Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Dodd Audio Dodd Amp Amplifier (Tube) by

Model:	Dodd Amp
Category:	Amplifier (Tube)
Suggested Retail Price:	$1200
Description:	all triode, class A, push-pull, no feedback, tube amp using 5687 output tubes and 6SN7 driver tubes
Manufacturer URL:	Dodd Audio
Model Picture:	View

Review by ddemeterio5 on October 17, 2002 at 22:20:58
IP Address: 63.25.146.71

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It is of no surprise to find almost every product in the market these days to be made somewhere else other than the USA. Decades ago you could easily find shoes made in the USA but now I have yet to see a sneaker that's made in the USA being sold on department store shelves. Some of yOu might say, well as long as they are made in countries who have better craftsmanship, quality, and durability that will do. That may be true but unfortunately these things are not made in those countries either. Most of them are produced in a third world country primarily to lower the cost of production thereby making it affordable to the masses. Small things such as shoes, clothes, bags, etc may not be a big deal to most people but what if I tell you that big things like cars, planes, and even critical life support systems or parts will be made this way. Now would that make things better or at least safe enough for daily use? It doesn't take a genius to answer that.
What an unusual introduction for an audio equipment review, but believe me this no ordinary sounding equipment either. Let me begin by telling you that I have been listening to audio for over a decade now and I have gone from a mini-component to mid-fi Japanese components to big American brands and small American audio companies. My first equipment was a Sanyo mini-component and boy was I happy with that sound at that time even though I knew it couldn't play loud to rock our neighbor's house. Then I moved on to an all Japanese component from casette deck, equalizer, integrated amp, CD player, and Bose floorstanding speakers. Now that was a big improvement over the mini-component because it could play louder and had a better sound quality. I thought that was it, that's all there is to audio no need to spend more. Then when I was in Singapore I happen to go to a building full of american and european hi-fi equipment, man was I stunned to hear the sound coming out of their audio equipments. I feel like floating in air and time seems to vanish because the music just puts you in a binding spell. When I finally reached back to earth, I ask the sales guy how much does the system cost? He said about $15,000, I said to myself forget it I'm not that rich. But I just couldn't put it off because it sounded so good that I had to find something more affordable but yet enjoyable to listen to. After a year of research and reading mags like Stereophile and Internet forums like Audio Asylum I settled on a Conrad-Johnson solid state, Wadia CD player, Von Schweikert Research speakers and Synergistic Research cables. I spent almost $8,000 building up my first hi-fi equipment and it sounds so much better than my previous Japanese mid-fi equipment. I still have that system and it's a decent system that can hold up to other similarly priced solid state equipment. Everything was alright until I heard tubes. I said WOW the midrange just sounds awesome and although I still prefer the solid state's powerful bass it was good enough to make me switch to tubes for a change. I auditioned several tube gear from Audio Research, VTL, Mcintosh, Gryphon, Jadis, Manley Labs, Audio Note, Golden Tube Audio, Jolida and found out the tubes that I liked cost around the 5-7k price range just for the amps and preamps alone and that's too high for my budget. Then I looked at smaller SET powered amps/preamps like Zen, Foreplay by Bottlehead, Wright and I also looked at single driver speakers like Fostex, Lowther, Hammer Dynamics, Moth Audio and I almost bought this kind of setup. The impressions I got from feedbacks in Audio Asylum is that SETs are good in certain frequency ranges specially the mids and highs but most of them just don't have enough low frequency.
I said to myself there's got to be something out there that's doesn't cost a lot but yet sound very good and well balanced. I did more research like I always do and then one day these Paradox 1 speakers from GR Research was the buzz in the forum and many people commented about their value and couldn't believe that a low priced speaker like this could sound so good. I went to their website at: www.gr-research.com and found out that they sell bigger speakers too so I decided to give the Paradox 3 a try and for 1K these speakers can hold up to my Von Schweikert Research speaker for about 1/4 the price. I even think it has a better soundstage, imaging, and focus. Then I had to find a similarly priced tube amp that deserves to be paired with these outrageously priced speaker pair.
Lo and behold it was the Dodd Audio amp which GR-Research had advertised on their website. I asked Danny Richie about these amps and he said that he uses these amps together with his speakers and they just sound amazing. I didn't waste any time to get this amp because I had a feeling that this amp must be one of those hidden treasures in hi-fi that never got discovered because not many people knew about it or didn't have the chance to listen to it. I also talked to Gary Dodd the designer and owner of Dodd Audio just to get his philosophy and yes, theories on amp/preamp design and being an engineer myself I was convinced that this man really knows his craft and we share the same priorities like quality, durability, and strict compliance to design specifications, meaning no compromises or substitutes.
Believe it or not this guy made the company who makes his customized transformers get new equipment just to make the big transformers that he uses for his preamp. Now talk about strict compliance to design standards it does'nt get better than that. That's only the beginning, he builds everything himself and makes sure they meet his high standards. No other hand touches the amp except his during production and he tests and listen to every single one of them. There is no assembly line to talk about it's more like building a Stradivarius or a Steinway piano. He uses NOS tubes from from RCA and JAN Philips instead of those crappy chinese or russian Sovtek tubes that many tube amp companies use.
The amp has a grey faceplate with wood panel on the sides, it has 2 switches one for On/Off the other for Operate/Standby I will explain later what the second switch is for. At the back are the speaker terminals that can accept banana, spade, or even bare wire if you prefer. You will also find RCA inputs on each side for connecting your preamp. It has the fuse outside so that you can easily replace it. The front has 2 RCA 6SN7 driver tubes and 4 JAN Philips 5687 output tubes and 3 transformers behind it with the big one in the middle and the smaller one on each side. The amp doesn't have a grill to cover the tubes and transformers which looks very cool when you turn off the lights because they glow in the dark. The amp is conservatively rated at 8 watts, believe me the 8 watt rating is not what it seems because it plays as loud or even louder than some 200w solid state amps specially those Japanese mid-fi integrated amps.
There are 2 switches in the front panel the first one turns the amp on or off and the second one puts it in standby or operate mode. When in standby mode the amp doesn't consume much electricity but just enough to keep the tubes warm. When in operate mode it will output the signal to the speakers.
Now for the million dollar question. How does it sound? I could easily say it sounds better overall than all the tube equipment I have heard. I have a friend who has a Mcintosh tube amp and another one who has Manley Labs each of them costing about 5k just for the amp. Both of them say they like my system better than theirs and they wouldn't believe that I only paid about 1/5 the price of their amps. I listen to jazz, blues, rock, and vocals and I can't get enough of the sound, it just mesmerizes me to get lost in the music and feel every emotion that the artist projects through their song. Diana Krall's voice just sweeps me off my feet and my other favorite vocalists like Patricia Barbers, Rebecca Pidgeon, Alison Krauss, Keb Mo, Tony Benett they just relax me from a hard days work. The singers are very real and they stand there in front of you to sing their song. The soundstage, imaging, and focus is excellent that you can pinpoint where the singers and instruments are. The stage is wide and deep that I can hear Duke Ellington playing his piano at the back while Louis Armstrong sings and plays his trumpet in The Great Summit Sessions. In Keb Mo's 'Hand It Over' you can pinpoint the backup singers on his left side and one backup singer on his right side. In Bela Fleck and Flecktones' 'Star Spangled Banner' I can hear the banjo move slowly from the left speaker going to the center and in the end go from the center to the right speaker. In Diana Krall's 'Hit That Jive Jack' you can hear Diana doing back up vocals for herself on her right side and the members of the band singing back up on both sides. Now what about the bass, well the bass is just unbelievable it's fast, tight, and full enough. I listen to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones' 'Cosmic Hippo' and man the bass line was fast, heavy, and deep that you wouldn't believe it's coming from two 6.5 inch woofers. The bass line intro of Diana Krall's 'All or Nothing At All' was so defined that every note was clean and clear even if the bass was played fast. Last but not least the highs were excellent especially on Patricia Barbers' 'Black Magic Woman' where in the last part the percussion does a solo and the different percussion instruments were cleary different sounding from each other and you don't get that frying bacon sound when the audience applauses.
This is the most balanced sounding amp I have heard and I have listened to many amps costing as much as 5 times the cost of this amp. It's clean, clear, fast, and has more than enough power to drive my tower speakers. And the best part of it is the price, it only costs $1,100 it's like buying a Rolls Royce for the price of a Ford. It's ridiculously cheap and Gary must be nuts to sell his amp at this price.
By the way, Gary can make your amp/preamp according to your specifications and he also has his reference preamp coming out soon. Yes I already ordered one for myself and I can't wait to try them out.

Dodd Amp Specifications
Measurements at 1 kHz, with 8 ohm load
Input for 1 watt output .381 v
Distortion 1w/kHz .546%
Bandwidth @ 1 watt -1db 21Hz - 33kHz
Bandwidth @ 1 watt -3db 18Hz - 48kHz
Maximum power 8.00vrms @ 8 ohms, 8watts
Distortion @ 8 watts .985% @ 1 kHz
Maximum power bandwith Signal to Noise Ratio 69db @ 8 watts

Product Weakness: n/a
Product Strengths: best overall sound and the low low price

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Dodd Amp
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Melos MA-333
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Heart CD 6000 w/ Telefunken tubes
Speakers:	Paradox 3 by GR Research
Cables/Interconnects:	Silver Bullets by Silver Audio
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	jazz, vocals, blues, rock
Room Size (LxWxH):	19' x 24' x 13'
Room Comments/Treatments:	ASC Tube Traps
Time Period/Length of Audition:	6 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Monster HTS3500
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	n/a
Product Strengths:	best overall sound and the low low price