[Glady86]

 Thanks for sharing, since I have subs I just raised the high pass filter to take more of the bass duties from the tube amp. Between doing that and tweaking my room treatment set up, it’s to the point I don’t want to mess with it anymore. Eventually out of curiosity, I might experiment with bi-amping similar to what you have done.

[Glady86]

I’m interested and following this thread, I hope you will share your listening thoughts here. Thx!

 I have maybe 15 hours on the amp. At first listen out of the box, I thought it sounded pretty good. Though the bass was sounding a little off, not much detail and not as accurate as I’m accustomed to. Getting better today and this amp has more powerful bass impact compared to the Elekit with 2a3 tubes. It has a different sound character, hard to explain, I guess it’s the difference of the tube types. I don’t think it’s as dynamic but has a fuller more fleshed out sound. It has plenty of power to drive the NX Oticas full satisfying levels. Some minor ac or transformer noise that doesn’t interfere with music listening, can’t hear it unless I put my ear close to the speakers when no music is playing, the Elekit is dead silent.

 The sound staging is close to the Elekit, just not as holographic or defined. It’s an enjoyable amp if you just want to enjoy music and not over analyze the sound. This is stock and the Elekit is stock except for Audyn copper coupling caps and better tubes, RCA black plate 2A3  and Westinghouse black plate 12bh7.

I have a pair of psvane Horizon EL34 and will pop them in later today.


 

[mkrawcz]

The stock tubes have to go. I have PSvane horizon EL34, a horizon 274b rectifier, and Tung Sol 6SN7. All that plus it needs a good 50hrs to open up.

[Glady86]

Thanks mkrawcz for recommending this budget amp. This thing is sounding amazing with the Psvane Horizon tubes and more run time. Already improved dynamics and detail especially the high frequency treble region. Crazy good soundstage affects. The better ability to drive the NX Oticas loud without strain makes me think I might end up liking it better than the Elekit with 2a3 tubes. I’ll use for a while then switch back and see what I think.

[Glady86]

The stock tubes have to go. I have PSvane horizon EL34, a horizon 274b rectifier, and Tung Sol 6SN7. All that plus it needs a good 50hrs to open up.

You got Tung sol reissue or vintage 6sn7 ?

[mkrawcz]

You got Tung sol reissue or vintage 6sn7 ?

Reissue. The driver tube section is picky. That’s the source of hum and I found that noisy tubes make it loud. The Psvane Horizon 6sn7 equivalent are very quiet, but the Tung Sols sound better in this amp to me. But you will need well tested low noise ones. Man this amp with the copper foil caps and better tubes is the best tube amp I own and is sounding better and better each day.

[Glady86]

Reissue. The driver tube section is picky. That’s the source of hum and I found that noisy tubes make it loud. The Psvane Horizon 6sn7 equivalent are very quiet, but the Tung Sols sound better in this amp to me. But you will need well tested low noise ones. Man this amp with the copper foil caps and better tubes is the best tube amp I own and is sounding better and better each day.

 I’m impressed already, to my ear its better than the Elekit with 300b tubes and way better than the Prima Luna I owned with KT88 power tubes, it’s a toss up between it and the Elekit with 2A3, both very good just a different presentation.

[Tyson]

Single ended pentode is no joke!  It’s why I have the Dennis Had MB12’s.  There’s a rightness to the sound that is really hard to match.

[mkrawcz]

I think the hum from this amp is from the AC filament heater supply for the preamp tubes. I’m still contemplating if I even want to mess with it or just let it be. The hum stays low level with good tubes and is not a big deal. The ideal fix is adding a regulated heater supply but may as well get a new amp at that point since the point is this thing sounds unbelievable for only a few hundred bucks.

[mkrawcz]

Anyone have experience with the Bottlehead Kaiju 300B? Just ordered a kit, should be interesting to compare to the Elekit.

[Tyson]

Anyone have experience with the Bottlehead Kaiju 300B? Just ordered a kit, should be interesting to compare to the Elekit.

I was seriously considering it to replace my Elekit 300b amp but found some Sophia Electric 300b monoblocks for a crazy good deal and jumped on that instead.  I'm very curious to hear your thoughts when you get it up and running.

[goggle1824]

I think the hum from this amp is from the AC filament heater supply for the preamp tubes. I’m still contemplating if I even want to mess with it or just let it be. The hum stays low level with good tubes and is not a big deal. The ideal fix is adding a regulated heater supply but may as well get a new amp at that point since the point is this thing sounds unbelievable for only a few hundred bucks.

Which speakers were you primarily listened to on this? If several, which do you prefer or seem to have the best synergy with (if you subscribe to such things, some folks do, some folks don’t), though I certainly do.

[mkrawcz]

Which speakers were you primarily listened to on this? If several, which do you prefer or seem to have the best synergy with (if you subscribe to such things, some folks do, some folks don’t), though I certainly do.

I have listening through the NX Bravo towers and the Superminis so far. The amp works well with both. I think it will work well with any of the current GR speakers 90db and up. When I pulled it out of my NX bravo setup and hooked my Pass INT25 back up and listened, I immediately wanted the Oldchen back in. It’s that good. Just a more holographic soundstage, a very focused center image. The vocals are suspended right there in space and it’s so natural and realistic sounding. The bass is so deep it’s hard to believe this thing is only putting out around 7-8 watts. The bass is also very tight for a tube amp.

[Glady86]

I changed out the Oldchen branded coupling caps with Auricap .47uf I had laying around. That and the better power tubes cleaned up the sound some. Wonder What other caps could be changed to improve it further? Some people claim those other name brand capacitors in there are “fakes” not sure how  they could know this.

Some people really like this amp, others claim it’s junk, it works pretty good in my setup. I don’t feel like switching back to any of my other amps anytime soon.

[mkrawcz]

I hooked the Oldchen to my NX Oticas. That worked out really well. Might be the perfect low cost amp for those speakers.

[Glady86]

I hooked the Oldchen to my NX Oticas. That worked out really well. Might be the perfect low cost amp for those speakers.

 It definitely has a fuller sound, it drives the woofers better than other tube amps I tried. Anyone want to buy an Elekit 8900 with a couple sets of tubes 

 It’s not quite as refined, detailed and transparent, but for the types of music I mostly listen to it’s not a big deal. But it probably needs more time, plus upgrading the other tubes…the few that think it sounds crappy either it’s not a good match for their speakers or they’re lying.

 

[Glady86]

Distortion can give that impression.

I think the Oldchen has decent distortion specifications, at least compared to my SET amp. If I was interested in low distortion I would have never tried these types of amps.

[Glady86]

Put in Sylvania yellow label black plate 6SN7GTB, next up is try Psvane 274b rectifier and also got an RCA 5U4G to try. The Sylvania tubes sound a bit more natural, those stock tubes were too colored, not as smooth and accurate. The Oldchen is Still less dynamic than the Elekit, maybe the different rectifier tube will help.

[mkrawcz]

Just got my Bottlehead Kaiju 300b kit, upgraded caps, and a set of Western Electric 300b tubes. Will try and work on it this weekend. In the meantime, I just fired up the WE tubes in my Elekit and like what I’m hearing.

[Glady86]

Just got my Bottlehead Kaiju 300b kit, upgraded caps, and a set of Western Electric 300b tubes. Will try and work on it this weekend. In the meantime, I just fired up the WE tubes in my Elekit and like what I’m hearing.

 Do you have the VK Version? I’m pretty much satisfied with my collection of amps, at this point trying different amps wouldn’t necessarily be better just different. And If I want to revisit low distortion and high power, I have a few nice SS amps to throw in the mix.