REISONG A50 MKIII 300B HiFi Intergrated Tube Amplifier Single-end Class A Valve Amp with Tube Cage

AMAZING, nothing short of AMAZING, but not without its hiccups. This is my second A50 purchase, coming from the Sprout100 and the INFI hybrid class AB amplifier. For reference, my rig: TIDAL Hi-Fi subscription played with AUDIRVANA, speakers and subwoofer ELAC Debut B6.2 and DAC S.M.S.L SU-9 paired with some very good RCA interconnects. Brings tears to the eyes :) My first A50 did sound good, but within two days it malfunctioned, developing hiss and crackling noise on the right channel, similar to what others have experienced here. After several days with support (the very helpful Martina), I returned it and tried again with another purchase. Now this second one *ALSO* arrived defective, but a minor defect - the front knobs were loose and fell off the unit when assembling! Being reasonably handy I fixed it myself, but boy I was pissed! However, all it took was to turn it on... and amazing does it sound!! After breaking in a few weeks, I hereby testify the sound is somewhat holographic, delicious - I can't really stop listening to it, which is the greatest compliment any audio gear manufacturer can get. So, in short, their factory QC (or the shipping process, whatever) is indeed poor and NEEDS improvement. TWO defective units in a row! But it was all worthwhile. It works beautifully and I strongly recommend the A50 over anything you can get on Amazon regarless of the price. After coming from decades of Denon and Onkyo AVRs, then the PSAudio's Sprout100 amplifier, then the INFI's class AB hybrid tube amplifier, and *two* A50's, I'm now settled. This is an amazing purchase, regardless of the inconveniences and nuisances. Buy it! Be aware and ready to return it (once or twice) if need so, but eventually you won't be dissatisfied (do not recommend for travellers and international buyers for this reason). To the manufacturer: you *REALLY* need to pull up your socks with your factory QC and your shipping gear. When it works, the quality of the product overcomes the hassles (it is THAT good), but not all customers may have the same tolerance. All that said, congrats for this amplifier. It is marvelous. Ed

This product is sold on Amazon by TheTubeAmpStore. That's what I really want to write the review about - their service, honesty, prompt replies and quick turnaround on my repair amp which had a power transformer issue after 4 months of use. After I reached out, they replied within one hour. I described my issue and they sent me a shipping label. I boxed it up and sent it off. Four days later, Rick J. from the tech support team reached out, told me what my issue was and told me my options. Long story short, 10 days after I shipped it to them, it returned to my doorstep and was fixed 100% under warranty and has worked flawlessly for the last week. That was the most impressive customer service I've ever experienced in my many years in the HiFi hobby. Now the amp... it's so crystal clear. Yea, cliche, but the 300b tube sound is definitely more warm and slightly subdued. I have an Audio Space 2.8i (which costs more than this) which is a push/pull tube amp centered around the 12AX7 tube design. That ampo is also quite good, but it's very DIRECT and very dialed in. Kind of punchy, clear and more in-your-face sounding. And, the tradeoff is that it's kind of fatiguing. This amp (with the stock tubes) is anything but what I described. You won't get tired and dulled or over-stimulated senses from this amp. It's more mellow with the mids so smooth and warm. But, really, the biggest surprise was how wide the sound stage is. I didn't expect that. In my medium sized room it gets plenty loud and even turned up, no distortion at all. The sound seems to come from all around. I'm using them with vintage Klipsch speakers with a 95db efficiency rating. I've not tried them with anything other than these speakers...but I'm sure it'll be just fine with 88db rated speakers too. There's no hum or hiss at all. I use it to play my vinyl records. In between songs you cannot hear any surface noise. It also puts out plenty of bass. I have a subwoofer but I have not needed it with this amp. I think the stock tubes sound fine.... but after a couple months I read a lot of stuff where people have upgraded the 300b tubes with a pair of Genalex PX300B Gold Lion tubes. The are expensive (they start at around $420 for a pair of them). I didn't need them, but I wanted to just "hear" for myself what I was hearing about how these good these Gold Lion tubes were.... at this point I can say I will never buy another amp. I listen to a lot of jazz, acoustic music, indie rock and pop, old country and old school blues from the 1920s and 1930s. It all sounds great on this. The vocals are so clear and full. The knobs turn so smoothly smooth and the fit and finish is wonderful to look at. Even if you don't upgrade the 300b tubes, this will still sound great. These are only my opinions. I'm not an audiophile but heard how different the tube experience can be. Dang, no kidding. If you are considering your first tube amp - this will likely blow you away. If you are a tube guy already - maybe the 300b "tube reputation" has you wondering. I don't think you can go wrong with this especially at $849.

I like the amp very much. I have one issue with one of the tubes. From day 1, about 10 days ago, one of the 6N8P tubes arc’s at startup and it seems to do this all the time. i’ve read up on this and this is a defective or a damaged tube. The arc’ing creates a loud, popping electronic noise in the speakers, no matter what the volume is set on. I’m hoping I can get a replacement for that tube from the vendor. I do not want to send back the 45 pound amp (for one tube) as that would be tough to repackage and send it back due to my physical limitation. Other than this slight inconvenience, I would recommend this amp. High quality and great sound. I don’t think I need another amp - ever! I bought this with the Klipsch 600M ii speakers and a new turntable. All are great. Just hope I can get a replacement tube.

For the money this unit costs, you get a lot of return for your hard earned money. Tubes can be upgraded down the road if you like but there is no sense of urgency as amp sounds terrific as is with a huge and open soundstage with smooth highs. Absolutely a joy to listen to for hours. I've had numerous high-end audio products and this is a fantastic value and it's a keeper. Packaging was simply excellent with lots of padding thankfully.

I was concerned about ordering this, but after trying it for a while I will say I'm impressed. Now that being said, it does need some simple improvements. You can find info about this on youtube. Out of the box it works well enough, but with simple upgrades you get much better performance. Warning, do not under any circumstance attempt such work unless you know what your doing!! It makes lots of heat and uses HIGH voltage. The glowing tubes looks really cool. I've built tube amps from start to finish and to buy the parts it would end up costing more then this amp cost. Now, don't expect ground shaking bass from this amp but this will depend on your musical taste. The bass is there but pair it with a sub if you like heavy bass. You will need good speakers of at least 90 spl rating or better. I have a pair of Axiom M3 at 90 spl hooked up and they sound great. So if you want an amp that sounds really good this will work for you. I use a turntable and the sound is great. I say scrap digital and go analog. It just seems more real to me, IMHO. Just remember being a tube amp it gets hot (keep children and pets from contact).

Sounds good with high effiency speakers at low volume...higher volume distortion is there....needs upgraded caps.

I'll give it a 4 star if just talk about sound for the price. I use it with my Fyne 500SP. It provide enough power. I only use it when listen to jazz and instruments, like violin, cello or piano. The sounds are warm and smooth. Comparing with my solid amp it lack of some dynamic and bass. So I won't recommend it for something like symphony. However, the old words kick in, you get what you paid for. After only 3 years of occasional use, 2 to 3 hour a week, it broken. It looks like the power transformer is short circuited. Once I plug in the rectifier tube the fuse will break. Even it's not a expensive amp but I still expect it last longer than 3 years, especially I didn't use it a lot. One thing confuse me is that this item is recommended by Amazon. That's the major reason that I bought it. Just don't know why Amazon recommend such a poor quality product.

Best 300b tube amp deal! Excellent look and build quality! Takes some hours to get the tubes burn in for better sound!