NFJ&FX Audio Tube-03 - Tube Pre Amplifier

[Kannan]

Have you had any experience with Yaqin CD 03? How much and what kind of difference does it make?

I had owned the Yaqin SD2, very well built and hand wired tube buffer. I liked it most with the Voshkod replacement tubes which imparted the most balanced sound with very nice mids.
But it was not a smooth addition to my SE Class A amp (the AmpCamp which I have been using now for a long time).
Though the SD2 is a zero gain buffer, it imparts a wee bit more gain by taking the impedance matching out of the equation.
The OE tubes that ship with the Yaqins are ok, but there is lot of benefit in changing tubes.

 

[Yogesh]

I had owned the Yaqin SD2, very well built and hand wired tube buffer. I liked it most with the Voshkod replacement tubes which imparted the most balanced sound with very nice mids.
But it was not a smooth addition to my SE Class A amp (the AmpCamp which I have been using now for a long time).
Though the SD2 is a zero gain buffer, it imparts a wee bit more gain by taking the impedance matching out of the equation.
The OE tubes that ship with the Yaqins are ok, but there is lot of benefit in changing tubes.

I have an option of getting a Yaqin CD 03 buffer pre-owned or a new Tube Pre built. Yaqin as about half the price of later. Any inputs?

 

[Kannan]

I have an option of getting a Yaqin CD 03 buffer pre-owned or a new Tube Pre built. Yaqin as about half the price of later. Any inputs?

As I said it is just a buffer and not a gain stage. It will offer one input and one output only. If you use multiple sources and already have a preamp, you can put it between the pre and the power amp.
If using an integrated amp, it can only be placed before the pre and after the DAC.
According to me there is no advantage in using tube buffers with integrated amplifiers.....

Coming to preamp, if you have a passive preamp and enough gain, then put the buffer before the passive preamp.
If you have an active pre, the best position for the buffer is after the preamp.

Tube rolling is the fun part with these tubes gears

 

[Yogesh]

As I said it is just a buffer and not a gain stage. It will offer one input and one output only. If you use multiple sources and already have a preamp, you can put it between the pre and the power amp.
If using an integrated amp, it can only be placed before the pre and after the DAC.
According to me there is no advantage in using tube buffers with integrated amplifiers.....

Coming to preamp, if you have a passive preamp and enough gain, then put the buffer before the passive preamp.
If you have an active pre, the best position for the buffer is after the preamp.

Tube rolling is the fun part with these tubes gears

I am getting a PA. I will use direct output from USB DAC. Buffer/Pre will go in between. A proper DAC will also arrive in good time.

 

[greenhorn]

.
According to me there is no advantage in using tube buffers with integrated amplifiers.....

I use them mainly to prevent wear and tear on the pots on my vintage integrateds. A whole fx audio buffer is cheaper than a new replacement Alps pot - that's if you can find one!

 

[amrutmhatre90]

FX Audio etc are not easily available right now. I am exploring to get a 12AX7 based pre built.

FX Audio tube-03 is available on Amazon Store.

Got in Touch with a Seller from Gurgaon, they are offering 5654W tubes around 1100-1200 ball park per tube.
They have Bel, GE, Siemens & Slyvania Tubes, many guys suggested their contact and said they are reliable.

Thinking to get GE & Slyvania.

 

[ssf]

FX Audio tube-03 is available on Amazon Store.

Got in Touch with a Seller from Gurgaon, they are offering 5654W tubes around 1100-1200 ball park per tube.
They have Bel, GE, Siemens & Slyvania Tubes, many guys suggested their contact and said they are reliable.

Thinking to get GE & Slyvania.

Not all tubes are a replacement for the stock ones that come with the tube-03. If you are getting anything other than 5654W, make sure that they are compatible.

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Not all tubes are a replacement for the stock ones that come with the tube-03. If you are getting anything other than 5654W, make sure that they are compatible.

What I meant is 5654W with different brands. This was the Photo shared.



Guys,
One question, many of you suggested to pair the Crown Directly to the Tube Pre Amp. I don't want to loose the sound I am currently getting through Denon and Crowns.

Can I add a splitter of this kind so the crown will be connected to the Denon and the tube pre amp both.



Any issues with such way of using crown for both devices? Any issues for avr or pre amp?

 

[Doomster69]

FX Audio tube-03 is available on Amazon Store.

Got in Touch with a Seller from Gurgaon, they are offering 5654W tubes around 1100-1200 ball park per tube.
They have Bel, GE, Siemens & Slyvania Tubes, many guys suggested their contact and said they are reliable.

Thinking to get GE & Slyvania.

Hi, im using the FX Audio Tube Pre 03 MkII bought from aliexpress. Its a neat little device for what it does.. brings in a bit of holographic imaging, adds body/warmth and makes the overall presentation airy. For its price, its a superb product. When researching, found that the GE Tubes work best.

Josh valour did a video on this/similar product worth checkin out.

As for the tubes, i believe someone was selling a matched pair of Riverstone 2 months back in the for sale section, you may check that out as well.

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Thank you, I have ordered this and will be getting the Tubes too. First experience in the Tube world. Exciting for this.
Its in transit, expected to receive before last week of July, super lonng wait.

Just finding ways to connect it to the existing gear I have, reading stuff too.

 

[Doomster69]

Thank you, I have ordered this and will be getting the Tubes too. First experience in the Tube world. Exciting for this.
Its in transit, expected to receive before last week of July, super lonng wait.

Just finding ways to connect it to the existing gear I have, reading stuff too.

Try to get the shortest path where the tube pre is the '2nd to last' link in the chain....

In my set up - Mimby RCA out connects to Tube Pre RCA inputs and then RCA out from Tube Pre to Power Amp. I was also using it with a portable DAC where the 3.5MM line out from DAC went to Tube Pre RCA inputs and then to Power Amp. Ideally you should have the tube pre between main power amp and source (which could be a pre-amp as well)

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Would be connecting the tube Pre Amp to Line In on Avr and use with Pure Direct. The Pre amp will be paired with Activo CT10.

Trying to find a way to connect both Tube and Denon to Crowns and use same speakers, read online that wire splitter is not advisable.

 

[Doomster69]

Btw.. Sharing this link for knowing more about this little magic machine...

https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/cheap-tube-buffer-vs-darkvoice-336se/10321

 

[Doomster69]

As for why to leave the bass and treble knobs at 12 o'clock position, that's the baseline for attenuation. If u increase the bass input through knob, it only adjusts midbass and sub bass frequencies, making bass even more pleasant and weighty.. Same for the treble.. So most of the mids and lower treble remain intact (of sorts). There was a measurements video by someone explaining this. It's quite a find!!

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Finally I received the FX audio Tube-03 Pre amp, pathetic delivery by the courier, it was bought from Amazon but Delhivery handled the shipping. Absolutely useless, no contact number of the delivery person, no contact of support, emails are not replied.

Coming to the Pre Amp, used Jio Fiber power adapter as the one comes has small wire and Jio one is powerful and heft.
Connected Pre Amp to Activo CT10 then directly to LINE INs of Denon and tried Direct mode, too much of noise and it sounded crap. Tried Stereo too but still bad, tweaking tone controls gave noise and weird sound. Was wondering if this is what to expect from this Chinese device.

Then as suggested by everyone here connected directly to the crown XLS and holy shit, holy shit..... This little thing and Crowns pair so well, haven't heard anything like it... And I am still on stock tubes!!!! Sound has weight, tweaked the tone controls to my liking and with the floor standing Tagas they Sound crazy, absolutely in love with this. My search for perfect stereo has ended here. The best thing is I can stop using AvR for music now. Just use phone to control Activo CT10.

I am blown away with it, first time saw the power amp go past the first clips light . Only need to find how to use crowns for both HT and Stereo now. Other than that more than pleased with the setup, waiting for new tubes.

Here are a few pictures.

 

[Doomster69]

holy shit, holy shit..... This little thing and Crowns pair so well, haven't heard anything like it... And I am still on stock tubes!!!!

Wait till you hear them on the GE JAN5654 tubes... i also had the same reaction.. You dont expect what you hear..it just shocks you in a pleasurable way. I was blown away by the holographic imaging (since my speakers are slightly vocal forward) as well as the air in the sound (almost like a layer of haze was removed). Fantastic part is the pre-amp controls - the bass gain is usually lower bass, and for upper treble - which means you get dynamics (from bass) and soundstage extension (from treble).

Wait till you try the pre-out on open back headphones.. I use these with the sundara for an 'analog' eq. to bump up the bass, keeping treble at neutral (12'0 clock position). The headphones sound so big! Well recorded classical is a pure treat, and if you have a revealing dac, you are transported!

For best results on a stereo setup, try and keep the vol gain under 80-90% and have this as the last link in the chain prior to power amp. Im not sure, but i pick up immensely slight distortion above 90% vol gain. Easy was is to turn up the power amp to a higher than normal vol (WITHOUT ANYTHING PLAYING) and then adjusting the gain on the tube pre unit to listen for very low level hiss. Once you have the pre vol set, control volume gain from crown or source.suggest swapping the tubes sides and see if that makes any difference. Though doubtful, the connection with the tube holder may be weak giving some noise/hiss.

Nifty little piece of gear, enjoy it!!

 

[Doomster69]

My search for perfect stereo has ended here

Well.. if and when you do get an itch to upgrade, first try any one of these upgrades... You can change the sound quite a bit..

i'm contemplating upgrading the op amp to Muses 02, but unsure how big a change it will make (6k for muses02 dip8 opamp chip and international shipping). This guy's video gives a 'relative' idea of what changes/ improvements to expect from the chip.

Go slow though, get the tubes first. Try and pair with different dac if you can (ESS bright/accurate/all the details, AKM warm/analogue-ish).. This thing is a gateway drug into a proper tube pre-power set up

And remember to enjoy the music!

 

[ssf]

Then as suggested by everyone here connected directly to the crown XLS and holy shit, holy shit..... This little thing and Crowns pair so well, haven't heard anything like it... And I am still on stock tubes!!!!

Haha, I knew you would love them. The Marantz and the Denon don't provide the crown with enough voltage to show how well the crowns can play. Enjoy the music.

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Haha, I knew you would love them. The Marantz and the Denon don't provide the crown with enough voltage to show how well the crowns can play. Enjoy the music.

Ya thought so, Dad came today and I was listening to Taal, he got glued to the music ended up listening the whole album and enjoying it.
I remember I had a CD of Taal we listening to it on a Philips stereo system, Rehman sir has created finest masterpiece.

Wait till you hear them on the GE JAN5654 tubes... i also had the same reaction.. You dont expect what you hear..it just shocks you in a pleasurable way. I was blown away by the holographic imaging (since my speakers are slightly vocal forward) as well as the air in the sound (almost like a layer of haze was removed).

Wait till you try the pre-out on open back headphones.. I use these with the sundara for an 'analog' eq. to bump up the bass, keeping treble at neutral (12'0 clock position). The headphones sound so big! Well recorded classical is a pure treat, and if you have a revealing dac, you are transported!

For best results on a stereo setup, try and keep the vol gain under 80-90% and have this as the last link in the chain prior to power amp. Im not sure, but i pick up immensely slight distortion above 90% vol gain. Easy was is to turn up the power amp to a higher than normal vol (WITHOUT ANYTHING PLAYING) and then adjusting the gain on the tube pre unit to listen for very low level hiss. Once you have the pre vol set, control volume gain from crown or source.suggest swapping the tubes sides and see if that makes any difference. Though doubtful, the connection with the tube holder may be weak giving some noise/hiss.

Nifty little piece of gear, enjoy it!!

Yup will be listening to this nicely for more than a week atleast to notice a difference with new Tubes. Very well said about the imaging it absolutely fantastic.
I am not into headphones, so don't know if I ever will go that way.
I am using 1/4th Volume right now, and it sounds loud but my Crowns are set to 3 pm. I use my phone to control my the volume of the DAP, so have enough flexibility. If I crank up even half the neighbours will land at home.

This is a great piece of kit, ultimate hidden treasure!!! And it costs pinkies. People out there should know!!!
Will be soon making a video of this sharing it with everyone I know!

Thank you everyone for helping me discover this journey.

 

[premoddev]

Congrats for the new addition... more than that your review is also tempting .. I was wondering will this makes similar characters if I add it before an integrated amplifier !!.. say in front of my Yamaha ax496 in "pure direct" mode..