This is an Auto Biasing, Solid State Rectified,Class A Single Ended Triode(12AX7) driving a pair of Triode Strapped 6V6 Power Tubes.Power output was quoted to be 1000mW into 32 ohms(High Gain).Hi Gain drives 400i's with authority & plenty of headroom..Power also drops off big time into higher impedance so probably not a good amp for them.
Build quality is excellent & at this price point I would say superb.Really looks like a $1000.00 amp!All panels are straight & line up perfectly.Ceramic tube sockets all straight.Does NOT include wall wart because this unit uses an IEC Standard Power Cable.You can roll power cables at will should you so desire.Unit weighs a bit under 4 lbs.Since power output is not way up there I can surmise the amp is NOT being run hard into Class A,this coupled with a Soft Start circuit will add years to the life of the tubes.
Sound quality is very subjective but I will summarize.In stock form with unbranded Chinese tubes & about 10 hours run in time the amp is pretty much dead neutral with no obvious frequency aberrations,average sound stage & imaging & still very musical.NO rolled off highs,NO sloppy bass,just pleasant music.
Roll in some NOS tubes & the amp becomes a MONSTER!With a 3% Balanced,1953, Mullard(Blackburn Plant) for GE, Long Plate, Halo Getter, 12AX7 & a 7% Matched/3% Balanced Pair,1959,Mullard(Blackburn Plant) for Brimar 6V6GTY tubes the SS is WIIIDE & DEEEP,tonal colors are fully saturated,wood bodies resonate with an organic quality you can almost touch.Vocals are sublime.I don't have a lot of experience with head amps but I do know good sound when I hear it & this baby really puts out the sweet tunes!
Gonna do some tube rolling and burn it in now