Elekt TU882R

[mrarroyo]

Day One – June 23, 2009

Recently I saw a post by Victor Kung on this new product. He posted for volunteers interested in listening/testing the amp and I jumped at the opportunity. Mr. Kung agreed and I received the unit today. I proceeded to unpack and commenced the testing. What you see below is the first of various posts to come on the Elekit TU882R.

The concept behind Elekit is IMO quite interesting; the company sells a vacuum tube stereo headphone amp that arrives in modules and parts that the owner puts together. This approach allows the owner an exposure to DIY and should start the juices flowing to further projects. Furthermore it lowers the cost of the amp and thus makes for an affordable product to budding audiophiles.

Although the unit I received arrived fully assembled I could not restrain my self from reading the 15 single sided pages instruction booklet. The instructions are easy to follow and start with the tools needed and a couple of pages identifying components. As the instructions progress the easy to follow diagrams direct the builder through the process. They also include a technical section with a schematic and specifications which would come in handy for future troubleshooting or perhaps for the not faint of heart mods! Of course those who modify this or a unit by any other manufacturer would loose the warranty, so please do not take my comment to imply or infer that modifications are permitted or encouraged.

The tubes used are the 5670/2C51/396A types, which are plentiful and quite inexpensive for NOS tubes. I found the unit to run quite cool to the touch and quite appealing in an understated way. To me amps like the Elekit and Mapletree are quite appealing in their industrial and utilitarian way.

Operationally the unit offers a lot of flexibility; first the RCA input has a pass through feature, which helps those of us who wish to use the same source to feed to amp without having to purchase splitters. In the front panel you will find a second input using a 1/8" jack, very convenient for those who would like to use an iPod or an iModded iPod to feed the amp using their dock line out. This input takes priority over the RCA input in the rear; so do not plug anything into the 1/8" input jack in the front if you plan to listen using the rear input.

Right below the 1/8" mini input in the front faceplate there are three additional input jacks. Two are of the 1/8" variety for low and mid impedance headphones, the third is a ¼" jack which can be used to connect low/mid/high impedance headphones. The impedance selector for the ¼" jack is on the rear panel of the amplifier adjacent to the loop out RCA's.

If you wish to read more about the amp from the vendor's perspective you should go to: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5452305-post1.html

By the way, before I get to into the unit or the review here are a couple of pictures of the amp.



I will be doing this review in various stages with various targeted audiences/uses. The first one is for those looking for an office, den, or nightstand rig. In this case the source would be an iPod or similar via a line out doc. I used for this first stage a 160 Gb iPod Classic and an ALO Bamboo line out dock filled with Apple Lossless Files.



I went kind beyond mid-fi by using a pair of Grado RS-1 with buttons I have had for about 4 years. BTW, since I am not the first user of this Elekit TU882R I am going on the premise it is fully burnt in. I should also mention that for the first couple of days I will be using the stock tubes and will later install a pair of WE396A valves included for testing.

For music I started with Michael Franks - Abandon Garden and followed it with Yellowjackets – Altered State.





How does it sound? To say I was surprised would be an understatement, the sound is very mellow with an organic dare I say cohesive sound that exudes a level of smoothness that in my case helped me unwind following a hard day at the office.  Using the iPod via the ALO Bamboo line out makes for a very compact and user-friendly setup, which is IMO, an outstanding combo to relax the user do the friendly way it presents the music.

The bass is tight and punchy without being overpowering. The mids are sweet and with enough detail to bring out the music, yet the smoothness of the presentation makes for a very mellow and enjoyable experience. The air between the notes and openness brings out a very natural and engaging soundstage, which combined w/ the smooth mids not only enhances the presentation but also keeps you listening to more and more music.

In the next stages I will use a Meridian 506.20 cd player and a Monarchy NM24 playing Apple Lossless files from my computer. I will use these sources to further evaluate the musical presentation including the treble extension and soundstage. If the amp continues to scale up w/ the better sources this will be a really nice addition to most of us looking for a single ended tube based headphone amp.

Before I close this first installment I will add that the RS-1 kept its composure at all times and its treble presentation was both very smooth and engaging. The amp was dead silent in high gain w/ the source paused and the volume at max.

Day Two – June 24, 2009

Today I hooked up my modded Denon AH-D2000; this unit has received the MarkL mods plus a set of his Bubinga Wood cups. Lastly it sports a ten foot long silver plated re-cable terminated in a ¼" neutrick plug. Here is a picture:



For the first round of music (still using the iPod via the ALO Bamboo Dock) I chose Diana Krall's All For You: A Dedication To The Nat King Cole Trio and Joe Pass' Appassionato.



I felt the presentation was just as good with Denon headphones and the mids were just as sweet as with the RS-1. Diana Krall's voice was just spot on and the piano's bass notes were just as punchy and detailed as I could ask for. As you can read I was very happy with the sound reproduction.

Then I realized that some users may wish to use an older cd or dvd player as a source should they wish to set up a rig in the den. I searched in my closet and found an older Philips dvd player model DVP5982. I proceeded to connect it using the same cables as the ones used to connect the ALO Bamboo Dock, a set of Silver Sonic DH Labs BL-1 Cable made by Moon Audio.

To maintain some common elements I chose the same Denon AH-D2000 headphones and the music by Diana Krall and Joe Pass (cd's of course). I was not ready for the totally different experience! Yesterday I wrote that I was hoping the Elekit TU882R would scale with better sources, well it does so in a big way! The biggest difference is ... just about every component of the presentation. The largest and more easily recognizable improvements lie with the treble extension, a deeper bass, and a more open presentation of the music. I should also inform that not only is the soundstage wider but thicker as in layers (front to back), I can almost call it three dimensional but I think I will have to listen to other cd's before making such an assertion.

Please do not take my comments to be in any way a negative critique on the iPod or the ALO Bamboo Dock. Both are outstanding for the intended purpose for which they were design and built. There is no way you could transport 500 cd's in a battery operated source with over 28 hours of play time in as an small package as achieved by the iPod and ALO Bamboo Dock.

So far, with two days of listening I am very impressed with this amp. So much so I have asked my wife to listen and provide feedback, her response was a smile and a comment on how nice the unit sounds. These statements were made with both the iPod and DVD Player as sources, I concur with her assessment.

More to come ...

[mrarroyo]

He continuado escuchando este ampli pero con mejores fuentes, Monarchy NM24 DAC y Meridian 506.20. La verdad que suena de maravilla y no importa el auricular que uso (ahora estoy usando el AKG K501) el sonido es fantastico.

No se en cuanto se venda en España pero si el precio es como en EEUU este ampli es una ganga.