[virtue]

Guys,

Before our reputation for great service is soiled, I'm going to shut down sales immediately until October or when we can offer 48 hour turn-around or better.

All pending orders will be shipped.

Please accept my apologies in advance to those who were on the verge or ordering.  Send me a PM and it's possible that I can help you but no guarantees.

Seth

[jusbe]

A modestly tweaked ONE.3 for $600 just doesn't do it for me so I'm not going to make it and try to sell it to you.

If you change your mind, there are plenty of us who are ready to pay more than before. I'd certainly like a few more Virtue Tripath battery-powered amps in my future and I know costs have gone up. But they are *that good*.

[Zero]

You're hard work has already led to many happy music lovers.  So hang in there guy...what you're doing matters!  Here's to hoping that the latter half of this years gives you a much needed break.  Shall be rootin' for ya.

[bardamu]

Hello,
A pity that all these wonderful products and good aftersales didn't lead to a bigger number of posters here. Most people just read and move on. When you do a little homework you will see that people who used to be busy on this circle did move to other circles. If it is just new products that will make people write things or make '' the old boys '' come back it is not good ( for me )
I could imagine satisfied customers to sell their gear to a new customer in order to be able to afford the latest virtue baby. That new customers will in the end decide to buy the latest baby too.
I know i will probably not buy a new virtue amp in the year to come because i did invest a lot of time to modify my present one. A new dac if it is clearly better than my Oppo.
Sincere greetings, Edward

[jusbe]

Edward,

You make some interesting points. That said, the Virtue Tripath products have been sufficiently interesting for me to wait for more product. I only wish I had jumped in more quickly and bought two updated TWO amps before they sold out.

I hope the new amp will be just as good, if not better. I would also like to see a Virtue battery system offered, as opposed to a 3rd-party option but that may not be feasible. The Virtue chaps are probably exhausted as it is!

Battery-operated Tripath amps are on my list of amps to stash away for use now and into a greener future...

[bardamu]

Hello Jusbe,
I was given the advice to wait for a new virtue amp because the present ones could interfere with my plasma screen. So i wait and wait. And wait again. Then i said i will buy one and find a solution. But then they were out of stock so i did find one secondhand.
No interference with my tv but interference with my mediaplayer when using low grade hdmi cables and placing the mediaplayer in front of the sensation. Better cable with ferrite coils and it was gone. So was the mediaplayer because i did sell it to make place for an Oppo.
If the new amp would be better it would already have been available!!!
If you want truly a sensation without compromise ( rien est absolu tout est relatif ) you might end up with one that is difficult to sell.
My new cables can be tracked and traced. After they arrive and when they will better my present cables i will have to cut some more compromises.
Sincere greetings, Edward
P.s batteries would be okay if i could have them in a kind of charging mode all the time and just cut the charger while listening. I did do that in the pat with phono mc amp but that did consume a few milliamperes so could work for a month without charge.
http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/en/audio/prepre.htm
This one was inspired by the design i did use in the early eighties

For those who speak French or are willing to use google translate. Copied from an article wriiten by Jean Hiraga. True audiophiles should know him!!!

[srb]

[bardamu]

Hello,
The article from which i did copy it dates from 1987. Mr. Hiraga didn't mention it was a copy. The French version is much better. Sincere greetings, Edward

[abernardi]

Edward,
  Can you hear a difference when the battery is plugged in?  I keep my battery plugged in all the time for my Sensation because I've not been able to discern a difference when it was plugged in and not.  In fact, anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the charger disengage automatically when the Sensation is on?

[bardamu]

Hello Abernardi,
Never did use my virtue with batteries because sometimes it has to play very long time because it is in my audio video set up. Would only use one if i could be used with the charger switched on for watching the news and with the charger switched off with high grade movie or music.
I remember reading that there can be a kind of glare to the sound when it is switched on.
With my cartridge amp i also did hear that but that is also because the inputlevel from my cartridge was rather low and the gain was very high.
Most batteries have their lifespan limited by the number of charges. That is why i decide to go for my choke input power supply. After all i wanna have something that is not that common. I had to get a power supply because i did buy mine without one.
Had some chokes in stock so just had to buy a transformer and some panasonic caps.
Making the chassis is a piece of cake for me.
Sincere greetings, Edward

[Rclark]

No difference plugged in or not.

[bardamu]

Hello,
I knew i did read about it somewhere and even did remember the word that he used to describe it. So here it is. Of course it will depend on resolution too.
Sincere greetings, Edward


Quote from: OzarkTom on 22 Oct 2011, 04:00 AM
Few weeks ago I received my Sensation amp back from Jason with the big Duelund capacitors sitting in my hi-pass section of my amp. He had used it for 20-30 hours before shipping it to me. I was very excited to get it back, since I had been without for so long. The magic of the amp was there before it left, I was hoping that would return with the new caps in it.

I knew there would be a burn-in period, but not near as much as I have had to go through. After 300 hours, I was threatening to ship it back to Jason and have him to return it back to the original condition.

At the moment, the amp has about 450 hours on it and finally the magic is returning. The sound is very lush, but very revealing at the same time. In fact, so revealing that the battery charger hooked up to the amp is now very obvious. I easily hear the electronic glareness that the battery charger produces.

I was told at RMAF that the full burn-in can take 600 hours on these caps. The image is much bigger than before. Soundstage keeps expanding as the hours keeps adding up. At the moment, I can whole heartily recommend the Duelund Alexander caps. 

[Rclark]

Not all chargers are the same quality, so some might cause issues. I asked Danny Richie about this too, and he keeps his batteries always connected to the charger, and I don't think he has low resolution in his systems. I wouldn't worry about it.