@@moodyga40 I have no experience in the world of valves. Sometimes, I find boring solid state class-A amps, maybe it is not a function of a certain technology or class of operation but a lot of mixed things. No one answer is satisfactory for all audiophiles and that is the key of the fun... and the business 🤣
@@salvadorrodenas3071 class A amp are good I just finished build my own 807 class A amp ef37a input driver. Building the preamp as well 2 x 12au7 can send photos videos eletrontube42@gmail.com
Dear Mr Lovegrove, Though I'm not likely to be come an actual customer any time soon I find these videos very interesting and I regard them as a very generous and interesting public service. Best wishes to you and all.
Indeed, do good to hear this and no reason why not. Making ones own tube amps was the norm in the 1940’s, 50’s and even into the 1960’s. Every town had their own radio and TV builders. It was companies like Philips and Marantz that got into mass production to get the cost down for the ‘average’ person.
I know you didn’t name that pair of £40000 monoblocks and rightly so. But, I’m pleased to find a man with the backbone to publicly proclaim that you can get better, or at least, referred musical reproduction from £6000 Chinese monoblocks over a £40000 pair. Excellent video, well articulated, informative and presented with warmth and enthusiasm.
Lovely videos! Thanks so much for making them. I have just placed the order for my own first SET amplifier, in kit form, and though my budget for this is one tenth of yours, I am looking forward to a very similar listening experience! All the best to you and yours! ❤️🎉
Hi Chris. SET kits can be amazing and are great fun to build. You can't get any closer to your system than that. Thanks for your kind comments. Many hours of listening pleasure!
Again, a great and inspiring video, You encouraged me to follow my dream I have since being a boy: a true Class A single ended tube amp with the famous 805 tube in the main stage and a 300B as recfifier. I guess this is exactly what makes your Sibelius speakers deliver such a sweet sound.
Hi, thanks for your kind words. It’s always good to follow your dream, while keeping an eye out things not yet discovered. I like to think that our Sibelius loudspeakers sound good for many reasons 😉 but I always enjoy listening to them through well made tube amplifiers, with high quality components. And this does not necessarily mean expensive! Enjoy. My next video will be on the topic of ‘bass’.
Hi. Thanks for your question. We use a QUAD Artera play Plus and our own, multi-strand copper cables, you can find them on the PearlAcoustics.com website. Recently, we have been experimenting with a Lyngdorf TDAI 1120 as our preamplifier and have had very good results. We will be releasing a video on it very soon. Hoping that helps?
Hi Brendan. No, it’s not self biasing but it has a switch and it’s a very easy process (the turning of a screw while watching the dial) and it only needs doing, once a year or so. I hardly ever have to make any changes.
Is the Ming Da available only in EU and Asia? I would like to experience this SET creamy music rendition in the person somewhere inside the U.S. but dealers appear to be either non-existent.
Hi, I am sorry, I am really not sure. I purchased them a while back, in the UK. An amplifier with similar architecture and specifications is the Wilkinson R800i I believe that is easier to get hold of in the US.
I owned a pair of these for 18 months and ran the stock valves only. They are sat on Audio Emotions pre owned section at £2500 as i type with upgraded valves. Go and buy them somebody please as they are unknown gems!
@@PearlAcoustics Sorry my English. I was asking what I think of that combination. Currently the electronics are with a ProAc response d2 in my family room
Hello, how does the impedance curve of the speaker look like, especially the resonance peak(s) in the lower frequency range ? And how much is the output impedance of this amplifier ?
observation: That amp was not "on" very long. He would have likely burned his fingers removing the cover. or needed a hand towel. Then again you only remove it to dust. . Your room will warm up depending. Also if you have a cat . . .
Absolutely, the LS 5/9 needs an amplifier with a bit of punch but these kinds of tube amplifiers, with their large transformers are able to deliver that. But it really is a question of personal taste.
@@PearlAcoustics Driving them with a Supratek Cabernet pre and a Belles class A power amp, which are 48watts I think, plenty powerful, only problem is a mismatch in gain between pre and power amp, therefore possible looking for a other power amp.
@@PearlAcoustics yes, I reached out to him, just out of curiosity, and he said he knew about Supratek and could make the amp match with my pre. Very interesting proposition, but it would have to wait, as some bits would need to be sold to be able to afford the monos, also buying a tube power amp unheard is a bit daunting. But they sure look beautiful and probably amps you buy for life.
845 and 805 tubes in a SE config are undoubtedly the masters of SE design. They are absurdly powerful, absolutely effortless, they sound awesome. No question about it. If you want to go all-in then that's the way to go and I agree what ever price range you look at you will not find anything better. I own a pair of cello monos (the encore 50 Watt) from the legendary Mark Levinson, they are not too shabby either but a 845 on the right speaker is even better. The thing is, the anode is driven by about 1000 Volt! Do you really want that in your house when you have kids? Second thought, as you mentioned the driver tube is a 300b. That's an absolutely great tube no doubt about it, but you can't get the real deal anymore without paying an absolute fortune (talking at least 2500 per tube) if you are lucky to find one. So you end up using some cheap crappy Chinese tubes that you can replace all few hours of listening time and they sound not even nearly as good as some original GE from the 50s. So if a tube and especially SE is your thing and you don't want to end up with a 5Watt amp, there is an open-source project of a stereo SE KT88 amp. It delivers almost the same power in the area of 18-22 Watts, it is way less sensitive on the tubes and runs with a lot lower voltage. But as I said, an 805/845 is absolutely stunning and it is all-in for the good and the bad.
We are entering a new potentially golden age of tubes i feel. The new and current PSvane Acme 845, 805 and 300b valves are better made than any valce of yore and in terms of sound they are lauded as the new new holy grail. Not cheap but not a rip off for a NOS valve that probably wont last. Ironically speak to Mark Manwaring of Malvern Audio Research... he visits the plants in China from time to time and can probably source these valves safely. Of course theres always ebay too lol
@@tomwebb7091 I 've a set of PSvane 6SN7 's in a preamp and they do sound better than all 3 brands of NOS American 6SN7's I've tried . Bought 6 from HK to get 4 that worked .
Single ended amps can sound amazing with the right gear but are very sensitive to speaker load and can sound different with different speakers. They also unfortunately measure horribly. Whether they sound so lovely because of all the cascading harmonics they generate or in spite of it, I'm not sure.
Sir very well explained this system is amazing I have full set of 2x mono blocks K024 Mc 845 AB and PRE amplifier MC67-PL you dead right the hum is problem so di you thing it will solve the problem building steel cage with devider ? sir you are right there are no other valve amps sound like this purely incredible. i thinking to buy MCINTOSH MC 2700 pre amp still keping MONO BLOCKS Are yOU able to give me your views
Hi, thanks for your very kind comments. There are two kinds of hum. Mechanical (from the transformer covers themselves) and electrical hum that comes through your loudspeakers. If it’s mechanical hum then, yes, removing the thin transformer covers and replacing with 3-5mm thick steel plate double boxes with partition in between, works perfectly. We glued ours in place using a black mastic sealant. As for your question on pre-amplifier matches, I am sorry I really can’t say but I am sure if the input / output impedance matches, then why not? You can always reach out to the amplifier manufacturer for specific advice. I hope that helps?
300B alone has obviously less power but also much less bass and more treble roll off. 805/845/211 driven by 300B has its on merits, 805 being the most powerful and often running in class A2. 845 is for sure more mainstream of all and has lots of new tube replacementes available. I personally have 805 in the output.
@@D.E.E.P.Y. The only amp I heard way back was 805 monos by Cary. Do all amps with 300b driving say 845 sound the similar. Like a rich meaty sound with huge soundstage?
@@locmanw1583 sorry can't confirm. A lot depends on power and output transformers used and other smaller components. Based on Muzishare R100 I would say you described it well.
I had a pair of these. Used the Ming Mc300 pre amp and also a Luxman C800f and Luxman CL38U preamp. I sold the Ming pre it was good but the Luxmans were slightly better. Out of the three i preferred the CL38U valve pre from Luxman. As it happens my minter is up for sale on the bay as i type. Downsize/vinyl time 😊
suggestion: If you are single and have ladies over my advice is buy amps with lots of tubes Even better if it has a matching pre amp.. I'll take a row of EL34 over those oil lamps any day. They are so romantic. The 6sn smaller pre amp tubes hold their own. Matures love Rod Stuart's mushy CD.
I mean there are loads of SE amps costing 5-6 figures.. VAC, Audio Note (Japan), Synthtopia (160w SE), Air Tight, Audio Research, Jadis, Boarder Patrol (ridiculous money), VTL look the list goes on and on. No one on the planet can listen to them all.
if its an actual "Single ended" design and you try to get 40W out of those tubes(Which is continues in class A), it will be fried in seconds. you cannot get more than 10 or 12 W from a single ended(for more than that you will have to be living in some Russian winter season as the tube, still heat exchange rate would fail). either the Chinese men must have cheated on the numbers or they must be actually driving them with some mosfet kept inside(in some other topology other than class A) and the whole cabin exterior would be a showcase. 40W in class A can only be achieved with highly biased push-pull category(AKA Push-pull Class A). single ended design will burst into pcs if you give that much voltage. and also I didn't understand the concept of using 300B for driving those power tubes. they must have used it as a current mirror I suppose, which is totally irrelevant cos placing a simple mosfet like irf240 for mirroring the current will make no difference with using expensive 300B'S, moreover would be far better in current handling as well when compared to the 300B's. @pearl Acoustics
Had several Ming Da amps in the past and frankly, like everything from China, the QC simply isn't there. Built to Chinese domestic standards, and I also doubt the authenticity of the 230/240v transformer tap, bet you it's 220v in reality, hence the excessive hum.
Thanks for your comment. My monoblocks have been heavily modified, so I cannot say. With the new transformer covers they are absolutely silent. But to be fair, not everything from China is poor quality - just think of iPhones and computers and even lots of HiFi - QUAD products are a great example.
@@PearlAcoustics yes but those are products predominantly built for Western consumption with QC to those standards. I had a MD phono preamp (i think the most expensive one in the range) that was plagued with noise, rolled all the tubes trying to isolate the offender with no joy, just a dud unit I guess. Also had the 845 monoblocks (talking 10y ago here) which drove with weight and authority but were a PITA in terms of preamp matching. I don't miss them and again, suggest people get very clear coordinates on transformer design for gear which is ostensibly designed for 110/220v markets rather than ours.
@@PearlAcoustics they may of course have changed their architecture and circuit designed a lot in the intervening decade, but just wanted to flag that MD along with a lot of other china domestic market brands only offered (lazy) 220v taps on their gear rather than the 240v transformer windings (and latterly 230v). Might seem like a small difference but it matters.
@@LexFez thanks. That’s fine. I bought mine from the UK importer, who modified snd upgraded it, and I use it in Belgium. It’s good, does it’s job and warms the room in the winter 😉. but it’s not ‘amazing’.
Most valve amplifiers are the same, designed mostly50/70 years ago. The sound is 100% dependent on the output transformer. Mostly because that's all a single ended amplifier has in it. A cathode resistor a cap or two and a power supply. Put the right voltages on it, bias it correctly, you have a valve amplifier. Add a very shinny box, maybe a meter or two. Add lots of snake oil and the odd lump of bullshit put a price tag of a small car to it. What do you get? 6/30 watts on a good day, poor frequency response, very high distortion, no dynamic range, usually a hum or buzz. On the plus side, looks great, heats the room, impresses your friends. At that cost, it must be good, placebo effect at it's best.
I repaired a Ming Da preamp with used 2A3 as rectifier diodes..............very bad noval sockets ( chinese ) ......bad contacts /sparking .......and a string power supply for the input tubes.....NO current designed preamp tubes were used ( like in older TV sets / PCC etc....) the filaments were wired in series .....That's not a good design... ALl was corrected and the EL 34 replaced with nos tube , so i replaced ( rewired the filaments ) of the 6SN7's with 12SX7 .....a far better , reliable , more linear tube designed to be more linear on lower plate voltages. ( used in B17/flying fortress on the 36 volt generators.....heavy duty and shock resistant ) After these repairs and modifications the preamp performed well and sounded good......ECC88/6DJ8 were rplaced by PCC88 nos SIemens/Halske.....a wonderfull sounding tube....far better than current production and even most of the nos "spangitter" tubes . Have a nice day. DO NOT DO tube rolling on amplifiers build with those sockets, they lok nice but =rubbish and irrepairable so one has to replace them with good ones. The best noval sockets i used were Russian military .....Once a tube inserted.....TRY yo get it out !
Dear Martin. Thanks very much for your comment. I guess it might come across like that. It was not intended that way. Fir your information, I don’t earn a penny from these videos and have never received any kind of favour for doing so. Except for the VMV A1 amplifier, which SMSL sent to me and said I could keep afterwards. That was the only time. I always buy my stuff, with my own money, up front. If I like it, I review it.
I can't think anyone could explain how a valve functions perfectly in so few words than that and being accessible. I'm marvelled.
1
a valve amp have even harmonics and a sound either you like or hate bestway go and listen to a few valve amp
@@moodyga40 I have no experience in the world of valves. Sometimes, I find boring solid state class-A amps, maybe it is not a function of a certain technology or class of operation but a lot of mixed things. No one answer is satisfactory for all audiophiles and that is the key of the fun... and the business 🤣
@@salvadorrodenas3071 class A amp are good I just finished build my own 807 class A amp ef37a input driver. Building the preamp as well 2 x 12au7 can send photos videos eletrontube42@gmail.com
@@moodyga40 I believe you! Really
Dear Mr Lovegrove, Though I'm not likely to be come an actual customer any time soon I find these videos very interesting and I regard them as a very generous and interesting public service. Best wishes to you and all.
That is very kind - thank you
My local dealer make his own tube amps, he even designs his own silver capacitors, which are then produced by Duelund. Amazing sound.
Indeed, do good to hear this and no reason why not. Making ones own tube amps was the norm in the 1940’s, 50’s and even into the 1960’s. Every town had their own radio and TV builders. It was companies like Philips and Marantz that got into mass production to get the cost down for the ‘average’ person.
hi paul hope all is well, how much does he charge, and does he make one like the one in this link ?
Very nice, you mentioned modifications, can you tell more please
Sure... please reach out to Mark Manwaring-White at www.Malvernaudioresearch.co.Uk he can tell you exactly! Info@mingda.co.uk
I know you didn’t name that pair of £40000 monoblocks and rightly so. But, I’m pleased to find a man with the backbone to publicly proclaim that you can get better, or at least, referred musical reproduction from £6000 Chinese monoblocks over a £40000 pair.
Excellent video, well articulated, informative and presented with warmth and enthusiasm.
Thank you Howard, you’re very kind. So glad you enjoyed it.
Lovely videos! Thanks so much for making them. I have just placed the order for my own first SET amplifier, in kit form, and though my budget for this is one tenth of yours, I am looking forward to a very similar listening experience! All the best to you and yours! ❤️🎉
Hi Chris. SET kits can be amazing and are great fun to build. You can't get any closer to your system than that. Thanks for your kind comments. Many hours of listening pleasure!
Again, a great and inspiring video, You encouraged me to follow my dream I have since being a boy: a true Class A single ended tube amp with the famous 805 tube in the main stage and a 300B as recfifier. I guess this is exactly what makes your Sibelius speakers deliver such a sweet sound.
Hi, thanks for your kind words. It’s always good to follow your dream, while keeping an eye out things not yet discovered. I like to think that our Sibelius loudspeakers sound good for many reasons 😉 but I always enjoy listening to them through well made tube amplifiers, with high quality components. And this does not necessarily mean expensive! Enjoy. My next video will be on the topic of ‘bass’.
Ok for it ! but what is the Preamplifier and the Speaker Cable used here ? Please ! Thanks .
Hi. Thanks for your question. We use a QUAD Artera play Plus and our own, multi-strand copper cables, you can find them on the PearlAcoustics.com website.
Recently, we have been experimenting with a Lyngdorf TDAI 1120 as our preamplifier and have had very good results. We will be releasing a video on it very soon. Hoping that helps?
@@PearlAcoustics thanks you
Is the Ming Da self biasing?
Hi Brendan. No, it’s not self biasing but it has a switch and it’s a very easy process (the turning of a screw while watching the dial) and it only needs doing, once a year or so. I hardly ever have to make any changes.
Great video. You're quite the storyteller!
Mr. Harley--thank you.
You are very welcome
Is the Ming Da available only in EU and Asia? I would like to experience this SET creamy music rendition in the person somewhere inside the U.S. but dealers appear to be either non-existent.
Hi, I am sorry, I am really not sure. I purchased them a while back, in the UK. An amplifier with similar architecture and specifications is the Wilkinson R800i I believe that is easier to get hold of in the US.
Where can you buy these modified versions of cavatina ?
Hi - reach out to Mark at Ming da Uk. He can help you. Good luck! (The transformer covers, I had them made by a blacksmith locally to me!.
Are Krell amplifiers a good match for Pearl speakers? How do you find their sound characteristics?
Can you please tell me the tube set?
Sure… 300b in Class A configuration (push-pull) with 805’s with the usual rectifier valve etc.
I owned a pair of these for 18 months and ran the stock valves only. They are sat on Audio Emotions pre owned section at £2500 as i type with upgraded valves. Go and buy them somebody please as they are unknown gems!
Hello. Mcintosh c46 and mc275 would be a good match with these speakers.
I would love to hear them!
@@PearlAcoustics Sorry my English. I was asking what I think of that combination. Currently the electronics are with a ProAc response d2 in my family room
Have you tried a David Berning tube amplifier that does not get hot?
Hello, how does the impedance curve of the speaker look like, especially the resonance peak(s) in the lower frequency range ? And how much is the output impedance of this amplifier ?
observation: That amp was not "on" very long. He would have likely burned his fingers removing the cover. or needed a hand towel. Then again you only remove it to dust. . Your room will warm up depending. Also if you have a cat . . .
I wonder if these would sound good with my Graham Audio LS 5/9 ?
Absolutely, the LS 5/9 needs an amplifier with a bit of punch but these kinds of tube amplifiers, with their large transformers are able to deliver that. But it really is a question of personal taste.
@@PearlAcoustics Driving them with a Supratek Cabernet pre and a Belles class A power amp, which are 48watts I think, plenty powerful, only problem is a mismatch in gain between pre and power amp, therefore possible looking for a other power amp.
@@gryphongryph if you are in the UK, maybe check with Mark manwaring white at audio detail / mingda Uk. He knows about these things.
@@PearlAcoustics yes, I reached out to him, just out of curiosity, and he said he knew about Supratek and could make the amp match with my pre.
Very interesting proposition, but it would have to wait, as some bits would need to be sold to be able to afford the monos, also buying a tube power amp unheard is a bit daunting.
But they sure look beautiful and probably amps you buy for life.
@@gryphongryph that’s great. All I can say is that Mark is a very accommodating person with good business ethics. Good luck
willsenton r-800i would be a good match for the speakers?
Absolutely. I have never heard one but the tube set up and topology is basically the same. If it is as good as people say, then it will be fine.
the heater generator electron going the the anode and you control these electrons via the cathode or the heater cathode
One day my Casta B speakers will a a fine Integrated amp . How can one find the purist amp like you did. I am a lunch pal audio guy now
Patience and trial and deep pockets! 🙁
The David Attenborough of Audio
Thank you, I’ll take that! 😉😀
845 and 805 tubes in a SE config are undoubtedly the masters of SE design. They are absurdly powerful, absolutely effortless, they sound awesome. No question about it. If you want to go all-in then that's the way to go and I agree what ever price range you look at you will not find anything better. I own a pair of cello monos (the encore 50 Watt) from the legendary Mark Levinson, they are not too shabby either but a 845 on the right speaker is even better.
The thing is, the anode is driven by about 1000 Volt! Do you really want that in your house when you have kids? Second thought, as you mentioned the driver tube is a 300b. That's an absolutely great tube no doubt about it, but you can't get the real deal anymore without paying an absolute fortune (talking at least 2500 per tube) if you are lucky to find one. So you end up using some cheap crappy Chinese tubes that you can replace all few hours of listening time and they sound not even nearly as good as some original GE from the 50s.
So if a tube and especially SE is your thing and you don't want to end up with a 5Watt amp, there is an open-source project of a stereo SE KT88 amp. It delivers almost the same power in the area of 18-22 Watts, it is way less sensitive on the tubes and runs with a lot lower voltage.
But as I said, an 805/845 is absolutely stunning and it is all-in for the good and the bad.
We are entering a new potentially golden age of tubes i feel. The new and current PSvane Acme 845, 805 and 300b valves are better made than any valce of yore and in terms of sound they are lauded as the new new holy grail. Not cheap but not a rip off for a NOS valve that probably wont last. Ironically speak to Mark Manwaring of Malvern Audio Research... he visits the plants in China from time to time and can probably source these valves safely. Of course theres always ebay too lol
@@tomwebb7091 I 've a set of PSvane 6SN7 's in a preamp and they do sound better than all 3 brands of NOS American 6SN7's I've tried . Bought 6 from HK to get 4 that worked .
Single ended amps can sound amazing with the right gear but are very sensitive to speaker load and can sound different with different speakers. They also unfortunately measure horribly. Whether they sound so lovely because of all the cascading harmonics they generate or in spite of it, I'm not sure.
Have you heard the Pure Sound M845 mono amps? If so how do you compare them to those without the mods?
Sir very well explained this system is amazing I have full set of 2x mono blocks K024 Mc 845 AB and PRE amplifier MC67-PL you dead right the hum is problem so di you thing it will solve the problem building steel cage with devider ?
sir you are right there are no other valve amps sound like this purely incredible.
i thinking to buy MCINTOSH MC 2700 pre amp
still keping MONO BLOCKS Are yOU able to give me your views
Hi, thanks for your very kind comments. There are two kinds of hum. Mechanical (from the transformer covers themselves) and electrical hum that comes through your loudspeakers. If it’s mechanical hum then, yes, removing the thin transformer covers and replacing with 3-5mm thick steel plate double boxes with partition in between, works perfectly. We glued ours in place using a black mastic sealant.
As for your question on pre-amplifier matches, I am sorry I really can’t say but I am sure if the input / output impedance matches, then why not? You can always reach out to the amplifier manufacturer for specific advice. I hope that helps?
@@PearlAcoustics Thank you sir
@@PearlAcoustics Thank you Sir
Is this amp better than say just a set 300b 8 watts no 805? What you think of 300b driving 845 or 211 tube?
300B alone has obviously less power but also much less bass and more treble roll off. 805/845/211 driven by 300B has its on merits, 805 being the most powerful and often running in class A2. 845 is for sure more mainstream of all and has lots of new tube replacementes available. I personally have 805 in the output.
@@D.E.E.P.Y. The only amp I heard way back was 805 monos by Cary. Do all amps with 300b driving say 845 sound the similar. Like a rich meaty sound with huge soundstage?
@@locmanw1583 sorry can't confirm. A lot depends on power and output transformers used and other smaller components. Based on Muzishare R100 I would say you described it well.
@@D.E.E.P.Y. ok thanks for letting me hear your thoughts 😊
a 300b is an awesome midrange amp but it delivers zero bass, not even on a 15 inch speaker.
What type of preamp do you prefer with these mono-blocks?
I had a pair of these. Used the Ming Mc300 pre amp and also a Luxman C800f and Luxman CL38U preamp. I sold the Ming pre it was good but the Luxmans were slightly better. Out of the three i preferred the CL38U valve pre from Luxman. As it happens my minter is up for sale on the bay as i type. Downsize/vinyl time 😊
suggestion: If you are single and have ladies over my advice is buy amps with lots of tubes Even better if it has a matching pre amp.. I'll take a row of EL34 over those oil lamps any day. They are so romantic. The 6sn smaller pre amp tubes hold their own. Matures love Rod Stuart's mushy CD.
I mean there are loads of SE amps costing 5-6 figures.. VAC, Audio Note (Japan), Synthtopia (160w SE), Air Tight, Audio Research, Jadis, Boarder Patrol (ridiculous money), VTL look the list goes on and on. No one on the planet can listen to them all.
I listened to all those you mentioned.............yes the price is overdue of many of them....
if its an actual "Single ended" design and you try to get 40W out of those tubes(Which is continues in class A), it will be fried in seconds.
you cannot get more than 10 or 12 W from a single ended(for more than that you will have to be living in some Russian winter season as the tube, still heat exchange rate would fail). either the Chinese men must have cheated on the numbers or they must be actually driving them with some mosfet kept inside(in some other topology other than class A) and the whole cabin exterior would be a showcase.
40W in class A can only be achieved with highly biased push-pull category(AKA Push-pull Class A). single ended design will burst into pcs if you give that much voltage.
and also I didn't understand the concept of using 300B for driving those power tubes. they must have used it as a current mirror I suppose, which is totally irrelevant cos placing a simple mosfet like irf240 for mirroring the current will make no difference with using expensive 300B'S, moreover would be far better in current handling as well when compared to the 300B's.
@pearl Acoustics
You have to look for different 805 designs they have about 40 watt, driven by 300b in A2 mode.
What about rock rap pop
Hi Rhona, thanks for your comment. A good amplifier can amplify anything, it does not discriminate or show a bias. Only the owners do that 😉
They are not ' tubes' , they are 'VALVES'.
That is always a problem - English English or American English!
@@PearlAcoustics there is only one English, the other is an ugly bastard.😛 (says the German guy)🤐
Class A Tube amps simple the best many Chinese are very good and cheap
Had several Ming Da amps in the past and frankly, like everything from China, the QC simply isn't there. Built to Chinese domestic standards, and I also doubt the authenticity of the 230/240v transformer tap, bet you it's 220v in reality, hence the excessive hum.
Thanks for your comment. My monoblocks have been heavily modified, so I cannot say. With the new transformer covers they are absolutely silent. But to be fair, not everything from China is poor quality - just think of iPhones and computers and even lots of HiFi - QUAD products are a great example.
@@PearlAcoustics yes but those are products predominantly built for Western consumption with QC to those standards. I had a MD phono preamp (i think the most expensive one in the range) that was plagued with noise, rolled all the tubes trying to isolate the offender with no joy, just a dud unit I guess. Also had the 845 monoblocks (talking 10y ago here) which drove with weight and authority but were a PITA in terms of preamp matching. I don't miss them and again, suggest people get very clear coordinates on transformer design for gear which is ostensibly designed for 110/220v markets rather than ours.
@@LexFez that’s very helpful - Thank you. I had never seen it that way. Ie destination country determining quality.
@@PearlAcoustics they may of course have changed their architecture and circuit designed a lot in the intervening decade, but just wanted to flag that MD along with a lot of other china domestic market brands only offered (lazy) 220v taps on their gear rather than the 240v transformer windings (and latterly 230v). Might seem like a small difference but it matters.
@@LexFez thanks. That’s fine. I bought mine from the UK importer, who modified snd upgraded it, and I use it in Belgium. It’s good, does it’s job and warms the room in the winter 😉. but it’s not ‘amazing’.
Voltages on that highly dangerous.
Most valve amplifiers are the same, designed mostly50/70 years ago. The sound is 100% dependent on the output transformer. Mostly because that's all a single ended amplifier has in it. A cathode resistor a cap or two and a power supply. Put the right voltages on it, bias it correctly, you have a valve amplifier. Add a very shinny box, maybe a meter or two. Add lots of snake oil and the odd lump of bullshit put a price tag of a small car to it. What do you get? 6/30 watts on a good day, poor frequency response, very high distortion, no dynamic range, usually a hum or buzz. On the plus side, looks great, heats the room, impresses your friends. At that cost, it must be good, placebo effect at it's best.
I repaired a Ming Da preamp with used 2A3 as rectifier diodes..............very bad noval sockets ( chinese ) ......bad contacts /sparking .......and a string power supply for the input tubes.....NO current designed preamp tubes were used ( like in older TV sets / PCC etc....) the filaments were wired in series .....That's not a good design...
ALl was corrected and the EL 34 replaced with nos tube , so i replaced ( rewired the filaments ) of the 6SN7's with 12SX7 .....a far better , reliable , more linear tube designed to be more linear on lower plate voltages. ( used in B17/flying fortress on the 36 volt generators.....heavy duty and shock resistant )
After these repairs and modifications the preamp performed well and sounded good......ECC88/6DJ8 were rplaced by PCC88 nos SIemens/Halske.....a wonderfull sounding tube....far better than current production and even most of the nos "spangitter" tubes .
Have a nice day.
DO NOT DO tube rolling on amplifiers build with those sockets, they lok nice but =rubbish and irrepairable so one has to replace them with good ones.
The best noval sockets i used were Russian military .....Once a tube inserted.....TRY yo get it out !
Your good friend? Sorry but its sound bit like marketing for me.
40k worst them this? Maybe only on this speakers.
Dear Martin. Thanks very much for your comment. I guess it might come across like that. It was not intended that way. Fir your information, I don’t earn a penny from these videos and have never received any kind of favour for doing so. Except for the VMV A1 amplifier, which SMSL sent to me and said I could keep afterwards. That was the only time. I always buy my stuff, with my own money, up front. If I like it, I review it.