Olive Musica and Clari-T system

rrgordon2006 · « **on:** 24 Mar 2006, 06:36 am »

Hi everyone. I've read many posts here, particularly back when I was researching the Clari-T amp for my system in January. Now that I have had the Clari-T for about a month, I wanted to payback and share my results.

I hope this doesn't come at a bad time and steal thunder from Vinnie's new Signature amp. But if it competes with the Clari-T watch out folks.

So, my experience with amps goes back over 15 years. Yes, I've had more amps tube and SS than I care to remember. I had 3 terrific tube amps that I carefully acquired over the years and regarded as keepers--until the airborne RFI in our vicinity just got too much to bear any longer.

That's when I started researching other solutions and hit upon this little battery power supply amp which weighs about two pounds. My only other battery pack amp used 50 lbs of sealed batteries (that was the N.E.W. DCA-33, a respected design), so I was intrigued with this new Tripath chip amp from the beginning. Now that l've owned the Clari-T for about a month, I am continually amazed how well it plays with my 94 db Sens. Danish speakers (Dantax Albatross 2).

In fact, and I've read this from other owners of these little amps, I no longer miss my beautiful SET amps (300B, 2A3, and 6C33 based amps) though magical they are. In fact, the whole way I listen to music has changed this year more than any other time I can recall (except maybe my first really good system--nothing like the first time). The core pieces are the music server (Olive Musica) which is one helluva musical bit reader, the Clari-T amp for its low-level detail and musicality, and of course my speakers (insert your own favorite).

With just those two pieces of gear, I can tweak the sound with just the right cabling. And here is the thing, every change I make to a cable (power cord, IC, or speaker cable) is revealed by the Clari-T. I know everyone here recognizes how great the little amp is, but I just wanted to confirm it is not hype, wishful thinking, or only on blue moons-perfect. In short, the amp has completed my quest for a quiet system (immune to RFI) and the utmost musicality.

Thanks to Vinnie for customizing the gain of the amp to match my Musica and for getting my amp in my hands as promised. RWA gets my highest recommendation. Given time, I'll probably post a formal review on AA or the 'Gon site.

Good listening folks.

JLM · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 01:59 pm »

I realize that the Olive stuff makes a lot of sense after living with a Squeeze Box only source system for 3 months. With the Olive you don't need a PC or network to make them work, but it still provides lots of connectivity, and they play CDs directly.

In my system I've found it a hassle to listen to my dusty CDs (those I only listen to rarely) as I have to rip them first and either wade through 100's of albums on my browse list or spend more time to organize. I could fit my favorite audiophile recordings on a small hard drive (like the Olive) using FLAC and listen to the bulk of my collection via the CD player feature.

As it is with the SB, I'd need to add a CDP and pre-amp to get the same functionality.

Levi · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 04:47 pm »

Yeah. I like the sound of the Olive Musica versus the cheesy squeeze box. Olive is more versatile and it also looks better.

No need to upgrade it as it will not replace Red Book CD anyway.

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 07:30 pm »

Quote from: rrgordon2006

Hi everyone. I've read many posts here, particularly back when I was researching the Clari-T amp for my system in January. Now that I have had the Clari-T for about a month, I wanted to payback and share my results.

I hope this doesn't come at a bad time and steal thunder from Vinnie's new Signature amp. But if it competes with the Clari-T watch out folks.

So, my experience with amps goes back over 15 years. Yes, I've had more amps tube and SS than I care to remember. I had 3 terrific tube amps that I ...

Welcome to the club!

Thanks for sharing with us your wonderful experience with the Clari-T amp. It's also a pleasure to know that you owned the N.E.W. DCA-33, one of my dream amps in the early 1990s.

I would not worry about stealing thunder from the new Signature 30 by raving about the Clari-T. Its 6w - 10w pure power will continue to provide clean amplification and pure musicality to folks who own higher than 90db speakers, smaller rooms, medium listening level, or any combination of the above.

On the other hand, the new Signature 30, I dare to speculate, will provide more juice to speakers with lower than 90db, larger rooms, longer hours and louder volume listening.

While I've been quite happy with my two SB2s (both RWA fully modded), you got me curious about the Olive Musica and Opus. What's their pricing and how to audition/order them?

Thanks and happy listening!

Gordy · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Mar 2006, 10:58 pm »

Vinnie was the first to bring the Olive systems to my attention in an earlier thread. I don't know if they have a trial period, but here's a link to the on-line store.... http://www.olive.us/p_bin/?cid=02_shop

Rocket · « **Reply #5 on:** 26 Mar 2006, 01:38 am »

Hi,

I think vinnie's design concept using the tripath module with batteries is excellent as it doesn't require large batteries.

Quote

Thanks for sharing with us your wonderful experience with the Clari-T amp. It's also a pleasure to know that you owned the N.E.W. DCA-33, one of my deam amps in the early 1990s.

I had an n.e.w. 20.1 (i wish i had never sold it) and an n.e.w. dc-66 the big brother of the dc-33. It had huge batteries due to the class a design of the amplifier. I had nothing but trouble with that amp and it is currently in pieces and hasn't been used for 4 years.

Vinnie's 30 watt design is of interest to me. Does anyone know how much it is going to cost?

Regards

Rod

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #6 on:** 26 Mar 2006, 08:11 am »

Thanks Gordy for the link. At the price of $1,099 the Olive Musica no doubts will sell more than the Opus ($2,999).

MrCool78 · « **Reply #7 on:** 26 Mar 2006, 02:30 pm »

I'm just wondering, it seems a good product from its design and look.
What about for playing red book CD , is the sound quality good?
is it possible for that gear to be upgraded by RWA and use outboard DAC to get the best sound out of that component ? just my though

Cheers

Levi · « **Reply #8 on:** 26 Mar 2006, 03:03 pm »

The sound quality is amazingly good. A friend of mine have the Olive Musica and it fell short in transparency and staging if you compared it to a dedicated Red Book CD player. An outboard DAC would probably the ultimate solution if you rip the music into it's HDD. No mods required.

On the other hand, It's most expensive brother (Opus) was the hit of the most recent CES show. Go figure. The Opus may also probably be fairly close to the Red Book CD play back rather than the Musica.

The Olive Musica betters the Squeez Box all across the board.

Any good reasoning for going with SB?

Quote from: MrCool78

I'm just wondering, it seems a good product from its design and look.
What about for playing red book CD , is the sound quality good?
is it possible for that gear to be upgraded by RWA and use outboard DAC to get the best sound out of that component ? just my though

Cheers

Gordy · « **Reply #9 on:** 26 Mar 2006, 03:29 pm »

Hi MrCool

Here's a thread from December that may answer some of your questions... and Vinnie adds some early thoughts on parts quality etc.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=24002&highlight=olive+musica

randytsuch · « **Reply #10 on:** 26 Mar 2006, 05:27 pm »

Quote from: Levi

The sound quality is amazingly good. A friend of mine have the Olive Musica and it fell short in transparency and staging if you compared it to a dedicated Red Book CD player. An outboard DAC would probably the ultimate solution if you rip the music into it's HDD. No mods required.

On the other hand, It's most expensive brother (Opus) was the hit of the most recent CES show. Go figure. The Opus may also probably be fairly close to the Red Book CD play back rather than the Musica.

The Olive Musica betters the Squeez Box all across the board.

Any good reasoning for going with SB?

Other than cost? You are comparing a $300 device to a $1100 device. The SB does not a PC, but how many people don't already have one these days?

I must admit that ripping you whole CD collection is a pain, but once you do it (I am still working on it), than it is really easy to listen to anything you want. Using my laptop for a "remote" solves the problem of having to scroll through a bunch of CD's on the SB.

One other thing about the Olive stuff that I saw at the Slimdevices forum. There is no easy way to add storage to it, if you want more storage (HD) space, you need to buy an overpriced solution from Olive, you can't just hang on a USB HD on it.

Randy

Levi · « **Reply #11 on:** 27 Mar 2006, 03:58 am »

Enjoy your SB. Get it modified by Vinnie for an additional $600 or $1200 for the powersupply. If you like the way SB sounds straight from the box then hey $300 is a no brainer.

Quote from: randytsuch

Other than cost? You are comparing a $300 device to a $1100 device. The SB does not a PC, but how many people don't already have one these days?

I must admit that ripping you whole CD collection is a pain, but once you do it (I am still working on it), than it is really easy to listen to anything you want. Using my laptop for a "remote" solves the problem of having to scroll through a bunch of CD's on the SB.

One other thing about the Olive stuff that I saw at the Slimdevices forum. There is no ea ...

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #12 on:** 27 Mar 2006, 04:09 am »

Yep, add another $500 for RWA mods and you'll get a higher than most Red Book CDP performance. Plus, the HD upgrade path is there.

rrgordon2006 · « **Reply #13 on:** 27 Mar 2006, 05:43 pm »

Quote from: Levi

The sound quality is amazingly good. A friend of mine have the Olive Musica and it fell short in transparency and staging if you compared it to a dedicated Red Book CD player. An outboard DAC would probably the ultimate solution if you rip the music into it's HDD. No mods required.

Levi, this mirrors my experience with the Musica, but you must tell your friend to replace the cheap powercord on the Musica to reach it's full potential. I tried several cords after fitting a 2-pin to IEC adapter on the Musica and found it to be very sensitive to cabling. I settled on a Nirvana Analog powercord over my JPS Labs Digital (go figure). The sound is now as good or better than a Cary 308 CD player that I've owned. I will never go back to spinning CDs, with sound this good.

Here is a link to the type of adapter you would want to get:
http://www.amusicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=AICECUBE

I bought one for much less but the ICECUBE appears to be the best available.

Also, I would love to hear what Vinnie could do with these boxes. If battery PS is possible, it could be huge gain judging from how the Musica responds to powercords.

Another factor to consider is the analog output of the Musica. I tried to like it straight into the Clari-T but ultimately was more satisfied with my preamp in the mix.

Levi · « **Reply #14 on:** 27 Mar 2006, 06:34 pm »

Excellent! Thanks, I will forward this. Do you use an outboard dac?

Quote from: rrgordon2006

Levi, this mirrors my experience with the Musica, but you must tell your friend to replace the cheap powercord on the Musica to reach it's full potential. I tried several cords after fitting a 2-pin to IEC adapter on the Musica and found it to be very sensitive to cabling. I settled on a Nirvana Analog powercord over my JPS Labs Digital (go figure). The sound is now as good or better than a Cary 308 CD player that I've owned. I will never go back to spinning CDs, with sound this good.

Here is a link to t ...

rrgordon2006 · « **Reply #15 on:** 27 Mar 2006, 07:06 pm »

Quote from: Levi

... Do you use an outboard dac?

Thanks for asking Levi. The short answer is "no". On principle I felt there is no reason a well-designed MS should require an outboard DAC. Then, practically, inserting a DAC only adds more variables (extra cable and powercord, more conditioning, etc, etc). I like to keep things simple. Had I already owned a separate DAC, I might have considered the modded SB3 as many here have chosen. It is a legitimate choice, but I also prefer not to run my PC or a NAS 24/7. The Musica is truly a one-box solution, quiet, simple, well thought out.

Now for the long answer

checkout my system on A'gon, where I have been active since 2000:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vdone&1142491523&view

The real star of my system, as you will see, is actually the Clari-T. Major breakthroughs with the RWA amp where I live.

After trying out a few aftermarket powercords on that friend's Musica, I would love to hear his reaction.

Levi · « **Reply #16 on:** 27 Mar 2006, 08:16 pm »

Nice looking system!

Thanks again.

Quote from: rrgordon2006

Thanks for asking Levi. The short answer is "no". On principle I felt there is no reason a well-designed MS should require an outboard DAC. Then, practically, inserting a DAC only adds more variables (extra cable and powercord, more conditioning, etc, etc). I like to keep things simple. Had I already owned a separate DAC, I might have considered the modded SB3 as many here have chosen. It is a legitimate choice, but I also prefer not to run my PC or a NAS 24/7. The Musica is truly a one-box solution, quiet, ...

rrgordon2006 · « **Reply #17 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 05:37 am »

Here's the review I just wrote after living and listening with the Clari-T for one month.

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/amp/messages/91971.html

Don't hesitate to jump in and add your impressions.

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #18 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 02:13 pm »

Quote from: rrgordon2006

I hope this doesn't come at a bad time and steal thunder from Vinnie's new Signature amp. But if it competes with the Clari-T watch out folks.

...

Hi rrgordon2006,

Welcome to Audiocircle! Thanks so much for posting your impressions here and on AA, and no worries about not stealing thunder from the upcoming Signature 30 in any way. I'm glad you hear that you are enjoying it!

Hope to read more posts from you here in the future...

Best regards,

Vinnie

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #19 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 02:16 pm »

Quote from: Paul_Bui

I would not worry about stealing thunder from the new Signature 30 by raving about the Clari-T. Its 6w - 10w pure power will continue to provide clean amplification and pure musicality to folks who own higher than 90db speakers, smaller rooms, medium listening level, or any combination of the above.

On the other hand, the new Signature 30, I dare to speculate, will provide more juice to speakers with lower than 90db, larger rooms, longer hours and louder volume listening.

While I've been quite happy with my two SB2s (both RWA fully modded), you got me curious about the Olive Musica and Opus. What's their pricing and how to audition/order them?

Thanks and happy listening!
...

Hi Paul,

You are correct about the Clari-T vs. Signature 30.

Regarding the Olive products pricing, they can be found on www.olive.us

I believe that if you order from them, you have a trial period to see if you like it.

Best,

Vinnie