I’m getting into more vintage speakers now and I found a pair of extremely efficient Akai SW-180s in great shape that I want to run on a tube amp for my record player and my digital music collection. I tried asking on the DIY Audio forums to see if they had recommendations for under $300 and they weren’t very helpful. I know zeos did a review of the FX Audio P1 and that seems like a great deal but I wanted to see what everyones recommendations are. I’ve seen the Nobsound 6P1 as well so that could also be an option. There’s also a Sweet Peach SP-KT88 that I might be able to get for a good price. It seems like the biggest issue right now with the Chinese amps is the shipping and the lack of stock here in the US.
I use a fosi audio hybrid tube amp with an aiyima tube pre amp. they are all the same, just different brand names. i have the combo hooked up to elac dbr62’s and it drives them way more then enough.
dayton audio makes a class a/b hybrid tube amp that’s 160$ with 50wpc. if you want a chinese amp with an american company name on it. its also class a/b vs class d hybrid tube.
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So when it comes to hybrid tube amps I’ve heard mixed things, some say that it’s just tubes slapped on a solid state and you don’t get the true “tube sound” with them. But I am seeing that I can get a lot more bang for the buck with a hybrid tube amp in my price range and far more power out of them. Do you feel your hybrid amps give you the warmth that you get with the full on tube amps?
with the pre-amp added on, i feel its pretty close. while i do not have any true tube amps for speakers, i do have tube amps for headphones. and the hybrid has a headphone jack as well as the speaker terminals. and comparing off of the headphone jack, they are fairly close. i think the biggest thing you miss out a little on, and where they fall short compared to true tube amps, is the holographic soundstage you get with pure tube.
they do an admiral job of replicating it though.
if they are extremely efficient, tube depot makes a tube amp for 170$ that has 3.5 wpc. outside of DiY, its the cheapest tube amp i am aware of.
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Awesome dude thanks for clearing that up and giving me a good idea of what the differences are. The only experience I have with tubes is my DarkVoice.
np, glad to help!
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Take a look to Little Dot with an option who have a Pre amp.
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