Smp Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 12 hours ago, Musicman1963 said: These look awful lot like Icon Audio there was an article in hi-fi news long time ago where David Shaw was defending Mexing. pre-amp when a reviewer had a crack at the “untidy” soldering in it . You pay a lot more for Icon Audio equivalents when they are basically manufactured in China assembled in Britain why wouldn’t you go for Mingda/Mexing at the price. 845s are a great robust sounding tube. This information is not entirely accurate..................only the casework of Icon Audio units are manufactured in China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TP1 Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 53 minutes ago, Smp said: This information is not entirely accurate..................only the casework of Icon Audio units are manufactured in China. Since when? Originally all Icon Audio gear was made by Meixing/Mingda under a partnering arrangement in China until Icon Audio head-hunted and hired some Mingda employees to set up their own manufacturing in China . All Icon audio gear at the time was a direct copy or a slightly altered Mingda design. Naturally Mingda were pretty upset which caused them to appoint UK distributors for their own brand. Mingda set some pretty high standards in terms of layout , soldering quality etc . This sort of behaviour isn't new. It also happened to the original owner of Jolida where the USA distributor setup separate facilities in China and produced the same gear even using the same brand name! The owner/designer - Mr Lui tried unsuccessfully in the USA through legal channels to stop it. He then walked away and formed a new company, Doge Audio who IMO produce some of the finest valve gear out there. Their Doge 9 power amp for example delivers serious power and can drive difficult loads better than a number of SS amps of same or better spec. They are also relatively indestructible compared to regular valve amps due to their advanced protection circuitry . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital Man Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 Hi All, You know, I'm starting to have a change of heart towards these amps, okay, silly question, what is the best way to use a pre amp/amps with these ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deanB Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 4 hours ago, Smp said: These look awful lot like Icon Audio there was an article in hi-fi news long time ago where David Shaw was defending Mexing. pre-amp when a reviewer had a crack at the “untidy” soldering in it . I have owned and used an Icon Audio LA4 MkII preamp for 8 years, cost was $1200 new. It recently developed an issue which was traced to a dry joint. The tech was gently critical of the standard of the solder work and quality of solder used but added he had seen worse. This was actually my second Icon pre. The chassis was warped on the first one I received, one foot was a good 3-4mm off the shelf. The Icon came with a signed off in the UK quality control check sheet with lots of ticks but I don't know how they could miss the warped chassis symptom. I picked it up as soon as I plugged the right side valve into it's socket. It's been a great preamp all the same but is much improved for having a quality resolder throughout and a recap with Mundorf Supremes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smp Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 @deanB how did you manage to quote me when @Musicman1963 was the author........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deanB Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 (edited) Oh yeah, I see what I did there. More mis-manage than anything else. Edited October 30, 2018 by deanB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulinap Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 (edited) 10 hours ago, djb said: @Tasso I agree have listened to and owned some high quality Ming da gear. ppl need to get over the "all chinese amps are crap" notion ..but weren't you a member of the 'Linn mob' who started bad-mouthing anything from far-east since the 70s; specially when the kitchen table TTs couldn't compete with mega over-engineered decks from Japan.....? Edited October 30, 2018 by pulinap 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 1 hour ago, pulinap said: ..but weren't you a member of the 'Linn mob' who started bad-mouthing anything from far-east since the 70s; specially when the kitchen table TTs couldn't compete with mega over-engineered decks from Japan.....? Aah, but P - @djbhas moved on from his LP12 days and now owns a much more advanced TT. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackaudio Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 These are my amps I can answer any questions .. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_mike Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 On 29/10/2018 at 10:41 PM, Stump said: The Heading should have gave that away!!! Ming Da MC845-C Valve Mono Block Amplifiers Mono blocks can be integrated or power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankn Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 Really? I’ve seen dual mono integrated amplifiers but universally imo the moniker “mono block” is reserved for a single channel, single chassis amplifier. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_mike Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 49 minutes ago, frankn said: Really? I’ve seen dual mono integrated amplifiers but universally imo the moniker “mono block” is reserved for a single channel, single chassis amplifier. ...and that single channel, single chassis amplifier can be integrated. Not at all uncommon with valve setups. Melody springs straight to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankn Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 They refer to their power amplifiers as mono blocks and their stereo amplifiers as “integrated”. Melody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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