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To put my foot where my mouth is, I staged a bit of wonkiness right after unpacking. Which was setting up the micro bits in the big rig. This was foremost a sound check. I had to make sure everything worked properly and 'made noises'. Plus, despite proper 220V transformers for my Swiss residence, the plugs on the gear's captive power cords were 2-prong US issue. My big rig runs off two Walker Audio Velocitor S passive power boxes with US power plugs. That setup could thus welcome the Chinese bonsai kit right away. For the intended desk-top application, I had to source the appropriate AC socketry first. This photo then demonstrates just how micro Qinpu's components really are.


The Qinpus didn't just make noise. They surprised. The midrange was astonishingly good. The bass box didn't need much volume to nicely fill in the upper bass range. More gas on its attenuator quickly became obvious, hence undesirable. In this jury-rigged temp setup, the soundstage was naturally a few feet lower than usual. But, it was nearly as capaciously deep. Playback volumes for acoustic trio fare sat right in the customary window. They were completely satisfactory without cracking the integrated's pot fully open nor inducing any obvious signs of stress. Switching back to the grown-up stack filled out the sonic clothes of course. It showed what real bass sounds like and how it is so much more than just bass. Upper harmonics were rather superior, too. But - what the tiny speakers could do with guitars and voices was quite unexpected. It was indeed most promising for the real test.


First, a closer look at the contestants. The tiny speakers are very nicely finished and the resistive foam pad is non-removable. The binding posts are tiny but perfectly adequate for the included short lengths of copper speaker cable which merely requires stripping its ends bare.

The bass filler box was bigger than expected, finished in a textured black, ported to one side and without crossover adjustments. It sports just a set of RCA inputs on the back and a power switch plus blue LED and attenuator on the front. In a desk top environ, this cube could make the perfect monitor stand. The power specs on the rear panel read 220V/50Hz +/-10% to suggest good hum aversion
to moderate under/over voltages. The transformer on the integrated actually says 250V. Neither hummed nor buzzed.


Two lengths of 3.5mm-to-2-RCA interconnect leads were included for instant hookup from the A-6000's line-out to the sub and a mini source or PC soundcard fitted with the equivalent stereo socket.


Fit 'n' finish in this price range are very high particularly for the speakers and amp. Upon the latter's power on, the blue stealth LEDs at the base of the tubes begin to blink. After about 20 second, they stop to indicate thermal readiness.


For comparison, I'd run the NuForce Icon and matching speakers with their included Ethernet-terminated speaker leads.


Crime scenes for audiophile wankerdom would be two - my office desk top which usually runs Mark & Daniel Maximus Ruby monitors off various T amps and Raysonic's CD168; and my wife's artist loft to stand in for background-type listening spaces as the other anticipated application for these components.
Before we get real, here's a parting shot of (at?) the big rig and its temporary takeover by these dwarves...