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Hardware/Software / Maverick Audio TubeMagic A1 Tube Amp and Power Amp
« on: Saturday, April 17, 2010, 15:51:59 PM »
Only a handful of people know about this and I'm lucky enough to be one of them. Maverick Audio first came out with the TubeMagic D1 several months ago and Ryan, the owner of Maverick Audio, has already been working on the next component of the Desktop Mini Series. One of the complaints, if you can call it that, of the TubeMagic was that the tube wasn't tied to the headphone out put at all, this means that you only get the tube quality and sound by using an external amplifier. Now, a solution is made; a pure tube headphone amp with built-in hybrid power amplifier for bookshelf speakers. Below are some specifications that were e-mailed to me:
-It has 30watt x 2 output, enough to drive most low impedance bookshelf speakers.
-The headphone amp part is pure tube driven. That means no OpAmp, only tube in the headphone amp part.
-The power amp is a hybrid, it has tube as preamp stage and solid state as power amp stage.
-We use a pair of 6AK5 tubes in the new amp. (Chinese NOS 6J1 tube comes stock)
-It has the same form factor as our D1, just a lot heavier due to the 80-watt R-Core transformer.
As of today (4/17/2010) the unit is still undergoing R&D. He told me that more testing will be done this weekend and if everything is ok, Beta units will be sent out to a select few people (I'm one
) and if any issues are found, they will be fixed and then the amps will be mass-produced. I would imagine they will be available for sale towards the middle of next month as long as there aren't any huge issues left.
Something pretty cool came up during our conversation. I brought it up to him that silver solder is generally more liked in higher-end audio and using lead-free silver solder would probably make the component RoHS compliant. I told him that if he made them RoHS compliant then he could advertise them as such and I know there's people like me that would be willing to pay $5 or $10 extra for the unit to cover the cost of high quality lead-free solder. This is what he had to say:
"Completely agree with your suggestion on RoHS. I'll try to get the factory to use lead free solder materials."
Pretty epic to mention something like that and possibly see a factory in China stray away from leaded solder.
Anyway, I will update this thread with more info about the amp and impressions when I receive it.
6/11 Update:
The unit has gone through all R&D after many revisions and the first batch should be ready towards the middle to end of this month. Unfortunately, RoHS won't be part of the unit. Ryan told me that going through R&D, the amp has gotten significantly more expensive to manufacture and the factory he uses wants too much to make RoHS feasible. He says this will change when he sells enough units to be able to mass-produce and make RoHS a cost-worthy feature. I should be getting pictures soon. I'm getting kinda excited.
7/2 Update:
Almost ready for pre-order! Pictures and blog post:
http://www.mavaudio.com/base/audio-and-hi-fi/tube-magic-a1-hybrid-amplifier-is-almost-ready-for-pre-order/
7/3 Update:
I've made a Condensed FAQ on Head-Fi with all the known information and pictures. Check it out:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/500259/maverick-audio-tubemagic-a1-hybrid-amp-condensed-faq-and-info-thread
8/5 Update:
Wow, it's been a while
I picked up the unit yesterday and have had it for probably 30 hours. I like it. It's definitely surprised me with the power and clarity/detail. I'll be writing a more formal review and will post a link to it but I thought I would share some pictures that aren't up on any other website.
Pictures (click for larger image):
-It has 30watt x 2 output, enough to drive most low impedance bookshelf speakers.
-The headphone amp part is pure tube driven. That means no OpAmp, only tube in the headphone amp part.
-The power amp is a hybrid, it has tube as preamp stage and solid state as power amp stage.
-We use a pair of 6AK5 tubes in the new amp. (Chinese NOS 6J1 tube comes stock)
-It has the same form factor as our D1, just a lot heavier due to the 80-watt R-Core transformer.
As of today (4/17/2010) the unit is still undergoing R&D. He told me that more testing will be done this weekend and if everything is ok, Beta units will be sent out to a select few people (I'm one
) and if any issues are found, they will be fixed and then the amps will be mass-produced. I would imagine they will be available for sale towards the middle of next month as long as there aren't any huge issues left.Something pretty cool came up during our conversation. I brought it up to him that silver solder is generally more liked in higher-end audio and using lead-free silver solder would probably make the component RoHS compliant. I told him that if he made them RoHS compliant then he could advertise them as such and I know there's people like me that would be willing to pay $5 or $10 extra for the unit to cover the cost of high quality lead-free solder. This is what he had to say:
"Completely agree with your suggestion on RoHS. I'll try to get the factory to use lead free solder materials."
Pretty epic to mention something like that and possibly see a factory in China stray away from leaded solder.
Anyway, I will update this thread with more info about the amp and impressions when I receive it.
6/11 Update:
The unit has gone through all R&D after many revisions and the first batch should be ready towards the middle to end of this month. Unfortunately, RoHS won't be part of the unit. Ryan told me that going through R&D, the amp has gotten significantly more expensive to manufacture and the factory he uses wants too much to make RoHS feasible. He says this will change when he sells enough units to be able to mass-produce and make RoHS a cost-worthy feature. I should be getting pictures soon. I'm getting kinda excited.
7/2 Update:
Almost ready for pre-order! Pictures and blog post:
http://www.mavaudio.com/base/audio-and-hi-fi/tube-magic-a1-hybrid-amplifier-is-almost-ready-for-pre-order/
7/3 Update:
I've made a Condensed FAQ on Head-Fi with all the known information and pictures. Check it out:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/500259/maverick-audio-tubemagic-a1-hybrid-amp-condensed-faq-and-info-thread
8/5 Update:
Wow, it's been a while
I picked up the unit yesterday and have had it for probably 30 hours. I like it. It's definitely surprised me with the power and clarity/detail. I'll be writing a more formal review and will post a link to it but I thought I would share some pictures that aren't up on any other website.Pictures (click for larger image):
