Review on Gemtune PA1501A Amplifier 6AD10 Black by Juan Axum

lamps are not sound magic. They behave in a certain way in the audio chain and many listeners like the sound. Many others just love glow tubes. you look cool Doesn't matter. It's all part of the fun of playing with our respective stereos. I had a predecessor of this amp. Everything was good. I screwed in a couple of NOS phones and it overclocked my front end network in my home theater. All is well (they were very effective speakers). I gave up home theater for my first love, stereo playback, and went down the old-fashioned route, although my source remains digital Hi-Rez. So is the APPJ comparable to an Audio Research amplifier? power cord? Supply your own. Small metal legs? They slip and scratch - I have APPJ on a cork pad. Heat? VERY HOT! Added heatsink (still hot, but heatsinks draw heat away from the case). The tubes are tilted at a slightly odd angle and I can't move them. That's all. Those are all the negatives I can think of, except that it would be cool to have an old bakelite volume knob - it would fit the aesthetic. probably not work when sound pressure levels are generated in a room. With conventional loudspeakers, your peak performance is significantly more restrained. Of course, peak levels don't tell the whole story. And I will also mention that I use a subwoofer powered by the speaker outputs of this APPJ. Yes, you read that right - speaker outputs. Just like Revel's subwoofers. Amazing, it works great! Are there phase problems etc.? Maybe, but "Beauties" isn't really about image. They're all about dynamics. This amp has great dynamics! It's tonally balanced, with satisfying mids and highs. There's a lot of air at the top, and the bass is, um, restrained. OK. Bass reproduction could be better. There are three solutions. 1) Don't worry. Seriously, just forget about it and enjoy the quality the amp brings to your music. 2) Swap out some capacitors as others have done (see reviews from other sources in the audiophile press) to boost the bass a few dB. 3) Get a subwoofer and get as much bass as you want! This works fine for me. And I decided on a cheap sub from Parts Express. So what do we have. My goal for this system was to find synergy between 40 year old vintage speakers and a modern low cost tube amp. And I did. I swap out the NuForce DDA-120 and get solid bliss when the vibes hit. This amp is also a bargain. (Or it was. They're going away. Get one if you can.) But APPJ is generally the amp to "skip over" because it just sounds right. Is this amp for everyone? no He needs a place because it's very, very hot. Performance is extremely limited. The design is clean, if a bit unusual. However, if you have the right accessories, you'll get a sound that's above the amp's price point. Again, I'm not talking about Quicksilver-level performance here. Just a damn good tube sound. For this money I can only recommend it. Have fun while listening!