Miniwatt tube amp

Audiolab 9000A Integrated Amplifier
that's what I would do - get matching speakers. But I am just expressing my expectations of miniwatt with missions. I hope it sounds very good, and lots of people may be able to benefit from low cost speakers and a low cost amp. Edit: But I kind of doubt that. If someone is interested in tubes amp with better, heavier and expensive power supply, I think lyrita's are a good deal. There is one amp in ~25k range that can deliver 10w power in push pull - IIRC. Viren mentioned prices in one of the threads here. http://www.hifivision.com/reviews/4233-evening-glowing-sets-spinning-vinyl-wonderful-music-2.html - the 10w one is not mentioned here though.

And I think what matters a lot to me, Viren is a thorough gentleman.

regards

suprateep said:
you know anm the JBLs are well suited for HT use and less suited for a audio only setup. If you are using Virens amp - try getting matching speakers.
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anm said:
oh what happens if there is a delay? You CC will be charged?

regards
Click to expand...

nah man - derek and the MiniWatt team (i hope) will be kind enough not to do that, especially in these days of recession - dhanda is manda these days. :sad:
 
anm said:
that's what I would do - get matching speakers. But I am just expressing my expectations of miniwatt with missions. I hope it sounds very good, and lots of people may be able to benefit from low cost speakers and a low cost amp. Edit: But I kind of doubt that. If someone is interested in tubes amp with better, heavier and expensive power supply, I think lyrita's are a good deal. There is one amp in ~25k range that can deliver 10w power in push pull - IIRC. Viren mentioned prices in one of the threads here. http://www.hifivision.com/reviews/4233-evening-glowing-sets-spinning-vinyl-wonderful-music-2.html - the 10w one is not mentioned here though.

And I think what matters a lot to me, Viren is a thorough gentleman.

regards
Click to expand...

yes i know - if the amp gells well - we will have a winning combination with the missions and the MiniWatt. At least we will have an alternative to the Norge - though tube sound and solid state amp sound is different - i am sure there will be takers - especially who prefer the midrange a lot.
 
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suprateep said:
Vivaldi + Beethoven + Kenny G
please suggest some rock - as this a genre i never experimented with

PS: I tried keeping the tracks simple - let us identify 5-8 tracks that will try to justice to the amp + speaker combo

1. A.R. Rahman - Dil Se
2. George Benson - Give me the night, Kisses in the moonlight
3. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb, Brain Damage
4. Linkin Park - In the end, Points of Authority
5. Vivaldi: 4 seasons
6. .........
7. ........
8. ........
9. ........suggest as per your liking (although a lot of songs can be included I would try to reserve the review list of songs limited - so that I can best make out the merits/demerits of the song in question - i can probably judge an amp pretty well on the following few songs, especially keeping in mind the amp + speaker combo in question)
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Linkin Park will do good to test the speakers for guitar midrange.
Before that play around with your EQ for 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600, 2000 Hz bands, you will come to recognize the thick midrangey guitar tone, compared to thin "scooped mids" guitar tone.
 
my other factor is that I have a tiny room.....10' by 10'....so i don't need to much loudness, because of the size of the room....and too much loudness would be counterproductive....so i still have some hope that a miniwatt + 902i or a miniwatt + S30 might work well.

stevieboy says he's tried a low power tube amp with the 902i and it shone....that also gives me hope :)
 
psychotropic said:
my other factor is that I have a tiny room.....10' by 10'....so i don't need to much loudness, because of the size of the room....and too much loudness would be counterproductive....so i still have some hope that a miniwatt + 902i or a miniwatt + S30 might work well.

stevieboy says he's tried a low power tube amp with the 902i and it shone....that also gives me hope :)
Click to expand...

remember that power rating in wattage are misnomers wrt to loudness - so 2.5W essentially with decent speakers with high sensitivity will work out to be pretty good in most situations especially for a 10x10 room. I will try to test with Quad 7(forward and sharp) Wharf 9.2 (laid back yet musical) bookshelves and see how it works out.

Regarding music for testing - I will stick to a predefined set of songs that i am comfortable listening to and have been mastered well - this would enable me reviewing the amps on a detailed basis. (somehow a lot of CDs including the one from metaliica I bought off amazon are too loud for my liking - i am sure they have not been mastered well) - though I will play around with songs from different genres of music (including Indian ghazals and a few sound tracks composed by A.R. Rahman only) to test the comfort zone of the amp. Like I have said earlier the Marantz amps have great muscality and timing whereas the CA beats it to the transparency, NAD with soundstage and bass while the VFM is a jack of all trades but slightly off the bass timings.

I am to go with the reviews of the Miniwatt and similar tube amps - the strength lies in the mid range and detailed yet soft treble and decent bass -i or for that matter anyone should not expect hip-hop to be reproduced well with the amp. Then I would have tried a different combo altogether. I just feel the tube sound does not gell well with hip-hop - but i can be mistaken:rolleyes:

BTW psycho what genres of music do you listen to??
 
dont think the wharfedale's would be a good pairing cos of the driver structure, woven material will take a bit of power to move. sensitivity is only one part of the equation. driver material is the other important factor. you'd require more power to get the driver moving and thus lose a lot of the first important watt. tube amps especially SET's like the miniwatt are best paired with speakers that let each watt get translated into music not wasted on the crossover or stressed in moving heavy drivers. not saying you dont try it out just keep that in mind when reviewing...

regards
 
I think a speaker of 95db sensitivity like the Fostex 166e or 167e FRs might sound better with single digit wattage amps.

Regards
 
suprateep - who would be the next to review the amp after you review?

suprateep said:
remember that power rating in wattage are misnomers wrt to loudness - so 2.5W essentially with decent speakers with high sensitivity will work out to be pretty good in most situations especially for a 10x10 room. I will try to test with Quad 7(forward and sharp) Wharf 9.2 (laid back yet musical) bookshelves and see how it works out.

Regarding music for testing - I will stick to a predefined set of songs that i am comfortable listening to and have been mastered well - this would enable me reviewing the amps on a detailed basis. (somehow a lot of CDs including the one from metaliica I bought off amazon are too loud for my liking - i am sure they have not been mastered well) - though I will play around with songs from different genres of music (including Indian ghazals and a few sound tracks composed by A.R. Rahman only) to test the comfort zone of the amp. Like I have said earlier the Marantz amps have great muscality and timing whereas the CA beats it to the transparency, NAD with soundstage and bass while the VFM is a jack of all trades but slightly off the bass timings.

I am to go with the reviews of the Miniwatt and similar tube amps - the strength lies in the mid range and detailed yet soft treble and decent bass -i or for that matter anyone should not expect hip-hop to be reproduced well with the amp. Then I would have tried a different combo altogether. I just feel the tube sound does not gell well with hip-hop - but i can be mistaken:rolleyes:

BTW psycho what genres of music do you listen to??
Click to expand...
 
i listen to all types of rock and pop from simon and garfunkel to iron maiden with some queen, dire straits, genesis, extreme, van halen, joe satriani, and so on. I've started to listen to some jazz and western classical, but i haven't gotten fully into it.

If they can move the 9.2s with their 86 dB sensitivity etc., then i think they should easily be able to move the 902i and the S30.

suprateep said:
remember that power rating in wattage are misnomers wrt to loudness - so 2.5W essentially with decent speakers with high sensitivity will work out to be pretty good in most situations especially for a 10x10 room. I will try to test with Quad 7(forward and sharp) Wharf 9.2 (laid back yet musical) bookshelves and see how it works out.

Regarding music for testing - I will stick to a predefined set of songs that i am comfortable listening to and have been mastered well - this would enable me reviewing the amps on a detailed basis. (somehow a lot of CDs including the one from metaliica I bought off amazon are too loud for my liking - i am sure they have not been mastered well) - though I will play around with songs from different genres of music (including Indian ghazals and a few sound tracks composed by A.R. Rahman only) to test the comfort zone of the amp. Like I have said earlier the Marantz amps have great muscality and timing whereas the CA beats it to the transparency, NAD with soundstage and bass while the VFM is a jack of all trades but slightly off the bass timings.

I am to go with the reviews of the Miniwatt and similar tube amps - the strength lies in the mid range and detailed yet soft treble and decent bass -i or for that matter anyone should not expect hip-hop to be reproduced well with the amp. Then I would have tried a different combo altogether. I just feel the tube sound does not gell well with hip-hop - but i can be mistaken:rolleyes:

BTW psycho what genres of music do you listen to??
Click to expand...
 
stevieboy said:
dont think the wharfedale's would be a good pairing cos of the driver structure, woven material will take a bit of power to move. sensitivity is only one part of the equation. driver material is the other important factor. you'd require more power to get the driver moving and thus lose a lot of the first important watt. tube amps especially SET's like the miniwatt are best paired with speakers that let each watt get translated into music not wasted on the crossover or stressed in moving heavy drivers. not saying you dont try it out just keep that in mind when reviewing...

regards
Click to expand...

wish i could try the MiniWatt with a single driver - but since the majority of the forum members use speakers with multiple drivers - i will try to review the amp under real life conditions rather than ideal conditions. I am sure very few people logically will want to upgrade to a single driver speakers from their existing systems - so.......

Thanks though for the reminder. I wonder now - how will I get the review complete and a detailed write up for the same.:p

gobble said:
I think a speaker of 95db sensitivity like the Fostex 166e or 167e FRs might sound better with single digit wattage amps.

Regards
Click to expand...

+1 to that.

anm said:
suprateep - who would be the next to review the amp after you review?
Click to expand...

Keep guessing - first let it come, let it be reviewed - i am sure this thread will heat up soon after that.

away i was thinking venkat and gobble can do the review after me
 
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suprateep said:
wish i could try the MiniWatt with a single driver - but since the majority of the forum members use speakers with multiple drivers - i will try to review the amp under real life conditions rather than ideal conditions. I am sure very few people logically will want to upgrade to a single driver speakers from their existing systems - so.......
Click to expand...

not suggesting single drivers. suggesting good bookshelves that will let the miniwatt work optimally. eg the monitor audio bronze b2s. available at soundnvision. much better than the wharfedale's. they have higher sensitivity too. real life conditions wont do justice to a set amp. you have to make a conscious decision to have speakers that fit. thats the tradeoff :) anyway. when's the review due? tentative dates?

regards
 
it would be brilliant if the review sample makes its way to chennai or bangalore, as I can at least request the person reviewing it to accompany me to a place where I can pair it with the 902i and check it out (i know someone who owns the 902i in Bangalore, and a shop that stocks it in Chennai).

stevieboy said:
gobble here would indeed be a good bet what with his new found love :D ;)
Click to expand...
 
Sorry, guys. I was not following this thread at all. Was just browsing through it and saw my name mentioned.

I certainly will have no issues in auditioning the amp. I have access to a large number of speakers, both FS and BS. Some of them are Wharfedales, EPOS, Cantons, AE, Aperion Audio, Mission, Dynaudio. If needed, I can also lay my hands on a few PSBs.

Cheers
 
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