GemTune GS-01 Hi-Fi Tube Amplifier, 220V (+/-10%), Tubes: EL34*2 + 6N9P*2 + 5AR4(Or 274B, or 5Z3P, or 5U4G)*1 , Hi-end Tube Integrated Amplifier, Single Ended, 100% Handmade

great tone through my selestians DL10,S

I am very pleased with this amp. I'm a rookie audiophile and certainly no electro engineer but to me the sound is absolutely beautiful, clear and crisp. The bass is a little sloppy, as i'm told is to be expected with a SET (single ended triode) amp and it doesn't play mind boggling loud with my old 87db SPL speakers, but it certainly plays loud enough for all my listening needs. (I bought components for speakers with a higher sensitivity, but actually i haven't got to building them yet because the amp plays so beautifully and plenty loud with my old Bose 301)To me the greatest thing about this amp is the aesthetics. It is absolutely gorgeous. The glowing tubes and vu meters in soft, warm yellow and the fine looking dark wood. It looks like something from a weird fantasy/sci-fi crossover movie. Everyone who hasn't seen a tube amp before, can't stop staring at it in awe and disbelief. I love it. haha.My limited use of guitar amps and my friend's complaining about his very fragile and whimsical Rogue Audio push-pull EL34 amp were my only prior experiences with tube amps. I bought the gs-01 about three months ago after spending a long time exploring and researching all the different options. Especially the other Gemtune amps had me intrigued after I saw a series of reviews of the gp-01 on youtubeIt shipped pretty fast and it came with nicely sealed and quite expensive Psvane el34 tubes from the hifi series (the cheapest one from psvane).The preamp tubes and rectifier tube are cheaper models. The rectifier tube was not in a sealed box and it did have prints on it, clearly it had been used before. But honestly for the price and after reading the few other reviews I was just relieved that it worked.I've heard that tube amps are very delicate and very sensitive to speaker impedance. I've accidently turned it on with speakers connected in reverse and I did the same thing with no load and the amp still plays fine. Overall it's quite sturdy built and very heavy, though it's small and easy to fit in a bookshelf.I highly recommend this amp. I'll update the review as we go along.

good value for the money, sweet sound

Initial review:Arrived intact, no damage, well packed.Valves installed correctly and set up ready to go. Unfortunately no sound produced at all and when I touched the metal case of the amp I received a very hefty electric shock.I cannot believe these meet UK safety standards. It should be impossible to end up with a live chassis.Updated review;I decided to try another example of this amp after a month and when the price had dropped from c.£300 to c.£260.I was please to see the amp arrived in very good condition, it's well made. Nevertheless, I took steps to ensure that the chassis wasn't live and going to have a second attempt at killing me.Switch on, warm up and a really pleasing sound. Better than it should be for the money spent. Having looked at the circuit, it's incredibly simple and base don a tried and tested design. The internal construction is on a tagboard and there isn't a printed circuit board anywhere, proper old school.The valves supplied are very interesting, a new old stock (from the 1970's) russian rectifier and a pair Svetlana NOS driver valves. No wonder it sounds good. The output valves are new from PSvane, which is a hi-fi centred valve manufacturer in China.I am seriously enjoying listening to this amp and it looks really nice too.Do protect yourself by using an RCD plug - something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Masterplug-ARCDKG-RCD-Safety-Adaptor/dp/B000RZDNZM/ref=sr_1_3?adgrpid=53011689733&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhfPY_9fP4gIVz5TtCh1wawEqEAAYAiAAEgKeCPD_BwE&hvadid=259011644148&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1006567&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t2&hvqmt=e&hvrand=16221879118567262306&hvtargid=kwd-300688974162&hydadcr=170_1786935&keywords=rcd+plugs&qid=1559646511&s=gateway&sr=8-3 and, if you can have it electrically (PAT test) safety tested by a competent person before using it yourself.It's a great amp, replacement valves are readily available, but should last at least 3000 hours, probably a lot more.