El cheapo (el stupido?) valve amp

Hi all. New here. Hope everyone's having a great Christmas.

So, I was fiddling around on eBay here in Australia and bid on a cheap Chinese valve amp without giving it too much thought. Thing is, I ended up 'winning' and now I have a $350 chunk of God-only-knows-what rapidly heading towards my front door.

I'm not too concerned, since it's no great loss if it turns out to be complete cr*p, but I figure since it's made up of such simple components, how wrong can they possibly get it?

It's called a Delphonica Valhalla One, with 6N1 valve front and 6P3P (6L6)'s back. They claim 15W per channel.

Can't find any info anywhere on the web (are those warning bells that I hear ringing?), so was wondering whether anyone had any experience with this unit, or any advice on how to tweak it into something worthwhile?

Cheers,

Brent.

 

It just looks like yet another tarted-up piece of Chinese junk. Surely a NAD3020 would have been a better buy. Chinese Audio is all about copying really old designs (older than Naim) and using cheap aluminium panels to make it look up to date. At some point soon we'll see their version of a Garrard 401 or even an LP12 in Chinese silver aluminium finish.

 

a bit harsh

I would take a listen to it, and discover for yourself.

Theres no reason cheap manufacturing costs in the country of origin will make for a poor sounding amp. It may be great. Keep an eye on it to make sure the transformer doesnt get too hot - if you have 240v in your own country.

Another thing, 15w isn't a huge amount, so hopefully you have efficient speakers to use them within a power delivery they can happily manage?

 

Excellent engineering from the Far East

Chinese Audio is all about copying really old designs (older than Naim) and using cheap aluminium panels to make it look up to date.

The age of a design does not matter there is only good design and design not fit for purpose. Some of the most elegant of designs in Audio are over 40 years old - Linn LP 12, Quad ESLs, BBC LS35A, Quad 303, 405 (current dumping) etc. It is interesting to note that many UK and USA designs are now manufactured in China!

My own system is a blend of good (but old) design and some innovative products from the far east, including China. My preamp is the wonderful Prometheus TVR - Malayasia, Headphone Amp is the Little Dot 11+ - China, DAC is the Paridisea - Taiwan.

Other equipment is from the time when UK design and build quality was world class. Speakers ESL 63s, Turntable Linn LP12.

There are some very well designed and innovative products from China but before you consider purchase you should get as much information about them as possible.

Unfortunately there are some products in the market place, not just from China, that are not only poorly designed but may be dangerous too.

Don't let reports of poor products from China cloud your judgment of all audio equipment from the far east.

:MILD:

 

I suspect you haven't listened to the stuff made in the Far East, RobM. I'm not sure you would say the same after hearing the stuff. The fact is China is now hosting loads of big brands, from computer to Hi-Fi and car. It shows they are well capable of manufacturing great gears. Whether they copy designs or not is a different matter, it has nothing to do with the quality.

Try a listen before purchase. I have had positive experience with Chinese audio products, particularly the quality of the sound.

 

for all it's worth, if you like cheap valve amps but very good and made in the far east take a look at "FATMAN"
nando

 

take alisten you may be surprised ...I certainly was with the dynavox vr70e

chinese valves are not up to much so look at ex soviet types

I've a xiang sheng 708...that used smilar valves to your amp ....once changed the thing is a very nice headphone amp for almost nothing

 

take alisten you may be surprised ...I certainly was with the dynavox vr70e

Yes I can see were surprised...you ended up selling it. I spend a lot of my working hours in Germany where DIYers are busy trying to make this amp half decent...so much so that most if not all of the components are always changed - like yours Zanash, and they still end up with a poor amp. The VR70e gets very very poor reviews BUT seems to be thee 'amp' to tamper with. Why bother...just get a good amp!

The xiang sheng 708 is pretty much the same thing...people love to modify it...because the interior is full of poor/ crappy quality components see:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/modifying-xiang-sheng-708b-56k-221733/

I really can't see the facination with poor quality audio when good quality audio exists. I see posts regularly regarding the poor state of the hifi industry....it's no wonder with this type of buying.

Super bargains in audio don't really exist - you get what you pay for.

 

"I certainly was with the dynavox vr70e "

I have one and I think it does ok.

I think it sounds pretty good......a lot better than my old cyrus one I have here, which is on a par (?) with the nad 3020 mentioned as a comparison.

Be aware you'll need to invest in new tubes every 6 months or so.

As people have said you may well be pleasantly surprised.




"I really can't see the facination with poor quality audio when good quality audio exists. I see posts regularly regarding the poor state of the hifi industry....it's no wonder with this type of buying."


Rob...funnily enough if i could readily afford to spend 2K on an amplifier.....I might do so.

I can't, hence the "fascination" in lower priced (in my case 2nd hand) equip.

 

Thing is, I'm expecting it to be bad, so I can only be pleasantly surprised!

Bottleneck - I have a pair of 90db Celestion F30's lying around. Should be okay for 15w?

RobM - I already have an okay selection of consumer grade audio gear, including a Yamaha RX-V 1900 with Jamo Concert's all round, and various bits of old-school Rotel, Arcam, NAD, Harmon Kardon, B&W and Sonus Faber stuff. So I wasn't actually after something that I specifically needed. Just bought the valve amp for a bit of fun.

Expecting to receive the amp tomorrow. Expect a full report back in the next few days, if my ears aren't wrenched from my head.

Zanash - Where do I get my hands on Soviet replacement valves?

 

A farmer went by sultry night to his lowly cattle shed to assist of mother with the birth of her calf, when done, and when they had well settled, he reached for the string to pull the off of the lone bulb but inadvertently touched and smeared said bulb with his then messy and somewhat smelly arm, too tired to bother..off he went to bed.
A few hours later, just before dawn the farmer and son went together to the shed, the string was pulled and on went the bulb, all a sudden, the flies that had settled on that beastly bulb burst into life, at which point the son said.."dad, that sounds just like your chinese valve amp".


hope thats not the case..and do you have anything to compare it against ?

Best of luck

 

Why are you expecting it to be bad.....and why on earth would you buy something knowing or expecting it to be bad

You could have spent the money on more music!

I think you'll need a lot more than soviet valves to make it 'sing'. sell it and buy something good.

 

robm you are of course entitled to your own opinon ...but this must be weighed against actual experience ...

which in this case seems to be nil or less or have I miss understood your prejudice against Chinese gear?

the first set of el34's that came with the dynavox lasted less than two months ...a set of svets lasted 18months and sounded way better too.

As has been pointed out a proportion of these cheap chinese valve amps are copies or adaptions of old designs ...that in its self is not a bad thing as some of the early designs will show some modern rubbish a very clean pair of heels....

there are of course horror stories of all over the web about poorly built and design kit .....

the actuallity of this could be questioned ...as I've not personally met anyone who's had a problem in this area.

 

Zanash - yes my personal experience is nil but I have known a few guys to go down this route..with really poor results.
The units I have seen have been pretty much like this inside http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/mod...8b-56k-221733/

and sound like it too. I've heard new versions of the old 300B and they all sound like old 300Bs. I've also heard a new/ revamped Quad 33/303 which sounded really crap.

What 'really' does sound good that comes from China, and I'm not talking about manufacturing, I'm talking about design. The Shanling stuff sounded quite good but I really can't think of anything else.

I really think that given a soldering iron and a schematic I could do a better job - and getting hold of schematics of anything these days is pretty simple. I have the schematic of the CJ ART here with me which I picked up in Malaysia - and it's got Lou's signature on it.

Most of what is available from China is readily available on the web anyway - so why pay top dollar for it.

 

In the interests of balance some Far East amps are truly excellent, cheap and beautifully built e.g.

Darkvoice
Little Dot MKIV

Inside of Little Dot MKIV

 

like I said... the Little DOT is manufacfured in the Far east, it's design is a collaboration of many DIYers. Anyway, that ALPS blue looking pot...is it really an ALPS or one of those copies? You can buy Far Eastern copies made by 'Soundwell' now in the UK from the same chaps that supply Naim with their ALPS units. It's now also known that some people are taking the Soundwell sticker off and replacing it with an ALPS sticker. You normally find these on ebay. The Soundwell copy does not sound as good as the proper ALPS unit.

 

Hmmm

 

Yes... I know.

The soundwell unit pretty much identical. If the stickers weren't there and you didn't know what an ALPS pot looks like in real detail....you wouldn't know which was which.
I have both here and will post an image of both when I get into the office. The an ALPS sticker put in its place as the sticker shape and recess for the sticker is the same. The soundwell unit costs about £6 and sounds like it, whereas the ALPS costs about £15

 

who makes the blue RN60 resistors?