APPJ mini2013 6J1+6P1 ( Original miniwatt) Mini tube Amplifier silver

Apparently , these units have been plagued with hum. They DO have very cheap type transformers , not the custom wound stuff in higher end amps. Well, I worried, as my phono pre and project turntables were plagued badly with hum.Well, my unit isn't humming. The sound, immediately on switch on, I changed over from my Quinpu A-6000 mk2 and damned if it didn't sound BETTER. Less power, but actually , through these here JBLs 10" monitors I just rebuilt- not the most sensitive speakers by any means. Maybe 88 db?- it's quite loud and fulsome. I can hear myself talk but only near a shout. Just yesterday, I had switched to the Quinpu from my Lepai, which due to its better bass grip, I had switched to it from the cleaner, clearer and way less punchy Yamaha natural sound RX-496 an amp I love. So what I'm saying is that at first blush this miniwatt, while probably lacking in some areas I haven't quite uncovered ( muddy, rarely so but occasionally muddy lower mid bass, mildly- oh so mildly rolled off treble) sounded better then those amps. I'm sure the Yamaha is largely better, I've heard so much great from it , but this was DEFINTELY a tubbier, but more pleasing sound ;then the much loved by most everyone- including me -Quinpu With the popular small Pioneer Andrew Jones speakers , it fares less well. Now it's bright and less bassy. But I had this happen with my Jolida. Every speaker I used was worse through it then any other amp. Until I drove my Martin Logans and now it's my favourite combo , beating out the same speakers with NAD 80 watt bee amp and my Parasound halo giant amp, which surprised the hell out of me- so what I'm saying is speaker matching is so important , and its a black art. Impedance matching loads helps , but some of the best sound I've ever heard was from seemingly unworkable combos ( less then ideal anyway- like electrostats driven loud from 20 tube watts. That's where I learned to believe tube watts ARE different and why I allowed myself to believe three watts can push medium speakers loud. Well, it isn't walk shaking, but it IS loud)-- so what I'm saying is, if YOU think the miniwatt sounds crappy, then try other speakers, even the ones you assume would fare worse. Might surprise you. Even these pioneers sound very sweet and lovely, but I definitely prefer THEM on the Yamaha. So play around, because this just plain IS a capable nice and sweet ( not dark or slow, just tubby with the JBLs apparently, as now it's sounding tight and lean in the bass with the pioneers. )amp. It's just a load- sensitive one. But don't get me wrong, if I didn't have so many amps to play with and this was all I had, I'd really like it still, even with the pioneers. I'm just saying if you think it's not as impressive as I do the speaker choice ( doesn't matter per se if those speakers always sounded a certain way, through this they may sound different. When it WORKS and then that difference is for the better and, boom, you'll see this is as I say.) So- how good is THAT. Well, I'm comparing it to 240.00; 300.00 and 34.00 amps. My Jolida is quite obviously better. 20 watts 830.00$. The NAD is better, but not as sweet sounding , it's , I forget, but about 600.00. So this review is based on classes. It's awesome in its class, it's a 'giant' killer in up to 300.00 ( no way it's better then 350.00 Cambridge and NAD amps though)amps. And it's a true tube amp, not a hybrid , so for many the tube characteristics WILL make this better then ANYTHING this side of a 550.00 Jolida glass fx. I heartily recommend this product. I'm going to buy another. Maybe bi amp my PSB image(ine?)( the cheaper ones...) b-6 speakers, maybe just use it in another setup so Incan be tubed up in three different setups. Btw, tubes have won my over. That Jolida I mentioned? I'm not going back to the 2,300$ Parasound amp... The Jolida is 'cheap' simple and weak, the Parasound I have is used at abbey rd studios for cryin out loud.... But even FOR monitoring , I like the Jolida.... Which to tie it in to this review and apparently, tubes in general ...I HATED the Jolida. Tried it several times in several setups and ALWAYS preferred solid state. Until I used the Martin Logans with it. Too bad this mini watt isn't going to be able to power ANY electrostatic ( let alone my magneplanars which the Jolida can't even drive.. ( guess I still have aide for the 300 watt Parasound ) but when you find the right speaker? Wow. And if you DON'T have eighty different speakers and amps, well- you'll probably just love this with most speakers period as you won't have so many options to subtly shade things to preference over other things. Yeah- it ( this miniwatt) has sounded good with all the cone speakers I've thrown at it- just better with some.

Excellent little amp.I owned the APPJ 3-tube amp (Miniwatt N3 equivalent) for a short period of time but had to return it due to a bad hum. This amp has zero hum! And sounds fantastic.I'm using it to power a pair of Fostex FE103en Sol 4" fullrange drivers and the sound is amazing. Rich, full and detailed. I was using a Topping TP20MK2 previously, and while that amp is clear and very nice in its own right, the Miniwatt has a noticeably fuller sound and better imaging.Highly recommend this amp as an intro to fine sound on a budget.

I had to write a review this lil guy is so much better than expected. No hum, dead quite. sounds very clear and powers my Polk SDA1C to a good decent 80db. At first I though nah this won't work but I needed to test it and didn't have a lot of time middle of the week so it unhooked my Yaqin MS30L amp and ran the MS-23B phono pre-amps outputs to this wow works just fine. I thought the big speakers would be way too much for it. This is a perfect introduction to tubes.