Qinpu A3 Integrated Amplifier

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Price: $199.00 $192.00   

Product Feature

• Compact integrated amplifier
• Aluminum chassis
• Cherry wood panel
• Tube: 6N3 x 2
• Output Power: 2 x 8.5 W (8 ohms RMS)

Product Description

Sometimes big things really do come in small packages. The tiny Qinpu A3 vacuum tube integrated amplifier packs a mighty high-end wallop. It delivers a beautiful room-filling 8.5 watts per channel. A pair of 6N3 output tubes contribute to the velvety and detailed sound. Audio Advisor sales rep Joe Darmogray spent a lot of time listening to the A3 and says, "I just can't see how they do it! Such high quality at this low price. It drove my Sennheiser HD800s flawlessly with power to spare. Tubes just seem to mate with headphones. They give you silky smooth highs that make you just want to keep listening. It's an integrated amp to boot! It drives my Energy C-300 just fine."

Qinpu A3 Integrated Amplifier Review

UPDATE NOV 7 2012:

I've been listening daily to this little wonder for over a year now and still can't get enough of it. This model appears to be discontinued but I'm sure the A-6000 sounds just as good (and has a lot more power output):

Qinpu - A-6000 MKII - Integrated /Headphone Amplifier

Happy listening, whatever gear you're enjoying! - Andrew

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I've been auditioning this little Chinese hybrid tube/solid-state amp for two weeks now and here are my comments:

* Really natural and enjoyable tube amp sonics that compare well to old all-tube integrated amps that I've tried out (several vintage MacIntoshes, Marantzes, and a rheumatic Admiral).

* No, I haven't heard the newish Miniwatt, Roth, Fatman, Qinpu A6000 or Q2 (I'm cheap & also wanted headphone preamp functionality and this model fit the bill).

* A very hip "retro dork" desktop alternative to powered PC speakers or iPod speaker dock--everyone in my office stops to stare at the eerie glowing vacuum tubes

* Utterly bizarre yet charming product design: One hella-solid "ovaloid" brushed metal brick (the frame IS the heatsink), reminiscent of those 1950's space station posters from Maoist China's bygone space program ("Comrade, please experience most natural pleasure-creating heavenly musicality for such reasonable cost!")

* Volume and source selector dials: excellent "touch" (dampening), and acceptable (though not rock-solid) input/output jacks

* Speaker out thumbscrews - unimpressive build here (plastic, wish they were metal) but they've proved sturdy and snug so far

* Note: There's NO speaker on/off switch (signal is always going to the preamp-out jack and the speakers), so if you want to switch between headphone-only listening and speaker listening, you'll need a speaker switchbox or similar workaround

* IS 8.6 WATTS ENOUGH? Tested: 1) RA LABS BLACK GOLD MINI-REFERENCE (90db/2.83V/1m/6ohm) and 2) MISSION CYRUS 782s (91.5db/1m/4ohm), 3) INFINITY RS1 bookshelf satellites (89db/1m/8ohm). With the volume knob at 50%, there was plenty of power to create realistic acoustic small-ensemble jazz/chamber live performance volume in a 14x17' room, even though the speaker manufacturers recommended 20, 25, and 15 watt minimums, respectively.

* With ye olde Dual TURNTABLE, good vinyl sounds quite alive and engaging (though not as razor sharp as the NAD amp mentioned below). There's no phono-in stage on the Qinpu, so you'll need your own.

* As a HEADPHONE PREAMP, sound is transparent, virtually noise-free, and very dimensional with Grado SR60, SR80, and Sennheiser HD600 headphones. Power is just adequate and could be "punchier," especially with the higher-impedence Sennheisers.

* As a PREAMP STAGE looped in to an integrated amp (NAD 315BEE), it sucked wind. Low level hiss/buzz regardless of volume/attenuation settings. But this could've been due to my ineptitude in the hook up...

* Channel separation, S/N ratio, and distortion specs for this amp don't tell the whole story--soundstage imaging and "believability" of acoustic jazz, chamber music, and vocals is uncanny. Specs below.*

* To really hear this thing's engaging dynamics and soundstage depth, I highly recommend running your CDs and FLACs through a free ambiophonic plug-in or player--eliminates listening-room speaker crosstalk and comb filtering to restore the original stereo imaging. Here, it's a JAW-DROPPING improvement (search for "ambiophonics" or Hotto Engineering)

* Also, give this unit a good 4-8 hours of "break-in" time to give the tubes a chance to get groovin' (or to allow the "audiophile placebo effect" to kick in, whichever comes first) ;)

* Attention push-pull purists: This is a "hybrid" (tube preamp and solid-state amp)...but sounds pure valve to me

VERDICT: For the price of a fancy iPod speaker doc or a Tivoli One, this is the obvious choice if you already have some fairly easy-to-drive speakers lying around the garage. Yep, it's a "bargain basement" item, but I can't stop listening to this thing! I've logged 4-6 hours a day since I got it. And this is also a most excellent vendor covered by Amazon's reasonable exchange/returns policy.

My disclosure blurb: I'm not an audio engineer and everything above is subjective. Also, I'm not associated in any way with Qinpu or Kraft Street Audio (I'm a commercial photographer and copywriter in the music and book publishing industry).

Happy tubing! - Andrew

--

Equipment used: Macbook native DAC (24bit 96khz) and Streamer II external DAC fed into the Qinpu's RCA audio-in jacks * 160gb iPod Gen 3 * loudspeakers and headphones mentioned above * Dual 1219 turntable with Grado ZFE+ cartridge and NAD PP2 phono preamp

Some reference recordings used:

Paquito D'Rivera | "The Jazz Chamber Trio" | Chesky Records
Ottmar Liebert | "One Guitar" | 24bit 96khz DVD-A | Spiral Subwave Recordings
Buena Vista Social Club | 24bit 96khz DVD-A | Nonesuch
Calamus | "Splendor of An-Andalus | MA Recordings
Doc Watson & David Grisman | "Doc & Dawg" | Acoustic Disc
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong | "Ella & Louis" | 24bit 96hz SACD | Verve
Eugene Istomin & Seattle Symphony ORchestra | Mozart Piano Concertos 21 & 24 |Reference Recordings
V.M. Bhatt | "Saradamani" | 180gm vinyl LP | Water Lily Acoustics
John Renbourn | "Sir John Alot..." | vinyl LP | Nonesuch

*Qinpu A-3 specifications from their website:

Output power: 2 x 8.5W (8-ohm RMS)
Frequency response: 20Hz-40kHz (�1dB)
THD: less than 1.5% (1kHz)
S/N ratio: greater than 71dB
Crosstalk attenuation: greater than 45dB (1kHz)
Input sensitivity: less than 420mV
Overload level: greater than 10V
Input impedance: 15k-ohm
Net weight: 5.1lb
Dimensions: 10.25" x 5.5" x 0.433"

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