Received standard TVC. Started burning in as per advise of some of you here with analog FM radio day and night. Chain is Quad FM4 => TVC => 2x Quad510 mono => Quad63Pro.
As reported before by others, nothing special before 40 hrs; not bad as first sounds came out, but not clear and detailed as direct FM4 to Quad510s (my Quad510s studio amps have pot on the amp). After 50 hrs or so, when I came down in the morning and turned up the volume therre was this big surprise....what had happened overnight??? Did I switch to another speaker cable? Did I use a better interlink? Did I run this through the Quad QC24 pre-amp instead......No. Something dramatic had happened and I wished I was there when it had occured. Here was pronouced bass, here was openess, there was the detail I missed. In short, after 120 hours I was relieved to be honest. Our hope that this TVC from Promitheus was indeed what others had claimed, a Jewel on the cheap, was indeed true.
I then compared it with the Quad99pre(SS) and Quad/QC24pre(tube) and in my opinion it masters them both (punchyness and detail) but adds that extra bit of detail due to a transparancy which I do not obtain with a direct coupling of my sources (FM4 or Quad CDPII or Sony PS-X75 or PS-X9) or through the active pre stages I have. Yes, it does alter the stereo imaging. In my situation with the ESLs the stereo immaging can be too detailed, ie the focus is pronounced in the middle with detail coming from the speakers when programmed as such in the source material by the studio technitions, that with the Promiteus it smoothens that out just only so much that the sound stage is more one, more homogeneous (sorry difficult to describe). I liked it so much that I felt bad to pass it on to my friend for whom I got this, on my risk and paycheck) because my own unit will take a while due to the special order I requested.
At my friend house we took the Sugden AU51 preamp out. Sugden AU51 CD => Sugden AU51 DAC => TVC => Sugden AU51-II AMP => B&W 805 then Sade CD in the drive and......wow, oh YES, wow, this much extra bass!, How is that possible? no electricity? He liked it immediately.
But knowing his kit in the smallest of detail after 7 years, he could but did not want to accept it. He had to listen more and more. It was the next day that a solid confirmation was given "more detail, better stereo imaging (stage?), pronouced bass at low level listening (he lives in highrise appartment) and more relaxation". The Sugden pre-amp will surely go. Critical listeners later confirmed his findings. We are converted. It is indeed possible to get a better result compared with his active SugdenAU51 pre-amp or my Quad setup. After 2 month we will report back.
