[The Dude Abides]

I just got my custom Reali-T today!

So I take it out of the box and let me say, the amp (especially mine ) looks MUCH better in person (not that it looks bad on Vinnie's website).  Very solid construction.  

But now for the important part:  Sound.

When I first turned it on, and started the first song, I thought, well hrmm this sounds pretty much like the Sonic Impact, errrrrr.  Then I heard the next verse come out of pure and total darkness.  And then the drums kicked in.  So much for first impressions..... This amp is INCREDIBLY fast, It really really puts the SI and my former tube amp to shame in that department.

I then put on some female vocal music; I still have goosebumps!  I can't describe what that Monica 2 DAC and Tripath combo is doing but it is amazingly natural and real sounding.   It's extremely smooth, yet also very very detailed, something I had previously assumed to be quite opposite.  This all leads me to say this is the most coherent and well balanced amp I've ever heard and more importantly, owned.  The only negatives I see right now are upper frequency extention (which isnt that bad, I'm just trying to be picky, and it will certainly get better) and limited SPLs (which is my speakers not the amp....)

Thanks Vinnie!

Chris.

[ndpjr]

Chris,

   Congratulations on your "Reali-T". From what I've read from Dmason's posts on his Reali-T, it only gets better. I felt the same when I first heard vocals on the stock Clari-T. I just kept wanting to hear more vocals and that is something I never really listened to very often before. The detail and speed of these amps are really something. I hope your FT1600's work out well for you as both your amp and the FT1600's break-in even more. Battery power really makes a difference. I'm happy to hear you're enjoying it so much.

[Vinnie R.]

I just got my custom Reali-T today!

Hi Chris,

Many thanks for posting your initial impressions!  

Yes, just let it burn-in (both the internal Monica 2 dac AND the modded Clari-T board) and just like Dmason, you'll hear how much better it will get.  In other words, if you really like it now, you'll fall madly in love after spending > 100 hours in your new Reali-T relationship    

BTW, I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but you can use the Reali-T as a Battery powered DAC + passive preamp:

Simply switch ON the DAC (and leave the Clari-T power switch OFF), and use the RCA outputs and you've got yourself an all-in-one Monica 2 + Puri-T combo!  Of course, why would you even look for a better power amp than the modded Clari-T board?      

Please keep us posted as you put on the hours...

Thanks again, Chris!

[The Dude Abides]

Vinnie,

hah, I was actually just going to ask you about that because I have a great use for it: putting a friends DAC to shame  

He has been quite adamant that his Denon 2900 CDP DAC will slaughter the Monica2, well, we shall see,

Chris