Chinese 845/211 verstärker update 2010 – Best buy?

[ChinTube]

Made this little list to see what the R&H community would consider the best buy option (price – quality – amount of tweaking - looks) for a Chinese 845/211 based amplifier.

Furthermore, as there are some new or updated products available on the market (Xindak’s, Melody 211, updated Yarland…) I was wondering if buying options/advice has changed.

Feel free to add the missing ones & give feedback if you have experience with one or various amps listed here below.

I’m especially interested in the Melody 211, and the Shuguang mono + pre set from Tim. I have heard the Melody yesterday (wow) but as so often in China, they don’t have the model available in the shop, and need to order if I want to listen


The more expensive stuff to start…

Cayin Spark
Spark 9084D mono’s
Spark 9088D integrated and the newer version
Didn’t know about their 211’s… Spark 9021D
Qttp://www.audiocostruzioni.com/r_s/ampli/spar ... k-9021.htm
Melody
H845W big mono’s
M845 small mono’s
Opera
Cyber211/845 mono’s
Reference 9.9 mono’s (not sure if still available?)
Meixing
Various top range 845 based mono block amps
Dared
DV 845 Mono blocks
…

And the more affordable (well…) options

Melody
AN211 Integrated (Aodixun) - 18k Rmb
Xindak
V50 mono block’s (21Tim)
Shuguang
S845MK Mono blocks including pre-amp (13Tim)
Meixing
MC845-AA Integrated (7Tim)
MC845-C mono blocks (9Tim)
Dared
VP845 integrated
Yarland
Pro 845 integrated
Sinovt Qttp://www.sinovt.com.cn/ - Qttp://www.raphaelite.com.cn/
Very interested in these: looks, price, and not only on R&H, mixed comments…
Qttp://www.roehren-und-hoeren.de/phpBB/viewtop ... ght=sinovt
So what about recommendable kits?
Qttp://66.163.168.225/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=zh_en&trurl=Qttp%3a%2f%2fwww.sinovt.com.cn%2fshowoneproduct.asp%3fairid%3d178

And some more 845/211/805’ers to complete (?) the list…
Music Angel, Mr. Liang, and…
Qttp://66.163.168.225/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=zh_en&trurl=Qttp%3a%2f%2fwww.zuoshi.com%2fproduct-1525.html
Qttp://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=7779054916
Qttp://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=3871325092
Qttp://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=3826636500 A half meter long beast …

[Moderatorenteam]

Die Moderatoren koennen hier keinen getarnten Verkaufstread erkennen - daher wurde hier Text, der dies unterstellte, entfernt - um Missverstaendnisse zu vermeiden. Vielen Dank fuer das Verstaendnis der Betroffenen!

The Moderators have removed a distracting posting which misunderstood the intentions of the threadstarter, and a response pointing out the misunderstanding.

Sachdienliche Antworten waeren gewuenscht...

Responses on topic are encouraged...!!!

Thanks & regards

[ChinTube]

Come on, they are all so sexy these machines, don't tell me no one has any thoughts on them

What about the Shuguang S845MK Mono blocks including pre-amp, how do they campare quality wise against Meixing Mono's for example? What about hums?

[marty]

Hello,

...don't tell me no one has any thoughts on them

Well, many users in this board have their own opinion about some chinese amps. Often the amps look on its surface like a beauty, but the circuit dosen't look so fine. On the other side the producers call very low prices for this stuff.

..and for sure I don't know the amps, you described, but I read much about the common topic in some boards and decided to build a tube-amp on my own.

Cheers
Martin

[mb-de]

Hello M,

of the ones you list I give a guarded recommendation on the Cayin - at least the one I once had to play with and to upgrade with a true autobias servo, was quite acceptable, and not prone to go up in smoke or electrocute the owner - some other models in your list are more risky in that aspect.

Many of these boxes can do with better output and/or interstage transformers, improved power supplies and some cautious work on improving electrical safety to proper standards.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you a final recommendation - I do not have firsthand experience with some of the more interesting options, f. i. the Operas...

Best regards,

Micha
===

[audiostarter]

Good afternoon

From all the amps mentioned in the above list I had the Mr Liang series 3 amplifier with 6L6 drivers for about 6 months and I still have the Cayin 9084d mono amps of the first generation with 4, 8 and 16 Ohm taps.

The Mr Liang was definitely worth the money (I paid less than EUR 800 including shipment and import duties) and sounded surprisingly strong for an amp with only 20 watt per channel, at the same time still refined with quite a remarkable sound stage.

The transformer section caused some mechanical hum that was not audible when listening to music, I do not believe this to be a major issue, at least it was not for me...

All in all a product that I would recommend if the price is about what I have paid (or less). Safety aspects like correct grounding and overall production finish are also worth mentioning...

The Cayin mono amps I own have a history of accidents of which I do not know exact details (each amp dropped at least one time whilst stored in it's box?) and they needed major repair and additional upgrading.

The former is for a great part connected with the rough handling by the previous owner in the UK, they needed mending a bent aluminum back plate, replacing the broken bias switch and fixing a cracked 16 Ohm connector on one of the amps.

The final touch concerning the upgrading of these Cayin 9084d was done by Martin (Erzkanzler), for which I would like to thank him again.

He owned similar amps himself before and changed parts of the circuitry to a different design than originally provided by Cayin, both of my amps play just fine right now.

They do everything the Mr Liang did, only much better and truly on another performance level which of course reflects the price they cost in comparison with the former.

An even better performance will probably come at an inflated price, but he/she who can afford this are welcome to try it....

Personally, I stopped the search for another main amplifier to improve my equipment further as I am too busy listening to music with a lot of pleasure.

I wish you success with your research and hope this comment was of some help.

Best regards from Belgium

Dieter

[ChinTube]

@ Martin. thanks for the shed of light. Maybe i was hoping a little bit to much that quality would have been taken to another level in the last 2 couple of years. Living in china, being confronted with a number of facts on a daily basis, i should know better...

As you say however, there are exceptions, but no real perfections. As posted in a tread in the horn speaker section, you're the second person who suggests to go the DIY way. Getting it right (more or less...) the first time for less (if not building to fancy i guess...) money sounds interesting indeed. I'll do a search on your suggestion.

@ Micha, your suggestions join the ones of others, this time in the "pay the price" as alternative to the DIY option, which seems to be the only 2 roads. The first being very obvious, the other not so much if one has never DIY'ed one of these beauties together.

@ Dieter Did that Brit take the cayin amps to Irak or what? Pitty and probably coslty too.

Fully agree with your decission of halting the quest at some point and enjoying the music instead. I'm at the begining of my trip however. I bought my first tube amp just under 2 years ago, and still enjoy it without failure ever since. Now I'm looking to spend a lot more for something i'll enjoy for a very long time, free from any possible hassle, so i too can enjoy the music. Thanks for the input on these 2, and general input!

[audiostarter]

Good evening (at least here in Belgium...)

The story of my pair of Cayin amps is a story of a "good buy" abroad with a good story attached to it, coupled with a good amount of stupidity on my part and pressure to finalize a deal...

I have seen more of this before without really understanding it until it happened to me... Now I can laugh about it because I was never to become a victim like I finally did...

As explained , I am no longer looking for a "better" amplifier for my current HiFi system with JBL L300 as the main player, it just works for me.

At the risk of repeating myself, I believe that a further investment will not necessarily lead to more satisfaction at my end but certainly to higher acquisition costs.

Those I may have to explain to my understanding wife and also account for a considerable loss of time for "keeping on looking" which I feel is too valuable to be spent this way when one has reached the spot I am now occupying.

On the other hand, I can also live perfectly with a combination of a modest Chinese made, hum free Shenguye Mini amp with 4 EL84 tubes, fed by a simple Philips CD Player, driving a pair of small JBL Control III Pro when being on holidays in our small house in Southern France.

On a terrace that is bathing in the Southern sun this may be the only thing one ever needs together with a cool glass of rose, as long as the right music is playing (like Les McCann's Invitation to Openness).

It feels like being content with ones equipment is, at least as far as I am concerned, not necessarily proportionally connected to the price that has been invested.

Have strength, good fun and, most of all, determine your priorities before you start to splash out funds of a sort that you have to regret later...

Best regards from Belgium
Dieter

[ChinTube]

Morning

I'll soon be in the same time frame Dieter, moving to or around Brussels i think...

Good to hear that everything turned out fine in the end and that you've been able to settle with the Cayins, their history, injuries (hehe...) and the buying trouble. I'm sure everyone has his own stories like this, cursig oneself, and having very bad sleeps... not to mention the wife.

I get the impression we have very similar objectives when it comes to beying satisfied with the system one has. Me for instance, am very pleased with the cheap little yarland el34 i've been using till now, even though i know its far from perfect.

Now i just want to buy something better, or at least a kit from which i can slowly build something descent when it comes to reliability, safety, and sound quality.

In short, best bang for the buck is what i'm trying here, and being in China does help a little bit on the "buck" side, the "best" side is a very different story...

Thanks for the support and views. I'll keep you posted on what i finally buy.


Michael