TAP ---- Done --- Finally..........................

John Chapman · « **on:** 24 Mar 2006, 11:19 pm »

Hello!

Done.......

Info at www.bentaudio.com

Lots more to come after I catch up on initial orders. Kits, expansion modules, Tantilum Film resistor modules, 'Designer' control unit, etc..........

Also need to get time to clean up the website and take new pics, etc.... Lets just say it is a good thing I did not make a career of photography.

Through the next week I'll be e-mailing those patiently waiting on 'the list' to see if there is anyone who has not given up on me!

Please post any questions or suggestions here.

Thansk!

John

JoshK · « **Reply #1 on:** 24 Mar 2006, 11:29 pm »

very cool! Love the looks!

RAW · « **Reply #2 on:** 24 Mar 2006, 11:29 pm »

Very nice John
Sure looks like one we had here not that long ago.
Very nice looking and great details put into the craftmanship.

skrivis · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Mar 2006, 11:38 pm »

Quote from: John Chapman

Hello!

Done.......

Info at www.bentaudio.com

Lots more to come after I catch up on initial orders. Kits, expansion modules, Tantilum Film resistor modules, 'Designer' control unit, etc..........

Also need to get time to clean up the website and take new pics, etc.... Lets just say it is a good thing I did not make a career of photography.

Through the next week I'll be e-mailing those patiently waiting on 'the list' to see if there is anyone who has not given up on me!

Please post any questions or suggestions here.

Thansk!

John

Well, if it's passive it doesn't actually _do_ anything, right? Looks to me like a very expensive way of doing nothing...

But what do I know?

zybar · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 12:21 am »

Quote from: skrivis

Well, if it's passive it doesn't actually _do_ anything, right? Looks to me like a very expensive way of doing nothing...

But what do I know?

Apparently not much!

Very nice looking John.

Being a former owner of the previous version, I can attest to the sound and build quality. If I didn't go the room correction route, it never would have left my system.

Best of luck John.

George

denjo · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 12:41 am »

Hi John

If nothing else, I would have just bought it for the looks! As a NOH owner myself, I can unequivocably say that the new TAP will sound just as good as it looks! I cannot wait to get my hands on one!
May I wish you all the very best in this new endeavour! You have a sure winner in your hands!

Best Regards
Dennis

skrivis · « **Reply #6 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 01:01 am »

Quote from: zybar

Quote from: skrivis
Well, if it's passive it doesn't actually _do_ anything, right? Looks to me like a very expensive way of doing nothing...

But what do I know?

Apparently not much!

More than you.

skrivis · « **Reply #7 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 01:03 am »

Quote from: zybar

Quote from: skrivis
Well, if it's passive it doesn't actually _do_ anything, right? Looks to me like a very expensive way of doing nothing...

But what do I know?

Apparently not much!

Very nice looking John.

Being a former owner of the previous version, I can attest to the sound and build quality. If I didn't go the room correction route, it never would have left my system.

Best of luck John.

George

So you spent a lot of money on a component that doesn't do anything?

You're funny.

JoshK · « **Reply #8 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 01:05 am »

Quote from: skrivis

More than you.

Depends on the subject, I'd imagine.

What about a TVC is not passive? Certainly the switching circuitry is not but that isn't in the signal path.

I can completely identify with the scientific mind but your posts here have been little more than antagonistic drivel. Why bother reading and posting on the forum if all you want to do is fight?

PS John C, if you want to trash this garbage, feel free.

skrivis · « **Reply #9 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 01:12 am »

Quote from: JoshK

Quote from: skrivis
More than you.

Depends on the subject, I'd imagine.

What about a TVC is not passive? Certainly the switching circuitry is not but that isn't in the signal path.

I can completely identify with the scientific mind but your posts here have been little more than antagonistic drivel. Why bother reading and posting on the forum if all you want to do is fight?

Ah, just getting tired of the purple prose and arm-waving. Some people here make Harry Pearson be glad to be alive.

Unfortunately, there is less and less on AC that is worth reading. It's all devolving into voodoo and self-delusion.

I thought I heard that you had a mathematical background? I would think that this would equip you to see through the bunk.

JoshK · « **Reply #10 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 01:25 am »

show me the purple prose in JC's post.

I am of a math b/g and said I like your scientific mind/approach. I don't agree with half of what is said on this forum and find I read it less and less these days, but there are quite a few great guys on this forum that I share a lot with. Something that I feel you'll never benefit because of your abrasive nature.

Being smart only gets you so far in life (usually exploited), it also takes a lot of people skills to be successul and truley happy in life, IMO.

melville · « **Reply #11 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 01:52 am »

Hi John:

Congratulations! It's good to see that the new unit is ready for public scrutiny.

I am bemused by this negative guy. This sort of confrontational irrelevancy is out of place here.

Good luck,

Brian

John Chapman · « **Reply #12 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 01:52 am »

Hello!

I must admit I was a bit dismayed at the way this thread was skewing itself...... The last couple posts seem to be pointing to technical issues and I'd love to discuss those! I am a techie guy at heart and although measurements don't equal sonics I believe a product MUST measure and behave extremely well before sonics can be repeatable from system to system.

Bit of background - since it sounds like I thought like you a few years back. When a friend asked me about using TVC's as volume controls quite some time back I told him it was the stupidest idea I had heard - why use that when a handfull of resistors and a switch will do..... Then I thought about it from a techinical point of view - and I came around. The way a TVC translates impedance makes it 'look' like an active pre-amp - nice high input impedance and a nice low output impedance. Wound properly a TVC's bandwidth is very wide - combined with ultra low THD it seemed just what you want in a pre-amp. Lets not hold the fact it does this without power against it..... TVC's can (Again, if wound correctly do a very good job of converting Bal to SE and SE to BAL - again without additonal circuits in the signal path. So what we have is a way to adjust volume that behaves extremely well, can convert SE to BAL and BAL to SE, isolate ground loops, and provide 6db of gain if needed. If you need these functions then it's an option.

To back up my belief in techinical measurements I have over $50K of instrumention in my shop here inclusing an Audio Precision System 2 dual domain analyser, A 1ghZ 4 channel HP Infinum scope with a Preamble Instruments differential amp. My background is 30 years mechanical and electonic/computer design and programming (assembler, dsp, etc...). It's a no Voodoo zone......

I have to run now but I hope we can turn this thread around. If not I'll clean it up and return it to it's original intention - an anouncement of a new product and a place for users to post questions.

Many Thanks!

John

skrivis · « **Reply #13 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 02:16 am »

Quote from: JoshK

show me the purple prose in JC's post.

I am of a math b/g and said I like your scientific mind/approach. I don't agree with half of what is said on this forum and find I read it less and less these days, but there are quite a few great guys on this forum that I share a lot with. Something that I feel you'll never benefit because of your abrasive nature.

Being smart only gets you so far in life (usually exploited), it also takes a lot of people skills to be successul and truley happy in life, IMO.

I was commenting on the general flavor of AC. My purple prose comment was not directed at JC. I just question the need for a passive or transformer-coupled "preamp" when we have active circuits that do a better job of marrying signal sources and power amplifiers.

You can't get something from nothing, and a transformer is ultimately working toward negative entropy. An active circuit attempts to increase order within a limited system.

I think I'll leave it at that, and maybe swear off AC for the weekend.

kfr01 · « **Reply #14 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 05:03 am »

John:

The unit looks awesome. A passive preamp with multiple input and output options, (including XLR), and a remote control. As far as I know, there's nothing else like this on the market. Most of the passive solutions out there do not include a remote, which blows my mind.

Also, a full-featured DIY remote control passive or active DACT solution is far from cheap. I think this TAP preamp represents a pretty good value.

I look forward to seeing more pics and learning more information.

Karl

RAW · « **Reply #15 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 06:39 am »

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=14504da356836c880b8a1604e014146a&threadid=72588&perpage=10&pagenumber=12
On this thread you may see some more pictures from our day we held here and John put up his piece of art on the top of the stand.
Very nice work.

Frank McCrea · « **Reply #16 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 10:00 am »

John,

Congratulations on a stunning looking piece, I'm sure its sonics are out of this world.

Best regards, Frank

JohnR · « **Reply #17 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 10:37 am »

Quote from: skrivis

I think I'll leave it at that, and maybe swear off AC for the weekend.

How about for the rest of the year?

John Chapman · « **Reply #18 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 03:51 pm »

Hello!

Thanks guys for all the comments! Again I never talk about my products sonics relative to other products or even other product types so I want to keep my posts technical. I find this discussion interesting since it was the technical aspects of the way transformers work that eventually attracted me to them - not a nostalga for the good old days. Transformers are used in TONS of pro audio gear for a simple reason - they behave well and get the job done. Any decent digital input on a dac has a small transformer at it's input - operating at frequencies way beyond anyones hearing! There are some things they do naturally and for those jobs they are the tool to use.

Since this comment describes EXACTLY what I though when first asked about the TVC idea I did want to reply to it:

>You can't get something from nothing, and a transformer is ultimately
>working toward negative entropy. An active circuit attempts to increase
>order within a limited system.

While a TVC does not give you something for nothing it does make decent use of what you already have. As the level of a TVC is turned down (and it is normally below unity gain for almost any system) it turns the excess voltage from your source into potential current - lowering output impedance. Very quickly it 'looks' exactly like an active stage from a black box point of view - nice high input impedance and very low output impedance. Instead of pissing away the excess voltage at the source component (like a resistor volatge divider does) you are making use of it. It lowers this output impedance by the square of the turns ratio so once you get beyond a few steps down from unity gain this effect really starts to kick in. It's just the physics of the way transformers work - same priciple that is used to kick down high voltage power transmission to the low volatge used in a home - you would not use a resistor based volatge divider for that!

There are cases where a TVC can not do what an active circuit can:

- If you need gobs of gain you need an active stage. The +6 db mode is very useful and works great in practice but the impedance 'translation' is working against you here so in my mind +6db is the most you can go for without putting too many demands on your source's ouput impedance. Most systems these days have excess gain and don't need +6db mode anyway. Just plug your source directly into your amp and see how loud the system is!

- If your source has a VERY high output impedance (approx over 1 or 2K or so) and you must run the level control at or above unity gain (ie. not getting the impedance kick as the level is lowered) then a TVC - or any passive attentuator - is not for you. You need a buffer and/or gain stage.

Fortunately these two conditions are rather rare so in most systems the TVC does a nice job of behaving electrically like an active stage - An easy load for the source and very low output impedance. Again, don't hold the fact it does it without a power supply against it! I am not saying it is inherently better than an good active stage - just that it is an option to an active stage for most systems.

Thansk!

John

studley · « **Reply #19 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 09:33 pm »

John
really great looking piece of kit. Have you any plans to put it out for review - I would suggest TNT as they have excellent credibilty (no adverts, no vested interests).