T-amp as the main amplifier. Is it worth it?

audiophile_ltu · « **on:** 23 Jun 2005, 12:26 am »

Hello. I'm a new member of this forum, and I found that many people in here loves Sonic Impact T-Amp. All the forums in the net have mostly perfect opinion about this amp. Many time I was thinking about buying some tube amplifier, but tube amps are very expensive, and I'm just a university student in Lithuania, so I can't spend a lot of money for this kind of unit. So I'm thinking about the T-amp. Is it worth to use it as the main amplifier in a cheap audio system, if I mostly listen to some Jazz, Classics, soft Rock, for example Mike Stern, Marcus Miller, Pink Floyd, and sometimes some electronics as Yello or Jean Michael Jarre? I don't listen to music very loud. And my other system components at this time are:

Old Marantz CD36 CD player (modded analog stage a bit)
PC - Creative SB Live! Platinum > Foobar @ 48 kHz resampling (for .APE, .WAV, FLAC)
Some cheap, but very well made Sunshine OFC interconnects
Jamo e350 speakers (8 ohm, 92dB).

I know that it is hard to tell if it would work well with my system, but maybe someone of You tried coupling this amp with some budget speakers and old CD players? Could I still hear the "goodness" of this amp? Thank You for Your opinions, and I'm sorry for my bad English.

ss397 · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Jun 2005, 12:57 am »

i use mine with a sony walkman and some jbl n24 speakers, primarily as a portable system. it sounds very good, but is lacking in low bass. it will reach a good volume for a small room, and my speakers are less efficient than yours. if you can diy, you may want to look at this

http://www.41hz.com/
their amp 3 puts out 25 w/ch and is purported to sound better than the si unit, you can build it for about $50.00 with nice parts and a sla battery. i am going to get one soon for myself. that all being said the si does an outstanding jod for $30.00 and i have been a very happy owner. mine has been to the beach, on a boat, and taken to st. martin for vacation. it keeps me in tunes when painting the house, working in the garage, etc.

albee · « **Reply #2 on:** 24 Jun 2005, 02:01 am »

For 20 to 30 bucks what can you loose? You could do a search on this forum and read for days if you want. It's easier just to buy one and experiment.

For $20 it has high entertainment factor and offers a somewhat unique sound that you may grow to like (or not). The modified versions (search and read for a week) offer serious entertainment. The SI is just a taste, an appetizer. Go for it and always remember getting a seal lead acid battery for power is the easiest, non-invaisive upgrade.

maxwalrath · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Jun 2005, 02:15 am »

Absolutely go for it. It excels in some areas that $1000 amps don't get down right. Of course, more expensive amps do other things better, but for $30 one can't really complain. It changed my outlook on amplification.,

audiophile_ltu · « **Reply #4 on:** 24 Jun 2005, 11:03 am »

I'm asking it because it is very hard to get the T-Amp delivered to my country. It would cost for me about $90 including delivery, and I'm going to make a high quality power supply for it (about 30$, if I'll go DIY) to get the best from this little amp, so it would cost about 120$. At this price I can buy something similar to Nad 3130, or other used amplifier, but I'm not sure if the T-Amp could "outperform" these old units in terms of quality... The main factor in my requirements is that I want to get the amplifier which would be closer to tube sound than the ordinary transistor sound. I want a bit softer sound.

Dmason · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 Jun 2005, 01:16 pm »

Audiophile

For the cost of shipping, you should seriously consider getting the 41Hz kit which will come to you from Finland just across the Baltic, and spend the money on a technician or fellow student with good experience, in assembling the kit. This will give you an amp that completely eclipses the abilities of the Sonic Impact, which gives you a "taste" of better things. The 41 amp 3 on the other hand would be the real deal. A well thought out kit originally designed by and for musicians, which needs to be built, and far worthier of your power supply efforts, and, has a little bit more power. Doing this might actually save money, if you reach the right deal on assembly, someone with skill in soldering and testing surface mounted devices.

The T amp, properly done, will be MUCH smoother, softer, far higher sonic quality than anything NAD has ever done with transistors, and although sounding like neither solid state nor tubes, most would agree sounds waaaaaaay more like tubes than solid state. That impression is one that several thousand people could promise you.