Ampdog
R.I.P. 23 June 2022
There is a product thread elsewhere including tubes; here however I would like to place on the table the apparent "re-surgence" if not in great numbers, of tube amplifers in the market place - especially power amplifiers.
In Stereophile et al they keep re-surfacing, new models are added. (And quite predictably, along comes the promotion scriptmongers with "new theories" why one should pay twice as much for this regeneration.) Real cheap-and-nasties come along at the bargain price of only a few thousand Rand, up to a certain Wavevac product a few years ago at the equivalentof a million Rand (not a typo). Somewhere in that echelon there is (was?) also the Ongaku, machined chassis and all (are they building a motor car or amplifier).
More realistically placed there was recently the re-issue of the Quad II, the more powerful Quad II-40, Leak clones, and a host of EL84/EL34/KT88 designs. There are several hybrid products.
What are members' opinions on this? Are there any members interested in tubes, preferring/not preferring them, or building such amps?
Edited: Spelling
In Stereophile et al they keep re-surfacing, new models are added. (And quite predictably, along comes the promotion scriptmongers with "new theories" why one should pay twice as much for this regeneration.) Real cheap-and-nasties come along at the bargain price of only a few thousand Rand, up to a certain Wavevac product a few years ago at the equivalentof a million Rand (not a typo). Somewhere in that echelon there is (was?) also the Ongaku, machined chassis and all (are they building a motor car or amplifier).
More realistically placed there was recently the re-issue of the Quad II, the more powerful Quad II-40, Leak clones, and a host of EL84/EL34/KT88 designs. There are several hybrid products.
What are members' opinions on this? Are there any members interested in tubes, preferring/not preferring them, or building such amps?
Edited: Spelling