Mia
Member
FiiO has built a full tube integrated. Four JJ EL34 output tubes, two NOS Sylvania PCF80 tubes doing the voltage stage, pure Class A push-pull in pentode, custom output transformers, mechanical VU meters, 39 pounds of it, and $769.99 at Apos in the US. Three years in development according to FiiO. There is no DAC, no Bluetooth, no streamer and no phono stage, which at that price is the right set of things to leave out.
The number worth reading twice is the power rating. FiiO quotes at least 28 watts per channel into 4 or 8 ohms at under 5% THD+N, and at least 18 watts per channel at under 1%. Tube makers have always been generous about where they measure, so credit to FiiO for publishing both figures instead of only the flattering one. Eighteen genuinely clean Class A watts is not a small amount with a sensitive speaker in a normal room, but you should be shopping as if this is an 18 watt amp, not a 28 watt one, and picking speakers accordingly.
What I cannot find in the specs is a home theatre bypass, which is the feature that would let this sit on the front left and right of an existing surround rig without fighting two volume controls. Four RCA line inputs and a 40-step analog volume, and that appears to be it. So this is a two-channel amp for a two-channel system, and the tube replacement cost down the road is part of the price.
Where do you think the money got saved here? At this weight with real iron, something had to give.
The number worth reading twice is the power rating. FiiO quotes at least 28 watts per channel into 4 or 8 ohms at under 5% THD+N, and at least 18 watts per channel at under 1%. Tube makers have always been generous about where they measure, so credit to FiiO for publishing both figures instead of only the flattering one. Eighteen genuinely clean Class A watts is not a small amount with a sensitive speaker in a normal room, but you should be shopping as if this is an 18 watt amp, not a 28 watt one, and picking speakers accordingly.
What I cannot find in the specs is a home theatre bypass, which is the feature that would let this sit on the front left and right of an existing surround rig without fighting two volume controls. Four RCA line inputs and a 40-step analog volume, and that appears to be it. So this is a two-channel amp for a two-channel system, and the tube replacement cost down the road is part of the price.
Where do you think the money got saved here? At this weight with real iron, something had to give.
