Why can't these manufactures be bothered with adding line outputs to these amps?

It's not a line-level amp. Use your preamp for an extra lineout.

Is this a hybrid design (preamp and output stages), or all-tube?

It is "all tube" amp, the only difference with the classical designs is the switching power supply, which does not any difference.

Does this come with a manual? My box had none. Maybe a link online?

Hi. It does not. I also lacks a power cord. Being very simplistic in design, if I could write a manual it would state to purchase a simple 18-14 gauge IEC power cord such as an Amazon basics cord. There is no snake oil needed here. With a simple cord and a clean input source like a 1990's discman feeding it a real 1411kbps signal, for a couple bucks on eBay this will walk on amps costing hundreds of dollars more. To start the amp, simply flip the switch on the back and watch the tubes. When they reach orange hot and don't go brighter (to be safe wait 30 seconds but 10-15 is enough if in a hurry), it's time to start the signal source and turn up the volume knob and enjoy. If you hear fuzzy distortion you've reached the maximum clean power of the amp. If you lack sound out of one channel a tube is probably blown. Search Amazon for "6AD10" and you will see a few available options for this discontinued Compactron tube. It is already equipped with very high quality NOS vintage (about 50 years old) GE tubes that the Chinese bought a large number of. This amp has some very suprising nice audiophile components inside like Nichicon capacitors you would not expect in a Chinese simplistic amp. Some of these have come out of the box with squeaking noises or intermittent dropping of a channel. Reverse the tubes and if the behavior does not switch with them to the opposite channel, the amp has defects and I would highly suggest holding them accountable and demand a replacement. That about wraps it up!

Is this a 2 stage amp? Do the output tubes hot, how long can you hold your hand on them?

It is 2 stage. They are tubes! Meaning third degree burns when you touch them for longer than a fraction of a second. Please be aware that the amp I bought lasted all of one week before it fried itself. Buyer beware.

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Description

Based on the PA0901A with a host of upgrades, it features two 6AD10 tubes in a Class A configuration for improved noise performance, frequency response, and power output. This amp is beautifully built with a solid metal chassis, and delivers enough oomph to drive your favorite bookshelf speakers. Review: Why go broke having some tube audio fun... - Tubes are not audio magic. They behave a certain way when in an audio circuit, and many listeners anjoy the sound. Many others just like the glowing tubes. They look cool. Who cares... It’s all part of the fun of playing with our respective stereo “train sets”. I had the precursor to this amp. It was fine. I rolled some NOS telefunkens in it and it drove my front mains in my home theater. All good (they were very efficient speakers). I ditched home theater for my first love - stereo reproduction, and decided to go old school, though my source remains hi-Rez digital. So, is the APPJ comparable to an Audio Research amp? No. Power cord? Supply your own. Tiny little metal feet? They slide and scrape - I have the APPJ on a cork pad. Heat? VERY HOT! I added heat sinks (it’s still hot, but the sinks are pulling quite a bit oh heat off the housing). The tubes are tilted at slightly odd angles and I can’t move them. That’s it. That’s every negative I can think of except it’d be cool to have an old Bakelite volume knob - it’d fit the aesthetic. On the positive side, because the itty bitty thing is driving old Belle Klipsch speakers with 104 dB efficiency, it’s hardly working when producing room melting sound pressure levels. With typical speakers, your peak output will be much more reserved. Peak levels don’t tell the whole story, of course. And I’ll mention also that I use a subwoofer, which is being driven by the speaker outputs of this APPJ. Yes, you read correctly - the speaker outputs. Just like Revel subwoofers suggest you do. Amazingly, this works out great! Are there phase problems and more? Possibly, but the Belles aren’t much about imaging. They’re all about dynamics. This amp can pull off great dynamics! Tonally, it’s balanced, with satisfying mids and highs. There’s plenty of air up top, and the bass is, um, reserved. Ok. The bass response could be better. There are three solutions. 1) Don’t worry about it. Seriously, just forget it and enjoy the qualities the amp does bring to the music. 2) Swap some of the capacitors as others have done (see reviews from other audiophile press sources) to bring the bass up a few dB. 3) Get a subwoofer and dial in all the bass you want! It’s working well for me. And I chose a budget sub from Parts Express. So what do we have here... My goal for this system was to find a synergy between 40 year old vintage speakers, and a modern, inexpensive, tube-based amplifier. And I did. I’ll swap in a NuForce DDA-120 and have solid state bliss when the mood hits. That amp is a bargain too. (Or was. They’re disappearing. Get one if you can.) But the APPJ tends to be the “go to” amp as it just sounds correct. Is this an amp for everyone? No. It needs space as it’s very, very hot. Power is extremely limited. The design is clean, though slightly quirky. However, if you have the right ancillary gear, you’ll get a sound that is above the amp’s price point. Again, I’m not talking about Quicksilver level performance here. Just pretty darn good tube sound. For the money, I highly recommend it. Happy listening! Review: Are you KIDDING me?! HOW can a lower budget tube amp sound as FANTASTIC as this?! I'm dumbfounded! - WOW! This is a truly great sounding, highly musical, Class A tube integrated amplifier that belies it's low price and small footprint! I'm not sure if you can call it an SET (single ended triode) amp, since it uses 2 pentode 6AD10 tubes (SEP, single ended pentode?). Each tube acts as both the preamp and driver in a unique design. I've been testing this amp with various speakers I have. Mainly AV123 X-LS, JBL Studio 530, Martin Logan LX16, and vintage Polk Audio Monitor 10B speakers, using FLAC, WMA lossless, and CD/HDCD/SACD source material (FiiO X1, Onkyo and Marantz CD players). In short, this amp can really SING! The stock tubes sound amazing! Nearfield listening on the lower efficiency X-LS (87dB) and Studio 530 (86dB) speakers in my small office 'blew me away' in terms of inner detail, timbral accuracy, and natural sounding voices and instruments! Bass extension and control was truly exceptional as well. And the room filling volume level was more than sufficient for a small tube amp. The lush sonics were equally great on the higher efficiency LX16's and Monitor 10's, but I only needed to turn the volume to around 11 o'clock in order to achieve a fairly loud, but comfortable level, while sitting a few feet away. If you're not going to do most of your critical listening nearfield, or in a smaller room, pairing the APPJ PA1501A with higher efficiency speakers is advisable! I finally decided to leave this amp in my medium sized bedroom, driving my 30 year old Polk Monitor 10's, and i'm absolutely floored by the synergy of this setup! Make sure to feed this superb amp your very best quality recorded and mastered source material, and you'll be shaking your head in disbelief as I have been lately! This special little tubed integrated amplifier is an audiophile bargain, and then some! You will 're-discover' your CD and digital file music collection! On a side note, the amp comes with these nice little metal feet, which could scratch furniture, so I simply placed mine on a small rubberized mouse pad on top of my furniture, in order to better 'isolate' the amp from speaker vibrations. Also, remember to purchase a separate AC power cord for your amp, since it does not come with one. Also, make sure you 'break in' the tubes by letting them play for several hours before any serious listening. You will notice that the sound 'blooms' a bit more, with the soundstage, overtones, and harmonics being more 'present'. OK... I know what you're thinking. Do tubes really need a 'break in' period? There are many mixed opinions about this very subject online, but from my own experience, yes they do! I distinctly DID notice a sonic improvement after 'burning in' the tubes for a few hours, based on before and after listening sessions. But I digress...

Reviews

A**R

Why go broke having some tube audio fun...

Tubes are not audio magic. They behave a certain way when in an audio circuit, and many listeners anjoy the sound. Many others just like the glowing tubes. They look cool. Who cares... It’s all part of the fun of playing with our respective stereo “train sets”. I had the precursor to this amp. It was fine. I rolled some NOS telefunkens in it and it drove my front mains in my home theater. All good (they were very efficient speakers). I ditched home theater for my first love - stereo reproduction, and decided to go old school, though my source remains hi-Rez digital. So, is the APPJ comparable to an Audio Research amp? No. Power cord? Supply your own. Tiny little metal feet? They slide and scrape - I have the APPJ on a cork pad. Heat? VERY HOT! I added heat sinks (it’s still hot, but the sinks are pulling quite a bit oh heat off the housing). The tubes are tilted at slightly odd angles and I can’t move them. That’s it. That’s every negative I can think of except it’d be cool to have an old Bakelite volume knob - it’d fit the aesthetic. On the positive side, because the itty bitty thing is driving old Belle Klipsch speakers with 104 dB efficiency, it’s hardly working when producing room melting sound pressure levels. With typical speakers, your peak output will be much more reserved. Peak levels don’t tell the whole story, of course. And I’ll mention also that I use a subwoofer, which is being driven by the speaker outputs of this APPJ. Yes, you read correctly - the speaker outputs. Just like Revel subwoofers suggest you do. Amazingly, this works out great! Are there phase problems and more? Possibly, but the Belles aren’t much about imaging. They’re all about dynamics. This amp can pull off great dynamics! Tonally, it’s balanced, with satisfying mids and highs. There’s plenty of air up top, and the bass is, um, reserved. Ok. The bass response could be better. There are three solutions. 1) Don’t worry about it. Seriously, just forget it and enjoy the qualities the amp does bring to the music. 2) Swap some of the capacitors as others have done (see reviews from other audiophile press sources) to bring the bass up a few dB. 3) Get a subwoofer and dial in all the bass you want! It’s working well for me. And I chose a budget sub from Parts Express. So what do we have here... My goal for this system was to find a synergy between 40 year old vintage speakers, and a modern, inexpensive, tube-based amplifier. And I did. I’ll swap in a NuForce DDA-120 and have solid state bliss when the mood hits. That amp is a bargain too. (Or was. They’re disappearing. Get one if you can.) But the APPJ tends to be the “go to” amp as it just sounds correct. Is this an amp for everyone? No. It needs space as it’s very, very hot. Power is extremely limited. The design is clean, though slightly quirky. However, if you have the right ancillary gear, you’ll get a sound that is above the amp’s price point. Again, I’m not talking about Quicksilver level performance here. Just pretty darn good tube sound. For the money, I highly recommend it. Happy listening!

11.01.2019

C**X

Are you KIDDING me?! HOW can a lower budget tube amp sound as FANTASTIC as this?! I'm dumbfounded!

WOW! This is a truly great sounding, highly musical, Class A tube integrated amplifier that belies it's low price and small footprint! I'm not sure if you can call it an SET (single ended triode) amp, since it uses 2 pentode 6AD10 tubes (SEP, single ended pentode?). Each tube acts as both the preamp and driver in a unique design. I've been testing this amp with various speakers I have. Mainly AV123 X-LS, JBL Studio 530, Martin Logan LX16, and vintage Polk Audio Monitor 10B speakers, using FLAC, WMA lossless, and CD/HDCD/SACD source material (FiiO X1, Onkyo and Marantz CD players). In short, this amp can really SING! The stock tubes sound amazing! Nearfield listening on the lower efficiency X-LS (87dB) and Studio 530 (86dB) speakers in my small office 'blew me away' in terms of inner detail, timbral accuracy, and natural sounding voices and instruments! Bass extension and control was truly exceptional as well. And the room filling volume level was more than sufficient for a small tube amp. The lush sonics were equally great on the higher efficiency LX16's and Monitor 10's, but I only needed to turn the volume to around 11 o'clock in order to achieve a fairly loud, but comfortable level, while sitting a few feet away. If you're not going to do most of your critical listening nearfield, or in a smaller room, pairing the APPJ PA1501A with higher efficiency speakers is advisable! I finally decided to leave this amp in my medium sized bedroom, driving my 30 year old Polk Monitor 10's, and i'm absolutely floored by the synergy of this setup! Make sure to feed this superb amp your very best quality recorded and mastered source material, and you'll be shaking your head in disbelief as I have been lately! This special little tubed integrated amplifier is an audiophile bargain, and then some! You will 're-discover' your CD and digital file music collection! On a side note, the amp comes with these nice little metal feet, which could scratch furniture, so I simply placed mine on a small rubberized mouse pad on top of my furniture, in order to better 'isolate' the amp from speaker vibrations. Also, remember to purchase a separate AC power cord for your amp, since it does not come with one. Also, make sure you 'break in' the tubes by letting them play for several hours before any serious listening. You will notice that the sound 'blooms' a bit more, with the soundstage, overtones, and harmonics being more 'present'. OK... I know what you're thinking. Do tubes really need a 'break in' period? There are many mixed opinions about this very subject online, but from my own experience, yes they do! I distinctly DID notice a sonic improvement after 'burning in' the tubes for a few hours, based on before and after listening sessions. But I digress...

11.04.2016

ASIN	B00X5ECQ4Q
Battery Capacity	4 Amp Hours
Customer Reviews	4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars (47)
Date First Available	May 5, 2015
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer	No
Is Waterproof	FALSE
Item Weight	5.51 pounds
Item model number	PA1501A
Manufacturer	APPJ
Product Dimensions	7.87 x 7.87 x 7.87 inches
Speaker Size	160 Millimeters
UPC	612032784911 703681352580
Unit Count	1.0 Count

APPJ PA1501A mini tube amplifier with 6AD10 tube (black)

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