Reisong A10 EL34 Hi-Fi Audio Stereo Tube Amplifier Single-end Class - A Review

[Helicopter]

Took the opportunity to do a little tube rolling on my A10, bought a pair of Voshkod Rocket pre tubes, they've been installed for 3 days now and I'm pleased with the improvements, the upper mid and treble have now become a little more brightly lit which has obviated the need for the small amount of EQ lift in the treble I've been using to offset the slight rolloff with the stock Chinese tubes, well worth the change for £20.

Thanks for sharing. I'd be really interested in seeing measurements of the amp running different tubes if you get around to it.

 

[steve-z]

Thanks for sharing. I'd be really interested in seeing measurements of the amp running different tubes if you get around to it.

Unfortunately I don't have the equipment or the expertise to do any measurement, my observations are purely subjective.

 

[ctakim]

Fascinating thread. Is it appropriate to generalize that what was measured and heard here was a high distortion AMP especially at the higher frequencies, but still an overall pleasing musical experience? Are tube amps like this one that rare breed of device that measures poorly but sounds great?

 

[Helicopter]

Fascinating thread. Is it appropriate to generalize that what was measured and heard here was a high distortion AMP especially at the higher frequencies, but still an overall pleasing musical experience? Are tube amps like this one that rare breed of device that measures poorly but sounds great?

I don't have this particular one, but the SET amps from Chinese brands like oldchen/aichen/laochen and boyuu Reisong should have a little bit of audible harmonic distortion and frequency response variation. Normally the output transformers do more than the tubes to give the amp this audible voice. Compared to similarly-priced tube gear made in high cost locations, they perform well and can be a great value. I like playing around with them quite a bit, but you won't find me trading my solid state gear in. My serious critical listening is all solid state and mostly with speakers that are too difficult a load for my tubes anyway. The best thing about tube amps is how cool they look, and how you can actually see the parts performing the amplification and sometimes rectification through the glass envelopes. It can also be a lot of fun to play around with old tubes someone pulled from a warehouse in Siberia, or a broken 1940s organ from the church storage room.

The A10 and A50mkII are some of the most recommended, but I am not sure I would categorize them as a rare breed. There are probably 50-75 good models readily available. Most of the circuits are similar as the patents on the good classic designs are all long expired.

 

[dumpingg]

Fascinating thread. Is it appropriate to generalize that what was measured and heard here was a high distortion AMP especially at the higher frequencies, but still an overall pleasing musical experience? Are tube amps like this one that rare breed of device that measures poorly but sounds great?

ctakim, I don't think I stated that there is any rare breed magic happening here. I too am experimenting with the tube amp as a second system. With the higher distoration numbers that I measured and graphed it does impact the sound. However, the dominate 2nd harmonic distortion with a steadily decreasing higher order distortion does seem to not be unpleasent and yields at least to me a sense of air and liveness to the sound. It might not be measurement-wise accurate but it does sound engaging. For vocals and accoustical recordings this is especially nice. With other music not as much.

There is an interesting whitepaper here the talks about H2 distortion and its impact on the sound that you might find interesting.
http://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/art_dist_fdbk.pdf

 

[ctakim]

Thanks for sharing the Pass article. I'm also toying with the idea of exploring a tube amp for a back up system, but I have not yet decided to pull the trigger.

 

[steve-z]

Thanks for sharing the Pass article. I'm also toying with the idea of exploring a tube amp for a back up system, but I have not yet decided to pull the trigger.

After a few weeks with the Reisong A10, I'm certainly loving its sound more and more, it was a bit of a punt particularly as my speakers are only 85db/w and I wasn't sure if the A10 would have enough guts to drive them, I needn't have worried, it drives them beautifully. The amp is certainly good enough to show up improvements in the source equipment, I've just upgraded my streamer and am getting even better sound from the setup. I don't think the A10 is a purchase you'd regret.

 

[Oztayls]

I'm wondering how different the results would be if speakers more suited to this amp were used? 89dB is probably at the bottom limit for the A10, whereas something around 96dB and higher would be much better. That is my experience with my SoundArtist version anyway (SA34A, which is the same as the Reisong A12. Reisong and SA are both rebadges). Interestingly, these amps were available as DIY kits about 10 years ago in these very same chassis. I forget the original brand name. When Reisong started badging them, they became the A9, but in a cheaper steel chassis. Just some history!

 

[Helicopter]

After a few weeks with the Reisong A10, I'm certainly loving its sound more and more, it was a bit of a punt particularly as my speakers are only 85db/w and I wasn't sure if the A10 would have enough guts to drive them, I needn't have worried, it drives them beautifully. The amp is certainly good enough to show up improvements in the source equipment, I've just upgraded my streamer and am getting even better sound from the setup. I don't think the A10 is a purchase you'd regret.

What's the minimum impedance on your speakers? I've found that is important for matching with my (Shuguang Sg-845-7) tube amp.

 

[steve-z]

I'm wondering how different the results would be if speakers more suited to this amp were used? 89dB is probably at the bottom limit for the A10, whereas something around 96dB and higher would be much better. That is my experience with my SoundArtist version anyway (SA34A, which is the same as the Reisong A12. Reisong and SA are both rebadges). Interestingly, these amps were available as DIY kits about 10 years ago in these very same chassis. I forget the original brand name. When Reisong started badging them, they became the A9, but in a cheaper steel chassis. Just some history!

Have to admit I had some reservations with regards to the low sensitivity of my Frugelhorn Lite speakers, I think it all boils down to room size, listening distance and perceived volume level. My room is 12'x10' and I listen from approximately 2.5 metres away with my average listening volume level measured at that distance of 65-75dbs. At these levels I have the volume control below halfway on the A10 and do not perceive any audible distortion, I realise there "is" distortion but it certainly doesn't make itself apparent to any audible degree, to my ears at least. Problem with very sensitive speakers is they usually trade off sensitivity for bass response unless they're extremely large boxes with big drivers. From my experience the most sensitive speakers with no trade off which sound excellent usually are about 92db/w, the Q Acoustics 3050 (which I previously owned) springs to mind.

 

[steve-z]

What's the minimum impedance on your speakers? I've found that is important for matching with my (Shuguang Sg-845-7) tube amp.

The Mark Audio Alpair 5.3 full range drivers in my frugelhorn lites are a very easy load as there's no crossover whatsoever, the minimum impedance is about 4.5 ohms and it's very even with just a very gentle rise in impedance with increasing frequency, I run them off the 4 ohm taps on the A10.

 

[steve-z]

This is the Alpair 5.3 impedance curve, the peak at 95hz is the free air resonance of the driver, from 200hz to 5khz the impedance is below 6 ohms.

 

[Helicopter]

This is the Alpair 5.3 impedance curve, the peak at 95hz is the free air resonance of the driver, from 200hz to 5khz the impedance is below 6 ohms.

Very nice. I'd definitely call those 4 ohm speakers and a tube amp with 4 ohm taps should be able to drive them without any performance issues. Excellent choice for voiced and colored tube sound. I'd love to hear that system. I've been considering doing some full range DIY speakers. I've got a pair of 16 ohm FaitalPro full range drivers and some reproduction BOFU full range drivers that I want to make cabinets for. The former will probably be monkey coffins since they are for some solid state Panasonic receivers I have in my collection, the the BOFUs I don't really have plans for yet... good projects for after my new shop is done.

 

[steve-z]

Very nice. I'd definitely call those 4 ohm speakers and a tube amp with 4 ohm taps should be able to drive them without any performance issues. Excellent choice for voiced and colored tube sound. I'd love to hear that system. I've been considering doing some full range DIY speakers. I've got a pair of 16 ohm FaitalPro full range drivers and some reproduction BOFU full range drivers that I want to make cabinets for. The former will probably be monkey coffins since they are for some solid state Panasonic receivers I have in my collection, the the BOFUs I don't really have plans for yet... good projects for after my new shop is done.

These are the 2nd pair of speakers I've owned with full range drivers, 3 years ago I had a pair of Jordan Eikona 2 VTL speakers, more than 3 times the price of my FHLs, they had a seductive midrange and excellent bass but I had issues with the treble end that I couldn't come to terms with so I sold them on. I looked at lots of different full range drivers and found the Alpair 5.3 had the flattest FR combined with good top end extension, it's only limitation is because it's only a 2" diameter cone it can't handle a lot of power, in the specs it's quoted as 5 watts nominal, you would also think a 2" driver would produce very little bass but the Frugelhorn Lite cabinet design does some magic and in my room there is bass down to just under 40hz.

Note that the above FR graph is for the driver on a large open baffle in an anechoic chamber.

 

[Urkelator]

Quick question from a technical moron:
I'm running a Reisong A10 with turntable and Raspberry Pi / Allo Piano as sources.
Since i got the Reisong today, i'm wondering if it can take any harm, when i run volumio on 100% volume?

 

[steve-z]

Quick question from a technical moron:
I'm running a Reisong A10 with turntable and Raspberry Pi / Allo Piano as sources.
Since i got the Reisong today, i'm wondering if it can take any harm, when i run volumio on 100% volume?

I doubt you'll experience any problems running your streamer at 100% volume, I run my Teufel Raumfeld Connector 2 into mine at 100% with no problems.

 

[steve-z]

In the last few days I’ve made a change to my setup with the Reisong A10, I didn’t think I was getting the best performance from it because of the relatively low sensitivity of my speakers causing me to have to drive the amp quite hard, so I bought a pair of Mission QX2 speakers which are just over 3dbs more sensitive, I bought them used so no waiting for the drivers to break in. The pairing with the QX2s has shown the amps real character so much so that it rivals my main setup at about a third of the cost, The A10 can now produce good volume without any strain or audible distortion and with a decent amount of headroom.

 

[Urkelator]

Can someone please link suitable rectifiers and preamplifier tubes to me?
I know that the Reisong hat Autobias, but i read about tube converter or adapter and now I'm confused.
I'm just getting into the tube thing and don't want to mess things up.
I don't want to have to make any technical changes to the Reisong, like adding any circuit or so.

 

[steve-z]

Can someone please link suitable rectifiers and preamplifier tubes to me?
I know that the Reisong hat Autobias, but i read about tube converter or adapter and now I'm confused.
I'm just getting into the tube thing and don't want to mess things up.
I don't want to have to make any technical changes to the Reisong, like adding any circuit or so.

Not sure why you'd want to change the rectifier tube particularly if the amp is new, I have rolled the pre tubes for Voshkod rocket 6n2p tubes and preferred them to the stock 6n2p, as to a supplier I can't comment as you're in Germany and I'm in the UK.

 

[Headchef]

Another A10 fan here, mines the uprated hand wired varian, I loved it the minute I started playing music through it.
I will admit the addition of the Aune x8 DAC has been a game changer, every aspect trounces my old +8k syste, I’m hands flat down on the table blown away by this little amp. Also it has no problems driving my ProAc Response 1SC’s.

Its a great piece of kit and ideally suited to a small study or sitting room.