AliExpress Preamplifier by Zero zone review Part 2

[@Vicballstats]

Love your work Gabster. thank you

[@jungtarcph]

Will there be a "Part 3" for upgrades.... I am missing preamps with Tube here in Europe.

[@Pete.across.the.street]

I would like to see part 3. I would like to know how recapping something like this would get you to a high end preamp. If you can do it on the cheap, I might do a solid state one.

[@goodsound4756]

I wonder why for little money more you didn't got yourself a Musical Paradise 701 preamp which has short signal path and is optimized to change tubes and capacitors.

[@mcgjohn22]

thanks for posting. Am looking forward to seeing what you do for upgrades in part 3.

[@pcwchengful]

Looking forward to part 3.

[@califmike2003]

Where is part 3 ??? love to see you change parts inside and see how it sounds ? Did you give up on this pre amp ?

[@kft590]

Upgrading the power supply with good, regulated power supply would likely improve the performance. If the 12 volt tube heaters aren't regulated that would improve the performance. Changing the input and output cabling to Cardas wire will make a huge improvement, that was the biggest improvement that I made on my ARC preamp, .

[@victorwai00]

I enjoyed your video very much, thank you! I believe a lot of us still very much look forward to part 3 of this journey, and wanted to see how far this preamplifier can go. 😊

[@Gabster1]

On my bucket list to complete 2024 is looking good for that one :)

[@robh9079]

Looking forward to pt 3!

[@impuls60]

You should change the input impedance to something close to the Machintosh amp since you already know that works well with your dac. Impedance matching equipment has a big effect in my experience.

[@TheRockerxx69]

I have had it built for me. The circuit is identical, Arc balanced, but l used lite audio PCB s. But power supply is all tubes. 5 tubes in power supply an 4 tubes in pre amp. 12au7 and 6922.

[@jamesshands2844]

I'm new at this tube thing. I have the Zero Zone would like to change tubes but need more info on the best tube to buy.

[@TheRockerxx69]

I have had the very same circuit built , it s a balanced copy basically of Arc very old balanced tube pre amp, my power supply is all tubes in this project

[@borisjelenc1217]

Thank you for the excellent information, but in order to reach a similar level with c22, it will be necessary to improve the power supply... increase the capacitance and also replace the output decoupling capacitors with of around 3.3uf and not around 1uf as they are usually added.

[@Gabster1]

Thank you great info I almost got tempted to mod it but ended up selling it as is still a great preamp that I regret selling

[@Spicycomment1]

Is that preamp good? To what could we compare it as good?

[@michaelmajchrzak3476]

@@Gabster1 that means there will be no part 3?

[@Gabster1]

@@michaelmajchrzak3476 I sold my C22 but There will be a part 3 on the Zerozone too many mods in the works :)

[@Mikegritz]

I'm new to this channel and happily enjoying the content. Will be checking out pt 3. Thx!

[@DrBroncanuus]

brilliant video .I learnt a lot...thank you..I am considering buying some Chi-Fi amps....

[@rmzidann]

Gab, any updates on this unit after tinkering with the power supply and changing the caps? Reason I ask is that there is a listing of this preamp and the owner has changed all the filter caps to Nichicon caps, the 15 uF film caps to Solen caps of same value, and he’s changed the 4 smalls coupling caps to Jantzen caps. Wondering if the changes you made made a significant difference?

[@Gabster1]

Sadly mine is sitting on a shelf been too busy with my TD1 Dac but these changes should make a good difference but not sure how much. I wonder if it was great if he would be selling it

[@anjovandijk9797]

aha interesting very informative I subscribed looking forward to part 3 of this journey. would like to hear your thoughts about the build quality of the Xindak xa 6950 ii hybrid from china

[@logotrikes]

What to choose? A couple of Aliexpress a/b mono power amps for the same price delivered to my door in Australia as a couple of Fosi ZA3's of known reputation. I can't decide if it's worth taking a chance on these el-cheapo power amps of unknown reputation or quality, or the Fosi's. I don't expect anyone to make up my mind for me, but some folks impressions/experience may be useful....

[@Gabster1]

If a good cheap amp you are looking for try the Ayima T9Pro or Dook Audio ST01.

[@logotrikes]

@@Gabster1 Cheers Gabby. Neither are really suitable because they can't easily be run in mono. That's the attraction of either AO7 Max or Fosi ZA3...

[@СергейЗаварыкин-м6з]

Hello, tell me, have you changed anything else besides the tubes in this pre-amplifier -?

[@ereisner2438]

Love your video work Sir, thank you ❤

[@JingoLoBa57]

My Audio Research Ref CD9 has a Brown Burr 1794 DAC, 2x channels it sounds sublime 👍

[@JingoLoBa57]

But it requires a preamplifier to follow it…

[@ronfreeman4687]

Thank you Gab.

[@jgogo]

Hi, have you changed the caps finally and is there a part 3 video ?

[@Gabster1]

still working on it will be changing the caps and PSU on hold now too many projects but on my to do list :)

[@pabulumdrummer]

Purchased. Are you getting a large surge/ pop when switching off the power with the remote? It throws my amps into safe mode after the surge....Super undesirable to say the least.

[@уменянетимениваще]

I have the same problem, but I taught myself to turn on the power amplifiers last in the system, and turn them off first

[@TheHahayanyan]

nice , wish it is a part 3, thx you

[@Gabster1]

On my list to do

[@crimsonghost6454]

Very good and I am very excited to see what mods you do and how the sound changes after that. I have a zero zone tube phono preamp that says it is a clone of the ear 834. I'm happy with it but I really heard a big difference when using vintage tung-sol 12ax7 tubes. The build is good and it sounds better than all of the solid states I have. I too am planning on doing a capacitor upgrade. Some of the cheap Chinese gear is good.

[@Gabster1]

I almost pulled the trigger to buy there phono preamp a couple times another one on my list Try vintage Telefunken smooth plates 12ax7 You will like it even more make sure you don’t get fake ones they should look a bit old with a diamond on the bottom.

[@JohnLee-db9zt]

Hi Gabster, which preamp has the best sound quality that you’ve ever heard?

[@Gabster1]

I am really enjoying the Mcintosh c22 also the C2300 almost the same I also like the Audio research Ref 5 and 6 but price starts to creep up I never heard the very high end preamps that retail north of $10000 I try to buy good used I am also experimenting with no preamp if your Dac allows volume control and have enough juice try hooking it up straight in the amp with no preamp you may be blown away. The shorter the path the better worth trying it is usually better 70% of the time depending on your system.

[@ramsaybolton9099]

@@Gabster1 tried the no preamp route. Those Mac preamps add a level of musicality that’s hard to live without.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

How's Warranty on that Chunk ? #ocdhifiguy

[@Gabster1]

comes with a Good luck warranty :)

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

@Gabster lol. Right ? Double Happiness Rainbow preamp... ;-) Rock on Man !

[@craigenputtock]

Nice review. Thanks.

[@Gabster1]

You are welcome

[@themountain59]

@@Gabster1 is there a third part coming ?

[@marcusbrown1767]

Did you have any issue with shipping through aliexspress?

[@Gabster1]

Not at all but had to pay some taxes and brokerage nothing unusual for Items of this value

[@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120]

Great Job ! 😃 Thanks for the video

[@Gabster1]

Thank you very nice Chanel you have

[@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120]

@@Gabster1 Thank you the channel has been alot of fun . Meet some great enthuist and learned alot since '89' 😆 I am very impressed with you knowlege of electronics . I know you have some sort of electronics degree and lots of expierence 😆 'Top level' thank you Subscribed

[@PaoloCaminiti]

Did you try tube rings?

[@Gabster1]

I will when I am close to being happy with the sound.

[@vinylaudio4231]

Great work 👍

[@ramsaybolton9099]

Great job!

[@davegrant9179]

Hi Gabster. Love your work. It would be great to see Part 3 and see how you've upgraded the caps and HV power supply. Cheers!

[@Gabster1]

still on my list to do been busy with the Dac projects

[@jeremyphilander8833]

Looks good to me...

[@califmike2003]

Change the coupling capacitors.

[@Gabster1]

For sure I Already ordered some

[@stevenpaul3886]

I’m in the process of updating all the resistors to audio quality nonmetallic and non-magnetic, caps and electrolyrics. My other preamp I purchased is the Marantz 7 which is mind blowing it’s an amazing circuit for the money off of eBay.

[@Gabster1]

Thanks I will try it

[@jgogo]

Hi, I also bought the M7, what mods have you done to improve it ?

[@bmamree]

I just subscribed your channel, very interested about China products.

[@NoName-to5xl]

Wait, wait wait, you reviewed a 500$ pre amp with 500$ of vintage tubes? So it's 1k, correct?

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

I never use CCA and other nos quality tubes in this kind of amplifiers, only in the better and my own buiild ones...soft start that switches inputs and or outputs is useless topreserve tubelife , therefor one must only apply HV when tubes are preheated and also switch off the HV before shutting down the heaters to drain the capacitors ...... It's a pity to sacrifice precious , rare and expensive nos tubes when they are not protected this way or used with non correct operating points . One can mpdify such a cheap preamp but often it's better to build one oneself with quality components , often the simpler circuitry with less componeznts sounds better.. Anyway your exposure of this peamp is correct and it may offer some tube tasted sound to many audiophiles wit perhaps some mosdifications, but please do not waste money on nos tubes in this case, nor use up those precious tubes , stick with current production tubes . thank you for the review and sharing your experience !

[@andreasklabis7706]

👍😁🇩🇪🇪🇺

[@roberthart9886]

Issues; he's playing it on top of another component and apparently without good isolation feet, and likely mediocre ICs and PC

[@matthewtaylor7355]

Shows how extremely expensive audio is after Western markups....

[@jerometroit3669]

In fact it cost 150 dollars to produce and they sell it 520 dollars X5 Factor. When an audionote is X4 Factor. No value..capacitors look like nichicon gold or kaisei but it is just gold paint to look like high end...lol 😅

[@sc0or]

360 (their price) minus Ali fee, minus taxes gives about 120 netto. Let's say 20 is a profit. So, do you see those 100 there? Including the case, the transformer, the heat sinks, the capacitors, and so on.. Everything inside is a fake. When you see 360 instead of 1500-2000, you must be ready for "abibas"

[@capdew]

He already said the sound is about 80%, not up to the high level he expected but it is alright for the price. Well, if the thing works, that means you are a fake

[@NormcoreGreg]

Chinese manufacturers receive funding from state funds to subsidise production and exports of many categories of products. That's why they're able to sell it at such low prices. Also, a lot of parts are original ones made on the same assembly lines as the branded products, but leave the factory through the backdoor - this shows how much premium "brands" put on their products.

[@matthewtaylor7355]

​@@NormcoreGregThey are sold thru the usual channels no backdoor conspiracy.

[@MichelLinschoten]

Lots of audiophile nonense

[@작두날서춤춰봐]

Wow~ Greite!!! But Alli*** 헤잍(Xxx)