"Trevor Wilson" wrote in message
...

"Nick Gorham" wrote in message
...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...95496 37&rd=1


**"Obviously, the amp can be pushed beyond it's limits but it overloads so
smoothly that the effect is more like compression than clipping and yet it
doesn't lose dynamics."

Who was the copy editor for this ad?

Just sales hype. Caveat emptor!
If it really is triode connected then it must be clipping long
before 10W.

Triode connected, a pair of EL84's with zero NFB give
5.2W at 2.5THD

4mV (RMS) hum?! Yikes! With 11 Watts output, you need efficient speakers.
With efficient speakers (Hell, with low efficiency speakers, you can hear
the hum), you can hear the hum. Catch 22 anyone?

Yes. That would certainly put me off!
There is absolutely no reason why a valve amp should not be silent
when idling. One should reallly check this from the listening position.
I cannot resist the temptation to put an ear to the speaker grille.

And have you noticed how the Chinese always go for potted
transformers, or sometimes, as in this case one full width pot:-)
I suspect this is to conceal Oxo cube sized transformers
which they use:-)

Just two nights ago, I tried out a 10W EL84 PP amp, a home-brew
built for a magazine competition. It could drive my Tannoy Lancasters
to a very satisfactory level, in a listening area of some 50 square metres.
The noise floor was, in contrast to the Chinky,
only 300µV wideband, an improvement of 22dB

But then the cost of the parts alone were four times the retail price
of the Chinky. You pays yer money.......


Iain