Loxjie P20 Balanced 6N3 Tube Hybrid Amp for under $100

Missed this sorry!

Yes, if I cannot find something decently priced already done I usually DIY it… been soldering and hacking since I was nine, did built tons of cables, patches, and equipment back in my pro days.

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Just wanted to share that definitely, triple mica JAN GE 5670 blows the socks off the 6N3PE I’ve tried… they’re staying on the P20, removed a tad of harshness that made me to fatigue soon and dislike some sources.

Possibly the V+ and bias points given the 12V PSU are too low for the 6N3P-E to shine… 5670 triple mica build definitely looks more elaborated and for sure has better linearity at the (possibly abnormaly low) Loxjie P20 tubes operating point: no harshness, well controlled and textured bass, and more liquid high end.

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I’ve might have said this before but you guys in the US are spoiled! :wink:
I took a look at those adapters and after conversion/fees/shipping they end u costing $50 Canadian to access from where I live in Ontario!

I even have a Prime trial for a couple more weeks but it doesn’t do much good if not living in the US. $50 for an adapter is close to half the price of the P20 which is only $120 (in Canadian funds) from Amazon.ca.

Not sure what’s up with USPS but it’s usually cheaper to buy from the UK and always cheaper direct from China of course.

I’m not sure how many up here have noticed the crack down on Amazon.com’s shipping prices and taxes always being charged now with the “prez” in the WH. Gotta love these rich politicians whinin’ about the occasional $20 parcel slipping through (while they can’t even keep the federal Government open or employees paid)! They’re as bad up here in other ways, (so unless you got the pay you ain’t gonna play).

I remember when our dollar was worth more (for about five minutes) in 2010; I went on a spending spree!

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…while one by one, his top folks are getting arrested. I am waiting for the day this bad joke is over.

Since I live in the north Seattle area, we get a lot of Vancouver “tourist” here shopping at our outlet malls and stores. It was crazy a few years ago and while they still crowd those outlet malls, it’s a lot less than it has been in the past from what I’ve observed. I just remember parking at the “Seattle Premium Outlets” and in any given row, there was maybe 1 or 2 US plate and everyone else had BC plates. hehe. Now it’s more like half-half.

Anyway, if you know how to solder, you can easily make yourself one. Female XLR is about $5-8 USD, male 1/4 inch connector is $2, and some copper wire is a few bucks at most.

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I soldered a fair bit of pretty intricate stained glass but I’d have to buy a lighter duty iron/station for electronic soldering and I don’t really have a place to set it up (at least until I get this apt. organized.

Just for fun here’s the same adapter up here:

Ah, thats like $44 USD. 183% markup for Canada

Yeah lots of love for Canada. I’ve got a family member across Lake Ontario in Girard PA that’s 80 miles as the crow flies, but it’s a pain asking him to forward stuff through my brother-in-law up here. It ends up costing more getting it to me unless Im willing to wait three months for a visit!

(Buddy could probably throw it across the lake on a windy day!)
Just thought of somthin’…should buy a drone!

But I suppose that’d definitely jack the price up a fair bit for a stupid adapter. I should just get busy organizing a corner to solder in :smirk:

You’d think we’re in Siberia with the price/shipping but I’m further south than parts of the US!

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Question about these “triple mica JAN GE 5670” tubes: can they be inserted into the P20’s tube sockets as is? Or do you need adapters?

I don’t have a Darkvoice–but I do have a different OTL tube amp (the Woo WA3). And I’ve found that it’s actually worth trying the OTL with anything over ~70 ohms impedance.

That is to say, none of the headphones I tried on the WA3 that were lower than that in impedance sounded very good (they suffer the typical bloated bass effect). But all the headphones >70 ohms do sound good on the OTL–or at least, somewhat different (from low output impedance SS designs) in ways that are sonically interesting.

I’m very interested in the P20, but somewhat concerned that no one here has stated what its output impedance really is. If I got this amp, I’d want to use for all headphones/all impedances.

No adapters required, they fit straight.

Regarding the P20… just try it (with balanced source and balanced headphones) you’ll be surprised.

I don’t have any headphones under 300 Ohm wired as balanced, and those with low impedance are mostly IEMs which I don’t enjoy particularly if an open back is available, so didn’t bother to rewire or make cables for them, use those only on the go/portable.

Given the SQ change from single ended to balanced… I can’t see me ever using the Loxjie in SE mode.

Have the OTL Darkvoice, or NuHybrid for better sound in single ended output.

However @generic states HE-560, which are 45-50Ohm (though orthodynamic, which usually means homogeneus impedance across all freq spectrum) sounds marvelous with the P20 in balanced mode, so wouldn’t be that concerned…

Thanks for helpful/informative reply! I find myself even more interested in this little amp now…

I have the GE 5670’s and Western Electric we396a’s in use as direct replacements. I am getting socket savers because the tube protrudes only a small bit, hard to get a grip on for swapping. This plays well with Clears balanced. Some strong bass not boomy or bloated but maybe accentuated using the we396a’s on some songs, like Maria, Maria from Santana. Up above is a calculator for impedance. I don’t think anyone has done that yet.

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It makes my heart ache that you’d use WE396As on a super cheap amp.

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I doubted my sanity and still do. They work just fine though :smile:

Some sweet music coming thru the Clears all balanced and my stupid expensive tubes. The bass is solid and sweet and clear. Won’t be rolling to compare until the socket savers arrive but I just don’t remember this amount of satisfaction with the GE 5670’s. Everything is new. Maybe amp, tubes and phones are finally breaking in.

Well, it is concerning. But not quite to the level of world hunger or global warming…

Sorry to be a pain, but looking for these
tubes online has turned up an extremely wide range of prices
& description (from dozens to hundreds of dollars). Does
this listing look comparable to the tubes you purchased?

    Of the two types of tubes you mention (GE 5670

vs WE396) which type do you prefer?

Thanks for your help!

Peter

Sorry to be a pain, but looking for these
tubes online has turned up an extremely wide range of prices
& description (from dozens to hundreds of dollars). Does
this listing look comparable to the tubes you purchased?

Thanks for your help!

Peter

Cannot see the link…

I looked for JAN GE Triple mica, square/D getter, like these:

Not to be confused with Double mica / O getter like the following:

Double mica goes for about $20 matched pair.

5670 are the first tubes I’ve seen that have coding acid-etched? on the glass in addition to the traditional “stamping”. Stamping is green, once it goes the etching remains. You can see some green remnants on the left tube on the “USA” letters.

Innards are pretty easy to identify too, use these pictures as reference to know what you’re purchasing.

Triple mica come from this listing:

Don’t pay more than $30-$40 max for a matched pair w/ shipping (triple mica/D getter). $20-$25 max for double mica ones.

2C51 and WE396 are considered better; given the prices I don’t want to even test them. If paying big $$$, I would source from a reputed tube dealer though, tested tubes only.

Reference info: Background about 5670 history.

To put things into perspective for those prospecting tubes on a budget:

Stock chinese tubes are the drier sounding, sound quality wise I’d say 90% of russian 6N3P-E.

6N3P-E sound (on the drier side of neutral) is like 80% sound-quality wise vs triple mica JAN GE 5670.

GE while being neutral, have a very liquid yet detailed sound, very well balanced frequency-wise and really nice when it comes to bass slam and airy highs… since I put them there they haven’t left the Loxjie P20.

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Given the cost of this amp and the embarrassing amount of 5670 type tubes I’ve used, I’d be aiming to use either the GE 5670 Triple Mica tubes mentioned above or 6N3P-DR tubes.

Both are excellent, but are not very expensive because there are a lot of them around still.

The only tubes that are definitively superior are prohibitively expensive because they’re rare (and it’s wasteful to use them in an amp that won’t utilize them to their potential IMO).

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