View Full Version : New Xiang Sheng Preamp
Lawrence001
06-09-2019, 19:24
Thought I'd give this a whirl, it was very revealing and open sounding but a bit bright sounding when it came (12AT7s were upgraded to Sylvanias but the 12AU7s were still stock Chinese. Just put some Phillips 5963 in and initial impressions are very positive, the edge has been taken off but the positives are still present.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190906/84cf1d35059b4ad1832c9f60dcf76f58.jpg
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Lawrence001
06-09-2019, 19:51
Nude shots. I've taken out the dummy valve in the front window that is only there to look fancy as it can only do harm. Warming up nicely...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190906/9433dcf00020fc3a1ec44dac648787f0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190906/5554864ae6ea24a5b7bcd9d6d850e7f0.jpg
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Bigman80
06-09-2019, 19:56
Looks pretty cool!
They do make some pretty decent stuff for not a lot of money.
Lawrence001
06-09-2019, 20:54
Bloody spellcheck can a mod please change the title to Xiang Sheng?
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Lawrence001
06-09-2019, 21:51
Looks pretty cool!
They do make some pretty decent stuff for not a lot of money.Amazing for the money really, soft start, relay controlled source selection, thick aluminium fascia, some nice parts inside and decent sockets at the back. Just a pity about that cheesy window.
Mind you now that McIntosh are fitting blue LEDs under the valves in their amps, I'm not sure what people like these days [emoji2957]
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Bigman80
06-09-2019, 21:54
Amazing for the money really, soft start, relay controlled source selection, thick aluminium fascia, some nice parts inside and decent sockets at the back. Just a pity about that cheesy window.
Mind you now that McIntosh are fitting blue LEDs under the valves in their amps, I'm not sure what people like these days [emoji2957]
Sent from my POT-LX1 using TapatalkHaha, yes, I defo prefer green lol.
Looks like a lot of features too. I like the effort the ChiFi guys are going to.
Styling could hark back to the 70's especially with those tone controls.
Bloody spellcheck can a mod please change the title to Xiang Sheng?
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Done.
Looks like they are around the 300 quid mark?
donmarrese
07-09-2019, 13:06
Lawrence, do you know what circuit this pre is based on?
Someone was telling me that a lot of these Chinese pre's were based on a 'up there' Marantz valve pre from the 60's???
Anyone?
Sounds tempting anyway...
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The website gives more info:
The pre-amplifier refer to famous Japan Wada Shigeho's Style improved Electric circuit , and adjust the External component parameters according to different bile ducts so that give full play to the advantage of bile duct, cause the machine perform well . The Electric circuit was introduced by professor Shigeho Wada in the early 1960s, having excellent performance. It's sufficient to keep pace with Marantz7.
https://xshn.en.ecplaza.net/products/improved-728a-vacuum-tube-pre-amplifier_1647511
From this review of a different pre-amp http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audiospace4/audiospace_2.html
let's just say that the Wada Shigeho preamp is a modification of the Marantz 7 circuit with the third stage configured to SRPP.
Lawrence001
07-09-2019, 15:16
From this review of a different pre-amp http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audiospace4/audiospace_2.html
let's just say that the Wada Shigeho preamp is a modification of the Marantz 7 circuit with the third stage configured to SRPP.This is obviously not in the same league but with a bit of fiddling around with the valves and finally adding my valve buffer I can safely say I've got my system sorted now. I'll post the full details at some point, but it's a budget affair and genuinely sounding high end.
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Lawrence001
07-09-2019, 15:18
Lawrence, do you know what circuit this pre is based on?
Someone was telling me that a lot of these Chinese pre's were based on a 'up there' Marantz valve pre from the 60's???
Anyone?
Sounds tempting anyway...
Sent from my ONE A2003 using TapatalkHighly recommended. There's a version with no tone controls too so I'll be keeping an eye out for that, missed one on the Wam a few months ago. This has a bypass anyway.
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Lawrence001
07-09-2019, 15:19
Done.
Looks like they are around the 300 quid mark?Cheers Martin. Yes give or take plus import duties.
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AD Audio
08-09-2019, 00:37
I always make sure the 'bile ducts' are fully operational on my pres...[emoji1]
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Firebottle
08-09-2019, 06:29
Never understood where that translation came from. What is the meaning? Does anyone know?
Lawrence001
08-09-2019, 06:31
Bile ducts seem to be very common in Chinese valve amps. Does anyone happen to know if the Chinese words for bile duct and valve are similar?
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Lawrence001
22-09-2019, 23:17
I've had this a couple of weeks now and wanted to report back as some people have expressed interest in getting one.
Firstly there are two versions, with and without tone controls I can only comment on the one I have, with them.
The sound is very good, transparent, detailed with great soundstage and imaging, but the ability to add a bit more body with the tone control. An utter bargain, one of the best pres I've owned if not the best (YMMV).
The stock valves are not good and should be changed, 2x 12AT7 and 2x 12AU7. There are 2 Chinese rectifiers that do not have a Western drop in equivalent so I have left them alone. The circuit is apparently based on a famous Japanese circuit as used in the Marantz 7. There's a valve at the front solely for display purposes which I have removed as it can only harm SQ and strain the power supply.
There are 4 relay controlled inputs, a warm up power delay circuit (the front light flashes red for a minute it so before going blue) and high and low impedance outputs. The fascia is very thick aluminium and the RCA sockets on the rear are of good quality. The amp physically suggests great value for money.
Onto the quirks. I found this out from a foreign forum and my listening supports the claims. The volume control also seems to be linked to a loudness contour so you get a very full on sound when the amp is set to bypass bizarrely. Switching on the tone controls seems to stop this but then the other quirk is that the tone section is not flat on the central settings. The treble should be set to about 10 and the bass to 2. Goodness knows why this is, but there you go, you have to work around it.
I was initially a bit bothered by the fact that you cannot run it in bypass and have to engage the tone controls to get a balanced sound. I occasionally switched it back on again and after a little while decided I prefer the bypass off. After a few days of enjoying the amp it no longer bothered me and I started to enjoy the benefit of changing the tone controls subtly between albums to get the balance I like. I've now reached the heretical opinion that tone controls are not bad at all and wonder why did the British obsession with minimalism on the 80s become so pervasive?
I've wondered if I should try the "audiophile" version with no tone controls but I'm a little worried that it might contain the loudness circuit with no way to switch it off. I'd be surprised, but then this amp has a few of surprises if its own and it's a bit of a risk, especially since I like the one I've got. The quirks offend my hifi sensibilities but I'm so happy with the sound, happier than I've been for a very long time, that I have just accepted them and moved on.
I also wonder if the bad reviews in places have been by people who don't know about the quirks and play it in visually flat settings or bypass mode. I'd probably struggle with it in that case. If you can cope with the oddities and get over them like I have, I highly recommend this amp as great value for money.
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Light Dependant Resistor
23-09-2019, 05:05
Hmmm..... tone controls tend to force a departure from ever hearing the recorded work as intended. usually best to have a reference... but Interesting they work for you.
Certainly some sources like cassette may benefit, but today's modern sources are so good, they might be best heard as is firstly to see
what is added or taken away in their use with tone controls . I agree controls which are quirky are going to be a downside, but glad you have worked around that.
Lawrence001
23-09-2019, 06:41
Hmmm..... tone controls tend to force a departure from ever hearing the recorded work as intended. usually best to have a reference... but Interesting they work for you.
Certainly some sources like cassette may benefit, but today's modern sources are so good, they might be best heard as is firstly to see
what is added or taken away in their use with tone controls . I agree controls which are quirky are going to be a downside, but glad you have worked around that.Whereas I think component, cable and room interaction, combined with inherent differences in the sonic character of components force a departure from hearing the work as intended, and tone controls are a (rather limited) means of restoring it a little. Combined with adding a little of one's own preferred sonic trait to the sound. I do start at flat as default and work from there as required.
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as you know I am semi interested in one of these, any sellers PM me?
what has put me off so far was a repair report on what may have been an earlier version, PCB looks blue rather than your black. I suspect given your comments on tone controls you may have seen it but for anyone interested it is below - it has a probable circuit diagram too
http://www.g4cnh.com/public/A_Look_At_The_Xiang_Sheng_728A.pdf
jandl100
24-09-2019, 09:19
Interesting. I certainly loved my old Xiang Sheng DAC-01A, they do make great value gear.
I have to confess that the rather quirky nature of the tone controls on your pre rather appeals to me!
... I've now reached the heretical opinion that tone controls are not bad at all and wonder why did the British obsession with minimalism on the 80s become so pervasive?
I agree. My Marantz integrated amp has tone controls as well, and I do find them useful for some recordings.
There is a smidgeon of extra clarity to be had in bypass mode, but that can be outweighed by the ability to correct a bright or dull [often old] recording, or to add or remove a bit of bass weight.
Lawrence001
03-10-2019, 08:17
Totally agree, and the smidgeon of clarity that you can hear when you do quick A/B switches are soon forgotten, and can actually sound a bit more musical anyway!
Just switched over the Sylvania ECC81s to Mullard CV4024s and I prefer the new sound.
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jandl100
03-10-2019, 08:38
Totally agree, and the smidgeon of clarity that you can hear when you do quick A/B switches are soon forgotten, and can actually sound a bit more musical anyway!
Yup!
My Marantz amp is the same - with bypass switched off the sound is a little smoother and less explicit, and that can work well with some recordings.
Just switched over the Sylvania ECC81s to Mullard CV4024s and I prefer the new sound.
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I seriously like those CV Mullards. Enjoy.
Lawrence001
08-12-2019, 11:19
I've listed this on the classifieds if anyone's interested. (The Mullards aren't included in the price but I could switch them over for a little bit more.)
Lawrence001
09-12-2019, 14:26
Someone has been asking about this on eBay. After a lot of to'ing and fro'ing about when he can collect and the price he says he won't buy it until he's tried it for a few days at his house and he wants me to drop it off to him.
Words escape me. At least I can't post then on here [emoji38]
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