@venkatcr sir, I thought you were interested in the integrated amp!?
Congratulations. Please do experimentation with tube rolling and don't forget to write a review.Collected the preamp today.
Hope to spend some quality time with these babies
Here's a chance to sample "Tube Sound"
- Thread starter captrajesh
- Start date
The Integrated is coming to Chennai through FM @arunlouie. The preamp may also come if no-one takes it from @Kumar442244; to be carried to Hyderabad later.
Its in Chennai now. I will hand over to Kannan this weekend.
I was interested in the integrated, but since FM @Kumar442244 is nearby would like to try the preamp if possible to compare how it fares vs the Schiit Saga+
Great news. I'm sure @Kannan would take good care of it.
Integrated amp has reached Chennai for repairs and local circulation. You may take the preamp from @Kumar442244. You may ping him for it and ping me your No.
@captrajesh Already in touch with Kumar, have PM'ed you the details.
The Integrated Amp is working, only the right channel is playing low. Not sure if issue with my speakers. Before handing over to Kannan i will check once again with different pair of speakers.
Tried rolling tubes, still same.
Tried rolling tubes, still same.
Collected the Fatman tube integrated amplifier yesterday from Arun @arunlouie.
Massive hum is emanating from both channels even without any signal being fed. Suspecting some grounding issue or a faulty volume pot.
Will be giving it for service in couple of days and will update once done.
Massive hum is emanating from both channels even without any signal being fed. Suspecting some grounding issue or a faulty volume pot.
Will be giving it for service in couple of days and will update once done.
I am happy to state that the Fatman tube integrated amplifier has been serviced and is working fine. It was serviced by Mr. Syed who is quite well known and a very experienced person in this field from Chennai.
Chennai FM @venkatcr was interested in trying out the amp.
Any other Chennai FMs interested may post their intent in this thread, else the amp will be sent back to Bangalore.
Chennai FM @venkatcr was interested in trying out the amp.
Any other Chennai FMs interested may post their intent in this thread, else the amp will be sent back to Bangalore.
I can send to you via Lynx. Please PM your address
Nice to see its fixed. By the way you didn't share you impression, how it sounds?
Edit:
Also forgot to ask you, what are those speakers?
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I already own this amp model which is now being used by my nephew to driver Q Acoustics Concept 20 speakers.
Regarding impressions, it is a pleasant sounding amplifier.
By the way it is SS in the preamp stage and tube in the power stage.
It has an excellent midrange and smooth treble though the extension is not very deep. Needs proper pairing. If you already have a speaker which is voiced to sound rolled off, this amp might make it sound a bit lifeless. Can me paired nicely with studio monitors or with speakers voiced accordingly.
The lows are quite taut and it produces a reasonably good stage.
Imaging is spot on, but can get a bit congested with dynamic tracks, which to an extent also depends on the accompanying electronics and the room response.
Overall it a superb 13 watt push-pull Class AB amplifier and beyond doubt great value for money.
DIYji.
Made with Infinity 6.5 inch IMG midbass and polycell tweeters
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sud98
Well-Known Member
Thanks for getting it repaired. I was wondering if its something wrong in my chain or in my head
Thanks Kannan. PM Sent.
BTW, is this available new at all? Edit. Stupid question. Please ignore.
I would like someone to list companies that make good tube amps within USD500 that deliver some 20 watts each.
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A million thanks for the selfless gesture @Kannan and I'm glad that it worked out well.
And now that it has reached Chennai, let the Amp do rounds in Chennai itself. Let's see where this goes.
Paul Rigby in a Nov 2015 review of tube amplifiers started his review of the Fatman with ‘I dislike Fatman. There, I’ve said it.’
I will go one step ahead. I hate the Fatman. At least this particular unit.
When I received the Fatman from Kannan, I enthusiastically opened the package and was rewarded with a beautiful looking amplifier. Since the package arrived when I was having lunch, I could not gulp down the food fast enough to connect the amp and try it out.
I first connected the amp to my existing system by just replacing the Lepai LP1601S with the Fatman. Everything else remained the same. I set the streamer’s output gain at 80%, and slowly increased the Fatman’s volume pot to nearly 1 ‘o'clock position till I could hear something from the speakers.
When I played Raga Kameshwari by Ravi Shankar, Charu’s first comment was that the sitar sounded metallic. When I played Glen Campbell’s Rhinestone Cowboy, I was rewarded with a flat stage and zero energy in the song. This was followed by Paul McCartney's Band On The Run. I was again presented with a flat sound stage and very low energy. I increased the volume pot to 3 ‘o'clock. It did not make any difference.
Disappointed, I shut down the system and decided to check everything in the evening before listening again. It was at this moment I realized that when I received the Fatman, it’s volume pot was at 3 ‘o'clock. Hmmm.
In the evening, Charu came up and wanted to listen to some music. I thought of this as a good opportunity and played Evergreen Melodies by Rajesh Vaidya. We were both surprised by the soundstage and energy in the music and ended up clapping after every track as if we were listening to a live session.
By this time, I was quite sure I had made some mistake in the afternoon session. I wanted to listen to the Fatman connected to my Audire I20’s with single drivers. Onto day 2.
On day 2, I created a special album consisting of some 25 songs covering soft rock, veena, sitar, western instrumentals, jazz, and western classical. After connecting the Fatman to the I20’s I played some number till I could hear music at a reasonable volume. The streamer was at 80% and the Fatman’s volume pot was at 2 ‘o'clock.
Sitting down, I started with The Joy of Life from Kenny G’s Breathless. Some 20 seconds into the song, drums join in with the trumpet that Kenny plays so beautifully. When the drums started I was startled by distortion in the low frequencies. This was heightened at 1:24 when heavier drums join in. Stopping the play, I tried several other tracks and noticed that whenever drums were introduced, the Fatman seems to introduce distortion. Not only drums. When Andrea Bocelli took his voice low, I could hear the same distortion. I suspect the Fatman’s distorts all frequencies below some 200Hz.
Thinking that the source may be pushing the Fatman hard, I reduced the streamer’s output gain to some 50%. The Fatman ran out of juice and could not drive the I20s.
Fearing there could be something wrong with my I20’s, I connected the Fatman to the Aperion bookshelves. The same distortions appeared. Heaving a sigh of relief, I shut the system down.
This evening I am going to keep the Fatman on for an hour or so and see if that would make any difference. If it improves with the Aperion bookshelves, I may try it out again with the Audire I20’s. I doubt it will make any difference.
As I said, I hate the Fatman. It brought into doubt nearly every component in my system. A system that I have been enjoying for a few months now. I now realize why Rajesh Vaidhya was so enjoyable. For one, the tracks are recorded at a higher gain than usual. Second, there are hardly any low frequencies in the tracks. The drums are Mridangam and Ghatam that I suspect do not go below 500Hz or so.
I must emphasize that this may be a idiosyncrasy of this particular unit and may not be a general feature of the Fatman amplifiers.
I am listening to the same numbers on my laptop with inexpensive speakers, and the music is sublime without any distortion.
I will be ready tomorrow to pack and pass the amp onto the next enthusiast. Who is next in line?
I will go one step ahead. I hate the Fatman. At least this particular unit.
When I received the Fatman from Kannan, I enthusiastically opened the package and was rewarded with a beautiful looking amplifier. Since the package arrived when I was having lunch, I could not gulp down the food fast enough to connect the amp and try it out.
I first connected the amp to my existing system by just replacing the Lepai LP1601S with the Fatman. Everything else remained the same. I set the streamer’s output gain at 80%, and slowly increased the Fatman’s volume pot to nearly 1 ‘o'clock position till I could hear something from the speakers.
When I played Raga Kameshwari by Ravi Shankar, Charu’s first comment was that the sitar sounded metallic. When I played Glen Campbell’s Rhinestone Cowboy, I was rewarded with a flat stage and zero energy in the song. This was followed by Paul McCartney's Band On The Run. I was again presented with a flat sound stage and very low energy. I increased the volume pot to 3 ‘o'clock. It did not make any difference.
Disappointed, I shut down the system and decided to check everything in the evening before listening again. It was at this moment I realized that when I received the Fatman, it’s volume pot was at 3 ‘o'clock. Hmmm.
In the evening, Charu came up and wanted to listen to some music. I thought of this as a good opportunity and played Evergreen Melodies by Rajesh Vaidya. We were both surprised by the soundstage and energy in the music and ended up clapping after every track as if we were listening to a live session.
By this time, I was quite sure I had made some mistake in the afternoon session. I wanted to listen to the Fatman connected to my Audire I20’s with single drivers. Onto day 2.
On day 2, I created a special album consisting of some 25 songs covering soft rock, veena, sitar, western instrumentals, jazz, and western classical. After connecting the Fatman to the I20’s I played some number till I could hear music at a reasonable volume. The streamer was at 80% and the Fatman’s volume pot was at 2 ‘o'clock.
Sitting down, I started with The Joy of Life from Kenny G’s Breathless. Some 20 seconds into the song, drums join in with the trumpet that Kenny plays so beautifully. When the drums started I was startled by distortion in the low frequencies. This was heightened at 1:24 when heavier drums join in. Stopping the play, I tried several other tracks and noticed that whenever drums were introduced, the Fatman seems to introduce distortion. Not only drums. When Andrea Bocelli took his voice low, I could hear the same distortion. I suspect the Fatman’s distorts all frequencies below some 200Hz.
Thinking that the source may be pushing the Fatman hard, I reduced the streamer’s output gain to some 50%. The Fatman ran out of juice and could not drive the I20s.
Fearing there could be something wrong with my I20’s, I connected the Fatman to the Aperion bookshelves. The same distortions appeared. Heaving a sigh of relief, I shut the system down.
This evening I am going to keep the Fatman on for an hour or so and see if that would make any difference. If it improves with the Aperion bookshelves, I may try it out again with the Audire I20’s. I doubt it will make any difference.
As I said, I hate the Fatman. It brought into doubt nearly every component in my system. A system that I have been enjoying for a few months now. I now realize why Rajesh Vaidhya was so enjoyable. For one, the tracks are recorded at a higher gain than usual. Second, there are hardly any low frequencies in the tracks. The drums are Mridangam and Ghatam that I suspect do not go below 500Hz or so.
I must emphasize that this may be a idiosyncrasy of this particular unit and may not be a general feature of the Fatman amplifiers.
I am listening to the same numbers on my laptop with inexpensive speakers, and the music is sublime without any distortion.
I will be ready tomorrow to pack and pass the amp onto the next enthusiast. Who is next in line?
sud98
Well-Known Member
Nice review. Did you try the other tubes and did it make a difference? @captrajesh who has the preamp, havent seen any review on it?
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