[doug s.]

the sophia baby, a 10wpc amp, has gotten lotsa nice review

http://www.sophiaelectric.com/pages/amp/ampbaby.htm


but, these similar amps on ebay seem to be a steal:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5776863184


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5765178927


doug s.

[Brad]

They also have an 845 SET, a 300b SET, and a 6c33 SET for some pretty low prices.

[jswallac]

Great prices, but a little riskier.  With the Sophia you get a warranty and a company behind it.  You also do not pay $100 shipping, nor do you have to pay with a money order (or bidpay) where you lack protection.  Audiogon almost always has an auction going for a Baby (seller Washington_highend_audio.  I have bought from them before.  They are legitimate.  The auctions usually end up between $400 and $450, with $25 shipping.  So after shipping, bidpay fees, etc, you only pay about $100 more for the real thing with a warranty.

[doug s.]

Great prices, but a little riskier.  With the Sophia you get a warranty and a company behind it.  You also do not pay $100 shipping, nor do you have to pay with a money order (or bidpay) where you lack protection.  Audiogon almost always has an auction going for a Baby (seller Washington_highend_audio.  I have bought from them before.  They are legitimate.  The auctions usually end up between $400 and $450, with $25 shipping.  So after shipping, bidpay fees, etc, you only pay about $100 more for the real thing with a warranty.

yes they do; they're the distributor, so they're certainly legit.  here's a demo unit now f/a:
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc.pl?ampstube&1117675934

but, if your bid is $450, (or even $500), you won't be an owner.  (also note the 3 month warranty.):
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc.pl?ampstube&1114131807

personally, i like the ebay unit w/o the headfone input - 50% more power than the others....

doug s.

[westcoast]

Hey guys,

I used to own a Baby Amp - bought a demo unit directly from Richard at Sophia Electric.  I've also contacted 18audioguy at eBay about his stuff when I saw one of his EL-34's that bore a striking resemblance to the Sophia Electric model.  He has good feedback, and what seems to be a lot of satisfied eBay customers...  

I recall a statement in a recent listing by Washington Highend Audio (I think that's Sophia Electric, by the way) for a Sophia EL-34 to the effect "don't buy the cheap model on eBay...you'll be sorry".

It might be worthwhile to email or call Richard at Sophia Electric to get his take on why the Sophia pieces are better.  Are they really better design, higher quality components, better quality control, or are they actually identical units with different cosmetics?  

But hey, that EL-84 - kinda funky looking, but $290 shipped?  DAMN!!    

[hmen]

I thought this was kind of interesting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3702&item=6762016183

[doug s.]

I thought this was kind of interesting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3702&item=6762016183

why not yust get the baby-clone, which has a headfone output & 10wpc for speakers?  but i agree 18audioguy has lotsa interesting stuff on ebay...

doug s.