I guess I didn’t make myself very clear in my initial post. No point in responding to most individual posts since they have gone off in a completely different direction than my desire to obtain information on the amps mentioned.
Some of these posts I find rather condescending. I have heard tube amps and that is the reason I am interested in buying one. I did own a Qinpu A3 hybrid which I liked very much despite its mere 8.5 wpc. Sadly it broke when I relocated a year ago and they are no longer made. BTW. That little amp easily drove both pairs of speaker I mentioned in the OP. Volume knob at 9 AM was more than loud enough for me. Thus, I am confident that one of the tube amps mentioned in that post should be able to handle either pair of tower speakers.
I liken the advice I am getting from most of you as somewhat insulting. If I HAD the money I WOULD look at more expensive gear. I have numerous projects that I have to address for the next year, and all require money. Some minor house repairs, buying a new audio processor, a new transmitter for my flea powered Part 15 AM radio station, a new computer, a new CD player, a new computer printer and more. I DO NOT have much money to spend on anything since I have so many things to replace at once. And the fact that the prices of some or most of these items could rise before the end of the year makes it imperative that I start buying now to save money. I have to take what I can get. I liken this advice to the following. I ask someone where to find a reasonably priced Chinese restaurant that has good food and instead I get steered towards a Seafood place that costs ten times as much money as I can afford for dinner. That doesn’t work. This also reminds me of a quick story from many years ago at my friend’s place. Someone that had trouble with his comprehension of a request. My friend and his wife had a friend over for wine and cheese. About 1 AM they were ready to hit the hay and when they ran out of wine and cheese they asked the friend to leave. At that point in time the friend’s only response was "do you have any more cheese?" He was totally oblivious to their wishes. And no, it was not me. But this is precisely how most of you are behaving on this subject.
Buying used, again is NOT an option. NOT an option. I have already purchased a Denon amp used that needed work a few months after I bought it. And it still apparently has some issues. Same for a Yamaha Receiver I bought last year. Still works but needs some work since a couple of inputs don’t work. Not worth it when you factor in the cost to repair such old units. I don’t want to spend hundreds on a tube amp of any type if it is used only to find it starts having problems which won’t be under warranty. I can’t afford that problem again.
From where I sit many of you don’t understand free market capitalism. There is a reason those amps from China are so cheap. Cheaper labor. Less government regulation for business. Those same amps if they were made in the USA would likely cost several times more money and many of you would then rave about how great it is that someone can build a tube amp of this nature for perhaps $600. But because it is a lot cheaper you dismiss them as crap.
I’ve read a fair amount of reviews on a variety of these Nobsound, Gemtune and Douk tube amps. Most people are not only happy with them but said they are the best amps they’ve owned or sound better than Solid State amps costing several times more. And a couple more people have said that they’ve had tube amps that cost thousands and these little Chinese made amps give you almost as good sound without the high price. That speaks volumes that they have good engineering and design and hopefully are well built. Yes, some have been defective but buying new allows me to return the unit if I don’t like it or it is defective. I don’t have that option with used gear unless I buy it on Ebay and get lucky and find someone that offers a Money Back Guarantee. But again the cost to do that is prohibitive at this time.
Apologies for the lengthy post but I really believe this is necessary to get through my message to a few people that don’t get it. think I will start a new thread on this with a different subject line. That may improve my chances of getting the information I desire.
Some of these posts I find rather condescending. I have heard tube amps and that is the reason I am interested in buying one. I did own a Qinpu A3 hybrid which I liked very much despite its mere 8.5 wpc. Sadly it broke when I relocated a year ago and they are no longer made. BTW. That little amp easily drove both pairs of speaker I mentioned in the OP. Volume knob at 9 AM was more than loud enough for me. Thus, I am confident that one of the tube amps mentioned in that post should be able to handle either pair of tower speakers.
I liken the advice I am getting from most of you as somewhat insulting. If I HAD the money I WOULD look at more expensive gear. I have numerous projects that I have to address for the next year, and all require money. Some minor house repairs, buying a new audio processor, a new transmitter for my flea powered Part 15 AM radio station, a new computer, a new CD player, a new computer printer and more. I DO NOT have much money to spend on anything since I have so many things to replace at once. And the fact that the prices of some or most of these items could rise before the end of the year makes it imperative that I start buying now to save money. I have to take what I can get. I liken this advice to the following. I ask someone where to find a reasonably priced Chinese restaurant that has good food and instead I get steered towards a Seafood place that costs ten times as much money as I can afford for dinner. That doesn’t work. This also reminds me of a quick story from many years ago at my friend’s place. Someone that had trouble with his comprehension of a request. My friend and his wife had a friend over for wine and cheese. About 1 AM they were ready to hit the hay and when they ran out of wine and cheese they asked the friend to leave. At that point in time the friend’s only response was "do you have any more cheese?" He was totally oblivious to their wishes. And no, it was not me. But this is precisely how most of you are behaving on this subject.
Buying used, again is NOT an option. NOT an option. I have already purchased a Denon amp used that needed work a few months after I bought it. And it still apparently has some issues. Same for a Yamaha Receiver I bought last year. Still works but needs some work since a couple of inputs don’t work. Not worth it when you factor in the cost to repair such old units. I don’t want to spend hundreds on a tube amp of any type if it is used only to find it starts having problems which won’t be under warranty. I can’t afford that problem again.
From where I sit many of you don’t understand free market capitalism. There is a reason those amps from China are so cheap. Cheaper labor. Less government regulation for business. Those same amps if they were made in the USA would likely cost several times more money and many of you would then rave about how great it is that someone can build a tube amp of this nature for perhaps $600. But because it is a lot cheaper you dismiss them as crap.
I’ve read a fair amount of reviews on a variety of these Nobsound, Gemtune and Douk tube amps. Most people are not only happy with them but said they are the best amps they’ve owned or sound better than Solid State amps costing several times more. And a couple more people have said that they’ve had tube amps that cost thousands and these little Chinese made amps give you almost as good sound without the high price. That speaks volumes that they have good engineering and design and hopefully are well built. Yes, some have been defective but buying new allows me to return the unit if I don’t like it or it is defective. I don’t have that option with used gear unless I buy it on Ebay and get lucky and find someone that offers a Money Back Guarantee. But again the cost to do that is prohibitive at this time.
Apologies for the lengthy post but I really believe this is necessary to get through my message to a few people that don’t get it. think I will start a new thread on this with a different subject line. That may improve my chances of getting the information I desire.