hi Chris
I would have to say the Signature 30 is an entirely different species than the Teac et al...whereas perhaps one could identify the T sonic, here, there is nothing, just music, subtract XO, subtract cabinetry, add mondo driver control of the B200, there is absolutely nothing to report but ...music. Not hi fi, not, "I can hear this, the midrange is that," just music. Just the facts. It optimizes the B200 from a physical standpoint. It exhibits very, verrrrry similar liquidity to the best of triodes, uncanny in fact, because I have been swapping back and forth with a Korneff 45, which is pretty much one of those, and does not sound solid state, not "identifiably" tube, or "tube-ish," as some in the past have suggested, but just music. Definitely not tube, because I have learned to hear the 2- harmonics in the 500-1500Hz range, pretty obvious to many, but more odd order, if I would have to say, ie, solid state, but waaaay liquid, and weirdly absent of anything, but the music. If the black box affair of the Tripath chip contained some sort of 2- harmonic generator like some of the software based mic preamps and mixdown stuff, the Sig 30, except for the dimensional cues of SET, would sound pretty much like a well implemented SET. Neat trick Vinnie. It sounds better sans tube pre amp. With the Jensen caps, I would say a tube pre amp is just abit much, best just on its own merits, no need to complicate things. SImple NON OS DAC and Signature 30 here, Listening to Pat Metheny Group's 'Letter From Home' --what a great album, huh? it is all right there spread out like a sonic smorgasbord, really easy to discern and listen to. Ordinarily I always found Lyle Mays tracks too far back in the mix, but not today. No glare, no this, no that, just music. No sense of listening to a stereo system either. If it sounds this good with totally green T chip and big PIO caps, down the road a couple months it is going to be a very serious contender, and something pretty hard to ignore, methinks.
