Miniwatt tube amp

[psychotropic]

it's likely to be within his limit....he's coming through singapore.....spending a few days there.....so the 6,000 rupee hong kong limit won't apply and the 25,000 rupee regular limit is likely to apply....don't think he would be able to pass it off as a "used personal effect" though

and i've managed to explain away a guitar effects unit at bombay airport, although it took a bit of time and my making strange distorted guitar like noises.....

ah sigh... then just go for it. it will certainly serve you longer than a year. i think i saw some tungsol nos tubes on ebay if you want to experiment. generally changes the sound quite dramatically from stock chinese/russian valves. but that's not necessary so its just for your information as for you pal i once had to explain what LPs were to a female guard at the airport. luckily i looked all cherubic and innocent so she let me through quite bemused that this nut was lugging around a suitcase of black round discs your pal might have to pay some customs to get it into the country?

 

[anm]

I think you may be distributing your budget a little "different" way. Speakers that are most important component, are getting the least budget. If you are so pressed on budget, I would suggest you to get a used SS amp, and maybe a better pair of speakers. Monday night I have picked up a used SS amp, and I am thrilled with my buy. Will post details in a separate thread. It is an HK 6550 (beloved amp of Dejan Veselinovic at tnt-audio as per this link - Thule IA 60 amplifier )

This is to complement my current JBL speakers. I am still going for a main system that is tubes based, and from Lyrita.

regards

hey stevie, i totally agree with your points, but in my case it's just that i don't have the cash I am spending 15k on a used NAD C542, i am going to spend maybe 12k on this tube amp, and perhaps another 10k or less on either the 902is or the S30s. that MAXES out my budget

I am hoping that I will not be bitten by the upgrade bug for at least a year, and if I can get one year of good service from this amp, I don't mind the depreciation.

of course as a side note, my friend who is going to Hong Kong is looking at the picture of the miniwatt and wondering if the airport security will think it's a bomb....any ideas on how to convince him that that is not likely to happen?

 

[suprateep]

I think you may be distributing your budget a little "different" way. Speakers that are most important component, are getting the least budget.
regards

I just think psycho will upgrade to higher end speakers and use the 902 as surrounds later. :clapping:

rest is fine - CDP is good - would have paired best with a NAD 325 IMHO but the Miniwatt can work too - and pair with 902 if the sensitivity allows them to be driven. That is the beauty of this space - so much customization.

So many people said good things about the ms906, s606 whardale9.6 and Polk TSI 500 and and after auditioning it I was so disappointed

 

[psychotropic]

actually that budget allocation happened chronologically, initially i was only going to get a good source, the CDP, and i found the used C542 which was lovely.

THen I wanted to upgrade my audioengine 2s to audioengine 5s, now instead of that the miniwatt + 902i combo came to mind.

I understand that in general the principle is that the speakers should be most expensive, but with this source and amplifier, the way i see it is that somewhere along the line when i can afford sensitive single driver speakers, they will really shine.

I've thought about this a fair bit and made this decision, and the way I see it is that each of these components is not too expensive (10k and thereabouts) , so replacing them even at zero residual value won't be a big loss

I think you may be distributing your budget a little "different" way. Speakers that are most important component, are getting the least budget. If you are so pressed on budget, I would suggest you to get a used SS amp, and maybe a better pair of speakers. Monday night I have picked up a used SS amp, and I am thrilled with my buy. Will post details in a separate thread. It is an HK 6550 (beloved amp of Dejan Veselinovic at tnt-audio as per this link - Thule IA 60 amplifier )

This is to complement my current JBL speakers. I am still going for a main system that is tubes based, and from Lyrita.

regards

 

[anm]

ok - got your point. But won't it be better if you postpone both speaker and amp upgrade? I can understand that NAD CDP is a good deal, but creating a setup around a CDP is little unusual

I am not too sure - but switching power supplies are supposed to be noisy, and high sensitivity speakers may pick and amplify noise more than a normal speaker. Miniwatt has switching power supply, and that keeps the weight down. Too bad cranky is not around in this thread

regards

actually that budget allocation happened chronologically, initially i was only going to get a good source, the CDP, and i found the used C542 which was lovely.

THen I wanted to upgrade my audioengine 2s to audioengine 5s, now instead of that the miniwatt + 902i combo came to mind.

I understand that in general the principle is that the speakers should be most expensive, but with this source and amplifier, the way i see it is that somewhere along the line when i can afford sensitive single driver speakers, they will really shine.

I've thought about this a fair bit and made this decision, and the way I see it is that each of these components is not too expensive (10k and thereabouts) , so replacing them even at zero residual value won't be a big loss

 

[psychotropic]

i could postpone it yes.....but right now i have a bit of money to spend, and i am seeing something i think i want to spend on.....so i am spending it of course somewhere along the line i'll upgrade stuff, but i am hoping for now this setup will give me some happiness.

haan, but the 6moons review tests them extensively with very high sensitivity speakers and he hasn't reported any issues on the noise front, in fact srajan seems to think the power supply is the best part about this amp. i agree that conventional wisdom suggess that a switching power supply should be more noisy than linear, but it looks like the miniwatt guys have managed to do some engineering wizardry to achieve a good slew rate and so on, anyway, i'll wait for suprateep's review to see if what i've read on the internet is correct.

if it turns out (before august 2nd week )to be wrong and the miniwatt is in fact not as great as we've heard, then i can of course postpone the amp-speaker upgrade or just go for the audioengine 5s for the time being.

ok - got your point. But won't it be better if you postpone both speaker and amp upgrade? I can understand that NAD CDP is a good deal, but creating a setup around a CDP is little unusual

I am not too sure - but switching power supplies are supposed to be noisy, and high sensitivity speakers may pick and amplify noise more than a normal speaker. Miniwatt has switching power supply, and that keeps the weight down. Too bad cranky is not around in this thread

regards

 

[gobble]

+1 to that man. For a smallish setup (even for my 18x13 room) i think i cannot go for an overkill spending 22k and above - i would like to stay for minimum requirements and price point.

I think there should not ba compromise on SQ if you can afford it - even if room size is small.

Is the miniwatt shipment marked as a sample non-commercial demo piece?

Would that help?

Regards

 

[Jith77]

I think there should not ba compromise on SQ if you can afford it - even if room size is small.

Is the miniwatt shipment marked as a sample non-commercial demo piece?

Would that help?

Regards

nope, dont think that would work as sellers will utilise that to sell goods telling that its a demo....think there is some exception as to returnable goods but that doesnt apply here

 

[psychotropic]

8 more days on.....any news?

the miniwatt has been shipped but lying with our customs for the last 4 days.........no further news of it as of now.

 

[suprateep]

8 more days on.....any news?

none - at the horrible performance of the maharshtra customs offices (IMHO they ware the worst in the country) - this was expected. Even my soundmagic pl30 from mp4nation has been delayed.

BTW the miniwatt reached India on thr 4th of July.

PS: I have registed a complaint on www.cbec.gov.in - why dont you guys also register complaints if you have such issues. I tried filing a RTI but the linkw was not working.

 

[suprateep]

does anyone have any idea how to get stuff out of customs......i am apprehensive that our dear old Maharashtra customs after month or two of waiting (and not contacting the rightful addressee) will simply auction it in the open market. Honestly I never had this problem in Delhi - a 100 rupee note under the table the article used to come out from customs.

BTW no one from customs has contacted me yet.

PS: Is there a consumer cell where these matters can be reported to. Additionally a couple of other items I had bought from mp4nation also seem to have been blocked by customs.

 

[suprateep]

UPDATE:: Suddenly 30 mins since I last checked the trackign number on the website - it shows the miniwatt is in transit - so we do have a review on the cards.

 

[psychotropic]

woo hoo! that's excellent news.....i'm also waiting to know how much duty they impose.

UPDATE:: Suddenly 30 mins since I last checked the trackign number on the website - it shows the miniwatt is in transit - so we do have a review on the cards.

 

[suprateep]

woo hoo! that's excellent news.....i'm also waiting to know how much duty they impose.

surprisingly I am yet to receive a call from customs or ems (i do not think they call). I did drop in a nicely written mail (people in my office do compliment me on my ability to draw scathing attacks on people through nicley written mails hyeah: ) to India customs mentioning our website, purpose include link to proofs etc, along with the option of filing a RTI on them - seemed to work - the stuff was cleared in 2 days.

Again it might so happen that in the next 1-2 days I get a call askign me to pay up. Who knows.

Judging by previous experience similar articles attract a penalty of 17-36% for personal use. Lets see.

 

[psychotropic]

what might happen is that EMS may have paid the duty, and the delivery guy will recover it from you.

surprisingly I am yet to receive a call from customs or ems (i do not think they call). I did drop in a nicely written mail (people in my office do compliment me on my ability to draw scathing attacks on people through nicley written mails hyeah: ) to India customs mentioning our website, purpose include link to proofs etc, along with the option of filing a RTI on them - seemed to work - the stuff was cleared in 2 days.

Again it might so happen that in the next 1-2 days I get a call askign me to pay up. Who knows.

Judging by previous experience similar articles attract a penalty of 17-36% for personal use. Lets see.

 

[suprateep]

what might happen is that EMS may have paid the duty, and the delivery guy will recover it from you.

BOOOH.......hope its bot over 20% of the cost price I am short of money these days....

 

[kaushik]

suprateep,
waiting for reviews, unboxing pictures of miniWatt

why dint u asked to mark soundmagic PL- 30 as gift?
mine came to my native house delivered by postman,with no customs hassle
i hope even customs calls u they wont charge or this one (PL-30)

 

[suprateep]

suprateep,
waiting for reviews, unboxing pictures of miniWatt

why dint u asked to mark soundmagic PL- 30 as gift?
mine came to my native house delivered by postman,with no customs hassle
i hope even customs calls u they wont charge or this one (PL-30)

i have ordered a fm transmitter (250 bucks cool which is in shipment mode and the beta brainwavz + e5 amp - which is yet to ship. The betas got delayed by a fair bit - lets see what Raz says on this matter.

 

[prem]

On Audiocircle there is a Miniwatt review thread. So far responses are a little mixed.

 

[psychotropic]

yeah, mixed reviews indeed, which definitely confirms my decision that I should NOT buy it blind without testing it with the speakers i might be using them with.

Are we allowed to link to other forums here? Well i am not taking any chances. But the thread is on the home page of audio circle.

Somehow I feel a bit relieved.....which reveals that in my heart of hearts I was apprehensive about this now i can actually think of cheap (used) solid state options more seriously If anyone has a good cheap old amp (above 30W RMS per channel should be sufficient) for sale, do let me know! I am probably not looking to spend more than 10-12k.