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Showing 1 of 201 conversations about:
aopisa
17
Nov 12, 2016
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I received mine over a week ago. So far so good. Just a little noise that cannot be heard when streaming NPR or music. I am using it as a desktop sound system connected to my PC and running it through a pair of inefficient (86db) vintage Wharfdale book shelf speakers (more like small monitors). I think it sounds great for this purpose and price. I may try swapping tubes in the future. At first I did not think it sounded any better than my $20 Lepai Solid state amp. It seems to have mellowed out now over time.
aopisa
17
Nov 19, 2016
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aopisaI wish I could, but I'm afraid it's really subjective and depends on the speakers. I ran the Lepai mostly with some Pioneer Andrew Jones SP-22 bookshelf speakers. I thought that was a great combination and have been really impressed with the Andrew Jones speakers. I recently acquired the small Wharfedales. They sounded good with the Lepai, but somehow a bit lacking. However, they seem to be much better suited to the APPJ. There is a bigger 3D soundstage and a lot more detail, especially in the mid-range. A reviewer on Amazon tried out this amp with several different speakers and found that the Andrew Jones speakers did not fare so well with it. I have not tried it as I am quite pleased with the Wharfedale set up. So, I don't think you can really know until you try it. Sorry, this is not more helpful. My advice is at this price it's worth giving it a try. I have a feeling you will see an improvement.
g_v_l
77
Nov 19, 2016
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amp86I don't have a Lepai to compare to, but I'm going to guess that probably not that much difference out of the box, as I found the stock tubes sound much solid-state like. You can however swap out the tubes (see my reports below), and this would bring a real tubey sound which many like, but some dislike. It is sort of silky-smooth, flowing kind of sound with great vocals, with incredible soundstage, very pleasant to my ears. Purists say this is just distortion but heck it does sound good. The results will also depend on the type of music you typically listen to, I found tubes sound great with Jazz, acoustic, rock, ambient, classical, but there is not much to gain say for electronic dance music. You can experiment with different tubes as they all sound different, to find that sound that you like. It is a fun process, and tubes are relatively inexpensive.
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