which amplifier ?

[gobble]

I want to buy an single-ended class A or AB amp, to use with an external preamp. I am looking for a budget one.

Which ones are the possible candidates for selection.

It should preferably have soft-clipping circuitry.

Speaker purchase is still pending...


TIA

 

[afj]

the chinese make some really good class a amplifiers. companies like jungson, bada, dussun, xindak, shanling. the one thing that all owners / reviewers have said about them is that they perform like products that normally cost 2-3 times their cost and the build quality is extremely good. one issue is the indian summers. class a amplifiers give out a lot of heat and may cut out in temperatures above 35 degrees. what sort of music do you like. whats the rest of your set up. i personally am going to buy one of the above mentioned. just havent decided yet

 

[gobble]

Thanks for the tip. where can I demo these chinese brands?

Regards

 

[afj]

thats the problem gobble. cant audition in india. unless you travel to europe / usa / china...

there are quite a few reviews on the net for jungson ja88d (80w pure class A), xindak xa6950, dussun v6i(200w class a). cant find any reviews for the bada purer 3.3 (between 10 and 30 watts class a and upto 160 w class ab). they all cost in the region of usd750-1000 ex china.

from what i understand, dussun is really powerful and clean but clinical - so less involving. the xindak is very neutral, maybe slightly bright in parts. the jungson is very musical and very neutral. the bada is slightly warmer. no idea on the shanling or the vincent

i zeroed in on the jungson ja88d and the bada purer 3.3. and chose the purer 3.3 over the ja88d because it goes lower in class a and therefore easier to manage over high temperature days. also there is a switch to run it upto 10w class a or upto 30w class a. these are all based on reviews and what i;ve spoken to people though

most of these amps are integrated hybrid amps - ie. pre tube and power solid state

the first link is a translated page of the bada website. second link is translated page of bada purer3.3 description. the 3rd link is for the jungson website. the fourth link is for a online dealer in hongkong. open each brand on the left hand side of the page and then click on the uk flag next to each item for more details. the fifth link is for the xindak website.

hope you find all this helpful. if youre looking at class a amps from western countries the min price youre looking at is 2500 usd plus transport customs etc

Translated version of http://www.badahi-fi.com/

Translated version of http://www.badahi-fi.com/detail.asp?webid=10000003&proid=100072

www.jungson.com - Spirit of the Gong

Home

Welcome To Xindak Web Site

 

[gobble]

Thank you. due to price constraints, I did some research and have decided on the NAD c325BEE @approx $450. I'm not buying it right away, maybe nextime my Bro comes in from singapore. Right now waiting for my Norh ACA-2B Tube Preamp which he will bring in December.

Cheers

 

[afj]

listen to it before you buy.

 

[nuRoXX]

Hi gobble,

if the appearance of the amp is not that important (I mean you did consider a NAD amp ) why not trying a good PA amp, i.e. from the following link. Power without end, and with a good pre certainly adoptable for very good HiFi quality. More important, you will get a lot for the money. I know a few people using such amps in HiFi and I was impressed.

Power Amplifiers Up To 800 W (4 ohm) - U.K. International Cyberstore

Cheers
nuRoXX

 

[persiflage]

thats the problem gobble. cant audition in india. unless you travel to europe / usa / china...

there are quite a few reviews on the net for jungson ja88d (80w pure class A), xindak xa6950, dussun v6i(200w class a). cant find any reviews for the bada purer 3.3 (between 10 and 30 watts class a and upto 160 w class ab). they all cost in the region of usd750-1000 ex china.

from what i understand, dussun is really powerful and clean but clinical - so less involving. the xindak is very neutral, maybe slightly bright in parts. the jungson is very musical and very neutral. the bada is slightly warmer. no idea on the shanling or the vincent

afj, since you're interested in Chinese integrateds, do consider Melody.. various models that have received nothing but praise from respected quarters. Some of their top end models, for example i2a3, can be pricey (esp. post the glowing reviews) but several others such as the SP3 and SP9 can be considered.

SP9 in particular is very good value and 50 wpc of tube power should be sufficient to drive most mainstream speakers incl. your RS6.

As a bonus they don't run very hot either, being PP designs.

Do check them out.

 

[afj]

thanks persiflage will keep it in mind when im buying. im a little skeptical buying without listening to any of these brands. i dont think im going to change my amp for a while after i buy one of these. they're all good, its about a matter of matching and suiting personal tastes.

i went into the website - they're an aussie based company but manufacturing in china. pretty much a chinese company. do you know where i can buy them of the net in china. the website i found was selling out of usa - Melody Hi Fi - A High End Audio Importer and Distributer. it works out more expensive buying outside of china due to extra transport costs, dealer margins etc.

also have you listened to this product. could you give me a short review on it? i've currently got a nad c272. what i like about the nad is the full and involving vocals and the slightly rolled off but very sweet highs. what i dont like about it is the bass being laid back, lack of sound separation. dont mind presentation being a little more forward either

 

[persiflage]

Hi afj,

Have heard the sp3, the 'baby amp' in their line up at a friend's in Oz. I think it was sold under the 'Onix' (?) brand in Australia. There was a lot that the lil amp did right, and made me wonder what the bigger ones might be capable of.

The fuss about Melody amps is because they seem to retain the palpability, air and layered presentation of tubes, while being quite solid-state like in other respects - frequency extension at both ends, absence of bass bloat etc.

Now to your question - buying factory direct should be on if there's no distributor in your country. Glitch is that I can't seem to find the factory contacts (its in Shenzhen somewhere).

The best bet seems to be Hit Audio, their distributor in HK. Google them and you'll find the contacts.

 

[afj]

thanks persiflage
emailed them. lets see what price i can get. trying to sell my current nad setup before i get buy one of these

 

[cha_indian]

Jungson has a distributor in India. If you can go to Chennai, you might want to listen to this brand. www.abiaudio.com

Can we have opinions about sound quality from our Chennai members??

 

[afj]

Jungson has a distributor in India. If you can go to Chennai, you might want to listen to this brand. www.abiaudio.com

Can we have opinions about sound quality from our Chennai members??

do you have the details for the jungson distributor in india???

 

[cha_indian]

The website has all the info needed.