Q-2 Hybrid Integrated Amplifier

I got this little amp for driving a set of Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro headphones (250 ohm). It does a decent job of it and has a little bit of the warm "tube flavor" sound I was looking for to allow me to comfortably listen to music at work for hours on end. As a headphone amp, it works nicely. However, I would recommend replacing the stock Chinese tube it comes with for a better made tube to smooth out the sound. I'm currently using a late 1960's GE "Five Star" Black-plate 5670 in my Qinpu Q-2 and enjoy the improvement that an inexpensive $20 new-old-stock (NOS) tube added to the amp.For driving speakers, I found that it could drive a pair of small 2-way Polk TSi100 speakers but it doesn't do justice to the sound with its limited 2 watts of power. Dynamics were clearly lacking. The Polk speakers don't begin to sound interesting and lively until they receive at least 20 watts per channel. Many speakers might perform with only 2 watts of power but won't perform at their peak capability, so beware of using this small amp with most speakers.What really blew me away was the look of this unit with the nicely done red and black design. The heavy, black aluminum case is high quality and the switches are of durable construction. As others have remarked, the quality of the sub-miniature jacks along the back could be of better quality. At some point, I'll probably open this unit up and do some mods to the jacks and perhaps to the capacitors. At $99, you can modify it without worrying that you'll damage an expensive piece of equipment. If nothing else, the stunning looks of this unit will generate a lot of comments in the office. It's very cute!

The cables that come with the amp are of the lowest quality you can find. All connectors have oxidation because of the low quality of the materials used. The plastic is of very low quality, too. The amp looks nice in the picture but if you look closely, it lacks details. The buttons are poorly made and feel cheap. I can't tell if it sounds good since it arrived broken due to poor packaging. The seller insists that it has to be shipped at buyer's cost (!!!) to an overseas warranty department for replacement or refund. What a hassle! I will never waste my money on Qinpu product again. There are many good Chinese low-fi manufacturers that don't cut corners like Qinpu yet still provides better product and customer service.Second thought: never buy anything on Amazon that is sold by a third-party vendor and "fulfilled" by Amazon. That means you get ZERO customer support from Amazon. In my case, my shipment was damaged and Amazon has no support in assisting return and refund. When my credit card company inquired, Amazon just sent their generic product return policy which they didn't even enforce on sales "fulfilled" by Amazon. What a joke! My recommendation: if you can get a similar product from ebay, DON'T buy from Amazon, because ebay has much superior buyer protection, and they DO protect the buyers, not like Amazon. Amazon shouldn't ruin its reputation by allowing substandard vendors to sell through them. I used to like Amazon, now I am very careful since not everything on Amazon is actually sold by Amazon. The difference is HUGE!

Arrived quickly, as usual, from Amazon. The packaging was a bit on the economical side; but, it was undamaged. The box appeared to have been opened previously.I purchased the Q-2 to have a small, economical, yet cool sound system for my desk at work. The system would be very minimal - just the Qinpu amp, my android phone as a music source, and a set of speakers. I believed that I would need to purchase a pair of high efficiency speakers (sensitivity of 90+ dB) because of the amp's low power.For the initial set-up, I used a pair of KEF HTS 1001.2 speakers (sensitivity 86 dB) from an old unused surround sound system, inexpensive 18 gauge speaker wire (bare ends), a moderately priced mini-plug to RCA adaptor, and my cellphone.With everything connected, I turned on the amp. The LED flashed for a few seconds as the amp warmed up. And, then, I was rewarded with wonderful warm sound and fantastic stereo imaging. The volume was sufficiently loud for its intended use even with the low efficiency KEF speakers. I am a big fan of the 70's jazz channel on AccuRadio; everything that I listened to sounded better than it ever had before. This evaluation is based on listening comparisons to my three surround systems - Denon AVR-1712 and Infinity TSS-1200, Denon AVR-E200 and Mirage MX, and Yamaha RX-375 and Energy RC-Micro.Would I recommend this amp? Yes, I would. Would I buy another? Yes, I think I see a Christmas gift in the making.The only complaint about the system concerns the speakers. The KEF's sound great but have NO bottom end. I will eventually replace them with speakers that have a lower range closer to 60 Hz than the current 120 Hz.

OK, let's just say for an audiophile, this won't cut it. Better look at a more serious piece of equipment, like the GLOW Audio Amp One, which is also small and cute but has an all tube output and weighs in at 15 lbs. [...]. But for the price, and given that it is a "hybrid" (tube pre-amp stage, transistor power stage) the Qinpu Q2 is a fun toy. For a dorm or office where critical listening is not taking place and space is an issue, it may be all you need. And the Qinpu sound quality easily beats a Bose ipod dock or similar "all-in-one" product. Get some small speakers and you have a nice little bedroom or auxiliary system for low level listening. But turn up the volume, and you will immediately start hearing the transistor hash and distortion as the amp quickly reaches its limits. Build quality is so-so but the amp has a high WAF (wife appeal factor). It is on par with the Fatman tube amp sound, except it costs less.