T amps

[jelosno]

It seems there has been a Tamp - Tripath chipset - mania out there which I have missed.

No prob since some better looking stuff is available here: www.41hz.com/

I hope this isn't already somewhere in the forum ;D
If so -> DEL

Some amps run from 12V batteries. Nice when you have the powercuts we do experience The GVMT rather bought some marine vessels from Germany than building power plants and upgrading lines. well, I guess a politician gets more out of an arms deal than anyting else. Millions where spend for making the deal happen...

Nope, I wouldn't use them amps in the main rig. still... kinda nice stuff

[leo]

I built one of those little Amp6's for the bedroom

[XTRProf]

The now famous:






The SUPER version:

[XTRProf]

leo said:

I built one of those little Amp6's for the bedroom

What modules you used? Power output? I'm looking for a high power version to build. Any link where I can buy value for money PCBAs and modules. Schematics?

[rickcr42]

Typhoid mary was also "famous"

T-Amps are just the next step DOWN in the evolutionary scale of speaker powering with that "evolution" more about

"Hey guys,how can we make this bitch cheaper to make,smaller and run less hot so we can sell a boatload of them to the public" which always starts out sounding like shit,is then made listenable so OK for the mass consumer market where it is then "massaged" into sounding almost as good as what it is to replace.

Bottom line sales and "more power less money"

Amp eveolution ?

1-Single Ended Class-A triodes
2-PP Class-A Triodes
3-PP Class-B Pentodes
4-PP Class AB Pentodes
5-The Transistor
6-Chip Amps
7-T-Amps

yes there have been variations all along the path but these aimed at the high end home environment NOT the general market and yes each can be made to sound good but ONLY because those who try use what went before as the model and I highly doubt that if you took the best example of each technology at the SAME EXACT POWER OUTPUT plying over a an efficient loudspeaker where even the "tiny noters" are heard rather than lost in the ambient field the original Single Ended Class-A Triode could be touched when everything is done and the reviewers truly honest rather than out to prove a point (many come in trying to prove already preconceived thoughts rather than come in with a truly open mind)

just another con job in a long line of cons in the audio industry.The same folks who took away our tone controls,our loudness controls and our balance controls (hell,even our MONO/STEREO switches !) because our systems and our music software are ALL PERFECT thus need no personal adjustments are more than willing to sell us "sampled" music recordings (headed to lossless compressed downloadables with the "lossless a frigging joke considering digital starts OUT losing content ) are more than willing to sell you a $5 amp wrapped up in a $10K chassis then tell you how good it sounds ;D

personal opinion folks,nothing more,no less

[PinkFloyd]

rickcr42 said:

Typhoid mary was also "famous"

just another con job in a long line of cons in the audio industry.The same folks who took away our tone controls,our loudness controls and our balance controls (hell,even our MONO/STEREO switches !)

Been saying this for YEARS Rick. Back in the early 90's (1990's) there was a trend in the UK to sell stripped down versions of Japanese amps, CD players etc. These were called "special editions" or "tuned for the UK market". The crap we were fed was unbelievable, it basically was along the lines of "the standard Japanese amp is not too good but our resident guru has tuned it for the UK ear" Tuned it? Stripped the fckin' things to the bare bones is what they did!

Once this "LE" (light edition I used to call them) had been "tuned" by the British guru (ie: tone controls, loudness button etc. stripped off) the amp / CD was still made in Japan but shipped with most of the friggin parts missing! One of the biggest con jobs of all time if you ask me.... "tuned for the British ear" my royal arsehole! Pared down to the bone so they could import it cheaper and marketed as "UK tuned" so they could sell it for more to anyone daft enough to believe the brainwashing.

Give me my knobs, my tone controls and my loudness button! I am British and am entitled to them... if they're good enough for the Japanese they are good enough for me. Bloody con job telling us we don't "need" tone controls...... If there was such a thing as a "happy" button these bastards who rule the roost in the UK would ban it.....

[PinkFloyd]

"slightly" on topic half way into this thread rockgrotto.proboards39.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=q&thread=1201908732&page=1

[rickcr42]

if we all had perfect rooms,our systems perfect AND layed out perfectly for stereo,had no micro-vibrations from whatever the shit is on "tuning" our gear to a specific "tone",the music was mixed to play back on a "perfect" system so "perfect" and we all had "perfect" left/right balance in our ears then yes,this Audiophile Con Job would have some merit but where I sit it is just another excuse to charge more for less then tell us we should be blessed because it is BETTER than before.

My take is offer it (if those idiots are even capable of designing a proper tone control or "proper" balance trims or "correct" filters) but make it defeatable so the audio snobbery can't bitch.....especially after they take out the "ITS A SONIC BUTCHER DAMMIT !" DPDT switch and replace it with the latest and greatest "parts as assorized jewelry" $20K replacement.

THEN it will sound better even though the snobs will tell you just HAVING that switch destroys EVERYTHING so the tone controls really should be removed and the switch replaced with a single straight wire made from the ass hairs of a virgin

fkn joke is what................

[rickcr42]

assorized jewelry" $20K replacement

heh.

Meant to write "accessorized" but the freudian slip is actually better so it stays."Assorized" kinda has a nice sound to it and so will be added to the abridged version of the Rickanese dictionary promptly

[fanboi]

A Happy button, now there would be a worthwhile mod
Though I might prefer it to be more like a loudness compensated log pot.
Perhaps the "loudness" type compensation could follow "Masters and Johnson" curves instead of "Fletcher Munson"

[rickcr42]

Nice post that

[PinkFloyd]

Still looking for a Happy button

[rickcr42]

Oh yeah.I DO use "correctors" in my rig (*or did before i sold the btch ;D ) but rather than coarse adjusters more like a slight massage unless using some ancient medium that needs a sharp "lop it off" at the top or bottom where a switchable filter bank comes into play.

So I not only have and use loudness contouring but bass and treble "Program EQ" with switchable hinge points (40/80Hz & 7.5/10/15kHz) but left and right "balance" trims which not only help a personal left/right hearing imbalance but because they are separate can serve the dual use of "line attenuation" which eans I can bang down the entire signal by -10dB AND still have left/right balance intact for MY ears


AND the device has an integral "Stero Master" modelled after the old Dynaco PAS "Stereo Mode Control" so it has positions for full stereo,two positions of Left/Right "Blend" (nice for that hole in the miffle effect you get from having your loudspeakers too far apart,normally a "married person" situation),L+R,L Only or Right Only.

the last is sooooo important because if you for whatever reason are using a mono source you DON'T want a simple left/right mix sent to both loudspeakers but rather have a SINGLE MONO SPEAKER playing the content.And if that don't suit your tighty whities ?

Use the damn L+R control knucklhead

[rickcr42]

Still looking for a Happy button

I could build you one but first i would have to know what it is that makes YOU happy or it won't work

[XTRProf]

Ya, I concur with the tone control. So now do ur happy arsing here with DSP signal prcessing, the "new" in thingy. What the f**k do u guys think about this?

[rickcr42]

Something about having control over a big ass knob that gets me juiced like no "virtual" slider ever could so nope,will stick to my "imperfect" hardware controls until pried from my cold dead fingers

[leo]

xtrprof said:

leo said:

026.jpg

[/IMG][/quote]



What modules you used? Power output? I'm looking for a high power version to build. Any link where I can buy value for money PCBAs and modules. Schematics? [/quote]

That in the pic is a Amp6 kit from here www.41hz.com/

Its only about 20watts but they do higher power kits too, quality serves its purpose, its only for the bedroom running a small pair of speakers, I can plug the MP3 etc in .
Wouldn't use it in the main system tbh.
If you want classD one of the best I've tried are the Hypex UCD's, these are far superior to the Tripath based ones imo, they obviously cost more though

[jelosno]

HMMMM

can't believe they are this good actually....

www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/redwine4/30.html

the 30.2 version costs more than USD 2,000. what a margin...

[bullpup]

If you like that review try this one:
www.6moons.com/audioreviews/trends/ta10.html

in fact look at the trends t-amp awards page:
www.trendsaudio.com/EN/Reviews/Reviews.htm

[fanboi]

I have rather efficient single driver horn speakers (104db) - I have driven them (as a test) with my Yamamoto HA-02 headphone amp - 250 milliwatts - the result was passable background music, although putting them back on the normal amp (all 22 watts of it) soon showed the difference.

What has this to do with T-amps ?
Well they should be an easy load and so I borrowed a Trends Audio version of one of these and fitted it up while tinkering with my main amp a couple of months ago.

Listened to an Eva Cassidy CD and thought, yes, this is very good, I could live with this so I moved to the next thing and put on an LP of Classical pieces, this is a DG recording of 10 short classical pieces by various performers and is good variety, result, not pleasing, in fact so not pleasing that I took it off after the first track and disconnected the little thing and packed it to go back to its owner.
YMMV

[ticktockman]

fanboi said:

I have rather efficient single driver horn speakers (104db) - I have driven them (as a test) with my Yamamoto HA-02 headphone amp - 250 milliwatts - the result was passable background music, although putting them back on the normal amp (all 22 watts of it) soon showed the difference.

What has this to do with T-amps ?
Well they should be an easy load and so I borrowed a Trends Audio version of one of these and fitted it up while tinkering with my main amp a couple of months ago.

Listened to an Eva Cassidy CD and thought, yes, this is very good, I could live with this so I moved to the next thing and put on an LP of Classical pieces, this is a DG recording of 10 short classical pieces by various performers and is good variety, result, not pleasing, in fact so not pleasing that I took it off after the first track and disconnected the little thing and packed it to go back to its owner.
YMMV

As a user of the Trends TA10.1 and a collector of valve gear as well I do find your results of quite surprising. I tend to use my trends for late night background listening especially for short listening sessions where waiting for my el34 mono's or 6550 class AB's to reach operating temp would frankly be a bit wasteful.
In my experience if you use a valve pre with a trends TA10.1(or a pair biamped) the sound quality is very good in the context of the costs involved. It isn't esoteria but it is very impressive. Few if any solid state amps I have heard under £500 are in the same ball park. I am expressly excluding DIY solutions in this statement as that is a little bit unfair. IMO a well preserved Musical fidelity A1 or a Sugden A21 is better but they are not without their operating issues either.

On the subject of higher power class D I again vote for Hypex which are very impressive for the money. Their control in the lower frequences has to be experienced and only usually comes form very expensive solid state with 5k+ price tags. I wouldn't judge Class D without having a good listen yourself. Intellectually they should be S**t but they are anything but when designed correctly.
Right I will get my tin hat and hide in my foxhole for a while ;D

I have heard of a Ta2024 based amp being used to drive AKG1000's as a pure headphone amp in preference to the owners more usual single ended class A solid state jobs custom designed for that very purpose. He must be deaf

[leo]

My modified Hypex UCD's have embarrassed quite a few solid state amps, most people who heard them said "I didn't expect that "

[jelosno]

After some looks 'round I am very keen on purchasing a Trends 10.1.

I first thought about getting a kit (I only can do kits!) from the swedish website but then I would have to make an enclosure, find a power supply jaddajadda.

I am thinking to use it in the Garage mainly. Don't lough! When it's gonna be finished I will spend lotsa time there since there will be the first workbench that will be all M I N E.

As for speakers I still look at the Audio Nirvana (shouldn't that be nirvHana with an 'H'?) ones.

The Trends 10.1 and the AN speakers mostly depend on shipping cost to South Africa though

A BIG bonus of this Tamps is that they can run on 12V batteries. If the power outs are going to be more frequent that could make all the difference ;D

[ticktockman]

leo said:

My modified Hypex UCD's have embarrassed quite a few solid state amps, most people who heard them said "I didn't expect that "

I have to agree the hypex modules based 300watt DIY specials I have heard in a familiar system are very revealing. They made most of their price competitors sound broken imo. It does seem that the power supply and the input circuitry are critical to the final performance and using the Hypex modules without further thought wont get the best from them. I do rather fancy the idea of a valve/hypex hybrid power amp. I have noticed they work well with electrostatics and even with speakers that feature the revalator type tweeters that show up most other affordable solid state gear. There is however one case of a mismatch between a hypex based power amp and shahinian speakers that no one who has heard the combo can work out.

[XTRProf]

jelosno said:

After some looks 'round I am very keen on purchasing a Trends 10.1.


As for speakers I still look at the Audio Nirvana (shouldn't that be nirvHana with an 'H'?) ones.



A BIG bonus of this Tamps is that they can run on 12V batteries. If the power outs are going to be more frequent that could make all the difference ;D

Good buy there in the Trend. Ya, use a beefy 12VDC car battery and the sound will be even more dimensional than when run from the mains.

For audio nirvana, do also listen to Nirvana Unplugged In New York as well.