Info about my chinese Aeron AP890 push-pull KT88

[Giovanni68]

Hello everybody,

a while ago the hifi passion revamped, I took dust off the JBL4311B and reconnected the old Adcom GFP345 and GFA535, visiting a friend's place I laid my eyes on some of the gear from his gone dad he wanted to sell and I got a marvellous Gyrodec TT and an Audio Research SP9 preamp, the TT is a joy to look at, the pre was necessary because the Adcom doesn't have a phono input (and you please believe me that was the reason I got the SP9 ).

There also was a tube amp, something I have always been lusting, it has been barely used, it is a chinese made Aeron AP890, twin KT88, I have been looking for news and reviews about this amp but haven't find much besides a short article on an italian audio magazine stating that it was good value for the price (back in time it was about 1.6K euros if I recall correct) but nothing more than that.

A year after my AR SP9 and Gyrodec shopping I bit the bullet and got the amp, noted it being almost new, hooked it up to my old JBL4311B and what a difference with my Adcom, at the beginning I was not sure I like it, whilst with the solid state voices and high end of the sound range was like in a padded closet with the tubes they popped out, the bass frequencies didn't suffer much off the switching and when one of the driver tubes (an A12x something if I recall correct) passed away and I had to temporarily switch back to the Adcom I realised how much more pleasant to my ears the tubes are.

Question being, I know this brand not being very known and not on par with the big names of the business (here the tech data) so I don't expect anybody being able to tell me something about this particular amp but if somebody could instead tell me about this configuration (the twin KT88) and what are the pros and cons of it vs, say, a solid state in the same price range to drive 12" and bigger JBL white woofers (I'm dealing for a couple of L220 to partially restore and I am very excited at the idea even tho they will barely fit into my listening room but, hey, I have no wife, who cares...).

Any input would be really welcome

Grazie

Giovanni

 

[Giovanni68]

Up! Nobody ever heard of this amp?

 

[Legrace]

Not familiar with the amp but at 24 kg its more then just a pretty face like a lot of chifi stuff. Must have some really decent transformers to weigh that much. Should drive the new speakers just fine. Once you've experienced tubes no going back. Post some pics!

 

[Giovanni68]

Well, actually the Aeron is quite a beast, I am new to tubes but, so far, I like its sound much more than my old solid state Adcom which, by te way, wasn't anything great but I guess, as you say, once you experience tubes sound...

Can't find much about the Aeron online but here you can see some pics

I am ashamed to post pics, my setup looks horrible, I am actually waiting to get and then start a restoration process for a couple of JBL L220, very excited

 

[Akustic]

You are on the road to some very good sound indeed ..
I haven't heard the Aeron, but there are some very well built Asian brands ..
It can take some real hunting to find the info on the amp .. just keep searching ..
I have a couple pieces of Chinese tube gear that took a bit of hunting but eventually I found info and some of the schematics ..

 

[Giovanni68]

I bought the Aeron along with an Audio Research SP-9 off a friend whose dad was a very passionate hi-fi collector and listener, I also got a beautiful Michell Gyrodec and next on the list there are the JBL L220 which need some restoration but they will be worth the pain and probably will make a very good match with the 50W of the Aeron.

My dream is to get twin mono tube amps but it will take quite some wait to save the funds, hi-fi is not the priority now but for sure I'll get them!!!

 

[johnlcnm]

I bought the Aeron along with an Audio Research SP-9 off a friend whose dad was a very passionate hi-fi collector and listener, I also got a beautiful Michell Gyrodec and next on the list there are the JBL L220 which need some restoration but they will be worth the pain and probably will make a very good match with the 50W of the Aeron.

My dream is to get twin mono tube amps but it will take quite some wait to save the funds, hi-fi is not the priority now but for sure I'll get them!!!

I went the same route with a pair of JBL's. Purchased a used Primaluna EVO100 power amp. Made a huge difference in the sound. What surprised me was the bass response. It was much flatter down to probably 40 Hz. The only thing that I can think of is the peak in the impedance from the port at 40 Hz.