Signature 30 Has Landed

Dmason · « **on:** 11 Jun 2006, 02:01 pm »

hi folks

My new Red Wine Signature 30 arrived yesterday unscathed and happy from its no doubt traumatic journey from Meriden Ct, to Pacific Beach, Ca, I am thrilled to report.

The fit and finish is superb, the lettering and finish on the faceplate are understated, almost austere and business-like, a real gem of a piece, and it weighs a ton, a real little tank. Well, maybe almost 20 lbs., with those jumbo batteries inside. I hooked up the Monica DAC, along with my private stock Home Depot high fidelity lamp cord with "custom" tinned-ends (which happen to fit perfectly into the plug ends of the speaker terminals, tip tip) the other end connected to my "LiteStar" B2002 open baffle speakers, put some Julian Bream nylon guitar on, and with bated breath, pushed "Play." What happend next was some of the most startlingly transparent guitar, in the room, they are here, you are there, it is everywhere -- sound -- coming from ...everywhere. This was ten minutes ago, so my ears are just absorbing the proceedings at the moment, but I can say it sounds extreeeeemly good! Holographic, pure, music, nothing standing out, nothing hi fi about it. I will say that the impression of increased driver control was immediate.

This is some of the best dipole sound I have heard so far, and it interests me and is a source of pride for me, not only of Vinnie's efforts and our relationship, watching his evolving success, but of the fact that the power/transducer end of this rig is entirely hatched by Vinnie and myself, and not alot of people can say that. I, am just a tweaking DIY'r but Vinnie has clearly stepped up, well up, into the food chain. To say "I like," would be an understatement. My initial impressions completely transcend any expectations I may have had, yet I didnt think I had any. The Sig 30 sounds nothing like the ClariT in my mind, -at the moment at least. More to follow in the coming days. Congratulations, Vinnie.

kbuzz3 · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 Jun 2006, 12:24 am »

please keep us update. Ive had my eye on the sig for while

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 Jun 2006, 12:35 am »

Hey Dan,

Chris[/list:u]

Dmason · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 Jun 2006, 12:58 am »

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.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 Jun 2006, 01:06 am »

Ahhh....sounds nice Dan....enjoy !!!

Chris[/list:u]

Grover · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 Jun 2006, 02:45 am »

I've had my eye on the Signature 30 since Vinnie first talked about it. It's nice to hear your thoughts on it - Thanks!

I'm really hoping that Vinnie will put together an input selector box based on the DACT switch. That would be perfect for the Sig-30. I just do not like the idea of running the signal through two sets of attenuators. I guess another option would be to include the DACT selector switch into the Signature 30 chassis, and make it a true integrated amp solution. Maybe that will be in the future. I'm very excited!

My wife and I are remodeling our living room now, and I'm thinking a new Signature 30 as part of the A/V setup is such a good idea. I'm going to have to squirrel away some money.

kbuzz3 · « **Reply #6 on:** 12 Jun 2006, 02:09 pm »

Hoepfully the sig 30 will advent a real leap in this type of amplifier technology. I ran the flying moles for a while and they were nice but ultimately could not hold a candle to my tube monos.

Dusty at CIA has hinted at an integrated which entices....Also the guys at Vacuum state have JLT inegrated out.

I would love to purchase one of those units and maybe swap/loan with another ACer so we can determine if these newer digiat/swticghing/class D amps are in fact an advancement over the current crop....

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 Jun 2006, 02:51 pm »

Hi Dan,

Glad your Signature 30 arrived so quickly is and making sweet music (and with minimal break in to boot!

). After you puts the hours of use on it, expect to really be floored by it as it will really open up and do some really neat tricks with the B200 OBs. My Sig 30 + B200 OB combo is as good as I've ever heard in my system. The music is so alive, so addictive (that must be the "audio crack" you speak of

) and I find it very difficult to turn it off late a night after it hooks me in with literally the first track I play.

Thanks for posting your initial impressions. Please keep us posted as it breaks in.

Best regards,

Vinnie

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #8 on:** 12 Jun 2006, 02:53 pm »

Quote from: Grover

I'm really hoping that Vinnie will put together an input selector box based on the DACT switch. That would be perfect for the Sig-30. I just do not like the idea of running the signal through two sets of attenuators....

Hi Grover,

Yes...I can offer this custom. It would be something like the Puri-T passive preamp, but without the volume control....only the DACT input select switch.

The Signature 30 will not be offered with an input select switch.

Best regards,

Dmason · « **Reply #9 on:** 12 Jun 2006, 02:55 pm »

Day 2

I left a fully recharged Signature 30 to play quietly all the night, but before retiring for the evening, I sat and listened to Yellowjackets' "Green House' at low volume, now playing through my Value King status Axiom M40Ti, which are the floorstander version of the legendary M3Ti, with direct-coupled woofer which rolls off mechanically, and a cap and Mills resisistor on the insanely great Ti tweet, ... and noted bass response at low volume that never was available before, through those speakers with any other amp, such is the increased driver control, and ability to fully portray the material at less-than-optimal output levels for the 6.5 driver. So at this low volume, sitting in the quiet dark, there is this perfectly rendered Jimmy Haslip bass, ripping away, but at low volume. Nice. That was new...also, as good as the little Axioms are known to be, they now sound waaaaaay better than ever before, and I remember them sounding ridiculously good with the Vinnie Teac.

This morning I awake, turn it up abit, and the sonic improvement from its overnight sensation was immediately apparent, I am happy to say. Today, it is a ...better ...amp. Day ONE, mind you. And it is well known that T chips take their sweet time burning in, I have no reason to believe this one will be any different, and the big 2.5 uF Jensen/Audio Note caps could take just as long.

My impression after 24 hours is this: iffin it sounds this good right out of the gate, and it always takes a couple months for these things to hit their stride, then ......

ted_b · « **Reply #10 on:** 26 Jun 2006, 04:18 am »

Vinnie,
Can the Sig 30 be strapped to be a monoblock? I'm thinking about Zu Defintions as an option, or Ridge's Sason Ltd's, and wondering about filling a larger room (15.25ft x 23 ft x 10 ft). Thx

Ted

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #11 on:** 26 Jun 2006, 12:48 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 26 Jun 2006, 04:18 am

Vinnie,
Can the Sig 30 be strapped to be a monoblock? I'm thinking about Zu Defintions as an option, or Ridge's Sason Ltd's, and wondering about filling a larger room (15.25ft x 23 ft x 10 ft). Thx

Ted

Hi Ted,

The TK2051 chipset can be configured as a monoblock (outputting around 70 watts into 4 ohm), but this will require a new board design.

If you go with Definitions, I doubt you'll need more than 30 wpc though....they are very efficient.

Best regards,

Vinnie