Elekit TU-8900
In his Gramophone Dreams column, Herb Reichert wrote about the Elekit TU-8900 amplifier and how it is different from the TU-8600. “Because the TU-8600 applies cathode feedback to the 300B circuit, it requires the additional drive of a paralleled 12AU7 and the additional gain of the 12AX7,” Herb wrote.
Herb is not wrong, but I think it is important to explain further. Both the TU-8600 and the TU-8900 are power amps. However, the gain of the TU-8600 is set high so that users do not need a preamp. The gain is set at a preferrable level when negative feedback (NFB) is applied. There is, however, a jumper for adjusting this. If you set it to “NON-NFB,” the gain changes to a level that is preferable without a preamp.
