones. Now for the tweaking, any of you guys from the seattle area?
 
Is your kt88 music angel the one with 30wpc triode, 62wpc linear? I had one and thought the sound was fantastic compared to the vintage solid state items I'd had before it, not to mention that it looked impressive as hell. I resold it later on because I was broke and afraid of being stuck with a 50 lb boat anchor should it fail. Anyway I agree that you can't judge all the stuff coming out of China from a few bad experiences. I've bought that amp and 3 preamps and had no problems so far. The latest pickup is a yaoin or yaqin 12b pre. It's the best sound I've had since the music angel, a steal at $220 shipped. Non-diy tube lovers on a tight budget have to take risks, and the opportunities are out there.
 
Nice, those used to go for around $5-6 hundred each shipped. There are still a few for sale. The stock kt88s were good but the other tubes were terrible anyway. I hardly used the linear mode, it just sounds so much better in triode. The first time I'd ever heard a tube power amp was with that one and I'm still hooked. There for a while I was using it for everything I could including dvds. That sax solo at the beginning of Inspector Frost never sounded so good. Guess that gets expensive though. Anyway enjoy!
 
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