Inexpensive Tube Amps


Anyone have any experience with the following?  I want to try one just to see how the sound compares to my Yamaha and Denon solid states.  Since the Denon is living on borrowed time I will likely have to replace it this year anyway.  Looking at the Nubsound and noted a Germtune that is identical to the Nubsound but costs a bit more.  Reviews are largely good including those on other forums.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NWISSGU/?coliid=I2VYW63Z6R35ZH&colid=3O2PB0XPYIL0T&psc=0&re...

https://www.amazon.com/Nobsound-Amplifier-Single-Ended-Handcrafted-Headphone/dp/B073ZXZ3Z5/ref=pd_sb...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DRUY6EG/?coliid=I1EPHIQ7T6OOPR&colid=3O2PB0XPYIL0T&psc=0&re...
will62

Showing 4 responses by kalali

The OP's listed options implies a budget of <$300 but those particular models are not suitable for the target speakers. If you insist on that budget, you're better off looking for a hybrid model with 25-35wpc power and return it if you don't like it. The main problem with those moderately cheap priced amplifiers is their quality is hit or miss, crackling tubes, scratchy volume control, etc. They may actually sound decent if you happen to get a "good" one...
OP, the three components you had listed, it looks like the first and the third one are the same amplifier just rebranded. If it were me, I'd go with the one of those two since they seem to have less moving parts to go wrong. By the way, I also bought a Yaqin A3 on a whim a year or so ago and it lives in my office driving a pair of small bookshelf speakers. It sounds OK for the $130 that I paid for it but it is not a proper representative of what a tube amplifier can and should sound like. And yes its 8.5wpc can drive medium efficiency speakers - I tried it with my Vandersteen 2Ci for giggles and music came out but it is nowhere near the sound quality that comes out of those speakers when fed properly.    
In that price range, I would look for a lghtly used Sophia Electric Baby push-pull integrated, rated at 10wpc and runs in class A. Sounds glorious driving my back-horn loaded single driver speakers. 
I have a couple of low power integrated tube amps, one at home and one at work and have tried them with speakers ranging from my Martin Logans @ 89dB/4ohm to my horn-loaded single drivers @ 95dB/8ohms and a couple of other speakers like Vandersteen 2Ci, Def Tech BP20, etc., in between. You can make music and hear it at a decent volume but playing loud is very different from hearing the recorded dynamics of the instruments, vocals not so much. Try playing an orchestral or a rock track at moderate listening levels and you'll get the point. Even a simple jazz trio will lack the dynamics when the power is not adequate for the target speakers. Playing loud is easy - think a $50 boombox, recreating the music dynamics is a different story.