I have about 50 hours on my new dual-mono Clari-T, and I thought I would post my early impressions. I know the amp has another 150 hours of burn-in before it's fair to draw any conclusions, so I won't
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System DetailsThe Clari-T that Vinnie put together for me is configured this way.
Clari-T boards modded with Black Gate power supply decoupling caps
Auricaps for input coupling
DACT CT-2 stepped attenuator, CT-3 input select switch, and stainless steel knobs
Eichmann Cable Pod binding posts
Upgraded RCA jacks
2 RCA inputs, 1 volume controlled RCA output (for sub)
D.H.Labs Silver wire for the signal path
Two 12V, 5Ah SLA batteries (one for each board) for up to 12 hours playback between charges
12V, 500mA SLA automatic charger with cable
DPDT toggle switch installed on the rear panel to switch ON/Charge both boards simultaneously.
Two blue LEDs installed on the front (to indicate power to each channel).[/list:u]
The Clari-T is fed by a RWA Toshiba 3960 (pretty extensive mods to power supply, analogue stage, and vibration dampening). The Toshiba is powered by a PS Audio Statement power cable plugged into a PS Audio Ultimate Outlet. Interconnect is 1 meter of Vinnie's 75 ohm coax with RCAs on each end.
The speakers are Tyler Acoustics Taylo Reference Monitors (
http://www.tyleracoustics.com/taylo.html) connected via Analysis Plus Oval 9 with their thick spades on each end (and Oval 9 jumpers on the speakers as well). These are 88 dB efficiency into 8 ohms bookshelf speakers sitting on an open-frame bookshelf (which is one of the limitations that I have to live with in my setup). They sit out a little from the front of the shelves to make sure there are no near-field reflections. I measure 88 dB at 1000 Hz (0dB level, sine wave signal from reference CD) with the Clari-T turned up 3 clicks past midnight on the DACT attenuator. So, the Clari-T can drive these speakers to listenable levels.
My previous system was a C.E.C. 3300 CD player feeding a Benchmark DAC1 via AES/EBU connection. The DAC1 went directly to a Marsh A200s amp via balanced XLR connection. The stepped attenuator on the DAC1 served to regulate volume. The sound was clean with a huge soundstage, a lot of detail, and yet for all it's objective glory somewhat fatiguing. The death of the CD player gave me the excuse to return to the hunt
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[bold]Sound So Far[/bold]
The first thing that impressed me was the realism of vocals. The first thing I played was Tom Waits's
Mule Variations, and it seemed as if he were right in front of me rasping, hissing, and growling into a hot condensor mic in a smokey basement. Good fun.
The quality of vocals has remained and refined a bit through the first 50 hours. Listening across a variety of recordings (chamber music, jazz, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, REM, piano concerti, etc.) the other thing that jumps out at me is the speed of the amplifier, by which I mean its ability to keep track of very fast transients in plucked strings, strummed guitars, decaying piano notes, etc. I think this is a large part of the reason that voices sound so real: vocals are filled with little nuances that the amp needs to get right or fail in creating a realistic presentation. The Clari-T succeeds beautifully in this area, and it's a real pleasure. Cymbals, for example, also sound wonderfully real. My old system gave me an accurate sound on cymbals (I couldn't identify anything wrong with it), but they didn't sound real as they do with the Clari-T. It's the sort of thing you don't notice until you hear the difference and say "aha!".
I also notice that everything that is forward in the mix sounds very clear and well located spatially, at least in 2D that extends beyond the speakers quite nicely. I expect the depth (3D) to develop further as the burn-in progresses. The sounds that are farther down in the mix are accurate in tone and detailed, but they don't quite yet have the black space between them that places them individually hanging in the air in their precise locations. That is on the way, I expect. My previous system took at least 200 hours to open up in this way.
I am very happy with the trajectory that everything is on, and the fatigue is already banished.
I have an iPod coming in for iMod, so I can move up to an all-battery system, and I plan to swap out the Taylo's for some Omega A8s (anybody want some terrific bookshelf speakers in real mahogany veneer?). I expect that as this system renovation progresses and the Clari-T and other new entries break-in, things will move along very nicely in the direction that I sense in these early days. All this goodness because my CD player self destructed, and I happened upon Vinnie and RWA. Thanks C.E.C.
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