A brand new tube amp for under $100? - Nahhh...

revisit this amp

cool thread actually..i may have to try to bring mine back to life..if i lived closer to a jaycar.i could of had my fixed under warrenty..thing is i ..soon opened to up also..so see if it was a simple fix...the 3 days it did work were cool ,i have bought alot of stereo ..midfi stuff since then.
thanks for the thread aussiedan..
 
valve_amp said:
cool thread actually..i may have to try to bring mine back to life..if i lived closer to a jaycar.i could of had my fixed under warrenty..thing is i ..soon opened to up also..so see if it was a simple fix...the 3 days it did work were cool ,i have bought alot of stereo ..midfi stuff since then.
thanks for the thread aussiedan..
Click to expand...

From what has been said here, maybe its just tubes gone? Burnt out maybe?

If you do go inside, watch out for the nasty little power switch. I thought I'd have no hope of getting it out in one piece. Looked well glued. During reassembly of the board, the weak as piss glue let go, the switch ended up in three parts, with the bezel in my hand. I think they used "tarzans grip" or some other hobby glue.

The whole thing needed careful re-gluing. I used some loctite 406, seemed to do the trick.
The hardest thing about the resistor mod is physicly getting the board out. And thats not all that bad.
Good luck mate, I think you should get it rockin' again.:music:

Danny.
 
Hi everyone,

This is my first post on this forum. I have purchased one of these amps and its sound pretty impressive for $100. Has anyone tried the mods that was suggested on this forum.

What was the result?

Did Lowering the voltage on the valves make any difference at all? To the sound etc.

Any feedback would be helpful.:D

Cheers,

Steve.
 
The board in a Yaqin amp has sockets marked 12AT7 and 12AU7 but came with 6N1's. I swapped the 12AU7 sockets first and the amp lost it nighttime glow.
87abd8f1.jpg

I know little about 6N1's, google is of no help. They are a military tube, one wonders if the are used as field replacements for a number of other tubes. They heat up and run fast.
 
Hi,

Hows everyones Jaycar valve hybrid amp? Has anyone done in mods like adjusting the voltage down to 6.3 v? What was the result?

Thanks

Steve.
 
aussiedan said:
power indicator LED is strong enough to light the room. Waaay too bright.
Click to expand...

Whoever decided electronics needed to be covered in blue LEDs never thought that people might want to put some of these things in their bedroom. Seriously, computers, amps, gadget chargers, whatever, all of them have LEDs, most of them blue. I had to attack them all with some black duct tape so I could sleep at night. Oh, and this power conditioner I got was just covered in LEDs. With large LED displays that could not be dimmed. It's a nightmare. These things need dimmer switches or something.
 
jbav said:
Whoever decided electronics needed to be covered in blue LEDs never thought that people might want to put some of these things in their bedroom. Seriously, computers, amps, gadget chargers, whatever, all of them have LEDs, most of them blue. I had to attack them all with some black duct tape so I could sleep at night. Oh, and this power conditioner I got was just covered in LEDs. With large LED displays that could not be dimmed. It's a nightmare. These things need dimmer switches or something.
Click to expand...



Huh?!? I have no trouble sleeping, with a few LEDs or even a night light burning in the hall. :scratch2:
 
stephennic said:
Hi,

Hows everyones Jaycar valve hybrid amp? Has anyone done in mods like adjusting the voltage down to 6.3 v? What was the result?

Thanks

Steve.
Click to expand...

Sorry mate, I meant to get back to this thread earlier.

Yes, I did do the mod's. Still thinking about adding 2 more resistors, but I dont want to go near that power switch again. I'm thinking I won't be so lucky with it the second time arround.

My main amp is out, needing repair, so the Digitech has been getting it's first real run.
I dont have an RMS multi meter, or a 'scope, so I can't check the voltage I ended up with, but the results seem satisfactory as the tubes look almost right when running. I would suggest adding a resistor to the power LED, it plugs into the PC board, so it can be done anytime.
The hardest thing with the mod is removing the board. A few badly placed nuts to undo, and the power switch is glued in after the board is installed.

Listening results; The hum seems to be a lot less after burn in. It is a strong little performer so far. Plenty of bottom end, but it lacks clarity. A little muddy, IMO.
It makes for a good rock and roll amp. Plenty of grunt and you dont hear the hum with loud music.

It does look cool, and has been getting some good coments. I wish everyone who has one good luck.
 
aussiedan said:
Sorry mate, I meant to get back to this thread earlier.

Yes, I did do the mod's. Still thinking about adding 2 more resistors, but I dont want to go near that power switch again. I'm thinking I won't be so lucky with it the second time arround.

My main amp is out, needing repair, so the Digitech has been getting it's first real run.
I dont have an RMS multi meter, or a 'scope, so I can't check the voltage I ended up with, but the results seem satisfactory as the tubes look almost right when running. I would suggest adding a resistor to the power LED, it plugs into the PC board, so it can be done anytime.
The hardest thing with the mod is removing the board. A few badly placed nuts to undo, and the power switch is glued in after the board is installed.

Listening results; The hum seems to be a lot less after burn in. It is a strong little performer so far. Plenty of bottom end, but it lacks clarity. A little muddy, IMO.
It makes for a good rock and roll amp. Plenty of grunt and you dont hear the hum with loud music.

It does look cool, and has been getting some good coments. I wish everyone who has one good luck.
Click to expand...

Hi aussiedan,

I found the strengths of the little amp is in the midrange, especially with slower music like jazz, acoustic, slow pop, classical, instrumental. It sounds lovely with the human voice sounding very natural and soothing like a good valve amp. The top end is quite open too.

I did find the little amp loses a bit a clarity with complex music, faster pop, metal, etc but with simpler music I found the clarity nice. I found it beats my $700 Yamaha integraded amp for musicality which is quite amazing for $100.

Did you find the sound change at all when you put the resistors in? Have you compared it to any other amps - how did it compare?

What cables, source, speakers do you use with it?

By the way I see you from Victoria too.:)

Cheers,

Steve.
 
The sound will change without the resistors, when the tubes go. They look nice running hot, but they will go, I'm sure. The resistors didn't affect the sound, they are in the tubes heater circut. The resistors were like 85 cents, I havn't seen tubes here for under $7.00, most are closer to $25.00. I did it to save the tubes (thanks Gary Indiana).

I normally run a Pioneer SM-G204. In comparison, the Pioneer is better, but it has 18 tubes V's 4 in the Digitech. Maybe I'm spoilt with the Pioneer, but the Digitech is not as clear.

I run 93dB Pioneer CS-411's and a pair of Yamaha's that both sound nice. The Yamaha's have better bass. I try and avoid cheap interconnects but I use nothing special. I'm one of those lamp cord kinda people.

If you like tube sound, this little amp is going to sound better than most SS gear. It beats a Pioneer SX-434, an SA-5300 (not hard), SX-5500II, a AMI-Jorgen SR-2000P, and is about as powerful. But for how long?

Where in Victoria are you Steve?
 
jbav said:
Whoever decided electronics needed to be covered in blue LEDs never thought that people might want to put some of these things in their bedroom. Seriously, computers, amps, gadget chargers, whatever, all of them have LEDs, most of them blue. I had to attack them all with some black duct tape so I could sleep at night. Oh, and this power conditioner I got was just covered in LEDs. With large LED displays that could not be dimmed. It's a nightmare. These things need dimmer switches or something.
Click to expand...

Funny... I cant sleep unless it's dark... completely. I even have to turn off my porch light... outside! really! My wife thinks I'm nuts.
 
aussiedan said:
The sound will change without the resistors, when the tubes go. They look nice running hot, but they will go, I'm sure. The resistors didn't affect the sound, they are in the tubes heater circut. The resistors were like 85 cents, I havn't seen tubes here for under $7.00, most are closer to $25.00. I did it to save the tubes (thanks Gary Indiana).

I normally run a Pioneer SM-G204. In comparison, the Pioneer is better, but it has 18 tubes V's 4 in the Digitech. Maybe I'm spoilt with the Pioneer, but the Digitech is not as clear.

I run 93dB Pioneer CS-411's and a pair of Yamaha's that both sound nice. The Yamaha's have better bass. I try and avoid cheap interconnects but I use nothing special. I'm one of those lamp cord kinda people.

If you like tube sound, this little amp is going to sound better than most SS gear. It beats a Pioneer SX-434, an SA-5300 (not hard), SX-5500II, a AMI-Jorgen SR-2000P, and is about as powerful. But for how long?

Where in Victoria are you Steve?
Click to expand...


Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. I live in sunny Melbourne :D

Its good sound for the money.

Cheers,

Steve.
 
stephennic said:
Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. I live in sunny Melbourne :D

Its good sound for the money.

Cheers,

Steve.
Click to expand...

I'm in rainy ol' Ballarat.:tears:

I agree, all other things aside, good value sound.
Have you had any comments on the looks?

Dan.
 
aussiedan said:
I'm in rainy ol' Ballarat.:tears:

I agree, all other things aside, good value sound.
Have you had any comments on the looks?

Dan.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Ballarat wet hey - I thought its dry there :D

I only heard a slight hum with mine.

I imagine there might be differences in the production of the unit at that price. I have heard people raving about the miniwatt (tnt audio and sixmoons etc.).

Cheers,

Steve.
 
jerryd said:
Funny... I cant sleep unless it's dark... completely. I even have to turn off my porch light... outside! really! My wife thinks I'm nuts.
Click to expand...

I can't stand it when people leave their friggin porch light on all night (applies to those lights outside your garage, too). WTF, did they order a pizza or something? Turn it on if you need to (unloading groceries, etc.) but then turn the damn thing off afterward.
 
there's a light outside my window in my apartment building that drives me crazy. i have several layers of curtains and it's barely enough
 
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