Bent Audio TAP

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denjo

Bent Audio TAP
« on: 24 Jul 2006, 06:55 am »
Hi John
Just wanted to say that the Bent Audio TAP is AWESOME! Its the BEST preamp that has graced my system. TAP = Transparent And Pure!
Will post a more detailed log.
Best Regards
Dennis

shib

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 10
Re: Bent Audio TAP
« Reply #1 on: 12 Aug 2006, 06:59 am »
I had a more detailed post, but my battery died and I lost it.  So, John, consider this an abbreviated version. 

I feel like my silver TVC TAP is 98% burned in now and the system has settled out.  I dropped the Bent Unit in as a direct replacement for a Mod Squad Deluxe Line Drive that has been the heart of my system since 1987.  A change was necessitated mostly because of two factors: 1) a switch to an Audio Note Kit 1 forced me into no-no land of high impedance on the volume control and 2) SACD and time have uncovered some lack of dynamics and high frequency extension.  I have tried to sidestep these issues for several years- until the new TAP came along. 

The new TAP has unrivaled features and versatility compared to any other passive or TVC I am aware of.  Phase invert?  Beatifully executed.  The Bent Unit has all the qualities I loved about the Mod Squad, but no loss of dynamics or extension.  With Black Diamond IV cones point down under the Bent, I am achieving a high level of not just resolution, but clarity.  All the information is there as it was with the Mod Squad, but there is this level of clarity that I am unaccustomed to.  The clarity is not forced, but instead natural and effortless.  Graceful.  The music does indeed "flow."  This character is a perfect complement to the magic of the launch of that 1st watt by my Audio Note Kit 1. 

When I first put the TAP into my system, I had goosebumps not felt from a preamp since I first heard the Mark Levinson No. 26 back in the day.  The soul factor ranks up there with the Vendetta Research phono amp (which I was stupid not to buy).

When I originally purchased the Mod Squad, I was trying to obtain a certain level of sound on the cheap.  I got some of it, but not all of it.  The TAP gives me all of it.  Some system matching is necessary, but those are of the mathematical kind.  I can live with that.  I'll live with the TAP for a long, long time.