does anyone use a chinese valve amp? audio space?

[Takumi]

hi, i was wondering does anyone use a chinese made tube amplifier? and what quality and performance like?

i am asking in particular about the audio space as-2.8i and the as-2i in particular, and which is better of the two and what differences are there

also one last thing does anyone have any weblinks in regards to these amps, like reviews, tests, etc..

[pingu]

Originally Posted by Takumi

hi, i was wondering does anyone use a chinese made tube amplifier? and what quality and performance like?

i am asking in particular about the audio space as-2.8i and the as-2i in particular, and which is better of the two and what differences are there

also one last thing does anyone have any weblinks in regards to these amps, like reviews, tests, etc..

I don't own an audiospace amp, but I do have Ming Da amplifier.

use google to search up Ming Da and you will be able to find HEAPS of reviews and forum threads about them, you can also purchase them locally in aus.

[Amfibius]

This thing and this thing?

12W in class AB does not sound very impressive, unless i'm reading it wrongly.

I have never heard of Audio Space, but I hear a lot of good things about Ming Da and Opera Audio. Distributors for Ming Da are COEM and Opera Audio are Osborn.

[Takumi]

hey amfibius, have u heard of the hk movie infernal affairs?

there is a scene in the movie, andy lau goes to buy hifi gear, in the store he goes to, there are lots of valve amps, that store is the audiospace store in shamshuipo, hk

audiospace also go under the following names: duntonic and houston

the distributor for audiospace, is located in adelaide, rather unknown, its called 88av, it was a hifi store initially, but then he did like an u-turn and it turned in to an asian grocer, but he still has hifi gear around and asian movies and cds

[pingu]

Originally Posted by Takumi

hey amfibius, have u heard of the hk movie infernal affairs?

there is a scene in the movie, andy lau goes to buy hifi gear, in the store he goes to, there are lots of valve amps, that store is the audiospace store in shamshuipo, hk

audiospace also go under the following names: duntonic and houston

the distributor for audiospace, is located in adelaide, rather unknown, its called 88av, it was a hifi store initially, but then he did like an u-turn and it turned in to an asian grocer, but he still has hifi gear around and asian movies and cds

I've seen the move , great movie!! (btw there is going to be a hollywood remake of it starring lenardo dicaprio haha)

the DU-2.8i is an el84 amp, so considering the tube it uses 12w seems about right for class AB. depending on the cost of the DU-2.8i, you might be better off getting a ming da amp running el34 or equivalent tubes.

[Amfibius]

Er, no actually I haven't seen that movie ... but that wouldn't be so surprising because I normally spend more time reading subtitles than trying to understand what's being said

[Villa]

Lol, that you Conrad?

[Takumi]

the guy at the store wants around 600 for the du-2.8i or du-2i

would getting Ming Da MC34-B be better, but that comes to 750 and another 80 for upgrade to el34?

also whats the difference between the el84, 6v6 and el34 tubes?

[hugz]

Originally Posted by Takumi

hi, i was wondering does anyone use a chinese made tube amplifier? and what quality and performance like?

i am asking in particular about the audio space as-2.8i and the as-2i in particular, and which is better of the two and what differences are there

also one last thing does anyone have any weblinks in regards to these amps, like reviews, tests, etc..

I had a Ming Da amplifier for a while until I sold it (not because it has any faults, but because I'm going to upgrade to another Ming Da!). I've also used a Ming Da headphone amp for extended periods..

Quality was is top notch on these chinese amps. It's very much my style to complain about everything, but I certainly cannot complain about the Ming Da's build quality. The amps have been solidly built and flawless.

Performance is the best I've heard in the price range. Improvements can possibly be had by replacing the chinese tubes

The amp I had was a Ming Da MC34-B (22w class A/B 6p3p). The amp I'm hoping to upgrade to is Ming Da MC300-d (8w class A 300b). The headphone amp is MC66-AE (1.5W class A 6N6)

I've never heard or seen an audio space brand amplifier. If you're keen on a good chinese amp but dont want to risk it on the audio space (assuming you dont find anyone who has one), then I'd definately recommending pickin up a Ming Da from COEM

[hugz]

Originally Posted by Takumi

the guy at the store wants around 600 for the du-2.8i or du-2i

would getting Ming Da MC34-B be better, but that comes to 750 and another 80 for upgrade to el34?

also whats the difference between the el84, 6v6 and el34 tubes?

Ha you posted this while I was writing my reply! Yes, I apparently write posts very slowly..

I've never heard those other amps, but the MC34-B is certainly great for the price. Mine didn't have the upgraded tubes, but I can only imagine that it helps greatly, as the chinese tubes are always the weakness of chinese amps in my opinion. Thankfully they are so easily replaced

[pingu]

Originally Posted by Takumi

the guy at the store wants around 600 for the du-2.8i or du-2i

would getting Ming Da MC34-B be better, but that comes to 750 and another 80 for upgrade to el34?

also whats the difference between the el84, 6v6 and el34 tubes?

the mc34-b comes with 6p3p tubes as standard, they are equivalents to el34 tubes. Basically this allows you to tube roll later on to other popular tubes like el34, 6l6, 6ca7 etc...
it's best to change the tubes later on though, this gives you time to get used to the 6p3p so that you have a benchmark to compare your new tubes on

the difference between the el84, 6v6, and el34 tubes are the sound characteristics and power output. If you decide to use 6ca7 tubes on the mc34b it will probably give you a little bit more power also.

[Amfibius]

The difference between those tubes?

EL34 is a higher power tube and is commonly used in the driver stage of the power amp. I have heard a DIY amp using an EL34. Beautiful warm sound but a little bit lacking in transparency. Not sure whether it was the tube's fault or the design of the amp.

6V6 is a lower power tube and is commonly used in either preamplifiers, line output stages of DAC's, or the input stage of a power amplifier.

EL84, not so sure. Don't encounter that tube too often.

And I would agree with the suggestion of tube rolling (switching the tubes that came with your amp for a different brand). That kind of discussion is beyond the scope of OCAU and I would suggest you go to Audio Asylum for help with that kind of thing. I would have no idea what's a good EL34 or 6V6 tube. I have 6SN7's, 300B's, and 845/211's in my valve setup. I know what the "good" tubes are but they probably do not apply to your amp.