"Keith G" wrote

The question is 'are your amps better than similarly priced
Chinese amps?' surely...??

I would rather the question be whether similarly priced Chinese amps
are better than mine. Answer is, not in the UK AFAIK. Certainly not
with the service I can provide. But they have no advantage here when
it comes to custom manufacture for individual requirements.

I have never heard any Chinese valve audio equipment,

Aha!!

Why am I not in the least surprised to hear that?

It is not very significant. I have just one pair of ears that I like
to use to listen to music, rather than fault-finding, which currupts
the listening experience.

OTOH, I contend that a good amp can be identified by the size of its
transformers in relation to its power output, assuming the iron is
of good quality. Most amps I see, including those in your link,
don't impress in that respect. I would want to know whether that
20Hz -1dB is at full power, for instance, and how much distortion
there is under those conditions. I'd want to know why the top end is
just 30kHz. Listening would not be the easiest or most reliable way
of finding out.

Give me credit for making the effort/ spending the money to find
out for myself then. (As I *always* do wherever possible...)

I don't begrudge you credit, but listening won't make a measurably
or observably poor amplifier any better.

I don't go by what the 'audio press' is or isn't saying - in
anything, other than 'technical stuff' and even then I'd check
here before I took it onboard...

Nobody does, but the magazines still go from the shelves:-)

Where is here? I assume you mean URA? Do they have experts? Perhaps
I should visit.

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/jaau...aaudio300b.htm

and looks as good, I'll order one - 400 quid OK with you (with
valves)...???

Absolutely not. I won't work with that grade of stainless steel
for a start


OK, an extra tenner for a bit of better steel then? :-)

And another for the sense to use it? Actually, SS is a bitch to work
with whatever its grade. I like laquered verdigris copper, brass,
and black hardwood because they age without looking smutty.
Jamaicans are always impressed.

. Looks like my Chinese toaster (which incidentally blew a
fuse after scarcely a dozen crumpets).


Sounds like a case of 'over crumpetting' to me..??

Perhaps they are too thick? Or too round...they have "toaster
friendly" crumpets in the shop, but the only difference is that they
are square. Seems to me they would get burned at the corners.

Out of interest, our new toaster's ****e (toasts one side more
than the other)...

IDEAL FOR CRUMPETS!!! As long as the ejector mechanism has a long
enough throw to remove them without burning your fingers. The round
ones are good because you can put one finger in and roll them up the
sides. But who am I to advise on toasters:-(

...and it says 'Kenwood, England' underneath it! (I suspect it's
Chinese manufacture and being marketted by one of those firms who
are a bit up themselves about where they get their gear made!)
Anyway, we're not too bothered - it was only **CHEEP**!! :-)

Taiwan, possibly? (they still say they *are* China, but really they
have always been an American satellite).

Neither would it be worth my
while to use poor transformers or potentiometers. Three times the
price would get you acceptable quality. Five times for something
close to perfection, but not with 300B.


:-)

I would be concerned about either the reliability or value-for-money
of the 300B, depending on where and when it was made. Ferrari or
Lotus don't impress me.

So you make the equivalent Mercedes cars then? - Tough **** for
people with only 'Ford' money, innit? (Or tough **** for you when
everybody twigs a Ford'll get the job done!! ;-)

Between VW and Audi, or Toyota and Lexus, rather than Kia or Daewoo,
perhaps. Performance, reliability, and clean style. Art extra. No
poshness. For those without the money for a decent amp, I generally
suggest SS is a better low-budget option. This is unlikely to
change.

Anyone who says an amp is so good they got another as backup
lacks credibility with me, BTW.

Who cares? I like a backup for *everything* electro-mechanical
(within reason, we don't need no 2 washing maches in the house) -
it's born from my own personal experience and has paid off more
times than I care to recall....

I most certainly care bitterly. I am stuck here with no toast
because I was not rich enough to buy a backup or the space to stash
it in. If I had twice the money, I would spend it on a less
treacherous device.

Let's get one thing straight - I make no claims for these amps
other that I think they are good (means nothing) and I consider
them to be loopy VFM. The amp you can afford sounds a lot better
than any number that you can't afford, in your own home, in my
book. My point with these amps is that they open the door for a
lot of people to get 'into valves' who might otherwise be put off
by high prices.

Which buggers up the market for decent stuff. The only advantage of
a valve amp is quality as far as I care. Does a 400 UKP SET offer a
better listening experience than the best available SS of similar
power and price? Personally, I find that difficult to believe.

FWIW, a number of visitors (including a couple here) put my 2A3
SET down as my *best* amp - I don't give a rat's, I like them
all....

I would need to know a lot about the conduct of the visit and the
nature of the visitors!

Now *if* you live in Cambridge (do you? - it's a suspicion I've
got) you are welcome to come here (St Neots - 20 mins away) and
hear the Chinese cheepies for yourself.

Bradford. Million miles away, a cultural desert somewhere above
Sheffield. Thanks all the same. What's the bass like at volume into
ordinary mainstream speakers? How well does the piano cope with the
tympani? Or light cymbals with saxophone? Is Mahler muddled?

What you made of them would be entirely up to you....??

If they are up to Zappa's "Apostrophe", they are good enough for
me:-)

(I only bought some - I ain't got shares in them or anything...
;-)

Sure, of course. Can we have shares in Chinese companies? A more
likely investment would be in their distributors.

cheers, Ian