Sonic Impact vs Clari T?

Wind Chaser · « **on:** 2 Mar 2005, 02:03 am »

If the reviews (6 Moons & TNT) have any merit, then the Sonic Impact Class T Amp - without any modification is one hell of a no brainer. The fact that you can buy 3 of these little amps for less than the price of the Clari T restocking fee is phenomenal. It also begs the question, how much better and in what way is the Clari T?

JLM · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Mar 2005, 11:22 am »

Without ever hearing either amp I can state the following advantages of the Clari-T over the Sonic Impact:

1. Build quality

2. Warrantee

3. Better/more conventional/easier to use connectors

4. Better power supply than either SI option for improved sound

5. Deeper, more powerful bass response from addition capacitors

This is also a classic point of dimishing returns issue, but $500 is still cheap by audiophile standards. The Clari-T is hand built in the U.S. in limited quantities which obviously adds to the cost.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Mar 2005, 05:13 pm »

Build quality is one thing but, but sound quality is quite another. This is what I am hoping to find out, how much better and in what way is the Clari T? I've been privileged to own some very nice amps by Audio Research, Decware, Mark Levinson and Pass to name a few. As the Sonic Impact continues to burn in more and more, it gets sweeter and sweeter to listen to.

Warrantee? At $40.00 it may as well be a disposable amp. This is not at all an issue.

As I am running CAT 5 for speaker cable, the connectors are not the least bit of a concern. In fact believe it or not, the cheap connectors in the context of CAT 5 maybe an advantage. There isn't a connector that sounds as clean as a wire to wire connection. Binding posts have considerably more 3rd party metal between the leads of the amp and the speaker cable then the cheap connectors!

As for the power supply, that's one of the concerns I have with the Clari T. At $500.00 it would have been nice if Vinnie had put a bigger battery in the unit.

You're quite right, $500.00 for a decent amp is nothing by traditional audiophile standards, but for less than a tenth of that, the Sonic Impact makes music that impresses to no end.

I guess if all the happy Clari T owners haven't heard an equally well broken in Sonic Impact, I'll have to wait for 6 Moons and TNT to do a side by side comparison of the two amps.

If it weren't for the 15% restocking fee, I'd be more inclined to try and buy and hopefully find that the Clari T is superior sonically to the Sonic Impact. But at this point, why would I want to risk $75.00 (which is equal to the price of about what 3 Sonic Impact amps) on uncertainty?

JLM · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Mar 2005, 05:39 pm »

I trialed a Decware Torii last fall in home with my Bob Brines FTA-2000 (floorstanding mass loaded transmission line speakers with Fostex F200A full range driver). The Torii provided loose/exagerated bass and couldn't pass 20 - 50 Hz warble test tones at only 80 dB. Overall a JVC digital receiver sounded nearly as good and did a much better job with the bass.

Paul Bui (from the Decware forum) has replaced his SV83 monoblocks with a Nelson Pass F1 and then replaced the F1 with a Clari-T. He says the monoblocks sound warm, thick, and slow compared to the Clari-T.

That restocking fee really bugs you doesn't it?

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #4 on:** 2 Mar 2005, 06:09 pm »

Quote from: Wind Chaser

As for the power supply, that's one of the concerns I have with the Clari T. At $500.00 it would have been nice if Vinnie had put a bigger battery in the unit.

If it weren't for the 15% restocking fee, I'd be more inclined to try and buy and hopefully find that the Clari T is superior sonically to the Sonic Impact. But at this point, why would I want to risk $75.00 (which is equal to the price of about what 3 Sonic Impact amps) on uncertainty?...

Hi Wind Chaser,

Regarding the battery, I did not use a smaller battery for the cost. Actually, a 3.4Ah battery is cheaper to buy on batterymart.com than the 1.3Ah battery

I chose the smaller battery because it was a good fit (literally) in the small enclosure that I'm using. I really wanted to come out with a products that provides BIG sound from a small enclosure...thus deviating from the bigger and bulkier designs.

Also, I found that driving a constant 4-ohm load, this battery provides at least 6-hours of use (recommended) before needing to be charged. If your speakers are greater than 8-ohms, and you don't have the music up very loud for a constant 6 hours, you should be able to go beyond the 6 hours without a problem. I chose to be very conservative with my 6-hour between charges rating. I find this to be very good amount of listening time for most serious listening sessions. If the amp is used for just background music and needed to be on all day long, that is a different story...

As for the 15% restocking fee, I have reduced it to 5%, see:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=circles

Thanks for your feedback,

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #5 on:** 2 Mar 2005, 11:21 pm »

Vinnie, I'm starting to feel more motivation. I can hardly wait to read 6 Moons report.

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #6 on:** 2 Mar 2005, 11:57 pm »

Quote from: Wind Chaser

Vinnie, I'm starting to feel more motivation. I can hardly wait to read 6 Moons report.

Great! BTW, I dropped the restocking fee completely.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #7 on:** 3 Mar 2005, 03:38 am »

I take that as an indication that you have nothing but completely happy customers?

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Mar 2005, 04:46 am »

Quote from: Wind Chaser

I take that as an indication that you have nothing but completely happy customers?

I haven't had any returns yet

So far so good. I will continue to work very hard and do my very best at keeping my customers happy. I am looking to build up a solid reputation based on great customer service as well as great products and modification services at reasonable prices.

Sincerely,