View Full Version : New addition
Just thought I'd post my views and observations on my most recent bit of kit that I've purchased, namely a Boyuu Reisong A10 single ended Class A tube integrated amplifier. This is the first bit of valve equipment I've owned for more than 30 years the last being a Beard P35 power amp back in the late 1980's, that left a very bad taste in my mouth as although it sounded superb reliability was a disaster and I was eventually glad to see the back of it. Since then I've had a mild itch to try one again particularly with the miriad of reasonably priced Chinese made tube amps currently on the market. After a lot of internet and Youtube searching I came across numerous positive reviews of the Boyuu Reisong A10 integrated amp so I decided to jump in with both feet and buy one to slot into my second tier system in the bedroom to drive my Frugelhorn Lites with the Mark Audio Alpair 5.3 full range drivers.
I've had the amp now for 3 weeks and to be quite honest it has greatly exceeded my expectations. I had reservations over compatibility with my speakers as they are only 85db/w and the A10 puts out a mere 6wpc but it has proved to be more than adequate for my needs. It's proven to be so good it has displaced a Cambridge CXA60 which has now been sold on, and that's no slouch of an amp.
Even with the stock Chinese tubes the sound quality is very good majoring on midband detail, clarity and air, with slightly boosted bass end and a very slightly rolled of top, extremely listenable and unfatiguing. For 6watts it has an amazing amount of dynamic punch and solidity in the bass that I couldn't have anticipated and it certainly is a very good match for my Frugelhorn Lites.
Since I've had the amp I consulted with a friend who's very knowledgeable about tube gear who suggested I try some tube rolling with the relatively inexpensive pre tubes as he said often they give a more noticeable improvement than changing the much more expensive EL34 power tubes.
A few days ago I ordered a pair of Russian Voshkod Rocket 6n2p pre tubes which I've now had installed in the A10 for the last 2 days, for an outlay of just over £20 the new tubes have given a beneficial improvement to the sound of the amp, namely the upper mid and treble are now a little more brightly lit which has worked nicely to negate the slight top end rolloff with the standard tubes, the nice punchy bass end has not been altered.
As you can see from the photos the build quality of the A10 is superb and although not large it's a damned heavy beast, for a relatively cheap amp surprisingly it is almost completely point to point wired and from what I can see from photos of the inside it uses good quality components. For anyone wanting to dip their toes into the world of tube amps I can heartily recommend the Reisong A10.
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hifinutt
14-03-2021, 16:53
nice, especially with the frugal horn
Weeman1973
14-03-2021, 17:31
Been tempted to get back into valves myself since seeing this with Zero Fidelity and then Steve Guttenberg. Glad to hear the ‘real world’ reviews match the YouTubers also
BultyBoy
14-03-2021, 18:47
Looks like a Primaluna Evolution copy. How much was it and where from? Thanks
Looks like a Primaluna Evolution copy. How much was it and where from? Thanks
Bought it via Aliexpress which turned out to be a bad move as I got saddled with £81 in import charges and VAT as it came from the EU (Germany) so it would have been cheaper buying it on Ebay although the ones on Ebay don't come with the cage valve cover.
All told it cost me £435.
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Been tempted to get back into valves myself since seeing this with Zero Fidelity and then Steve Guttenberg. Glad to hear the ‘real world’ reviews match the YouTubers also
I saw those reviews and I have to disagree with the guy in Zero Fidelity who says the A10 has a V shaped response, it definitely doesn't. A guy on the Audioscience Review forum tested his and this is the result he got.
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It's within +/- 1db up to 6khz and then rolls off a couple of dbs by 10khz with stock tubes.
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Pigmy Pony
15-03-2021, 18:20
Very nice looking Steve. How many inputs?
Very nice looking Steve. How many inputs?
It’s got 2 sets of analogue RCA inputs.
It also has output taps for 4 and 8 ohm speakers, I run the FHLs on the 4 ohm outputs.
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mr sneff
18-03-2021, 12:18
Just ordered one on eBay (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262511075708?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338781099&toolid=20006&customid=5mM-6wQHAAAA0kv3DogQG0y1klUAAAAAAA). Delivered from the UK, £399 listed, although, for some reason I got a discount.......£333!
Just ordered one on eBay (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262511075708?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338781099&toolid=20006&customid=5mM-6wQHAAAA0kv3DogQG0y1klUAAAAAAA). Delivered from the UK, £399 listed, although, for some reason I got a discount.......£333!
Be interested to know how you’re getting on with it.
Since my original post I have moved on the FHLs and now have a pair of Mission QX2 standmounts which have 3dbs higher sensitivity so I don’t have to drive the amp as hard.
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Just thought I'd revitalise this old thread of mine with some continued observations on my Reisong A10 which I've now been using for a little over 9 months. The amp has been used every day and has been utterly reliable apart from a noise problem when I switched to the Voshkod Rocket pre tubes which reared its head after a couple of months use so the originals have been put back which sorted the problem out. The sound quality driving the 88db Mission QX2 is certainly better than it was with the less efficient FHLs but with the small amount of top end sweetness I think it would be a better match with brighter and more efficient speakers particularly as my (69 year old) ears are now rolling off at HF too. As an experiment I tried the A10 briefly in my main setup driving my 90db Q Acoustics Concept 40s and the combination proved to be excellent producing a very balanced sound with a more than acceptable volume level from its 6 wpc.
I've investigated possible modifications and there are several suggestions online and on Youtube with regards to component substitutions which are inexpensive and are supposed to give audible improvements but having no DIY skill in that area it's not something I think I'd want to attempt.
Much as I do like many of the amps attributes, midband clarity, solid punchy bass and stereo imagery the main drawback for me how my system is set up is the lack of remote control and I get the feeling that I will shortly be tempted to move the A10 on and get a different and probably more conventional amp with a remote. The prime candidate will probably be the Rega Io, I have tried the setup with the amp from my main system the Rega Brio and the results were extremely good as I would have expected but there's no way I could justify spending £600 on an amp for a second tier setup. Apparently there is little loss other than lower power and less inputs going down to the Io and at under £400 it's a lot more in keeping with the rest of the setup so it seems a sensible move. Certainly one thing the the Io can't match is the physical beauty and presence of the A10 which I'll certainly miss a lot. Still conjecture currently though.
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The Io won't be a good match for those Mission speakers. You need speakers with 8 ohm or higher impedance for the Io. Even Rega say that.
Brio should be okay though and always some for sale used.
The Io won't be a good match for those Mission speakers. You need speakers with 8 ohm or higher impedance for the Io. Even Rega say that.
Brio should be okay though and always some for sale used.
That's interesting and frankly a little surprising, I would have expected the Io to have similar characteristics to the Brio with just less power particularly as these days there seem to be more 4 ohm speakers around than 8 ohms. I wonder if the compatibility issue relates to heat dissipation when driven hard, in my situation I doubt the speakers would get even close to 1 watt at my listening level, probably quite a bit less.
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It's not watts but current, the IO is not able to sustain voltage into a low impedance load.
I hardly ever use more than one watt continuous (I know because an LED lights up if I do) but if I swap the Krell for a NAD I notice the difference, mostly in the bass performance, because the speakers drop to 2.2 ohms, but the whole sound is just not as 'good'.
Both power amps have similar power rating in watts but I can pick up the NAD in one hand whereas picking up the Krell is like doing a deadlift.
hifinutt
31-12-2021, 14:14
could you get a volume controlled dac to act as volume control and keep the amp , which obviously you enjoy . like a rme or a dac1 perhaps
It's not watts but current, the IO is not able to sustain voltage into a low impedance load.
I hardly ever use more than one watt continuous (I know because an LED lights up if I do) but if I swap the Krell for a NAD I notice the difference, mostly in the bass performance, because the speakers drop to 2.2 ohms, but the whole sound is just not as 'good'.
Both power amps have similar power rating in watts but I can pick up the NAD in one hand whereas picking up the Krell is like doing a deadlift.
According to Mission the minimum impedance on the QX2 is 3.6 ohms which I wouldn't have thought was too drastic as no doubt the rest of the impedance curve will be comfortably over 4 ohms, mind you I wouldn't want to shell out the money and find the combination was problematic.
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could you get a volume controlled dac to act as volume control and keep the amp , which obviously you enjoy . like a rme or a dac1 perhaps
It's not just a move towards a remote controlled amp but one that puts back some of the top end sparkle that my ageing ears are missing with the A10, particularly as I do get that sparkle with my main setup which throws the difference into sharp relief.
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