A little info about the Indeed and Yaqin tube bufers.

[nopietns]

I've been searching for info on different tube buffers (which are more flexible than a tube DAC or amp, since then You can get both the fast SS sound and the coloured tube sound), but found only reviews on the Yaqin and MF buffers. Then I found that user ddoingwell has both Yaqin and Indeed, and asked if he could compare them to each other. Since our conversation was through private messages, and since someone else might be interested in the Indeed tube buffer, we decided to to copy-paste his answers to my questions in a thread that's accessible to all.
So here it is:
I asked if the change of the sound is significant and which one does he prefer.

I have not compared them side by side as my wife has the Indeed in her painting studio; the buffer is part of a tidy little hi-fi system I put together for Herself and the difference it made to her mid-level gear was astounding (REGA amp, Shanling DCP, Quad speakers). Same goes for the Yaqin on my similar range system. Buy which ever one is cheapest though I think the Indeed MIGHT be a tad better value as it has only one tube (a wonderful Russian one), and comes with a very decent interconnect cable free of charge; to get best results with the Yaqin I had to swap out the standard Shuguang 6J1 tubes that came with my Yaqin. I bought replacements that cost an additional $50US.

The guy that runs Indeed is VERY helpful and will give you all the advice you need to buy HIS products (he has a few models of buffer out now). Look up his webpage and contact him, though the eBay store has all his current line-up. I've been pestering him to make a headphone amp....

If I had to do it all again, I'd probably only buy the Indeed but I do not for one nano second regret having both.

and:

As for your question, I can only say what I've said: my gear, in two systems worth, improved greatly by the addition of both buffers. Your gear might be a bit better than mine so it may be that you don't get as much of an effect. I dunno.

The biggest change I noticed was the expansion of the soundstage and the warmth on almost all sounds. My system without the buffer was lovely for the jazz/nujazz I listen to primarily and now, it's a real joy ESPECIALLY when I use my AKG K501s (notoriously cold headphones) off the headphone amp. Then I really notice the effect of the tube buffer.

Aside from my mother's beloved antique Chisholm record player from the 1950s that was in our house when I was a boy, I have not owned or had experience with tube gear though now I wouldn't be without some tube sound somewhere in the loop. For the $$$, just take a chance; depending of where you are, you could probably sell on the buffer for a decent return if it wasn't what you wanted though I will add that I seldom see the Yaqins (undoubtedly the higher seller of the two models in question) for sale in the used posts. Obviously, some blokes are selling theirs but the never last long before some bottom-feeder like me snaps them up. There's not much $$$ at risk here and since you've already spent decent loot on the gear you have....

Hope someone finds this useful.

[ddoingwell]

Any one interested in this discussion should jump in. IMHO, the tube buffer was easily the best $100 improvement I've yet experienced in hi-fi. I wouldn't be without one unless I could afford much MUCH better gear.

Cheers,
Don aka ddoingwell