[MiNe 109]

On another group, someone who says he's a reviewer posted some blind
items representing audio bargains. I couldn't figure them all out so I
thought I'd present them here to get the discussion going.

1. "great performing MOSFET 150+ Watt/channel stereo power amp for
$200"

2. "fine sounding 65 Watt/channel KT88 tube amp that is a dual mono
design, with 5 pairs of line-level inputs, separate power
supplies(including separate power transformers!) and ceramic tube
sockets and all hand wired, gorgeously finished for under $700"

3. "marvelous tube preamp that's circuit-wise a virtual copy of the
famous Marantz 7 for about $250"

4. "quiet, FET preamp (and a copy of an older Nelson Pass design)
with a decent phono stage for $200"

5. "24-bit/96KHz DAC that perform superbly for @$100"

Me and Mr google have some guesses:

1. There have been many mentions of a cheap Behringer amp with a street
price like that but I don't know if it has MOSFETs. A500 Reference?

2. That's the price of half a PrimaLuna Prologue 2.

3. Mr google maybe scores one, Octave-Electronics M7i.

4. Nada.

5. One-third of the MF V-DAC.

That's casual knowledge and twenty minutes of computer time. Have fun!

Stephen

[Trevor Wilson]

"MiNe 109" wrote in message
...
On another group, someone who says he's a reviewer posted some blind
items representing audio bargains. I couldn't figure them all out so I
thought I'd present them here to get the discussion going.

1. "great performing MOSFET 150+ Watt/channel stereo power amp for
$200"

**"great sounding MOSFET" is an oxymoron (unless the amp happens to be
mostly operating in Class A).


2. "fine sounding 65 Watt/channel KT88 tube amp that is a dual mono
design, with 5 pairs of line-level inputs, separate power
supplies(including separate power transformers!) and ceramic tube
sockets and all hand wired, gorgeously finished for under $700"

**More Chinese crap with crap output transformers. Ho hum.


3. "marvelous tube preamp that's circuit-wise a virtual copy of the
famous Marantz 7 for about $250"

**Chinese? Again?


4. "quiet, FET preamp (and a copy of an older Nelson Pass design)
with a decent phono stage for $200"

**Uh-huh.


5. "24-bit/96KHz DAC that perform superbly for @$100"

**That's hardly rocket science.


Me and Mr google have some guesses:

1. There have been many mentions of a cheap Behringer amp with a street
price like that but I don't know if it has MOSFETs. A500 Reference?

**Pretty certain Behringers are BJTs. Not certain though.


2. That's the price of half a PrimaLuna Prologue 2.

3. Mr google maybe scores one, Octave-Electronics M7i.

4. Nada.

5. One-third of the MF V-DAC.

That's casual knowledge and twenty minutes of computer time. Have fun!

**It was fun for me.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

[MiNe 109]

In article ,
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

"MiNe 109" wrote in message
...
On another group, someone who says he's a reviewer posted some blind
items representing audio bargains. I couldn't figure them all out so I
thought I'd present them here to get the discussion going.

1. "great performing MOSFET 150+ Watt/channel stereo power amp for
$200"

**"great sounding MOSFET" is an oxymoron (unless the amp happens to be
mostly operating in Class A).

Split the difference between 'performing' and 'sounding'! I wouldn't be
surprised if the amp powers up.

2. "fine sounding 65 Watt/channel KT88 tube amp that is a dual mono
design, with 5 pairs of line-level inputs, separate power
supplies(including separate power transformers!) and ceramic tube
sockets and all hand wired, gorgeously finished for under $700"

**More Chinese crap with crap output transformers. Ho hum.


3. "marvelous tube preamp that's circuit-wise a virtual copy of the
famous Marantz 7 for about $250"

**Chinese? Again?

Malaysian. Maybe a kit.

4. "quiet, FET preamp (and a copy of an older Nelson Pass design)
with a decent phono stage for $200"

**Uh-huh.


5. "24-bit/96KHz DAC that perform superbly for @$100"

**That's hardly rocket science.

I have one in my $150 receiver.

Me and Mr google have some guesses:

1. There have been many mentions of a cheap Behringer amp with a street
price like that but I don't know if it has MOSFETs. A500 Reference?

**Pretty certain Behringers are BJTs. Not certain though.


2. That's the price of half a PrimaLuna Prologue 2.

3. Mr google maybe scores one, Octave-Electronics M7i.

4. Nada.

5. One-third of the MF V-DAC.

That's casual knowledge and twenty minutes of computer time. Have fun!

**It was fun for me.

Thanks for playing.

Stephen

[Bret L]

The Chinese and other oriental vendors sell many variants of a
"Marantz 7 clone" on a pcb with no switching or tone controls in many
forms, from bare boards to complete units. The board costs $5 in 500
piece lot, they retail the bare board for $35, stuffed for $100-150,
and in a cheap case with tubes, P/S and connectors from $250 on up.

The volume control is a $1 double pot and there is no tone stack or
any switching ot speak of. Other than that, it's just like a Marantz 7.