03-09-2016, 04:59 AM
mikebw wrote:
[quote=deckeda]
Apparently the tubes are only for show; audio never passes through them. It's not a hybrid design. You can remove them, and the amp is cleverly designed to then not work, but it actually lacks such things as transformers or rectifiers. And ya gotta have that for the tubes to do anything useful beyond look pretty.
Sounds like a lot of work just to force people to have what appears to be a "tube amp".
Occam?
There are several tube amps, on the market, that take cues from the same design/form-factor - that has been the case for a long time.
One of the main features of Monoprice's is that they offer Bluetooth as an input, the others do not (they have two wired inputs).
Additionally, the tubes on the Monoprice amp ARE required and the system (audio) does not work when removed. I can personally tell you that. Will also mentioned it above, I see.
When you first power on the amp, from a cold start, it can take up to 20 seconds before any sound comes out and then crescendos up to the volume level you have it/had it at before. It does need some time to warm up. You can see the VU Meter bouncing around, if you have an audio source already going, but no sound until it is ready.
[never timed it - can tomorrow - but around 15-20 seconds seems about right, in my experience)