Oreright me luverrrs, yertiz, me Aune T1 revu.
Out of boxThe unit looks plush as can be, in all round black, brushed aluminium finish and is certainly substantial, being visually and tactilely very pleasing.
An added “icing” would be a large gauge wire cage for the valve in place of the plastic one, which for me was better left in the box.
I am quite dumbfounded how Aune have managed such a high quality case AND chunky, serious PSU for the price, before we even consider the electronics!
I noticed the gain had been set to 16dB, i.e. maximum so I popped it into the middle ground of 10dB.
Plugging inOn plug in I was not greeted by the usual;
Windows found new device, Windows is faffing about, Windows is delaying, Ah-OK Windows has worked it out, you can use it now. In fact, nothing! I checked the devices and all music programmes; yep it is present everywhere, no pomp, just glory
Initial thoughts on soundNow remember folks, I’m very much a solid state man, many valve designs leave gaping holes in “acceptable all round performance” to my ears. So I’m coming at this from a very different standpoint to those before me. I do like a small handful of valve/hybrid designs, the MF V2 being one I hold dear.
It was with this in mind that I approached the Aune T1.
The first track, listening with the standard EH6922 on board. Err, what? Next track, no I’m not sure about this. A few tracks later and I’m not happy. A strong bass, powerful presentation, plenty of detail but what is going on in the mid range? Male voices have a sort of didgeridoo effect, mild but there, an unwanted resonance added to the lower registers. Female voices inherited a slight rasped effect and electric guitars sounded like they were playing on practice amps. Much checking of all settings, valve pin and socket cleanliness and integrity, along with all connectors ensued. Then double checking with other plug and plays, swapping headphones did not change these effects now that I had locked onto them. All, however, was in order.
I am extremely sensitive to problems in the mid range and cannot block them out.
BUT, I've met these EH valves before, in the MF v2, in the G2, in the Ming Da. I've learnt to dislike them, historically after initially liking their "glimmer" but then descending into, for want of a better word, distortion. This effect in the T1 is far greater than I’ve heard before. Previously I have become aware of their effect as fatiguing. In this case however the first track was enough to draw my attention directly to the exact point of irritation.
Oh well, no point continuing with this valve. (but more on this later)
Bring me my EB!
Now, straight from cold, that's instantly leaps and bounds better. I decided to leave the EB cooking for a day before going back for more and erase the memory of the EH from my mind.
New day & new earsI’ve let the EB valve bed in for a day and on renewed listening things are very much improved. My complaints of odd distortions going on in the mid range have been swept away.
As I was not near the maximum of the volume pot I decided to give 0dB a whirl. Oooh, now that’s interesting, we have entered V2 presentation territory which is good news. A certain easy going feel without losing openness or depth, keeping detail and what is now a typically valve tone, with softness at the top end as to be expected. Unfortunately the powerful drive and impact has also waned, now having a much lighter touch.
I think the bass is similar to the V2 for control and definition. Well recorded drums are coming over very clearly as well as reticent bass guitar lines, often lost in presentation these are now strumming away nicely up and down the scales.
The volume level available is just enough for the likes of the HD600 and HD560 Ov.II (both at 300 ohms), I’m finding myself near the end stop most of the time for serious listening, just the odd low level recording leaves me wanting a smidge more volume but I do not want to return to a gain of 10dB where there’s a slight lack of control in comparison but it was a more powerful sound there, here lies a quandary between the 0dB and 10dB settings. Perhaps Aune could introduce a 4dB gain position?
Out of curiosity I tried a higher quality USB lead with the 5vdc bus core removed. I’ve no idea if it was just the lead or the combination with the removed core but there was a discernable tidying up of the upper bass region, an area that was already a strong point.
I like the openness, a very wide staging of the stereo image, in fact sometimes a little too wide making the sound stage seem to fragment at times, the bass is well defined but I’m finding the overall sound rather polite for my tastes.
I tried the K701 next, the T1 had no problems with them although needing the 10dB gain to make them come alive, sounding a little recessed on 0dB. I tend to only use the 701 on the Class A now and am so accustomed to the quality and tone from that combination the T1 really did not have a chance but hey, it’s only £135 including USB DAC so no shame there.
With the performance I’m hearing now all sorts are being fed through, classical, folk, much more acoustic material in general which, for me and my fussiness of mids, was not going to happen with the EH valve and the 10dB gain combination.
Just for fun I connected my Fuze+ to the line in (Flac files). Very good indeed, I really like that, plenty of everything.
Dare I say it? Oh well, in for penny etc., I would like to hear this design without the valve buffer.
Tube rolling
I had a couple of other tubes in the armory to try. The “rocket” emblem 6H23N and a mysterious ECC88 “MADE IN RUSSIA” which I’ve had very good results from in the past. They used to be in my V2 and had ousted the “rockets” there. So what had in turn ousted them from the V2? I had to open it to find out. Ha! Surprise, I have EBs in there.
Anyhow, the Rocket went in and well, nice but not quite up to what I was hearing from the EB. The bass went a little softer and the tops were more curtailed, a little too much for me to put up with and why should I when I don’t have to.
Next up the ECC88, first off, more gain, appreciably more. (I didn’t know that was possible!) This equated to the halfway house between the 0dB and 10dB gain settings. In this regard perfection, ALL recordings could be played to maximum listening level on the 0dB setting. The bass has the EB equalled, treble is slightly lifted (my preference) but not up to the tonal quality of the EB in the mid range. Some instruments sounding marginally messy, especially any strung acoustic and laid bare by harpsichord (I don’t listen to solo piano music). On balance I have to agree with the consensus thus far that the EB is best suited here. If there is a valve that has the best of the EB and of the “mystery” valve qualities mixed in together, I want it!
Just for the hell of it and as I said earlier, I tried the Electro Harmonix again. This was its first outing on 0dB gain so I was hoping for better performance this time around. I have to admit it was no where near as bad as I remembered but the same undesirable artefacts were still there, just not as pronounced as per first listen. I also had another EH in my box of bits so tried that too, just in case there was a problem with the valve (transit etc.),less obvious again but still discernable. Maybe the original EH is a little off its best after its travels?
ComparisonsI’ve already inferred above that the T1 has a broadly similar presentation to the MF V2, which is very impressive considering the V2 was £150 back in the day (what would it cost now?! ) and is only an amp. Obviously it’s not possible to reliably gauge if better or not as the two units are different by type. (amp & amp/dac)
Needless to say my cheapie NG27 (approx. £50) was totally outclassed in all departments.
Up against my DIY unit (highly modified SCHA/PK/Weiliang/huge PSU) it did come in a long second. However, the cost of parts alone in the DIY, were much more than the T1 so thank god for that! This may have contributed to my initial feelings with the EH valve, as I came straight from mine to the T1s first listen.
ConclusionI am very glad that the change of valve and gain level made such a big difference to this unit. At the beginning I was afraid I was going to dislike it! I would definitely endorse changing the valve for an EB. I’m sure Mike would oblige for an appropriate upgrade fee.
My reservations above are based on ignoring price level, this is a very affordable unit and would be a superb first purchase for anyone dipping a tentative toe into PC based music.
Value for money is definitely the name of the game here, I cannot think of anything than can come near it on function, ease of use and general sound quality, let alone build quality, for the price.
For £135 plus better valve this is excellent value and I can recommend the T1 on this basis. For your average Joe-in-the-street this would bring a sonic revelation for poco deniro and even has bling appeal without being gauche. In a perfect world Aune would be selling cart loads of these to the young style-conscious and the tube -liking sectors. Birthdays, Christmas not too far away, what a nice gift
p.s.
Since I mentioned a perfect world, the addition of an “in between” gain setting, a more attractive valve guard and more choice in colours would be just that.
Nah, as much as I like them, ten is too many so I'll be putting them on ebay if they don't start selling here.
