Suppo Audio -- New Chinese EL84 PP amp for CHEAP.

[jean-paul]

Originally Posted by bigjppop

Unfortunately I am completely out of anything that could even be construed as speaker cable (don't even have enough cat5 laying around!) so I can't listen yet. I wasn't expecting this thing to get here so fast but I've got a new spool of speaker cable coming from monoprice that should be here tomorrow.

That being said, I fired it up and everything lit up like it was supposed to and no smoke or foul orders came from underneath.

Never, never power up a tube amp without load !! It will definitely go bad as it will destroy the output transformers.

When you want to see if it works you better connect an 8,2 or 10 Ohm resistor across the speaker terminals of both channels.

[bigjppop]

Originally Posted by Fenris

bigjppop - could you tell us the size of the OPTs in the amp (or at least the overall dimensions of the amp? It looks pretty small for a tube amp)? And please don't turn it on without a load on the outputs - that's really bad for a tube amp. The load helps control the tubes, without it they can oscilate and do very bad things.

The amps chassis is roughly 9x7x2.75 inches without the tubes and transformer on top. That stuff adds another 3 inches to the overall height.

Also, thanks for the heads up on running this without a load; I had no idea. It was only on for a few minutes so hopefully I didn't wreck anything!

[Fenris]

If you did toast the transformers, the $20 Edcors should be about the right size and would probably be a drop in replacement, just some soldering required.

[Fenris]

Originally Posted by vdi_nenna

Have you guy seen these? Ssaw some at an audio swap meet. Reseller was offering them. Nice build and the price...disposible.

YARLAND AUDIO

I guess our definitions of disposable are different. Cheapest place on the web I found was $600. According to thier website, they've been the victim of cheap knockoffs as well (the irony...)
Yarland FV34C Integrated Tube Amplifier

[rhing]

I received my Suppo Golden Ear amp today and hooked it up to my Fostex FX120 bass reflex monitors. I am using a modified Playstation 1 as a CD player.

I have to say that my first impression of this amp is positive. The balance is a bit leaning to the right channel--it floats to the center and than slightly right of center. I am not sure why this is, but it could be the volume pot. I hope that's all it is.

Just on initial listening, this sounds better than a Trends TA-10 Class D amp, which I happen to like. It seems to have stronger bass, a deeper soundstage and decent tone. I think this amp has some potential to be a really good amp. It certainly has me tapping my toes.

[MellowTone]

Originally Posted by bigjppop

The packing job is EXCELLENT (Joe and Suppo told me about the amp that was destroyed enroute to Australia and said he was beefing up the packing). Amp arrived double boxed with both the inner box and the amp itself totally encased in hard foam blocks. Absolutely no shipping damage.

Hi bigjppop, that would be my first amp. I was very impressed with the packing job second time around. I just posted my review. let me know what you think. Nic.

[bigjppop]

Well I've finally had a chance to sit down and do some listening to this little baby and I'm very impressed. I've had it running into my Omega 3's (93 db) and so far this little amp is helping these full-range/single-driver speakers do exactly what there supposed to do. Vocals and midrange really just jump out of the soundstage and are presented with clarity and sharpness (more on that later). With these particular speakers and in my room I don't find that the Suppo has a warm/tubey sound; it has a very accurate sound.

I'm using a Red Wine Audio iMod as my source and it was a pretty low output voltage (less than 1 V as compared to most CD players putting out 2V) and this has often been a problem for me depending on the amp I'm using. This source most definitely did not have a problem with this amp. My speakers are pretty efficient (93 db) and even on low voltage from the source, I couldn't get past 12 o'clock on the volume dial in my medium sized room. I have no worries on getting the power I need from the Suppo.

I listened mostly to single acoustic instruments (love my Yo-Yo Ma CDs!) as well as some small group stuff (also mostly acoustic). Everything was bright, clear, and accurate. Like I said above, great performance with both male and female vocals (James Taylor was great, as was Norah Jones). I know these are all strong points of single-driver speakers and I think if this kind of stuff is your cup of tea (like me) you won't be disappointed.

I love a slightly warmer sound in my setup so I'm looking forward to seeing how things go when everything breaks in a little more. Everyone has told me the Omega's need 100 hrs of break in and I'm not anywhere near there yet.

One thing that troubles me ever so slightly with this setup is the amount of base I'm getting; its pretty non-existent below about 55 Hz. Now, I can't blame the amp because my speakers are only rated to go about that low so I need to try it with another pair of speakers. In addition, I was listening in a far from optimal setup as my new speakers stands are still under construction (Bubinga and Curly Maple and with luck they should look pretty awesome when there done!). As such, I have to set everything up on a kitchen table and listen that way.

I'm planning on testing the amp tonight with my Quad 12L2's to see what happens. These speakers are much less efficient (only 87 db I believe) but they have much deeper base. I'm interested to see how 8 ish watts sounds into these little guys. The Quads are probably my most favorite monitor and are the main reason I'm interested in the new EL34 offering from Suppo. 35 wpc goes a lot better with 87 db speakers.

Anyway, so far this is a GREAT little amp, especially considering the KILLER price. I've received a great big box of Russian tubes that I plan to roll into this thing soon and hopefully see how it responds to some changes. I've also got some really nice NOS Westinghouse 6922's that I love and I'm hoping to try them in here as well. Also, just won 10 6CG7 RCA blackplates on ebay for almost nothing so those should be fun to try too. I know everyone loves the cleartops but we'll see how things go with these. As an aside, pretty much all the tubes I've purchased recently have come in lots of 8 or 10 so if anyone is interested in doing a little trading please PM me. I've got several Russian driver options (and soon those 6CG7's) as well as a couple of different Russian tubes for the output side.

Anyway, more to come.

P.S. I have discovered one more quirky thing with this amp; its impossible to turn off without unplugging it. I've got to open it up again (maybe tomorrow) and see if the switch is wired incorrectly. "Always on" is not a good feature for a tube amp! So, one more small strike when it comes to build quality. Couple loose screws, slightly bent/scratched chassis plates, and something wrong with the switch. Overall, nothing too serious. This is one of th first amps to come out of Suppo and I'm sure QC will improve down the road.

P.P.S. When I stupidly turned my amp on without speakers connected I was lucky and did not blow anything up. Thanks for the heads up!

P.P.P.S. Everything is still stock, mods are probably a couple months off for me. Too many projects on the table at the moment to mess with something that sounds good as is (except for the switch, got to fix that!).

[Ali Tait]

Switching on without a load only applies to push-pull amps.With single-ended it's not a problem.

[Brett]

Originally Posted by Ali Tait

Switching on without a load only applies to push-pull amps.With single-ended it's not a problem.

Why?

[bigjppop]

Well I spent some more time with the Suppo wired up to my little Quads and again... pleasantly surprised. Even with these guys only being 87 db sensitive, I still got some great performance. I had enough volume out of this little setup that I got the "turn it down" from the wife.

The Quads aren't the last word in bass, but they do go deeper than the Omega's I was listening to first. The Suppo handled the lower bass quite well, but it was the absolute best bass I've ever heard. A LITTLE loose, but not bad. The Suppo is definitely a better match to something like the Omegas, but if you've only got some "normal", i.e. not super efficient speakers, its still a pretty decent match. Mids and highs still sounded great, but I think the fairly small OPT in the Suppo might be a limiting factor in really getting big, tight, deep bass. I still haven't finished my Tubelab Simple SE with the giant Edcor OPT's (I'm a slacker!) but I would imagine you really need some decent/heavy iron to really get strong low bass performance.

When we get some more info on the Suppo EL34 based amp I'm seriously considering picking up one of those as a better match to the Quads.

So, next step is some tube rolling. Well, actually I should probably buckle down and get my stands finished, but its much easier to roll tubes than it is to drive myself over the wood shop. We'll see what comes first