Low Cost Chinese Valve Amplifiers

[Edward Huggins]

There has been much coverage of very low price, but fake, Chinese valve amplifiers i.e. where they come with an impressive array of valves, but only the heaters are powered and the audio comes off cheap chips. Has anyone any experience of "non-fake" fully circuited Chinese valve hi fi amps and how well they perform? Edward

[Top Cap]

Only had experience with Yaqin, they seem to be built a cut above the rest and have good output transformers. Their early 6L6 model MC5881 was rather poor but the later EL34 types like MC10L, MC10T and MC-13S are much better. I now own their MS-100b which is a KT88 based amplifier having owned the previous 10L and 10T models. The problem with much Chinese gear is the input voltages, they seem to be made for a 220V market and this causes a certain amount of overload on our 240V. You can order them with a higher input and the 230V option seems to be OK. Their phono amplifiers like the MS12, MS22 and 23 were not good, poor performance from their active feedback circuitry and I have converted many for people using the now defunct WAD phono amp circuit. Yaqin have since produced the MS33 which is alleged to be a passive filter circuit like the WAD and comments so far have been very favourable. Apart from the phono amplifiers, the others mentioned are main amplifiers and the ones that you refer to, which have chip output, are usually marketed for Headphone use. The chip output is usually hidden in advertisements giving the buyer the impression the amplifier is all valve which I find deplorable.

[sp10mk11]

When I worked on site a box arrived with a valve power amplifier in it, it was very modern to look at.
When I got it home and looked inside it was poorly made and had a few spelling mistakes.
Anyway I connected it up and it sounded like a PA amplifier, it used some sort of valve that was not generally available, they had blue LEDs under them, I cannot remember the name on it, I remember it was made in China
But it was one find at work that wasn't a roaring success
Gary

[tri-comp]

There is (or was, don't know if it's available any more) the Dynavox VR70e and later the VR70eII.
They are VERY nice sounding EL34-PP stereo output-amplifiers and with a fair portion of quality components built-in.
I bought the II-version from a German supplier probably some 5~6 years ago and it works just fine.
At the time the price was around £250 including P&P but I have no idea what they're asking now.
Looking back it was a bargain !

['LIVEWIRE?']

Some years ago I serviced a Music Angel valve amp. - don't recall which model, which appeared to be quite well made, and gave a good account of itself once a few relatively minor problems had been rectified, including the use of UF series diodes instead of the standard 1N500x series. Like most Chinese amps, though, this was a 220vac version.

[Edward Huggins]

Wow - this looks well made - and for £250! Thanks for all the responses do far. I guess anything with a suspicously low price is to be avoided or treated with caution. Edward

[Courtney Louise]

I have 2 of them. One is using the German LS50/ Russian GU50 valve which is completely hand built and no PCB and not a transistor in sight.

The other is a Bewitch 5881 Push Pull and works amazingly well..

If you get one and don't mind fettling with *better grade components and you will be amazed for the price...

[baddognobone]

I have a Dared MP-60 that I have had for about 10 years. A nice EL34 push pull amp 25w per channel I changed the valves for Nos Russian ones, I have had no problems with the amp and I think it has a great sound.
It cost me around £450.00 when I got it.

[bikerhifinut]

For me, apart from any potential safety issues, I'd concern myself with the quality of the output transformers and possibly the mains transformers. These are expensive components (as I know only too well from homebrew builds) and as a proportion of the build cost they take up a large percentage of that.
All said and done there are some very good quality valve amps made in China. Quad, Icon Audio and Prima Luna spring to mind. You do pay proportionately more for these but I guess that's to cover development and any warranty and quality control issues?

I'll stick my neck out here and say that you really have to want a Valve amp to seriously consider buying one in view of the extra cost watt for watt and the extra comittment in terms of general maintenance/servicing. It's definitely a heart over head decision whether a cheap and cheerful Chinese thing or an expensive quad or Audio research.
And I say this as a valve enthusiast, I have bought and built valve amps.

Andy.

[slidertogrid]

Originally Posted by 'LIVEWIRE?'

Some years ago I serviced a Music Angel valve amp. -

I have seen one of those some years back it had a spelling mistake "Music Angle" was embellished proudly on the front.
Lost in translation?
I remember reading a Chinglish instruction book once that suggested "Turn around while hold your knob".
Sounded a bit 'carry on' to me...
Rich.

['LIVEWIRE?']

I remember the 'Music Angle' mistake, Rich, but not the 'Turn aroound while hold your knob' one. As you say that's a bit 'Carry On-ish!!' Those of now of somewhat advanced years may recall when some Japanese English( Japlish?) also read a bit strangely way back in the early 60s.

[daviddeakin]

I bought a Mengyui Mini for about £100. The power transformer was overloaded, one of the heater legs was internally shorted to ground, and it had no mains earth. However, I knew when I bought it that I would be redesigning the circuit, so I wasn't too bothered by these things. I don't suppose the transformer would have lasted long if I hadn't, though.

http://f.tqn.com/y/stereos/1/S/w/B/-/-/mengyue1.jpg

[Ed_Dinning]

Hi Gents, I rewound both transformers and the choke on an expensive Chinese amp.
Cause of failure in all cases was the use of newsprint as insulation

Ed

[kalee20]

Oh dear... Flexible and quite nice to wind, thin so leakage inductance isn't increased much, so performance of the transformer would be quite good. But not acid-free, not temperature stable, not good in terms of dielectric strength, not long-lasting!

[baddognobone]

A few pics of Dared, it seems well made to me. I did cheat and replace the valves.......

[Cobaltblue]

Interesting to hear about Eds newspaper insulation!

Back in 2001 all the transformers in the 3rd Party equipment we supplied (from UK) were failing in Shenyang (North East China).

They were 500VA toroidal's supplied by RS.

I had 10 of them rewound overnight and brought to my hotel in the morning.

They tested perfect and all were still working in 2008 when I was last involved with that project (the originals didn't last the first summer)

The rewinds cost the equivalent of less than a tenner each, and that included the cost of collection and delivery.

The temperature inside the equipment could reached 100C in the summer and even with the heaters running -20C in the winter.

I had to replace the fixings as the transformers were now "fatter" and the hole in the centre was smaller due to the increase wire gauge used and thicker insulation. they wound the secondary by hand as the centre hole was too small to take the winding bobbin. All the additional new fixings were supplied in the price.

The Chinese are more than capable of a quality result but in consumer electronics for export you do take a bit of a gamble.

Cheers

Mike T

[mark pirate]

I have been tempted by some of the Chinese kits available on ebay, there are several single ended types selling for less than £150 including shipping!

Although very appealing, I definitely have concerns with the quality of the transformers. Most are listed as 220v mains input.

Mark

[sennsai]

In 2008 I bought a GoldBaile S6 300B for £450. I saw this same amp still on sale recently on a Chinese "Hi Fi King" website, although haven't located it since. It's beautifully constructed, all hand wired, and the gold plate finish really seems gold plate. the only fault is that it hums slightly, apparently a common problem with these output valves. It also is very heavy.