[SYSTEM ALCHEMiST]

Just saw this on a chinese website,it looks cool i think.And the price...wow...$120 without S/H,at this price im really wondering how it sounds.
Has any of you had the chance to get an ear on this amp? How is it compare to Perreaux SXH-1 or PPA?
Here's some pics and for you DIYers here's also a circuit diagram,I know some people can tell the quality of an amp directly from the circuit diagram,any comment is welcome,im really curious

Also,here's the website if you interested.
http://www.2000ok.com

 

[elnero]

I believe that's a Sonic Reality prototype. A few Sonic Reality's were sold in the states. Doug, AKA ServinginEcuador, used to own one so he would be the best person to ask about the sound.

 

[ProFingerSk8er]

WOW! $120?!?!

can you please link me to the chinese site? [size=xx-small]*im chinese*[/size]

 

[00940]

IIRC, Kelly rated the Sonic Adventure among the bang for the buck under 400$.

But it's hard to tell how far from the sonic this amp is.

 

[SYSTEM ALCHEMiST]

Quote:

Originally posted by ProFingerSk8er WOW! $120?!?! can you please link me to the chinese site? [size=xx-small]*im chinese*[/size]

here's the link of the amp
http://www.2000ok.com/news/010.html

I saw the price there,but i'm not sure if they accept online order.

 

[Sean H]

Definitely looks like the prototype for the Sonic Adventure Reality amp. This amp looked damn promising about a year to year and half ago. There was a web site for Sonic Adventure and everything but suddenly they just kind of disappeared. It was a heck of a good value with good parts, tubes at the input, mosFET output and even preouts for preamp capability - for $400. I guess they sounded quite good, erring to the warmer and rich side of things. Kelly reviewed the amp in October of '02 which can be found here.

 

[SYSTEM ALCHEMiST]

Thanks for the information,Sean.
I actually placed an order at AA for Perreaux SXH-1 to work with my Senn HD650,but the order doesn't go well,so im planning some alternates. I've read kelly's review,there's no AB comparison with Perreaux SXH-1,maybe because it's a new product i guess.
Could anyone give me some ideas on how this HP-100A compares to Perreaux SXH-1? If this unit is way better than a SXH-1,I'll try to contact the website selling it.

 

[elnero]

If I remember correctly there were some quality control issues. Kelly's review of the Sonic Reality is rather old now, there have been quite a few new amps hit the market since then that I suspect would be better choices. Among these are the Perreaux, Singlepower PPX3, PPA and Pimeta's among others. My guess is your best bet would still be the Perreaux, they seem to be doing a good job with customer service and truly interested in making sure the product is well recieved. This amp on the other hand has a question mark concerning build quality and another question mark as to what to do with it if something does go wrong with it.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

The Sonic Adventure had a few changes to this amp, most prominent being the addition of WIMA caps, which helped with bringing the highs out a little more and adding some glean to them.

For $120 this amp would be quite unbeatable. It can be tuberolled with any 6dj8 family tube, making for a LOT of possibilities. The hybrid design gave some really nice bass from this unit, but with the Sovtek tubes the sound wasn't that great. Adding some Amperex 6dj8 A Frame tubes with the globe logo, made in Holland, made for some sweet sounds for pretty cheap.

The amp sounded great, but I don't think it was worth the $430 asking price Sonic Adventure was asking.

If you get one, make sure to order an Acme Silver Cryo treated IEC inlet. This unit generally comes with a filtering IEC inlet, which isn't a good thing in this case. If it comes with a standard IEC inlet, you're fine.

 

[Sean H]

Quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM ALCHEMiST Thanks for the information,Sean. I actually placed an order at AA for Perreaux SXH-1 to work with my Senn HD650,but the order doesn't go well,so im planning some alternates.

I don't think you will have a problem there.

I swear there was some quality control issues with the Reality too, like elnero said, so be careful there. Honestly I have to wonder if that web site is even current anymore, as I think this was the prototype to the SA Reality and so that makes it even older than the Reality.

 

[Edwood]

Am I the only one that notices the K1000 in the pictures? Probably there for scale, but it seems like wishful thinking. If not, that would be the cheapest amp capable of driving the K1000's properly.

-Ed

 

[Swampwalker]

Well, yeah, I was wondering the same thing re; K1000s.

 

[SYSTEM ALCHEMiST]

ServinginEcuador,I dont know anything about tubes,but from what it says on their website,they provide 3 types of tube that can be use in this amp,Russia 6H23,Russia 6922 and Slovak E88CC,also seems like the slovak one is the most expensive of the three.I just copy these from their website,don't know heck of them

If i do planning on get one,which one do you recommend?

here's a pic of that Russia 6H23...

 

[ServinginEcuador]

SYSTEM ALCHEMIST,

All these NOS tubes kinda suck when compared to some of even the cheaper NOS tubes available. The Russian 6H23 tubes actually kinda sucked when I used them.

To give some low down on this series of tubes, the original was the 6DJ8 series. These were good for 2500 or so hours of use before failure. Next came the 6922 series which basically doubled the tube life, making it closer to 5000 hours of life. Last came the 7308 series with a lifespan of 7500-10000 hours of use. The sound was tweaked as it went up in lifespan, but that does not mean that the longer life tubes sound the best in all cases.

Using the Amperex 6DJ8 A frame tube was my favorite all time tube in the Melos SHA-Gold I owned. Very cheap at about $12-20 per tube, but the sound was simply stunning.

Do some reading over at Joe's Tube Lore and other places to get an idea of what the best 6DJ8 series of tubes are, then do some shopping around at eBay and see if you can't find something to your liking for cheap.

 

[kuma]

Quote:

All these NOS tubes kinda suck when compared to some of even the cheaper NOS tubes available. The Russian 6H23 tubes actually kinda sucked when I used them.

Doug,

Were those Russina 6H23-pi you've tried EB version? (EB=military spec/higher tolerance )
I've used those in few gear, whilst they are not the most linear, offer good control and body with a decent extension on top. For the price, I thought those were pretty good tubes. Here are the ones I have.

...and you know my favorite 6922.