[TheChairGuy]

....and I must say I am 'wow'ed' by it (here in what is rapidly becoming known as Loanwolf's California Listening Room   )

First off, the details are really thought thru nicely - it's a near no-brainer operation insofar as adapting to DC battery power.  Vinnie sends you a short, concise paragraph of instruction for it's use...along with tracking number when sent.

When you receive - it's noticably chunkier than stock.  Mostly it's the SLA battery weight...but part of it is larger than stock caps and damping applied to top of the case, too.  

Not lost on my is the nice details of Vinnie's work - he made sure the speaker connectors on the back of the unit are lined up north/south.  It doesn't take but a few extra moments at the factory (or modder, in this case) to make sure they line up in same direction - but I have had many amps that did not.  If they are not north/south, or east/west in tandem, it makes connection on/off with speaker more of a chore.  It's not lost on me that he took time to do this (the 26 y.o punk got his act together, folks   )

The sound is wonderful - with many hours left to break in the Blackgates and Auricaps.  The vertical and horizontal spread of the music is sooo much better than stock...which came out a bit 'beamy' despite the best pre-school tweeks I could drum up (BPT conditioner, removed center channel, judicious use of ERS, Highwire Powerwrap on AC cord).  No matter what you do to the stock switching power, it just can't equal battery power.

Although I hear artifacts of the new parts breaking in, I hear all the potential that will come with it breaking in.  Better definition, near grainless presentation (almost like a significant upgrade in digital front end with less jitter, etc), more weight-ness to bass notes. I found the same, to a more limited extent, with the stock Sonic Impact unit when used with an SLA battery.

Very nice - looking forward to next 200+ hoursof break-in here.  

[mcgsxr]

Thanks for the post, it is of particular interest to me, to hear from someone with both a modded one, and one that is driven by decent power (ie balanced).

I would love, at some point, to hear one of these, vs the other heavily modded Teac I have, on the Felicia balanced power.

Let us know as it burns in!

[TheChairGuy]

Canucker mcgsxr,

Will do.

I'm just caretaker for the modded TEAC...it's really Chris/Loanwolf's; he bought Vinnie's modded unit that came back from RMAF recently  

[TheChairGuy]

One caveat on the modded TEAC is the large-ish 1v (1000 mA) charger.

It is so wide and tall that it takes up two outlets....keep in mind if you are using and already overcrowded outlet strip with this amp.

Of course, this was a trade-off that Vinnie had to make on the unit...the use of two larger SLA batteries versus the Clari-T meant that charging would have taken unacceptably long with the 500ma charger supplied with that unit.

Not nitpicking, just noticing  

On the definitive PLUS side of the ledger - I've not heard large scale orchestral replayed with this much pleasure - and piano notes seem more like live than I can remember hearing previously with any other amp driving things.

[Vinnie R.]

It's not lost on me that he took time to do this (the 26 y.o punk got his act together, folks  )
...

Hi ChairGuy,

I am very pleased that Lonewolf's Teac arrived safely, and am most pleased to read that you are enjoying it and can immediately hear the improvements over the stock unit!     I promise you that after the Auricaps and Black Gates burn-in, it is going to get even better.  

Although I hear artifacts of the new parts breaking in, I hear all the potential that will come with it breaking in. Better definition, near grainless presentation (almost like a significant upgrade in digital front end with less jitter, etc), more weight-ness to bass notes.

IMO, the reduction in grain in the top end and the improved bass weight and control are the biggest improvements brought about with these mods.  As I stated above, I am glad this is immediately noticeable.

I really appreciate LonewolfNY42's kindness in letting you try the RWA Teac, burn it in, and compare it to the stock unit, and I really appreciate you doing this and keeping us  posted with your findings.  

Now get back to listening!  

[TheChairGuy]

Hey Vincenzo,

I've had a few Blackgated items in my posession for break-in....I'm pretty well prepared for the out-of-phase and slightly annoying sounds that it makes until the end of it.  Downright irritating until 300 hours or so I've found in the past.

The fact that it is actually NOT irritating to the point of distraction, and a bit better than a fully run-in stock TEAC with only maybe 25 hours on it (as noted above with my layman tweeks) bodes quite well for the future of this baby.

You do nice work, Signore Rossi  

[lonewolfny42]

Have fun John ....its an excellent amp with Vinnie's mods !!!

Vinnie, thanks again for handling everything...nice job !!! [/list:u]
Chris[/list:u]

[beatdownvictim]

Hello John, i tried to call you yesterday night (around 10'ish) to try to ask you something.  You didn't answer, mang!

Anyway, i'm having a package sent to me with vinnie rossi PS modifications and stereo board modifications.  I was wonder if you'd like to try this amp out with the 2 others you've got.  I figure, might as well have a RWA party at your place.  Get back to me about this :p  It should be arriving in about a week, i'll just send it back down to you asap, so we can have an evaluation.  Thanks john.  

Regards,
Carson, your resident BDV

[TheChairGuy]

BDV Carson,

I'd love to - but the Inn at ChairGuy has little vacancy.  I'm breaking in WolfyChris' SLA-modded TEAC...and I just got back into vinyl and a TT and Nitty Gritty LP cleaner are arriving shortly.  Of course, the TT will need tweeking before we begin the road back to vinyl, too.

That, and (unrelated, but clutter nonetheless) new Sport shock/strut/springs for my 'Helga' (SAAB 9-3).

And, there may be another piece of equipment landing here in a week or so - late breaking news on PM tonite.

Sorry I wasn't around - you should leave a message - I can get back immediately to ya'.  It's only 2.9 cents per minute for me to call youz' Canucks from here.

  John

[TheChairGuy]

Carson,

I'm near asleep at 10PM, also...I'm up at 6:30AM Pacific Time most days for business. A lot of my biz is East Caost based, so I start fairly early.

So, that's why I didn't hear the call - I was entering coma state then...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[beatdownvictim]

awwwwww man, you sellout! (referring to the fact that you deal with the east-coasters......... *shiver*)  

no room for the teac  on the other hand i just got a set of eichmann eXpress 6 series 1 speaker cables (without the bayonets, damn it) and i haven't time to try em out yet.  

btw how's the battery modded teac? i wanna hear about this thing!

[TheChairGuy]

It's sounding good.

Just to change things, I toted out my closet'ed Lineaum Tower speakers (what an oxymoron, they are only about 30" tall at the outboard tweeters!).  They do, however, sound a lot bigger than they are due to the cavernously wide angle 360 degree tweeter.  It's like some of the Radio Shack/Optimus models that featured this tweeter - but it has a better crossover parts, a damped/padded tweeter and what looks to be thicker hook-up wire within.

They might be a better match than the Maggies for the TEAC.  Tho a mighty 30 watter, I got the feeling they weren't being driven to maximum fullness with the TEAC - even at low listening levels. The Linaeum's are probably a 6 ohm load (polypropelene Peerless woofer) and a bit more efficient.

Can't be sure - so much yet to come with Blackgates and Auricaps breaking in here on it.