[Poultrygeist]

The Zu's I owned were 12 ohm. Most new high efficiency full range drivers seem to be 8 ohms. You are much more limited with 4 ohm speakers than with 8 ohm.

Your Miniwatt will be happy with 93db sensitivity speakers and above. Although your MW has 4 ohm taps there's no reason to search for 4 ohm speakers. It will run hotter with 4 ohm speakers than with 8 ohm.

[roscoeiii]

The MiniWatt, like almost all tube amps will offer speaker taps for various impedance speakers. Most tube amps will have 4 or 8 ohm taps, some will have 16. Try the tap closest to the impedance of your speaker. But you may also find that better results may result from another tap. No harm in trying both and deciding which sounds best for your amp-speaker combo.

For example, my VR-4 Gen IIs from Von Schwekert are listed as nominally 7 ohm, but the bass sounded too limited from the 8 ohm tap of the Rogue Stereo 90 I just got. Turns out that the bass module of the VR-4s (and maybe most Von Schwiekert speakers) is 4 ohms. I switched the tap to 4 ohms and voila! Bass and great sounding mids and highs.

[HiFi Buck]

The Zu's I owned were 12 ohm. Most new high efficiency full range drivers seem to be 8 ohms. You are much more limited with 4 ohm speakers than with 8 ohm.

Your Miniwatt will be happy with 93db sensitivity speakers and above. Although your MW has 4 ohm taps there's no reason to search for 4 ohm speakers. It will run hotter with 4 ohm speakers than with 8 ohm.

The speakers I have been looking at are all 8ohms with a sensitivity from 94-98db's. Sounds like the Miniwatt will be an amazing match for these speakers. I am an audiophile on a budget so I am looking for the biggest bang for your buck gear. I do want to get the higher priced Decware stuff at some point but seems this Miniwatt maybe my audio nirvana ticket right now and heck, I might like it so much that I won't feel the need to upgrade later. 

[DaveC113]

Since you're an engineering student, why not build an amp too? For about the price of a miniwatt, maybe a little more, you could build an EL34 or KT88 SET amp with a UL option that could crank out 12+ wpc.

I built a Simple SE SET amp about 5 years ago and have been steadily modifying/improving it, it's a great amp and also a good project to start with. There is a tubelab forum on diyaudio with a lot of support if you need help.

http://www.tubelab.com/Simple_SE.htm

[Poultrygeist]

Sarajan in his review of the original Miniwatt S1 states, "it reminds me of the crystalline, fast as a whip, lit up EL84 Decware sound".

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/miniwatt/miniwatt.html

The MW is not the best SET around but it's a great entry way to experience single ended magic for little money. I don't know of anything new or used for $239 ( includes shipping ) that comes close. After buying the S1 in 2009 I was sold on SET amps and now own two 2a3's and one EL84.

My S1 has the diode mod and WE tubes which took it up a notch or two. The N3 sounds different but not better than the modded S1. The N3's extra watt is nice and the EL84s give more rolling options.

[versus rider]

not been on here for a whie and just found this thread, that Napa acoustics amp is a renamed Mistral, I have had one for some years now, its a 25w valve hybrid. I took to a meet with other audiophools and they were gobsmacked at the sound quality for the money, it gave a world audio designs amp a run for its money.

These are popular but only double the power of the miniwatt:

http://www.musicalparadise.ca/mp/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=75

These are double your budget but gets a good review (trustworthy site) and good amount of power.

http://hometheaterreview.com/napa-acoustic-na-208a-integrated-amplifier-reviewed/

SET amps just don't have that much power so if you want to use them you are going to have to get *very* efficient speakers. I think either of the options above will perform better than the Yaquin amps, which from all I've read just fall in the 'okay' category, as well as potential performance and design issues so don't blame the UL push-pull necessarily - you get what you pay for with the Yaquin.

[Thinker1920]

 Hello Everyone,

    I sold the Miniwatt, the yaqin, and the LSi's and kinda went on an sound adventure. I ended up getting a motorola SH12N from a record player, the power transformer is about 9 lbs on it , the previous owner replaced the coupling caps with orange drops, I replaced the power caps and the output transformers. Also I went with tung sol 12ax7 for it with Russian outputs and a NOS rca 5Y3 rectifier. She's AMAZING, I built a wood surround for it, and put a red LED for a power indicator. She has more bass compared to the Miniwatt and is rated at 4.5 watts a channel. Speakers I've kinda bounced around on, first I got some Aristocrats which I still have and then I got Cornwall II's and upgraded the tweeter diaphragms with titanium ones from crites, and replaced the crossover caps, and refinished them (went through the veneer in a few places though )
    I had to mess around with the crossovers in the aristocrats since the crossovers were for a 2 way setup and they had three drivers, so for the time being I disconnected the tweeters, and went back to a 2 way set up. also the crossover point for the one was wrong since the horn in it wasn't able to go lower than 2500 Hz but the woofers had built in crossovers that had been bypassed and I was able to still an inductor from that to change the crossover point to 25oo Hz (the other speaker had a different horn that was capable of the lower range.
 I think that I like the cornwalls better, but since the aristocrats are bass reflex enclosures they have more bass to them.

[opnly bafld]

Thanks for the update, glad you are enjoying the Motorola.
BTW Cornwall IIs are ported.
http://www.klipsch.com/cornwall-ii-floorstanding-speaker

[Thinker1920]

the aristocrats are corner horns though so isn't that different? what would be the proper term for that?

[opnly bafld]

the aristocrats are corner horns though so isn't that different? what would be the proper term for that?

Yes to your first question, have you tried the Cornwalls close to the corners?

Second question answer:

corner horns

[ljbrandt]

Even though this thread is a few years old, I find myself in the same situation as the OP...

I just came into a used APPJ PA0901A (miniwatt n3) at a steal price.  I would have never considered buying it for its mere 3w/ch, but couldn't pass up "trying it" for the price I paid.  To the point, this was my first tube amp, but the best sounding amp I've ever heard!  Now I'm hooked and convinced that tubes are the way to go, but I just would like a little more power and driver control.

A little background:

I listen to pair of MQ Quart Vera bookshelf speakers, 87db/6ohm at my computer desk...these speakers are fantastic and I have no intention of replacing them since they are actually easier to drive then their specs suggest.

I started with a low-end pioneer receiver (awful sound), switched to a Lepai 2020 t-amp which was a miraculous improvement...then upgraded to the Indeed TA2020 tripath which was a notch better than the Lepai and allowed for a few more undistorted dBs.  On my journey to upgrade the Indeed, I tried a parasound Zamp which gave me more power/headroom but at the cost of the resolution and detail I was getting from the Indeed T-amp.  Next came a Yamaha RX-Z9 receiver (the mother of all receivers)...great sound, but still not any better than the Indeed's SQ.  Next I tried the Crown XLS 2000 and still couldn't beat the Indeed even though I was getting GOBS of power.

And last came this APPJ, which absolutely blew my socks off!  The Indeed TA2020 has actually been unplugged

So, now I'm looking for a single ended tube amp (not PP) that can give me at least 8w that is going to sound as good (but preferably better) than the miniwatt.  I'm hoping to find something used around $400-500.  I'm trying to stay away from 300b tube amps since the tubes are so expensive and the bass has been reported to be a little loose.  I think a 2a3 SE amp would be a SQ upgrade, but lack the extra power I need.

I'm looking at the music angel 845 amp, but this amp has received mixed reviews and I'm not a modder (http://lampizator.eu/AMPLIFIERS/CHINA/SET%20triode%20amplifier%20Music%20Angel%20845%20Hong%20Kong.html)

Also looking at a FU-50 tube amp (Chinese version of a russian GU50), http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Pure-Tube-Amplifier-FU50-Power-Stage-Class-A-Signal-ended-Headphone-Amp-HIFI-Audio-2x12W-Scaffolding/2043625951.html   OR  http://www.diytrade.com/china/pd/5293232/NEW_Multi_Function_Sweet_Peach_FU50_Single_Ended_tube_amplifier_MM_MP3_USB.html.  Tubes are cheap and bass has been reported as sounding good...I just don't want to risk it sounding worse than the Miniwatt and having to pay return shipping.

One other amp that looks REALLY good, but twice my budget is this 6L6 amp, reported to output 10w: http://www.ebay.com/itm/STEREO-TUBE-AMPLIFIER-INSPIRE-by-DENNIS-HAD-6L6-TUBE-SINGLE-ENDED-AMPLIFIER-/151660066078?nma=true&si=VhLmRs7A1V8%252BLz3luBVRLjbYJxs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Dennis doesn't offer returns, so it would be quite a risk for me...but the amp looks like it would deliver.

I guess I've been so impressed with the Chinese APPJ Miniwatt (and Chinese tripath before that) that I'm willing to upgrade to more expensive Chinese products...the issue with tube amps is if you end up not liking them, returns are expensive!  Unfortunately I have no way to audition without buying..

I'm looking for feedback on the above listed tube amps or other recommendations I may not have considered.  One requirement though I have of amps is that they have zero audible hiss with no music playing.  I tried a audiobah TPA3116 amp which sounded good, but had a little hiss that I couldn't stand.

[roscoeiii]

That N3 is a great little amp. I am using it with a headphone adaptor to power my HifiMan HE-5LE headphones, which are pretty power hungry.

Been a while since i looked at the line, but you might also want to look into Decware amps.

And I know you like your speakers, but I'll still toss out the suggestion that you maybe look at a different speaker. Omega speakers come to mind. They have an avid following here. That said, I have not heard your speakers or the Omegas.

[ljbrandt]

That N3 is a great little amp. I am using it with a headphone adaptor to power my HifiMan HE-5LE headphones, which are pretty power hungry.

Been a while since i looked at the line, but you might also want to look into Decware amps.

And I know you like your speakers, but I'll still toss out the suggestion that you maybe look at a different speaker. Omega speakers come to mind. They have an avid following here. That said, I have not heard your speakers or the Omegas.

Thank you for the Decware suggestion. I considered them, but the old adage of "you get what you pay for" certainly rings true with their products...you get a hell of alot, it's just I can't bring myself to pay for it 

Also, I've heard great things about omega's too, but for the models that could fit on my desk, they would just lack too much bass for my tastes and I'd probably loose some upper end resolution that I favor with a tweeter.

That's why I am trying to go the Chinese route since I've had great luck so far.