Arkay
Lunatic Member
Today I picked up a pre+power amp combo: an Allegro 1 preamp + Silsonic tube power amp. Silsonic is the domestic-market brand name for a local (Hong Kong) company. They make pretty decent stuff, with fairly beefy transformers, a notch above most of the Chinese brands.
I've seen the same model power amp alone sell online a few times for over a thousand bucks, and locally for more than I paid for both units together (just over four hundred), so the price was okay.
The silsonic appeared to have originally been an integrated amp, but someone modded it, including removing the pre-amp/selector section(!). That hasn't seemed to hurt the sound at all, though (perhaps less circuitry creates less interference?). It came with "direct in" jacks in front, which still work. It currently has Sovtek tubes in it, a step up from the usual Chinese ones. I was only able to audition it with so-so speakers, but it sounded pretty good, even just with those. I have a feeling that I'll be very pleased, once I hear it through more revealing speakers like the NS-1000Ms, or tube-friendly speakers like the ARs.
For the price, I thought it was worth getting, as I can easily flip it to get my money back if I decide that I don't want it. I'll probably do some upgrading and tweaking on it, both functional and cosmetic, just for fun (and for learning). I'd be more reluctant to do that with an as-new amp, but since someone already extracted the pre-amp (leaving three empty holes where the controls for that were), I don't mind tinkering with this one.
The Allegro 1 pre-amp I don't really need, but I know it is generally respected and sounds pretty good, so I don't mind having it. I'll try it with different power amps, and try different pre's with the Silsonic power amp, before deciding whether to leave these together or not, or what. They may well end up together in my office-room system, or something like that.
They also had an earlier Phillips CD player, which I know is a good one. They'll hold it until I go back Tuesday or Wednesday to pick up the amps (I leave early tomorrow for the Mainland, so I can't get it sooner), so I have a little time to decide about it. I know it is a 'collected' CD player, coveted for its sound, so I may add it, although it will put me slightly over my audio budget this month.
I tried to find a little information about it onlne, and came up with a Chinese private seller's description. Babelfish translated it accordingly, which I thought worth sharing:
Silsonic gallbladder machine amplifier, (12ax7 input) exhaust pipe (4xEL34 output), and impetus tube (2x12AU7 Driver). *** outputs 4 ohm /8 ohm /40W, organism duty careful merge machine size approximately 22x16" The weight 40 pounds, 85%new,100% work are normal, private bath at a public bathhouse testing ***
Oooh, it's not just an amplifier, it's a gallbladder machine and merge machine that can be tested at a public bathhouse.
Sounds really kinky to me! :smsex: 
What's more, it must be automotive, with an exhaust pipe! :lmao: I wonder if it supercharged, too?
(Feel free to add other equally humorous translations to this thread! Any kidney amps out there?)
More seriously, I'm not sure if that 40 watts is into 4 ohms or 8 ohms, but either way, it is reasonably powerful for a tube amp. When testing (with apparently fairly efficient speakers), it was putting out some serious enough volume at 9:00 to satisfy most of my listening needs, and without any audible distortion. Plenty of headroom on this one, it seems. I'll know better when I try it with other speakers at home.
1. Does anyone here have experience of this amp? Comments on worthwhile tweaks, upgrades, etc...? Given that it uses common tubes (12ax7 and 12au7s with EL-34s), I'll try some tube-rolling, too. Any recommendations for ones that would sound better than the Sovteks, without breaking the bank too badly?
2. Any comments from owners on the Allegro 1 pre-amp?
I'm attaching the only pic I've been able to find so far, of this amp. It doesn't show much; I'll post a better one if I can find one.
I've seen the same model power amp alone sell online a few times for over a thousand bucks, and locally for more than I paid for both units together (just over four hundred), so the price was okay.
The silsonic appeared to have originally been an integrated amp, but someone modded it, including removing the pre-amp/selector section(!). That hasn't seemed to hurt the sound at all, though (perhaps less circuitry creates less interference?). It came with "direct in" jacks in front, which still work. It currently has Sovtek tubes in it, a step up from the usual Chinese ones. I was only able to audition it with so-so speakers, but it sounded pretty good, even just with those. I have a feeling that I'll be very pleased, once I hear it through more revealing speakers like the NS-1000Ms, or tube-friendly speakers like the ARs.
For the price, I thought it was worth getting, as I can easily flip it to get my money back if I decide that I don't want it. I'll probably do some upgrading and tweaking on it, both functional and cosmetic, just for fun (and for learning). I'd be more reluctant to do that with an as-new amp, but since someone already extracted the pre-amp (leaving three empty holes where the controls for that were), I don't mind tinkering with this one.
The Allegro 1 pre-amp I don't really need, but I know it is generally respected and sounds pretty good, so I don't mind having it. I'll try it with different power amps, and try different pre's with the Silsonic power amp, before deciding whether to leave these together or not, or what. They may well end up together in my office-room system, or something like that.
They also had an earlier Phillips CD player, which I know is a good one. They'll hold it until I go back Tuesday or Wednesday to pick up the amps (I leave early tomorrow for the Mainland, so I can't get it sooner), so I have a little time to decide about it. I know it is a 'collected' CD player, coveted for its sound, so I may add it, although it will put me slightly over my audio budget this month.
I tried to find a little information about it onlne, and came up with a Chinese private seller's description. Babelfish translated it accordingly, which I thought worth sharing:
Silsonic gallbladder machine amplifier, (12ax7 input) exhaust pipe (4xEL34 output), and impetus tube (2x12AU7 Driver). *** outputs 4 ohm /8 ohm /40W, organism duty careful merge machine size approximately 22x16" The weight 40 pounds, 85%new,100% work are normal, private bath at a public bathhouse testing ***
Oooh, it's not just an amplifier, it's a gallbladder machine and merge machine that can be tested at a public bathhouse.
Sounds really kinky to me! :smsex: What's more, it must be automotive, with an exhaust pipe! :lmao: I wonder if it supercharged, too? (Feel free to add other equally humorous translations to this thread! Any kidney amps out there?
)More seriously, I'm not sure if that 40 watts is into 4 ohms or 8 ohms, but either way, it is reasonably powerful for a tube amp. When testing (with apparently fairly efficient speakers), it was putting out some serious enough volume at 9:00 to satisfy most of my listening needs, and without any audible distortion. Plenty of headroom on this one, it seems. I'll know better when I try it with other speakers at home.
1. Does anyone here have experience of this amp? Comments on worthwhile tweaks, upgrades, etc...? Given that it uses common tubes (12ax7 and 12au7s with EL-34s), I'll try some tube-rolling, too. Any recommendations for ones that would sound better than the Sovteks, without breaking the bank too badly?
2. Any comments from owners on the Allegro 1 pre-amp?
I'm attaching the only pic I've been able to find so far, of this amp. It doesn't show much; I'll post a better one if I can find one.
uke: at four different stores, and then it went back to where it origionally was!
