Astro Electronic Planning AST-6L6GCsSTK Vacuum Tube Stereo Single Power Amplifier

Astro Electronic Planning, a manufacturer of vacuum tube amplifiers, has created a new series for beginners in vacuum tube audio. By narrowing the width and reducing the size of the amplifiers, they are lighter and easier to handle, and AST's STK series uses the company's first original internal circuit board to simplify manufacturing and reduce production costs and time.

The original AST electronic board is designed with thicker wiring than normal boards, which contributes to the amount of information and sound quality. In addition, by using the company's original design transformer, which is no less than the high-grade Hashimoto transformer, the price was successfully kept down without sacrificing sound quality. By carefully crafting each tube amplifier one by one, our tube amp craftsmen have created a sound quality with expressiveness and power that will satisfy not only beginners but also enthusiasts.

There are two inputs, and music players such as CDs can be connected directly without a preamplifier to enjoy authentic vacuum tube sound. In addition, LEDs are installed in the tube inserts to provide a new visual effect never before seen in tube amplifiers.

Tube amplifiers must be adjusted to stabilize the operating point (bias point) for optimum operation of the vacuum tubes inside the amplifier at a specific voltage and current.AST-6L6GCsSTKis equipped with a self-bias function that automatically performs the troublesome bias adjustment, so you can replace compatible vacuum tubes and enjoy the differences in sound quality that each tube has to offer.

The self-bias capacitor used is in contrast to the 100~200 micro capacitors used in most amplifiers in the same price range,AST-6L6GCsSTKuses a capacitor with a high capacitance of 470 microns, compared to the 100 to 200 microns used in most amplifiers in the same price range. This allows the sound to be expressed well even when the volume is turned down, whereas general amplifiers cannot express sound properly when the volume is turned down. The left and right independent volume controls allow you to adjust the volume in detail and enjoy high quality music played by vacuum tubes easily.

The input terminals are high-grade gold-plated terminals, and the speaker terminals are machined aluminum gold-plated terminals that are compatible with various speaker terminals, making this a full-fledged model that is compatible with speakers ranging from 4 to 8 ohms.