ClariT monoblocks have arrived.

Paul_Bui · « **on:** 7 Apr 2005, 02:24 am »

They came today. UPS left the package at my front door. Without opening it, I called and chatted with Vinnie for a few minutes, had lunch, and finally opened it up. Mine came with 2 separate chargers, no volume pot, Black Gate caps, Cardas binding posts (similar to that of Louis' R-series Omega speakers). The units were fully charged, as the green light came on at the charger side only 1 minute or two after I put them in the charging mode.

Here's the scoop: I unlugged the F1 from audio chain, hooked up the ClariT pair to the system, ran a L/R channel and phase check, and started a quick listen. What supposed to be a "quick" listen turned out to be an on-going (over 3 hours so far) session. I expected one amp on each channel would sound moderately louder but didn't really have high hope for that. On paper it seems there are no power gain by going monoblocks. Well that statement is way too conservative and considerably plays down the monoblocks.

What I hear and feel in my 24 x 16 x 10 room is a much louder, more robust, much bolder presentation. A break-in is still in need here, but the upgraded ClariT pair are sounding like a world class 15 - 20w tube amp (I keep referencing tubes as a norm for superb sounding device - perhaps someday I will stop doing that). Pianos are reproduced with more weight, more "meat" than the F1. Vocals sound more determined, bigger. Orchestra and chorus climaxes take on a higher level of dynamics and lower more powerful extension. My BB FTA2000 90db speakers suddenly sound like a very potent 96db transducer. "On steroid", "bigness" are words that came to my mind. No kidding, this combo can easily blow my brain (and yours) away.

I've been listening to the F1 the last few weeks, so I must know. There's no doubt: the ClariT pair easily sound more powerful than a 10w SS amp. An additional benefit: I can easily turn the monoblock pair into 2 separate stereo amps thus having a total of 4 channels.

I will come back in 3 weeks or so to report the performance by then. All in all, initial impressions on current and potential improvements have showed that these arewell worth the waiting and cost.

ndpjr · « **Reply #1 on:** 7 Apr 2005, 02:52 am »

Paul,
Congratulations on your new Clari-T Mono-blocks. I bet they are great sounding and will get even better. Will be anxious to hear your future reports.

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #2 on:** 7 Apr 2005, 03:15 am »

Quote from: ndpjr

Paul,
Congratulations on your new Clari-T Mono-blocks. I bet they are great sounding and will get even better. Will be anxious to hear your future reports.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for posting your initial impressions. When I finished your Clari-T monoblocks and gave them a listen, I had a hard time letting them go to be sent to you...I wanted to keep those babies for myself!

I'm really glad you are enjoying them so far (with only 3 hours of playback on them). I suspect that after a good 100 hours of use, you'll fall deeply in love with your new setup.

Please keep us posted, and enjoy!

Sincerely,

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 Apr 2005, 05:40 am »

Thanks for the kind words.

You see, I can't wait for 3 weeks, not even 3 days before I come right back and tell more good things about the new toys. First off, when I flip the switch to the listening mode, there's no thump unlike in the stereo amp where a small sound can be heard through the speakers. Absolutely quiet mechanically, I'd say.

Second, loudness. The Shanling built-in volume control has many steps (forgot how many), going down from +2.5 to -96.5 by 0.5 step. If my memory serves me, I had to turn the volume to between -10 to -5 to get a decent loudness. On some recordings (classical operatic arias, for instance) I had to max out at +2.5 yet couldn't really brag about how LOUD the system was capable of. Not so with the monoblocks. On pop songs I can easily drive my wife out of the room with the volume at -20, and that made me say the FTA2000s were transformed to a 96 db speaker.

A more "civilized" level seems to be at -25, way below the max. And that, ladies and gentlemen, with a 90 db driver and no active preamp. Imagine how insane you can go with a Lowther or Druid speaker or an active preamp?!

Last, blue lights. They perfectly match the blue light on the Shanling CDP. Thanks Vinnie for a very good job, considering the pressed time before you went to the show in Canada.

There's still some rawness in the sound which no doubt will go away after break in, but what a pleasure to hear, say, the bass performance that those little buggers have no right to possess.

Dmason · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 Apr 2005, 05:40 am »

Congrats Paul on the Big Bonus.

This is good news, really, really good news, because it means using one channel of the TA2024 board gets you more juice, clearly, and therefore negates the need in some cases for the more complex TA2050 chip, which, with its additional amplification stages, I doubt will sound quite as good as the ClariT. It also means the F200A is now In The Game!

And now I find in my email that my Reali-T is DONE and almost ready to come to papa. Way to go Vinnie!! After Vinnie has his way with her of course.

Hope springs eternal. All Black Gate, Auricaps, ladder resistor attenuator, battery DAC, reclock circuit on the output. Nothing standing in the way of it being one dangerous little mofo.

A suitable interstellar power source for......DarkStar. Which is now set up and silently waiting...

bbaker6212 · « **Reply #5 on:** 7 Apr 2005, 07:41 am »

Hi Paul,
So when can I bring the beer over for another listening session?
I really didn't get to hear the Clari-T much in our last get together.
I promise not to forget to bring my CD's this time

cheers, -Brad-

Adamay · « **Reply #6 on:** 8 Apr 2005, 08:13 pm »

The monoblock option may address some of the "thinness" to the Clari-T's sound that I found with my stereo version. In the end, I also found the bass to be somewhat rolled off. Do the monoblocks provide deeper bass extension? Thanks for your report, Paul.

miklorsmith · « **Reply #7 on:** 8 Apr 2005, 08:33 pm »

My Clari-T sounds thin if run without a pre. With my tubed pre, the sound is lush and flowing everywhere.

Adamay · « **Reply #8 on:** 8 Apr 2005, 08:42 pm »

What tubed pre do you use? Thanks for your reply.

miklorsmith · « **Reply #9 on:** 8 Apr 2005, 08:57 pm »

I've got the Modwright SWL 9.0 SE. The unit is killer. It's a touch noisy with my 101 db speakers, but Dan says he can seriously reduce the noise floor for my application. Don't get me wrong, in a lower-sensitivity application it's very quiet.

Even with a little hiss, the presentation with the pre is far superior to running straight from the source. In a way, I think it's a mistake to include a volume control on the Clari-T because there is no impedance matching with the control, and many sources won't be great direct to the amp.

This may cause some of the grumbling I've read about a thin sound, not just in this thread. People will think the unit is a true integrated, which it is not. With the pre, I've never heard such a fleshed-out presentation.

smargo · « **Reply #10 on:** 8 Apr 2005, 09:57 pm »

Quote

With the pre, I've never heard such a fleshed-out presentation.

I agree - with the creek passive (vinnie did modify this piece slightly) as an example the sound is fully fleshed out, although i never heard the thinning or the bass rolloff that adamay is talking about even with the volume control clarit.

I wish he would try different speakers - just to compare

Regards,
smargo

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #11 on:** 8 Apr 2005, 10:30 pm »

Quote from: Adamay

The monoblock option may address some of the "thinness" to the Clari-T's sound that I found with my stereo version. In the end, I also found the bass to be somewhat rolled off. Do the monoblocks provide deeper bass extension? Thanks for your report, Paul.

Adamay,

It would be too early to draw any definitive conclusion about bass performance of the new monoblocks that played less than 10 hours, on and off, for the last 2,3 days. However, as I remember the fully broken in stereo unit gave me very satisfying moments of overall performance, particularly bass. Keep in mind, whatever it is, it's not the same as the bass from the FirstWatt F1.

Now back onto the monoblocks. My early observation is that the bass is not as extended as that of the 3 months old stereo ClariT. Too bad I sent it back to Vinnie, or I would be able to A/B them side by side. Anyway, it's to be expected until the break in is over.

Someone asked the good question: What speaker are you using with ClariT? And maybe it's reavealing a weak link somewhere in your playback chain, whether it's the source, pre-amp, or even cables.

Dmason · « **Reply #12 on:** 8 Apr 2005, 11:05 pm »

Don't discount the effect of speaker cables with these amps. More critical than ever it seems, and I have discovered the best results with solid core Cu, single strand stuff, and Electraprint cryo'd magnet wire by far, the best.

Less=More

Seems to be the case with the cables. No such thinness here, even with a less than optimal pairing with the Samsung DVD HD841. Great sound. I swapped in the heavier Cardas stuff, a thinness, and a certain stridency not found with the delicate stuff.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #13 on:** 9 Apr 2005, 12:54 am »

Quote from: miklorsmith

My Clari-T sounds thin if run without a pre. With my tubed pre, the sound is lush and flowing everywhere.

My source has a single ended triode output stage with variable gain. Without a preamp I've got enough gain to reach full output B 4 noon on the dial of my Clari-T. It sounds wonderfully sweet and transparent. So much so that none of the so called great tube amps I have ever heard or owned come close. Like miklorsmith says, I'd experiment with anything upstream. Dmason's recommendation of looking at your cabling is an excellent idea too. I'm using single stranded solid core CAT 5 Teflon / plenum coated. Ridiculously cheap and superior to the 2K cables I sold to someone who thought they got a great deal!

eric the red · « **Reply #14 on:** 9 Apr 2005, 01:15 am »

"I'm using single stranded solid core CAT 5 Teflon / plenum coated. Ridiculously cheap and superior to the 2K cables I sold to someone who thought they got a great deal!"

Do you have a source/price for the CAT wire? I'm looking for some new speakers wire-thanks

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #15 on:** 9 Apr 2005, 01:44 am »

eric the red,

Call a few computer networking

joint's up in your area. Solid core CAT 6 plenum will work fine too. I'd like to try magnet wire, like CAT 5 it's cheap. I would think Radio Shack should have it.

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #16 on:** 9 Apr 2005, 09:59 pm »

I'm using the cryo-CAT6 single strands without any "thinning" effect. I sold my then favorite Analysis Plus and Kimber Monocle XL speakers that may be a better match in a multi-driver speaker/higher power amp system.

Once case in point: so excited at positive results with single stranded CAT5, I replaced all REL Storm subwoofer cables, stock and RadioShack and custome XLO, with ss CAT5. Guess what? The bass ffrom the subs became fuller, smoother, more extended. If that sounds unbelievable to you, I don't blame you, because I had felt the same way BEFORE I tried it.

Back to the monos for a minute: No longer do I have to put up with clipping that could happen sometimes, especially when I played operatic vocals. Bryn Terfel comes to mind. His Wagner track on Operatic Arias CD caused the stereo amp to clip on the 90db FTA2000s. Not so with the monos. Although the voice has not opened up yet due to lack of full break in, there's an obvious sense of reserved power that can throw me out of the room or damage my hearing before I can finish spelling the word "C-l-a-r-i-T". Last night the volume level on the Shanling CDP had to drop to -30 yet I was still afraid the loud and clear music could wake up wifey. Playing dynamic orchestal music such as Strauss or Mahler was out of question. The amps could accelerate from very soft (ppp) to very loud (fff) or sforzando in a scary manner. They made me re-evaluate my thoughts of going Lowther.

More to come in a few days.

tianguis · « **Reply #17 on:** 9 Apr 2005, 10:09 pm »

Dan, Eric, Chaser:
Interesting. A few of us seem to be on the same page. I've tried all the RS magnet wire, Cat 5 (bought 1000' on eBay) in many configurations, Goertz MI II, silver 22 AWG, Belden CC 89259, HD 14. All different, none great. For the last week, I've been using single 16 AWG wire unwound from a used inductor I had kicking around. Much better, instantly. All used driving Lowther ML TL's with a modded T-Amp. I'm waiting delivery of some Neotech Ohno Continuous Cast wire and some Precide (Swiss) ACE cables using Neotech OCC.

Regards,
Larry Welsh

Dmason · « **Reply #18 on:** 9 Apr 2005, 10:25 pm »

Larry,

This is exactly what I'm talking about. NearSOTA, Larry Grac, gave me some of this OTA continuous cast Cu stuff with a trace of teflon on it, and it is the ultimate stuff for no nonsense, superb sonics. I don't see him posting anymore, but maybe I can find him. There are reviews of it on AA, indicating major improvements. The Electraprint stuff is great but I had to rig up popsicle stick spreaders to keep them all apart which was kindo goofy. So folks, the OTA, continuous cast stuff is The Best Speaker Cable I have found for the ClariT. Scary good. Zero idea where to get more.

tianguis · « **Reply #19 on:** 9 Apr 2005, 10:48 pm »

Dan:
The NearSOTA site is gone. It was something I wanted to try.
Forgot to mention that I've also used the 47 Labs OTA. Gotta listen again.
I ordered the Neotech OCC from England. I found a source in Singapore who sells it for about $10/m. The same stuff from England was $1.38/m. Go figure. If it arrives, I'll post info.

Larry