Have you tried contacting Joe at Suppo directly? I don't think anyone from Australia has ordered one.
Yes I did ask for pricing for the EL34 amp shipped to Australia, and he gave me the pricing for the EL84 amp. I replied and pointed out that I was indeed referring to the EL34 amp, and have not had a reply as yet.
Maybe he is so busy he misunderstood, and has been too busy to reply again...so far?
Hi,
I thought I replied you email.
sorry that I made a mistake quoting the price for EL84. I quote it again via PM and the email. (not state here because I think this section is not a selling place)
Well I finally had some time to fix this amp and get it up and running. Like I mentioned previously, the amp arrived DOA and I had to repair it to get it running. The amp comes stock with a somewhat strange voltage selector switch and when I opened the amp the switch had come totally apart and I had to turn the thing upside down and shake it to get the pieces to come out. As mentioned before, I reported the issue to Joe who quickly got back to me, sent me pictures of how to fix the problem, and "made things right" to my satisfaction.
So, with things wired up correctly I fired this thing up and everything worked just like it should. The amp was biased a little hot so I needed to back things off a little. It's holding its bias well now. My amp came stock with a 6DJ8, two 6N6 tubes, and four EL34 tubes. I ran it stock into my Quad 22L2's (89 dB) for my first listening session. I am using a Red Wine Audio iMod as my source which only has about 1V of output voltage (more on that later). All music was Apple Lossless files.
Right out of the gate the amp is dead quiet; no hum, no static. I was pleased with this. The volume pot is a touch noisy while twisting but that's only noticeable at a couple points and only with the volume off. Unfortunately, with the design of the amp one of the 6N6's is directly behind the volume pot so there is no way to upgrade the volume pot.
With the amp brand new, no burn in, I found the sound a little thin. After an hour or so the sound did warm up a little and is sounding better. I swapped the 6DJ8 out for an RCA blackplate 6CG7 (same thing I did on the smaller EL84/6p15p amp) and it did make a slight improvement. I found the improvement on the smaller amp much bigger with this tube swap than I did with the EL34 amp. In the EL34 amp with this 6CG7, things are sounding pretty good, but still a little thin and somewhat veiled.
The bass is significantly improved in the EL34 vs the EL84 amp. I wouldn't call it fast/sharp bass, but warm and smooth. I like it. The treble is also easy to listen to, not sharp or harsh.
I've only had a chance to listen to this amp with my Quad's and I'd like to spend some time with this amp and my 93 dB Omega speakers. I think I'm deciding that the Quad's just require a lot of juice which means overall volume is a little lacking in some circumstances. On most of the material I listened to I had the volume maxed out and on certain recordings (that are recorded at a lower level) I just didn't get enough volume for my taste. Now, remember my source is only putting out about 1V so keep that in mind. With the 2V's that most CD players put out things might be different.
I have several more tubes to try in the 6DJ8 slot and I've also just received a quad of Russian 6S3P-E to try in place of the EL34's. I also received a pair of Russian 6N6P's to try as well. I've also got some Sonicap caps to try in the coupling spot after I've had a chance to listen for a while.
So, overall impressions, I'm "tentatively" impressed with the amp. The sound is nice and I think things will improve with time. I am a little concerned with the QC at Suppo and I did mention that to Joe when we spoke. He was very aware of the issue and says he is actively working to remedy the problems. I believe him. Both amps I have received from Suppo have had problems and required that I fix them myself. The customer service was great and the problems were easily remedied but I am not ready to 100% recommend it to the general public. Someone that ordered this amp hoping to just plug and play would have been disappointed and frustrated, especially someone that has no desire to tweak/mod/fix things themselves. I also think Suppo needs to include some kind of instruction manual with there products. I had to email several times to get the instructions on how to bias this amp properly (because I'm still a newbie). I do think the EL34 build quality, overall, is SUBSTANTIALLY better than the EL84 amp.
I'll keep listening and tweaking and we'll see how things go. The EL84 amp is VERY easy to recommend at the asking price, even with its issues; the EL34 amp might be a touch pricey (IMHO) at the asking price unless all the QC issues can be totally nailed down. I think if Suppo lowers the price a little, or beefs up the QC, they should have a nice product.
So, with things wired up correctly I fired this thing up and everything worked just like it should. The amp was biased a little hot so I needed to back things off a little. It's holding its bias well now. My amp came stock with a 6DJ8, two 6N6 tubes, and four EL34 tubes. I ran it stock into my Quad 22L2's (89 dB) for my first listening session. I am using a Red Wine Audio iMod as my source which only has about 1V of output voltage (more on that later). All music was Apple Lossless files.
Right out of the gate the amp is dead quiet; no hum, no static. I was pleased with this. The volume pot is a touch noisy while twisting but that's only noticeable at a couple points and only with the volume off. Unfortunately, with the design of the amp one of the 6N6's is directly behind the volume pot so there is no way to upgrade the volume pot.
With the amp brand new, no burn in, I found the sound a little thin. After an hour or so the sound did warm up a little and is sounding better. I swapped the 6DJ8 out for an RCA blackplate 6CG7 (same thing I did on the smaller EL84/6p15p amp) and it did make a slight improvement. I found the improvement on the smaller amp much bigger with this tube swap than I did with the EL34 amp. In the EL34 amp with this 6CG7, things are sounding pretty good, but still a little thin and somewhat veiled.
The bass is significantly improved in the EL34 vs the EL84 amp. I wouldn't call it fast/sharp bass, but warm and smooth. I like it. The treble is also easy to listen to, not sharp or harsh.
I've only had a chance to listen to this amp with my Quad's and I'd like to spend some time with this amp and my 93 dB Omega speakers. I think I'm deciding that the Quad's just require a lot of juice which means overall volume is a little lacking in some circumstances. On most of the material I listened to I had the volume maxed out and on certain recordings (that are recorded at a lower level) I just didn't get enough volume for my taste. Now, remember my source is only putting out about 1V so keep that in mind. With the 2V's that most CD players put out things might be different.
I have several more tubes to try in the 6DJ8 slot and I've also just received a quad of Russian 6S3P-E to try in place of the EL34's. I also received a pair of Russian 6N6P's to try as well. I've also got some Sonicap caps to try in the coupling spot after I've had a chance to listen for a while.
So, overall impressions, I'm "tentatively" impressed with the amp. The sound is nice and I think things will improve with time. I am a little concerned with the QC at Suppo and I did mention that to Joe when we spoke. He was very aware of the issue and says he is actively working to remedy the problems. I believe him. Both amps I have received from Suppo have had problems and required that I fix them myself. The customer service was great and the problems were easily remedied but I am not ready to 100% recommend it to the general public. Someone that ordered this amp hoping to just plug and play would have been disappointed and frustrated, especially someone that has no desire to tweak/mod/fix things themselves. I also think Suppo needs to include some kind of instruction manual with there products. I had to email several times to get the instructions on how to bias this amp properly (because I'm still a newbie). I do think the EL34 build quality, overall, is SUBSTANTIALLY better than the EL84 amp.
I'll keep listening and tweaking and we'll see how things go. The EL84 amp is VERY easy to recommend at the asking price, even with its issues; the EL34 amp might be a touch pricey (IMHO) at the asking price unless all the QC issues can be totally nailed down. I think if Suppo lowers the price a little, or beefs up the QC, they should have a nice product.
amps
so, there remains one question, and Joe, pls. be not be angry about it:
if you buy a car, and then make it work properly on yourself, and all people know about the problems, why then buy it? helping the manufacturer to improve it on the buyers costs? are'nt the buyers then just the test rabbits on their own costs and the manufacturers engineering/ test people he normally pays to do the job?
if there are so many things to change, isn't it worth for the manufacturer to review its basic design after all? i have observed, that nearly all things were modified, changed for these amps.. what does this mean for a manufacturer?
for my understanding, i never would release products for sale on that level.
so, there remains one question, and Joe, pls. be not be angry about it:
if you buy a car, and then make it work properly on yourself, and all people know about the problems, why then buy it? helping the manufacturer to improve it on the buyers costs? are'nt the buyers then just the test rabbits on their own costs and the manufacturers engineering/ test people he normally pays to do the job?
if there are so many things to change, isn't it worth for the manufacturer to review its basic design after all? i have observed, that nearly all things were modified, changed for these amps.. what does this mean for a manufacturer?
for my understanding, i never would release products for sale on that level.
Hi Bigjppop & Tubesteve,
I did angry when I heard there is a problem with the AMP. It is nothing about Bigjppop. but about the QC.
When I got more information form Bigjppop, I can say this will only happen once. It is a problem very hard to prevent in design, as least in my view.
I can promise this problem only happen once, never again.
If anyone want to know more about this problem, you can read below:
----------------------------------------------------------------
the problem is that the 115V/230V switch was tooken aparted when arrived Japan. It is unlikely that the switch dissamply itselft. We check those switch in stock. There must be a outside force to take them apart.
The story should be: the vibration during transit caused the toroid PI rotate. then the PT drap the wires connected with 115v/230v switch. Finally pulled the switch apart. The toroid PT is firmly mounted in factory with a large bolt in middle. it is impossible to turn it by hand. But the transportation just too tough. vibration in transit can not move the PT, but could rotate PT around.
I could not believe that happen without seeing the picture. We shipped at least 10 of this amps within China for evaluation before we offered this on DIYAudio. never have such kind of problem. everything went well in China. but...it really drove me mad when I heard this
Improvement
1) We will add glue on the Toriod PT and other related component that happen again.
2) Vol pot, We have 20 EL34 ready to ship with ALPS volum pot installed. So should not have question about the volum pot again.
Joe
promotion stage. $220 + shipping, offer for Diyaudio member with 20 AMPs avaliable.
I did angry when I heard there is a problem with the AMP. It is nothing about Bigjppop. but about the QC.
When I got more information form Bigjppop, I can say this will only happen once. It is a problem very hard to prevent in design, as least in my view.
I can promise this problem only happen once, never again.
If anyone want to know more about this problem, you can read below:
----------------------------------------------------------------
the problem is that the 115V/230V switch was tooken aparted when arrived Japan. It is unlikely that the switch dissamply itselft. We check those switch in stock. There must be a outside force to take them apart.
The story should be: the vibration during transit caused the toroid PI rotate. then the PT drap the wires connected with 115v/230v switch. Finally pulled the switch apart. The toroid PT is firmly mounted in factory with a large bolt in middle. it is impossible to turn it by hand. But the transportation just too tough. vibration in transit can not move the PT, but could rotate PT around.
I could not believe that happen without seeing the picture. We shipped at least 10 of this amps within China for evaluation before we offered this on DIYAudio. never have such kind of problem. everything went well in China. but...it really drove me mad when I heard this
Improvement
1) We will add glue on the Toriod PT and other related component that happen again.
2) Vol pot, We have 20 EL34 ready to ship with ALPS volum pot installed. So should not have question about the volum pot again.
Joe
promotion stage. $220 + shipping, offer for Diyaudio member with 20 AMPs avaliable.
Last edited:
Well I was able to spend some time with this amp this weekend hooked up to my Omega's. I demoed this amp with the Suppo EL84 as well as my Simple SE. Source was my RWA iMod playing Apple lossless files. Just as a point of reference, the Omega 3i's are small monitors using a 4.5" full range driver running at 93 dB/8 Ohms. Bass falls after really fast below 50 Hz so keep that in mind.
Right off the bat, I'm impressed with this EL34 amp. It has a fuller bottom end than the EL84 for sure; now, it does have 3-4 times the power and the OPT's are at least twice as big so I would expect it to have more down below. It handled the entire frequency range really very well. I think the EL84 amp may have imaged slightly better (still need to spend some more time with both) but I really liked the tone of the EL34 amp.
I swapped out the stock EL34's for some Russian 6P3S-E's and I really enjoyed this as well. The difference in sound was not INCREDIBLY huge, but I felt the Russian tubes added a richer sound. The harmonics of both strings and vocals sounded better with these tubes. I need to fiddle with the bias a little to make sure I've got it where it needs to be but so far I'm impressed.
I'm still running the stock 6N6 tubes and haven't modded anything else but I do have some sonicaps to swap into the coupling position down the road.
There is a slight hum that is audible when it get up close to my speakers (couldn't here it on the lower sensitivity Quads) but I couldn't here it from my listening position.
Overall, I like it and I think I can be pretty happy with this amp. I still need to spend some time with it (it's probably only got about 5 hrs on it so far) but it shouldn't be too hard to enjoy it while it comes into its own.
Right off the bat, I'm impressed with this EL34 amp. It has a fuller bottom end than the EL84 for sure; now, it does have 3-4 times the power and the OPT's are at least twice as big so I would expect it to have more down below. It handled the entire frequency range really very well. I think the EL84 amp may have imaged slightly better (still need to spend some more time with both) but I really liked the tone of the EL34 amp.
I swapped out the stock EL34's for some Russian 6P3S-E's and I really enjoyed this as well. The difference in sound was not INCREDIBLY huge, but I felt the Russian tubes added a richer sound. The harmonics of both strings and vocals sounded better with these tubes. I need to fiddle with the bias a little to make sure I've got it where it needs to be but so far I'm impressed.
I'm still running the stock 6N6 tubes and haven't modded anything else but I do have some sonicaps to swap into the coupling position down the road.
There is a slight hum that is audible when it get up close to my speakers (couldn't here it on the lower sensitivity Quads) but I couldn't here it from my listening position.
Overall, I like it and I think I can be pretty happy with this amp. I still need to spend some time with it (it's probably only got about 5 hrs on it so far) but it shouldn't be too hard to enjoy it while it comes into its own.
If I were you that would be one of the first things I would change. The Chinese pre tubes seem to be rather poor quality. Swapping out the preamp tubes on the Suppo EL84 amp made a huge difference, night and day sort of difference. I think I used some Russian equivalents.
I did something very un-hi-fi - put a cheapo mini mixer in front (a Behringer 802 would do, these go for $30-40) and now have 2 stereo inputs with 3-band EQ plus another 2 with no tone controls (not even using the two mono channels but that would be the fifth pair if needed).
Originally thought it would add noise or reduce transparency but when tested with the same source source split direct to amp and via mixer (I have two inputs on my amp) could not hear any difference on 97dB speakers (other than a few dB noise from the mixer with no input signal and ear to the speaker, nothing at all while there's music playing).
The (positive) side effect is that the mixer's EQ helps a lot with some very bright CDs that would otherwise be too harsh to listen even through tubes.
My impressions of the EL-34 Amp
I really like this Amp. It was shipped out Wednesday morning and I received it The next Thursday afternoon(Less than 2 days). I live in the boonies in Illinois. It was packed very good. The amp was Bubble Wrapped then put in a box surrounded by styrofoam. That box was put in another box that was lined with about 2 inches of Styrofoam. Needless to say everything arrived in good condition.
The equiptment I am using is a Pioneer DV-563A SACD player(Nice DAC'S),A homemade Dick Olsher and Kara Chaffee Blue Velvet Pre Amplifier with Sylvania 1955 6SN7GTA'S Chrome Domes,and Snell E3 Speakers. The amplifier has a very nice Appearance with a thick all metal face plate. It has an Alps pot that along with the large knob gives a very smooth feel to it. The build quality of this amp to me is Very good to Excellent. It has tube retainers on the 4 output tubes. I don't know if this was just for shipping or maybe tube dampers.
I have listened to this Amp for about 10 hours now and I like it. I am using the stock tubes and they sound pretty good to me. I have some other 12AT7'S that I might try some other time.
For now I am going to use what came with it. The amp has a smooth bottom to top end and sounds very musical. It has very nice tube bass with a little more upper bass because of the Snell speakers. I like that myself. The high frequencies are all there and are non fatiqueing. The Left to Right balance is also very good.
I just got thru listening to it for about 2 hours at fairly high listening levels. It keeps it good quality at those levels also. The output transformers were just luke warm and the power transformer just a shade warmer.
Over all I think this is a fine product just the way it comes. I won't be doing any tube rolling or capacitor transplants until next winter. I like this Amp.
I really like this Amp. It was shipped out Wednesday morning and I received it The next Thursday afternoon(Less than 2 days). I live in the boonies in Illinois. It was packed very good. The amp was Bubble Wrapped then put in a box surrounded by styrofoam. That box was put in another box that was lined with about 2 inches of Styrofoam. Needless to say everything arrived in good condition.
The equiptment I am using is a Pioneer DV-563A SACD player(Nice DAC'S),A homemade Dick Olsher and Kara Chaffee Blue Velvet Pre Amplifier with Sylvania 1955 6SN7GTA'S Chrome Domes,and Snell E3 Speakers. The amplifier has a very nice Appearance with a thick all metal face plate. It has an Alps pot that along with the large knob gives a very smooth feel to it. The build quality of this amp to me is Very good to Excellent. It has tube retainers on the 4 output tubes. I don't know if this was just for shipping or maybe tube dampers.
I have listened to this Amp for about 10 hours now and I like it. I am using the stock tubes and they sound pretty good to me. I have some other 12AT7'S that I might try some other time.
For now I am going to use what came with it. The amp has a smooth bottom to top end and sounds very musical. It has very nice tube bass with a little more upper bass because of the Snell speakers. I like that myself. The high frequencies are all there and are non fatiqueing. The Left to Right balance is also very good.
I just got thru listening to it for about 2 hours at fairly high listening levels. It keeps it good quality at those levels also. The output transformers were just luke warm and the power transformer just a shade warmer.
Over all I think this is a fine product just the way it comes. I won't be doing any tube rolling or capacitor transplants until next winter. I like this Amp.
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