Well, after much deliberation I decided to go for the Doge 8 pre-amp, Doge 9 monoblocks and also added in the Doge 6 cd player. They arrived Friday on a large crate...triple boxed and very well packaged from the Doge factory direct. Just a week shipping time from Changsha to Houston Texas via Cincinnati! Amazing to think airfreight was included in the already excellent price...it must have cost a bit to ship these monsters.....combined weight is in excess of 260lbs.

So far I can only say that I am more than happy with the sound of these units....especially knowing they still have some time to bed in, so to speak. I just got the stock tubes and thought I'd upgrade later if I felt the need.

I'll come back and give some more impressions when I've done more extensive listening, but for now I think I made the right choice in terms of sound v's value.

The benefits of having such power is obvious, but it's the other aspects that are already surprising me. The phono stage of the Doge 8 is incredible. I've been listening to some old vinyl that I hadn't listened to in years and the sound was transformed. The updated Doge 8 LP has only mm, they eliminated the MC option I guess because it was the weak link in an otherwise superb phono stage. The stock unit uses SCR caps, not the Wima caps used previously.

The build quality is excellent in an industrial sense! It's not the last word in final finish, but it is clearly built to last and the components/ wiring used looks to be top notch. I guess this is where the Doge needs to find some economies, clearly with the top cost hi-end valve amps from the US and Europe, part of the astronomical cost is expended in the final fit and finish demanded. I'm not saying that the Doge is lacking at all at this price point, it just hasn't got the sublime finish of $30,000 plus gear. However, I'm more than happy with the overall build of the Doge units.

There are several great reviews of the Doge 6 and 8 units , but there is zero coverage or reviews of The Doge 9 monoblocs on the web. There are some older reviews of the Jolida Music Envoy monoblocs, but from my perspective, the Doge 9's are significantly upgraded in just about every respect. Once I get some more time on the clock I will post a more detailed review of these. I think they deserve more attention!