Review on Reisong A10 EL34 Hi-Fi Audio Stereo Tube Amplifier Single-ended Class-A Amplifier by Kenneth Wood

Please note that this review was written by someone who has never used a tube amp before. I've tried tons of solid state amps and receivers since the 80's. I like listening to music and blasting a good home theater system and have separate systems for both. In the late 90's/early 2000's I recorded a TON of live music with quality mics and gear so I'm pretty knowledgeable about audio components and what sounds good. I've always loved vinyl and love playing with gear so I decided to try a tube amp and see what the difference was. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but I didn't want shit either. Did a little research and came across this little bundle of joy. Boyuurrange seems to have several US versions in Revains PA's warehouse (I'm in upstate New York) showing next day delivery which made the decision easier as I hate waiting :). Firstly, the packaging and delivery of the product. super pro. In no event will this item be damaged during transit due to the way it was packaged. Came with updated instructions in English that answer many of the questions you see on Revain which shows they care about customer service. They also send you a nice welcome email after your purchase with some helpful information. This little beast is damn heavy. My wife almost dropped it during a transfer with a UPS employee as she wasn't ready for the weight. She's like, what the hell is that? Seriously, you could anchor a small boat with this booster. The build quality of this amp is top notch, IMHO. All the weight comes from the stainless steel housing in combination with high performance transformers. It has two buttons, one for power and one for volume. Nice solid buttons and the power button makes a very nice click when turned on. All of the speaker and RCA connections on the back are pretty darn solid too. The 5 lamps come in a beautiful packaging that is very easy to install. As another reviewer noted, one of the boxes contains 2 tubes so don't worry if you see 5 holes and 4 boxes. I quickly set up and connected the amplifier. Remember this is an unbeatable integrated preamp. That doesn't mean you can't run it with a different preamp, just that you need to play around with the gain/volume a little more on both hardware components. I know many purists won't like this setup as you are going through 2 stages of preamplification, but I've played with enough audio gear in the field (preamp, amp, DA converter, etc.) to say let ears decide , which sounds best. Since I have multiple audio playback devices (CD, DAT, solid state recorder, vinyl, etc.) I had to keep using my current receiver and connected a tube amp to the receiver via the pre-outs to power the speakers. I'm using a Pioneer Elite 2-channel stereo network receiver paired with a Reisong tube amp. I played around a bit but found that setting the Reisong volume to around 12 hours while setting the Pioneer to your desired listening volume gave good results. There's still room to crank, but it's not necessary. I use Klipsch R51-M speakers to listen with this amp because such an amp requires highly sensitive speakers. I have an active subwoofer that I use with vinyl and CDs, but I have to turn it off during live performances or it risks blowing up the subwoofer :) Damn low bass from Schoeps mics. Out of the box this amp sounds fantastic and I can't wait to see it only get better with time. The soundstage is surprisingly wide, natural and airy. I hear things I've never heard before on my vinyl and records. Attack and decay of the instruments amaze with crystal clear highs, clear mids and tight, precise bass. The tubes really give the music a nice warmth without being too punchy or too colourful. While my vinyl has never sounded better, this amp has breathed new life into my live music collection. There is about 800 hours of live music that I recorded on DAT 15-20 years ago. Gov't Mule, Phish, Dead etc sound amazing through this amp. The details of the recordings really shine through and the soundstage created makes me feel like I'm back at a live show. Watching and listening to all my favorite shows is like hearing them again for the first time. I'll report back when I have more amp breaks, but so far this little amp reservoir has completely transformed my music collection. . I can't wait to hear more music! Photos are attached. UPDATE from 05/17/20. I'm reporting after actually tearing this amp apart with hundreds of hours of music (Vinyl, CD, DAT) on it. My opinion of this amp is becoming more and more positive. The first thing I want to point out are some of the reviews that say this thing can't be cranked up loud or that there is distortion, pops, crackling, etc. I don't know exactly what. Devices that others are using, but something must be wrong, if you have these problems, maybe the amp is not working properly? I've experimented with many different ways of doing this since hooking it up to the preamp inputs on my Pioneer network receiver. I started by setting the volume on the amp at 12 o'clock and then adjusted the volume to the desired position on the Pioneer. It sounded good, but I like to play around, so I decided to use the same logic as when recording a show on my stereo. The less signal attenuation in your device chain from the microphone to the recording device, the better the sound. So I turned the amp all the way up and then adjusted the volume on the Pioneer. WOW, cranking up the tube amp completely changed the sound. Cleaner, clearer, airier, more detailed, just better in every way. I can't turn the receiver on more than 50% or my ears will bleed. Not distorted, just too loud! So I doubt some of the issues others are having with this amp are either user error or faulty hardware in your setup. With a pair of highly sensitive speakers and the right setup, you shouldn't have any trouble getting this thing to work. This amp is the best purchase I have ever made for my listening pleasure. The performance you get compared to the price is pretty amazing. Combine that with incredible build quality and you simply can't go wrong. Great booster, looking through my music collection it's like hearing these albums for the first time! UPDATE 01/14/21 This is by far the best purchase I have ever made for my listening pleasure. I listen to a lot of music when I work from home and this little amp has many uses. I usually turn on the first device to warm up while I brew coffee before turning on my favorite radio talk show in the morning. Key point: Always let this baby warm up before use, it will just treat you better. I love how he even makes radio talk shows sound like I'm in the studio with them. The soundstage this magical box creates has an airy realism that's hard to explain when mixed with that beautiful, tube-like warmth that's never overwhelming, just perfection. I now listen to a lot more music thanks to this amp. A good vinyl record sounds so fantastic with this amp it was a real treat to be able to get an old classic that I love but have never tried on vinyl. I can also guarantee that it is built to last. There was a massive power surge in my house that destroyed my internet modem, my CD player and the power strip that the amp was plugged into and made a horrible noise. I was sure there was a fire. , You will not be disappointed. The satisfying click it makes when I turn it on still makes me smile every morning, and that's just turning it on.