[shep]

 aa My Trend t-10 just landed after a 30,000 km voyage (phew!) no kidding...
Michel Mardis is a magician! (an unabashed plug) This little bitty thing SINGS!
WOW. I was expecting to be mildly disappointed. No way. Bloody amazing. The highs sparkle and fly around in space, the mids are warm and articulate, details galore, plenty of air and space.
OK let's get real. No way does it have the slam and authority in the bass of my modified old Hitachi with its big stiff power supply. No way can it go as loud (10 vs 60 watts)... but I'm putting it in punishment mode driving inefficient (85db into 8ohms) small driver TL spkrs, and it will go to the stops without complaining and that's pretty loud. I took a chance and it paid off. With the right spkrs this thing would seriously rock. It will need a few more days to get off the plane and get used to rural France
For the budget constrained, this system I have finally gotten together is a treat. A better cdp would up the ante but for around 1000$ I certainly never expected this satisfying, uncompromising sound.

[shep]

Glad at least one person was interested! So go back to sleep, see if I care!

[robert1325]

Not much happening here     

That 6moons review must be written of as fake 

I'm going to get some Hawthorne SI's,  hope the Trend can cope with them

[shep]

Don't know what you mean as a fake? Nice choice I think for the speakers. I lusted after them but price+shipping+eventual duty put me off. They are more effecient than the Craft'ys. Should be great. Tell me how they sound when they get there. I need to hear an OB speaker one day. I haven't a clue how they sound.

[shep]

I tend to forget that they are not on our time-line. Now if I had said I had a Sig. 70 with a silver face plate, I bet they would have woken up with a start!

[robert1325]

I have never listened to an OB,   Hope it's as good as they say!   

The price is not to bad,  350 euro's incl. shipping ... Probably some duties , I'll ask if he can lower the value 

[lonewolfny42]

I tend to forget that they are not on our time-line. Now if I had said I had a Sig. 70 with a silver face plate, I bet they would have woken up with a start!

That could be your next purchase shep......

[JLM]

I'm awake (5 am here now in eastern U.S.)...

Oh shameless plugger, how much is your modded TA-10 and can you compare to a stock TA-10?

I had a RWA modded SI (battery powered called Clari-T) that 6moons liked (especially the modded version).  It did a remarkable job handling my 88 dB/w/m MLTL single driver speakers, but alas it was too small to really have solid bass control.  And compared to my current 40 watt chip monoblocks the imaging was much poorer (now objects are better focused, located, and sized).  I'm sure the RWA Sig 30/70 amps are an improvement, but I have no interest (as I have clean power here and so don't want to deal with batteries).  So if you feel that the imaging isn't great, you may want to try running a pair as monoblocks.  As I understand the chip may not be able to be further bridged/boosted, but separation (physically and electrically) may help.

While I had the Clari-T it was connected to an early pair of Hawthorne Iris speakers and it had plenty of power for these 40+ year old ears in a 12 ft x 20 ft room.

The Iris are the only OBs I've heard that don't struggle (needing EQ, subs, large baffles, etc.) to do a reasonable amount of bass (down to 40 Hz).  Normally I'd say No Box + High Efficiency = No Bass, but these break that rule, even with small baffles (read below and at the Hawthorne forums).  Build quality is very good.  My impression was that they were quite forgiving and an amazing value, but did not provide audiophile levels of resolution (we couldn't tell the difference between an old Citation 16 and the Clari-T).  OTOH they were not broken in (though I don't believe this would help provide more detail) and the cross-over has since been reworked.  Just based on what I heard I wouldn't bother modding the TA-10 to match up to the Iris speakers.

IMO OBs need lots of space behind (5 feet to not sound bass constrained) and in front (at least 10 feet, 15 feet would be better to allow imaging/soundscaping to gel).  As nearly all speakers are designed to be located well out into the room and the Iris is designed with a small baffle in mind I don't see this as much of an issue.  And most don't listen nearfield (within 10 feet of their speakers) anyway, so that shouldn't be much of an issue either.  Besides with the small relatively lightweight baffle they're easily moved in and out of position if need be.

OB imaging/soundstaging is more natural (less pin-point accurate) with OBs than with other designs.  OBs project more of a "wall of sound" like you hear in live settings versus discrete sources from each performer/instrument.  Which type of presentation is best would simply be a matter of preference.  Regardless, the level of bass response and efficiency that the Iris provides is not easily matched.

[shep]

So you did wake up finally ! Robert. Then you are getting them as a kit? (obviously) I don't know why but I preferred buying my spkrs ready to go. I'm fairly competent with DIY but I was greedy for instant gratification or just plain lazy. And as you know the builder (Crafty) demos his with the Trends. I thought "serendipity", go for it. Happy camper now.
Please please don't get me started on the up-grade path!!! I was kidding about the Sigs. but I see the mention of a silver faceplate did get attention
Ok I said this before, out of fairness to M. Mardis I'm letting him set the price for the modified Trend t-10.
Mine was to be a one off, "at your risk no guarantees". I really would like to see him get some business. He closed the Octopus site because he wasn't making anything but he does like do mods and he is a wizard and a pleasure to deal with. Nuff shameless plugging I can't tell you the dif. between the stock and modded version of Trend. Rob is getting his stock version any moment now but we live far apart!
I have no previous experience of chip amps. This is my first and it's amazing. I have listened carefully to hear something "wrong"; like some harmonic deficiency, something not real about decay (mentioned in another thread) something missing. I just don't. I have a very revealing system and good ears and I have it all: The sound stage is big and open. The treble is sweet and extended. The midrange voicing is articulate and "right". What more can I say? It should not sound this good and in total control driving speakers that are not at all right for it. (Even M. is sceptical) The bass is not the last word in clout and weight but I hey, there's no way it could be otherwise. I've gotten over the initial "proud new papa" syndrome and gotten critical. Not only is this diminutive thing adorable but it makes serious hi-end sound.
I am not new to this game and I am seriously impressed and amazed. I know there is better, MUCH better.
I also know what it costs. Would I love to have a sig. 70? You bet!!! I can't. The best part of this is that we are only at the beginning of this new technology, and what a beginning! I think... no I know, that I got lucky and got synergy. You can spend a lot more and never get it. I've been there before when I had the bucks and I just couldn't make it come together. The only thing I 'm likely to change in the for-seeable
future is the CDP, but not before it is fixed, and I'm going to have those super op amps put in which should take it to another level.