[watersb]

Got mine today!

• Macintosh Mini
  
• http://www.newertech.com/ministack">Newer Tech Mini Stack
  
• http://www.edirol.com/products/info/archive/ua5.html">Edirol UA-5 external USB DAC
  
• http://www.redwineaudio.com/Teac_AL700P_mods.html">Red Wine modded Teac
  
• http://www.magnepan.com/_mg16.php">Magnepan 1.6 speakers
  

Initially it sounded broken -- I had plugged the USB DAC into the mini stack's USB hub. Don't do this! Connecting the DAC directly to the Mac mini cleared up that problem (not before a panic-email to Vinnie.. which he promptly replied to, thanks!)

We have far more bass and midrange than the stock T-Amp we've been living with. My wife says "It sounds very good. Congratulations!"

She also says, "Lemme get this straight: you plug it in when you turn it off." She is used to rather esoteric rigs. She's tough.

The kids like to watch DVDs. If it just works, they are happy. I can testify that "Dora the Explorer" sounds better...

... and it looks outrageously cool: everything is silver with a little blue light on the front.

It's been running at moderate sound levels for three hours now, and there is no appreciable heat generated in the cabinet that we've got everything in. This is a vast improvement over the previous rig, which sounded sweet but put out at least 25 Watts of heat just sitting there.

[Vinnie R.]

She also says, "Lemme get this straight: you plug it in when you turn it off."

Hi Boyd,

Thanks for posting your intial impressions.  

FYI, you can always leave the charger plugged into the wall outlet AND into the Teac.  When the switch on the Teac is UP, the amp is ON and only running off of the battery.  When the switch is DOWN, the amp is OFF and the batteries are charging.  The charger is automatic, so when the batteries are charged, it will float charge them and you can leave it plugged in indefinitely... It's as simple as ON/Charge  

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

Enjoy, and do post back once you put the hours on the unit!

[TheChairGuy]

nahhhhhhh, you weren't running the Magnepan 1.6's with a Clari-T reasonably successfully, were you?

I've been assured by a couple folks that the TEAC will drive my MMG's just dandy......so I picked one up recently.  Should be here in a few days -and if THOSE 30 watts are as grande as all are saying; methinks Vinnie will be getting a call for a dose of generously applied DC power.

[Dmason]

They are indeed Grand Watts. The Vino-Teac I have can drive the daylights out of The World's Most Boring Speaker, Dynaudio Contour MkII, no problemo, and those usually are hooked up to a 350 wpc Belles amp, a very sweet combination by the way. Made the Dyns far less boring.

I have no trouble believing the Teac will work fine with Maggie 1.6, even better by far, with the MMG., the most underrated Magnepan.

[TheChairGuy]

My Dynaco PAS-4 preamp is awaiting it's arrival any day now (replete with Herbie's tube dampers).

As you know, good Doctor, I'm traditionally no fan of tubes in the audio repro chain....but too many (yourself among them) have glowed about the combo of digi amps and tubes.

I hope the BPT conditioner will clean the switching power supply in the TEAC enough to get a glimpse Vinnie-modded DC-improved possibilities.

I'm really looking forward to the experience of hearing this one.

[Dmason]

I will agree so far as the "no longer needed," angle on tubes, BUT, I was completely stunned by what full size duals, Octals, like 6sn7, good ones, did to the batTery sound. All this baby triode stuff, non-essential in the extreme, IMHO, but the Dynaco might just be the coconut milk in the curry, if my experience is any indication. I am thinking seriously about a good, minimal (summed) Octal input stage for my BatTery stuff.

[lonewolfny42]

TCG :

I've been assured by a couple folks that the TEAC will drive my MMG's just dandy......so I picked one up recently. Should be here in a few days -and if THOSE 30 watts are as grande as all are saying; methinks Vinnie will be getting a call for a dose of generously applied DC power.

[/list:u]

John, [/list:u]The stock Teac, with its 30 watts, should be able to power your MMG's....Vinnie's mod will sound better (I've heard it). Been using the stock Teac here...have it powering my

Mirage M3 speakers....85db...with the Bent preamp.

Now I know you like your JVC, but to my ears the stock Teac is much better sounding. And once modded...its even better....much, much better. I'll be sending mine in soon for the mod's. Happy listening !! [/list:u]
Chris[/list:u]
watersb....Keep us posted as time goes by....enjoy !!!! [/list:u]

[-Richard-]

Hi Dan,

I have heard about the 6ns7's...apparently there are several
respected tube designers that feel they have extraordinary
qualities for music reproduction...it is a Russian Military tube
is it not?...and I believe Lamm uses them for some of their
very expensive highly touted tube gear...

Dynaco is a brand that is no longer in operation if I remember
correctly...are you speaking generically here...or in fact is there
a Dynaco preamplifier that you actually used in conjunction with
your upgraded Clari-T that has you so excited?

I am very interested in the potential that you are pointing to...
perhaps you have discovered yet another synergy here that
takes the audio flight into a higher level of the atmospheric ethers...

I am still using the B200 in an OB design and enjoying them better
than any speaker I have ever listened to before...
lightning fast...rich musical timbres...real warmth and aliveness...

Please tell us more if you have the time about the 6ns7's and what
kind of tube design you are working with...

It is always wonderful to follow your audio thinking as it moves
through its various incarnations...

Warm regards -Richard-

[Dmason]

Richard

The Dynaco I was referring to was the vintage pre amp John The Ass-Tray Auteur is expecting to arrive soon. My first tube amp was a DynaKit, which had come from Lafayette Catalogue. It was a very fine machine.

The Octal tubes do posess an undeniable magic about them. There is a warm, clear, yet phat sound to them, and I think they are unbelievably musical sounding with batTery T amps like the Vinnie Teac, so much so that I am strongly considering one of the following if I cannot find a simple circuit to have replicated.

www.eddiecurrent.com   this is the favorite, and is foremost a headamp.
www.mapletreeaudio.com  Dr Peppard's Line 2A is well respected
www.singlepower.com best of the lot, the PPX is a dedicated 6sn7 with a power supply that would put most amplifiers to shame. I plan on deciding on one of these soon, methinks. Magic? Absolutely.

[-Richard-]

Hi Dan,

Once again your impeccable research skills which have the uncanny
feel of a gift directly from the muses themselves has turned up a
rich field to mine for those willing to be as fluid and creative as you
are...

I for one plan on carefully reading the web sites you were kind enough
to share with us...I deeply appreciate it...as I appreciate all of your
archeological ruminations into the labyrinths of audio's interior world...
which without your intelligence and insights to help guide us look like
canyons of fog...

My excitement level has shifted into yet another gear...thanks to your
vigorous penetrations into the potential refinements of synergy...

Bravo yet again, Dan...please keep us informed as your experiences
and insights unfold...

You have a remarkable way of putting things together to yield pure magic...
the very components and speakers themselves seem to obey your inner
commands...

Warm regards -Richard-

[-Richard-]

Hi Dan,

Oh yes...as a young man I poured over the Lafayette catalogues...

I cannot describe adequately how much satisfaction that gave me...

I also visited their store often in New York City...always a lovely visit
to audio land...

Warm regards -Richard-

[miklorsmith]

If I hear one more condescending "baby triodes". . .

[srayle]

Did I miss something in this thread?  Doc Mason, are you considering an octal-based headphone amplifier to use as a pre-amp for the Teac?

[Dmason]

Srayle

I heard the T with a Singlepower head amp which was wired over for voltage (line) output, and I couldnt believe my ears. Like honey in tea, use any gustatory analogy you like, it made sonic sense, if there is such a thing. While mini-me triodes add "sparkle" and "dimension," and several other descriptives this DIY/music lover doesnt quite understand, the Octals add the sound of the Octal tube, they add meat, and this sound I understood very well. Like the difference between a Hammond organ run straight thru a speaker, and run through a Leslie speaker. Twas verrrrry nice, especially with the NON-OS Monica DAC that MiklorSmith likes so much with his ....12__7 based miniature triode pre amp. Before I commit to a smaller unit like the Singlepower, I plan on getting a deHavilland Verve to see how far they have taken the 6sn7 sound. They come up often on Audio-gone.

Richard

If you still have Albert's 6922/6sl7 tube pre amp, that should run on 6sn7 Octals.

[watersb]

nahhhhhhh, you weren't running the Magnepan 1.6's with a Clari-T reasonably successfully, were you?

Believe it or not... I have photos of a tiny piece-o-plastic amplifier hooked up to those Maggie 1.6's!

The stereo gets at least half its duty cycle from DVD video viewing; my toddler kids watch cartoons. This is by no means an audiophile application, but we are able to get reasonable sound levels out of the T-Amp. I found a 13-Volt DC wall wart in the garage that came with my first-generation Motorola CDMA cell phone... the phone isn't worth anything, but that power supply is worth about $15 - $25...

Anyhow the Maggies are 86 dB/Watt at 4 Ohms. Yeah, with a ~ 6 Watt amp I got to hear what distortion was all about     and I lost at least an octave of bass. But we put the kids to sleep with the "O Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack, and by golly that little T-Amp sounded fantastic.

The new Teac, not broken in yet, sounds insanely great. Listen to Björk's "Hyperballad", and the bass will shake the house!

Again, there is almost no waste heat coming off of the amplifier, which means all my components run cooler. I fried my previous "entry-level-audiophile" amp, an Arcam Diva A65+. What it cost to fix it is about halfway to what Vinnie's Teac cost to acquire.

And the Vinnie-Teac sounds better. Now that's cool.

[-Richard-]

Hi Dan,\

Yes...I still have Albert's little preamp...

Didn't know that it could take the 6ns7's...

It is my understanding that you are using Vinnie's moded Teac...
which everyone who hears it raves about...

I therefore assume that yours has the simple attenuator like
Srayle's does (that apparently performs like a passive preamp)...
if that is true do you simply bypass that function
while using the headphone preamp (or Albert's)?...

Also, what exactly is different about a "Singlepower" head amp
as it compares to a "normal" preamp...and what does it actually
mean when you say "wired for voltage"...?

OK...I need to purchase a Teac and let Vinnie mod it to see what
you are hearing...

Please share your experiences with us as they unfold...
I deeply appreciate it.

Warm  regards -Richard-

[srayle]

I found Vinnie's modded Teac to sound great on it's own, but once I placed a tube pre-amp in front of it, I liked it a whole lot better...just sounded more refined to my ears. Now, I am curious to hear what it sounds like with an octal pre-amp...and know nothing about them except for the comments here and the links provided...I think the Vinnie Teac and a little 'phat' tube sound thrown in would be absolutely unbelievable.
I have the same questions as Richard about how one actually modifies a headphone amp to use as a pre-amplifier.

[Dmason]

Richard

I would think the Albert amp which can hang with serious company according to the reviews, might just be a good thing to still have, if you plan on the Teac. The Vino Teac is one serious little fellow, and I can say to you all that although it sounds very ~okay upon arrival, it is only after about two months of regular play that you really start to hear it open up. The thing takes 4 Ever to break in, but once there it has "it" in spades. It behaves like a muscle amp in the lower register, insane levels of driver control, the highs are not in the same league as the ClariT IMHO, but very, very close, and perhaps months from now they will be the same, hoo knows. All I know is that when we tried the Monica+Singlepower+ClariT+B200 in the DarkStars, we were into sound like you cannot get off the shelf. It was the best I have ever heard I think, and I have been pigging out on good sound for a looooooong time now...

You can also take your Wright tube amp to the tube TV guy in Ventura and he can run pre amp out lines, post volume attenuator, so you can use the pre amp section of the Wright, the amp that most meets your musically transcendent needs these days, as I recall.

Srayle,

The reason the Singlepower is a great choice is because it is beautifully made with a minimalist Less=More philosophy, with the Octal tube's ----->SOUND center stage, and with a BIG power supply. It is not intended to add "sparkle," or "dimension," or tube "thereness," or dare I say cost, it is intended to add the sound of the 6sn7 Octal tube specifically. It is the best damn electric component I have come across in awhile. Both Mikhail of Singlepower and Dr Peppard of Mapletree have well founded opinions on the matter of the Octals. They are the experts. I am only sharing abit about what I heard through speakers I designed and built.

[Brad]

What is the pricing on the SinglePower?

It looks like the SE version of Dr. Lloyd's preamp would be a good, relatively inexpensive way to get into 6sn7 sound.

[-Richard-]

Hi Dan,

Quite right as always...the old Wright Audio integrated SE Pentode
(company defunct as of 9 years ago) is still sounding like a 30k dollar amp...
in combination with the B200's naked in simple leaned back birch ply-wood
panels they sound so rich, palpable and fast that Deb still looks at me in
astonishment everyday...

Today sounded even better...problems with the A circuit had me switch
to the B circuit and the thing sounds even better than before...electrostatic
speed...transparent sounding as Quads...

Recently I tried Albert's pre with Nuforce digital amps...not a very synergistic
combination...scarry how much noise was generated...the Nuforce was particularly
poor at music reproduction...sounding like shabby solid state...the worst part is if
you remove speaker cables while it is turned on...the amp begins to implode...
no joke...I caught it before it blew up...something weird in the circuitry...one less
digital product for Vinnie to have to be concerned with...so that made me wonder
if it was just a poor combination...or is my used Albert pre seriously flawed?
The passive Luminous Audio pre worked fine...

I checked out the sights you recommended...very interesting...the SinglePower
site does not give prices without a phone call...fears of sticker shock?

However Srajan (I wonder what his German name sounds like?) writes his usual
convoluted prose spiralling all over the sound of the thing and praises it to the hilt...
and I do like Single's web site...and the design of their products...nice philosophy
as well...

It seems the Octal tube's are known for their really big sound just as you clearly
suggested...and Single designs their amps around a really beefed up power supply,
again as your experience verifies...

Is there really a tube television tech in Ventura? Wouldn't it be fun to take our tube
gear that needs repairs or upgrades with us in a time machine back to the early
1950's...every tech knew how to work on these things then...

Did Single do the work themselves to switch the PPX3 to voltage out in order for
your friend to use it to drive the Clari-T?

All of this is very very interesting...and may be what I am looking for as an alternative
to what I am currently listening to...I have a funny feeling this nine year old amp is
unstable...too many years in my cousins dank basement while I was teaching in India
and then traveling cross-country with Deb, living in a tent...

The deHavilland Verve also looks very convincing...

What is the comparison of the two...the SinglePower and the deHavilland...or is that
exactly what you intend to find out?

Please share your unfolding insights with us Dan. I am addicted to the excitement your
indefatigable explorations bring to the potential for audio bliss...always challenging
anyone whose thinking is entrenched...whose audio ideas are stuck in any one
paradigm and concretized...

Warm regards -Richard-