[Pancho Urbano]

Hi.

Been following folks' discussions of various t-class amplifiers (sonic impact, trends, etc).  Personally, I have one of the discontinued Teac Legacy AG-H800, which also like the heavily modded 700 3-channel, uses tripath (chip?).  I enjoy it very much, but because it is in my office set-up (driving rosewood Onix x-ls), I rarely open it up and it has to live in a small space (two windows, at least!).

My question: how would one describe the t-amp sound in subjective terms?  What are the characteristics of the sound in relationship to solid state D-class (or "A" class, as my old Technics SA-DA15 is classified) amps?  What about in comparison to tubes?  Why aren't more mid-fi companies (NAD, etc) using these chips?  What other products do they appear in? 

Are t-class amps truly digital, like the Panasonic XR57? 

Any ruminations, thoughts, or mullings appreciated.

[shep]

I have one, a Trends t-10, and I would also like to hear more on this subject. Please!

[Watson]

Why aren't more mid-fi companies (NAD, etc) using these chips?  What other products do they appear in? 
...
Are t-class amps truly digital, like the Panasonic XR57?

You probably won't see any new Tripath-based products.  Tripath ran out of money in late August, and stopped making payments to its secured creditors on October 1:
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/070103/trphe.ob8-k.html

In any case, apart from the "Class T" name, which was just marketing, Tripath amps are just switching digital amps, like the XR57.  That was part of the reason the company failed -- too much competition.  There was also some wrongdoing among the executives.

[shep]

This is bad news indeed. I wonder what this means for people who are presently using them (builders)...
Does anyone have any idea if these chips have a life-span? Do they go "off" after 10,000 hours or something? Should we get a few while they are still available?

[Watson]

This is bad news indeed. I wonder what this means for people who are presently using them (builders)...
Does anyone have any idea if these chips have a life-span? Do they go "off" after 10,000 hours or something? Should we get a few while they are still available?

It's not clear what will happen with the Tripath chip designs.  At this stage, they probably can't be sold off for legal reasons until the company enters receivership.  In the link I posted above, they mention they were shopping the IP around for a few months with no takers.  It's not clear from the financial statements whether their major customers were given advance notice and were able to make large final orders.  Interestingly, their number 1 customer was Sharp.  It's not clear whether the Tripath chips were being used in the Sharp digital amps though, or whether the chips were going to things like flat screen TVs.

In any case, these are solid state devices and don't have a finite lifespan.  In most cases, you can expect the electrolytic caps in your amp to go out of spec or fail before the chips do.  There were enough Tripath amps made that replacements should be floating around on eBay for a long time.  I wouldn't buy an amp for spare parts right now unless you have a real need.

[shep]

Thanks for the input. I was thinking to get another amp, not the chip! 

[Pancho Urbano]

So - any subjective comments on the tripath sound in comparision with other forms of amplification?

[konut]

This is just a perception because I've never owned any type of 'chip' or digital amp, but I do check AC several times a day. It SEEMS that the non-tripath digital amps are sold 2nd hand alot more than the tripath amps. 99 times out of 100 the people selling Red Wine amps only sell to up grade to a more powerful Red Wine amp. Can anyone confirm this perception? Or, am I just imaginning it?

[gongos]

This is just a perception because I've never owned any type of 'chip' or digital amp, but I do check AC several times a day. It SEEMS that the non-tripath digital amps are sold 2nd hand alot more than the tripath amps. 99 times out of 100 the people selling Red Wine amps only sell to up grade to a more powerful Red Wine amp. Can anyone confirm this perception? Or, am I just imaginning it?

You need to know how many of the amps are sold originally. If there are only 100 RWA amps out there and 100000 of the other brands, you would be imagining something.

[konut]

Excellent point! Nevermind then!

[Feisal K]

here's a link to GR Research's amp study last year

http://www.gr-research.com/amps/amps.shtm

been posted before I think

Interesting about them running out of $..
perhaps its one of the reasons Bel-Canto jumped over into the ICEpower camp..

wonder what happens to Naim's nvi