I’ve owned several of the Derek Sanderson Fleawatt amps and have always enjoyed them very much. At the time, I had a 3 wpc 6B4G SET (basically a 6V 2a3 I was told), and after hearing a 3118 or 3116 chip amp, I could not justify running tubes as the sound was so very similar.
Chip amps, not spoken about much, except on the diy sites.
I will try and make this a reasonable amount of reading for you all, while keeping it real. I also feel blessed, that the speakers I live with and enjoy so much, can be driven with any amp on the planet.......I consider myself an ampoholic, and in the last 5 years or so, I have been listening and evaluating all of my treasured amps to determine what I will not listen to anymore ( this after buying my 1st Nuforce STA200 ). 15 months ago, I came across an ad here for a Dalaudio Retro 4780, and contacted the seller through email ( what a super member, being a pleasant and easy transaction, on so many levels ). I was intrigued, for a few reasons. 1st, all this talk about class D; 2nd, I have not seen many chip amps for sale by owners ( except diy ); 3rd, I had 1st hand experience with the " Gainclone " amp and it’s Humpty power supply in ’98 /’99 ( I believe that was the time ). 4th, as my amp collection was getting smaller, I was experiencing an emptiness within me. Many reasons for that, with covid being one. 5th, wanted to try something new. 6th, and of course, all of the online and yt reviewers, whom I will not discuss, because of politics. So, after I received the chip amp, and living with it for a few weeks, it went back into my inventory, replaced with another. So, returning home after spending a nice VsD with my gf, I connected the Dal again ( all the while, I did my complete chassis damping thing to it, as it needed it badly ), and it has been playing in my main rig, since then. My thoughts................... Holy Mama ! More to come. Enjoy ! MrD.