Reisong A12 EL34 12AX7 (ECC83) Hi-Fi Audio Stereo Single-end Class - A Tube Amplifier Amp

First, let me say that I’ve been on the 2 channel audio journey for about a year. I demoed several speakers in a local audio store and returned several speakers to my local audio store. After demoing the Focal Vestia No 4’s, I settled on Vestia No 1’s because I wanted bookshelf’s with subs (2 SVS SB3000’s). To power everything I made an impulse purchase of a Marantz PM7000N. Honestly, it all sounded good. But then, on a whim, I went to another HIGH end audio store and heard several setups that consisted of tube amps and speakers well outside my budget. But I got to thinking “are there affordable tube amps out there”. I looked on the marketplace, eBay, and here on Amazon and came across this jewel. Then I read all the reviews and watached all the videos on this model and even though there are several videos that suggest that the Reisong A12 won’t be great out of the box, I decided to give it a try. With free returns, it was low risk. For source material, I also purchased the Bluesound Node during this Black Friday sale and have a turntable on order. The Node and this Reisong both arrived at the same time.The first thing that really impressed me was how well the Reisong was packaged. Coming from China, they really thought this through. I unboxed everything, inspected it, and everything looked great. Even the instructions were understandable. I assembled it as the instructions suggested.Next, I hooked up the Bluesound Node, updated the firmware, and let ‘er rip. I just like good sounding music. I listen to everything from country, to jazz, to classic rock, to hip hop. I put the Reisong volume at 3/4” of the way up. Keep in mind, there is no remote, so I knew I’d be controlling volume from my Bluesound Node. For anyone reading this review, that is the perfect volume to keep the A12 at if you’re using a Bluesound Node. With the power ratings of the A12 being 6 watts per channel, I can definitively say that is more than enough in my case. My room is is 20’ x 18’. Again, with the two Focal bookshelf’s and two SVS SB3000’s, it’s more than enough power.Several of the reviews here on Amazon talk about using different tubes and mods from a particular YouTuber. While in time, I may consider it, the out of the box sound I’m getting rivals the $100k tube amps from my local shop. My sound is very clear, the sound stage is inviting, the midrange is precise, and the imaging lets me know exactly where the instruments and vocals are. Three dimensional sound is real and evident in my environment. I’m sitting in my carpeted basement on a sectional sofa in an untreated room. The sound is everything I could’ve hoped for and far exceeding any expectation I had from a tube amp at this price point. It looks super cool/retro, is quite heavy, seems very well built, and gives you options for tube rolling in the future if you think you need it. I’m not a big review writer, but perhaps my every day listener perspective will help someone else. Putting together a good audio system is so hard because what sounds good in a store may not sound good in your house. It’s a journey and a process. I’m very happy with the 3D sound I’m getting from this Reisong A12 and it pairs nicely with my Focal bookshelf’s and subs. I will update this review if anything changes.

I've been an audiophile for over 30 years, and in this time I've owned everything from very expensive, 70 pound class A/B monoblock amps to most recently, a $80 Class D amp (Aiyima A07-unbelieveable sound quality for the money). The Reisong A12 is my first go with tubes used as a power amp. I'm using the Schiit Syn surround preamp for source switching and volume control. The speakers are Gallo Acoustics Strada 2s with a pair of small Dayton Audio subs. This combination is one of the most musically satisfying systems I've owned, regardless of price, and I think the Reisong has a lot to do with it. The A12 surprised me given it's price point with its clarity and detail while delivering the "tube thing" (slight touch of warmth with holographic imaging). With regard to power, 6 WPC doesn't sound like much but it's more than enough volume for the 90 Db efficient Strada 2s in my 2400 cubic square foot space. The A12 was very well packed and it's well built. I'm amazed how good it sounds with its included Psvane tube set. I wonder what will happen if I start rolling tubes... The good news is that the A12 sounds good enough that I feel no need to swap tubes in the near-term. Good luck trying to find a better sounding tube amp than the A12 anywhere near it's price point. My whole rig in total sells for about 4.3K, but sounds a lot more expensive that that. Highly recommended!

Reducing to 4 stars because Reisong needs to improve their quality control as I’ve sent 2 units back for left channel noise/hum. The second unit was not as bad as the first, but developed a similar noise after heating up. It’s been a problematic left channel two times in a row. It can be heard from the listening position. It’s such a shame because this amp sounds so good. It benefits from high efficiency speakers, but these same high efficiency speakers amplify this noise even more. I’m going to say it was a bad batch and try again after some time. It sounded that good….sigh.Older content below:Jotting down some initial notes and impressions after my first listening session with the A12. I plan on updating this with more details as I log more hours listening to the A12 (UPDATE AT BOTTOM)Speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 220 5.25" Bookshelf Speakers (86dB Sensitivity, 4.1Ω Minimum impedance), running full range with an SVS SB-1000 Pro 12" powered subwoofer crossed at 73Hz. Room dimensions 14 ft x 13 ft w/9 ft ceilings.DAC: Motu M2Volume: Using the 8 ohm taps, I am cleanly averaging 82dB SPL with 88dB peaks in my listening position with a variety of genres streaming UltraHD/FLAC/MQA from Amazon/Tidal. It should be noted that A12 is dead silent. No hum, buzz, hiss. The A12 plays plenty loud for my room, even with my 86dB bookshelf speakers that dip down to 4 ohm min impedance. I think it's important to use a bookshelf speaker with a minimum impedance > 4 ohm. I’m Curious to try my A12 with my Triangle BRO3 that are 90dB sensitive with a 5ohm minimum impedance. I am expecting even more volume and dynamics with those! If you listen over 90dB average SPL with 95+dB peaks, I don't think the A12 will work unless you know exactly what you're doing (e.g. large, high end, high cost, high sensitivity Klipsch, Tektons etc). I didn’t prefer the sound when using the 4 ohm taps with my Wharedales. The sound gained some definition, clarity, more treble, more focus, but I could not play as loud, and the sound was a little more edgy and grainy. It was a small difference though. But I won’t be going back to the 4 ohm taps. Longer listening sessions sound better with my setup using the 8ohm taps.Soundstage: Wide, deep, tall and engaging when seated near-field, between 2 and 5ft away from the speakers. Imaging starts to collapse past 5 ft from the speakers. After that the sound becomes pleasant background music. I usually sit 4 feet away in this room when critical listening so this works for me.Treble clarity, detail resolution and retrieval is much better than I was expecting with the A12 being my first tube amp. The A12 is temporarily taking the place of an Emotiva 2-channel Class AB BasX-A100 integrated amp and does not sound rolled off in the treble at all, or weaker in the bass. Vocals seem to pop out a little more when compared with my usual Emotiva A-100, suggesting more body in the midrange.I can already say If you have a decent DAC, speakers with a minimum impedance greater than 4ohms, and you listen within 5 ft of your speakers, with a powered sub, please go ahead and buy this. Be aware, my first package appeared to be a customer return and the tubes were smashed. The return process was super easy, and the replacement amp was perfectly packed and no issues!Update: I've moved the A12 from my desktop to my listening room where its matched with the Denafrips Aries 12th R2R DAC and the Triangle Bro3 speakers. My usual setup in this room is a Rotel power amp tri-amping Wharfedale Diamond 240 towers + Aperion Aluminum Ribbon Super Tweeters + 2 REL 10" subs. I am sitting 58" away from the speakers with everything going through a Furman linear power supply.The Reisong A12, Denafrips, Triangle combo is quite the trifecta. I am listening at ~75dB and hitting 82dB peaks cleanly. I think there is some additional SPL headroom left as the A12 volume knob is only at ~45%. This is my usual listening volume though. Compared to my solid state setup, vocals are more natural, organic, and the soundstage deeper, when the A12 is in the chain. However, the scale of the soundstage, not considering the vocals, is not as tall with the Triangle/A12 combo. I was expecting that since the towers are a bigger speaker and are being fed a lot more power and also have super tweeters incorporated. The only concern I noted was that the amp gets really hot after 2-3 hours. I can almost smell it. This is my first tube amp so I am not sure when hot is too hot. I will keep an eye on that. So far, this is still a 5 star must have amplifier for the tube curious! Pair with the BRO3's or other similarly efficient bookshelf speakers and enjoy the sublime sounds :)P.s make sure to use decent cables like monoprice onix cables etc. I tested my RadioShack DJ rig rca cables between my dac and the a12 and there is a noticeable difference. Who would have thought? ;)Update2: My A12 has developed a buzz on the left channel that never goes away. Returning the unit and trying again finger’s crossed 🤞🏽Update3: My new A12 came in today. No left channel noise this time. Just enjoying wonderful beautiful music the A12 is sending through my Bro3’s. Let's hope it stays that way.