Inexpensive Tube Amps

I owned a Jolida 502P for years and only replaced it as I became interested in Dennis Had's little hand made amps. But the Joilida was amazing for less money than any comparable tube amp out there when I was shopping around, but was sorted (and had a parts "upgrade") after manufacturing by the Maryland Jolida techs…so maybe that makes a difference. I also currently own a rarely used but well made Chinese $50 "Bravo" tube headphone amp…it's cute and sounds great with the better-than-stock 12AU7 tube I put in there. They immediately sent me a free new power supply when the original failed…whoever "they" are...

I'm surely enjoying my Musical Paradise 301 mk3. 6.5 watts SEP sounds great on my quartets. Replace the stock signal tubes with RCA 6sj7's and it sounds very good-much better than the $400 price. I'm running Shuagang EL34's. My $$$ main rig sounds better overall I suppose, but the little MP has that tube dimensional ability that grabs a guy.

I have three Nobsound tube/hybrid amps and also own the Nobsound MS-10D hybrid/stereo receiver (currently unavailable). I’ve had them for over a year with no problems with any of them. I started with the inexpensive NS-08E headphone amp and loved it so much that I got the NS-01E and the NS-02E, each with different tubes to play with and roll. This was my entrance into tube gear and I’ve gotten the tube sweetness and warmth I’d been looking for years, and at budget prices. The MS-10D puts out 25 watts per channel, enough to easily drive two JBLs with an 86 dB sensitivity.

No one could pay enough to go back to all S-S gear, including an NAD receiver that cost more than all four of these units put together. Tubes are alive and magic, and one does not have to spend an arm and a leg to get that rich mid-range sound, bouncing bass, and overall musicality. I have my receiver hooked up to my HDTV and the voices sound human.

I bought from Amazon and got the inexpensive 4-year protection plans in case of problems. The only problem I’ve had was a bad power supply with one of the amps, and after telling Nobsound about the problem, I was sent another one in a timely fashion.

There’s been a lot of criticism about Chinese gear over the years, but they’ve improved and the makers like great sound just as much as anyone and have tapped into a market where listeners are tired of the digital hardness and harshness and are offering affordable amps that people can try.

I also feel that some of the Chinese tubes are underrated but may take longer than other makes to sound their best. I’m still using the stock Chinese tubes in the MS-10D.

Nobsound is connected with Douk Audio and their products have continued to receive overall favorable reviews. I’ve used each amp with an audiophile pair of Grado GS-1000 headphones and found the combination addictive with each one of them—I rotate them for variety.

That’s my 2-cents worth from a person who actually owns some of these amps. I will add that I’m a professional musician with high standards of performance and I’m glad that I rediscovered the beauty and magic of vacuum tubes without spending a fortune.

Will62. You came to a forum where people without blinking will spend $10,000 on an amp. Then you want their opinion on a $300 piece of junk amp from China? Seriously, what did you really expect?

And you are completely wrong on why it cost so little. It costs so little because quality is so low.

Will62,

followed this post from a week or so ago. I have bought quite a few of the chinese amps, more out of curiosity than anything else. Most are very musical and offer a lot of value for the money.

So Last week, decided to order a Gentune verion of the Nobsound amp.

Appears to be identical other than the name on the front.

Tried it with 87db to 91db eff. speakers. It drove the 87 db fairly well before running out of gas. Quite musical sounding amp. on the 91db speakers. Pulled the bottom cover off. One big PCB wiith everything soldered to it...

tried some different tubes in the amp. have to say the PSVANEs that come with it sound better (more open) than any of the Russian versions I tried.

If you pop for it, don't think you will dislike it. a very pleasant amp to listen to....if it were hot rodded, would only get better......

J