Promitheus TVC passive preamp anyone?

jimsmy · « **Reply #400 on:** 20 Nov 2006, 07:16 pm »

Hi Nicholas,
I ordered a SE TVC on 3 November. Please can you give me an estimation of when I can expect it .
Many thanks and best wishes,
Jim

gooberdude · « **Reply #401 on:** 20 Nov 2006, 07:22 pm »

Hey Nicholas,

I'm interested in getting a brass plate to replace the stainless top plate.

Do you think this will improve the sonics and can you provide the thickness and type of brass? i can get a plate made locally.

thanks!

GD

what is it about tonewood and brass?? anyone?

Todd Krieger · « **Reply #402 on:** 20 Nov 2006, 10:35 pm »

Quote from: jimsmy on 20 Nov 2006, 07:16 pm

Hi Nicholas,
I ordered a SE TVC on 3 November. Please can you give me an estimation of when I can expect it .
Many thanks and best wishes,
Jim

Likewise for me.... Mine was ordered on Oct. 20. Thanks!

Todd

cutcopypaste · « **Reply #403 on:** 21 Nov 2006, 10:32 am »

Today I just recived my TVC from Nic. Whilst it is still burning in I would like to share experiences.

In short wow.......Quite draw dropping........God knows what the Reference is like.

The TVC has replaced a ME 25 active amp, and the differnce is night and day. Lots of detail, dynamics and texture.

I have had a couple passive pres before, a home made pot and a Creek P43R. The Creek was very good but lacked dynamics and bass, until I fitted a +6db gain card. Even then doesn't come close to this.

I had been looking from an affordable TVC for some time after drooling over the reviews of the music first and the bent however all were out of my reach.

Until I stubbled along Nics website. I jumped at the opportunity to purchas the TVC for such a reasonable sum. Nicholas should be congratulated for such a fantastic product.

bikes and beats · « **Reply #404 on:** 21 Nov 2006, 02:18 pm »

Impedence matching? Voltage Input?
I'm quite happy with the TVC. The silver cables have warmed up and sound great.
My question is regarding taking the sound "further". Non-O.S. DACs are popular. Any other types? And are tube buffers (a.k.a. Musical Fidelity X-10D)? What would such a thing do?
-Mike

gooberdude · « **Reply #405 on:** 21 Nov 2006, 03:19 pm »

congrats cutcopyandpaste...burn-in the TVC for a month & it'll start doing backflips & such. i've had mine for about a month, big changes for the better happen.

bikesandbeats, i had the MF X10Dv3 tube buffer, its a dangerous little box. i liked it so much initially i recomended a friend buy it too. his circuit breaker tripped & when his wife flipped the breaker back 2 huge adcom monoblocks fried due to the X10D circuitry...the MF owners manual details this issue. Plus, it is really much more of a toy than an audio tool, and adds an extra stage so you need an addtl IC. you'll lose lots of detail & dynamics just to gain fat tubby bass. $ is better spent on a new amp or source IMHO...

If you want to take the TVC sound further, make sure you have nice copper cabling from your sources to the TVC, and hook up a vibration draining scheme with a weight on top and footers that drain, underneath the TVC...it brings out a killer 3-D stage, mondo bass and tubelike midrange. music simply doesn't sound right without the draining system from Mapleshade Records which costs $150 + their products have $ back guarantee's/trial periods. my personal opinion is the this TVC needs a draining system - footers will be the TVC's power cord in a matter of speaking.

A tube amp with the TVC seems like it'd be fantastic. my ss sytem sounds so tubelike now its weird.

no affiliation with MF, Mapleshade or Promitheus...

GD

PromitheusAudio · « **Reply #406 on:** 21 Nov 2006, 04:23 pm »

THanks for the nice comments

I stress on mechanical damping and vibration control like what matt is talking about. One of the greatest thing about the tvc is that it is so transparent(without being fatiguing) that what ever you do with it in terms of footer or platform it makes a very audible different. In fact the tvc is only playing up to 80% of its potential i feel when used stock with the footers i give. Without the footers it will be lower the figure.

Hence I will be selling our platform to mate with the TVC. The platform cost USD40 finish in the same color but with a vaxed finish. This way it is more hardy. The same vaxed finish used with our tvc reference. The platform is design on a mass loaded and constrained design. It is based on a special Indonesian hard wood marine ply grade. The ply is made 13 pieces of 1.3mm/0.05" thick layers. We then join this wood together to form a 2.1 " thick platform. After listening test, 2.1" is the best overall after comparing to 1.4" and 2.8" thickness.
The tvc sits on cones face down to the platform and the platform will be decouple again by another sets of cones. So is another layer of decoupling.

also i will be starting to manufacture a new form of footer based around a wood pyramid/ round wood base using a ball bearing/ crystal to act as a coupler. I fine this better than our cones. Our first experiments with it showed much better refinement then our current cones.

On mechanical damping on top of the tvc. This depends on taste. It adds body but seems to dampen the tvc to much for my taste. But then again my system is vinyl and our hybrid amp ( which sounds like a really powerful valve amp) so your results might vary.

Would like to gain some feedback on our up coming dacs

I will be basing the DAC on Non-Os using the 1545 chip. By i will be using a nickel core special wound by us pulse transformer and the output of dac goes into an active stage. The active stage will have a transformer output.
On the active stage what do guys think, do a tube stage or a solid state stage? Do i focus on one or just do both versions?
As you know by now i am a big fan of trans and impedance matching hence the dac we will be making will feature this same effect.

matt
If you can get brass there all the better. They cost a bomb though. The price thanks to china really is rocket high.
Depending on your budget try either 1.5mm or 1.2mm. This sizes sound great. Anything more tends to be a harder sounding.
Ours the silver cable that i pass you to try?

I am experimenting on your post to further improve the cable. what i did was i double up on the silver runs on the interconnects. normally for our interconnects. So instead of one run of cable for the signal and ground i use 2 wires instead. I am in the process of burn in them in. If they sound good will sell them as a deluxe version for those who want more bass and body.

acd483 · « **Reply #407 on:** 21 Nov 2006, 05:52 pm »

Nicholas,

I for one would appreciate a Non-OS with tube buffer, USB, Toslink, RCA. Thanks! I think people would like the option of a SS stage as well, especially those running a tube amp.

BoemPaukeslag · « **Reply #408 on:** 21 Nov 2006, 07:34 pm »

Quote from: gooberdude on 21 Nov 2006, 03:19 pm

bikesandbeats, i had the MF X10Dv3 tube buffer, its a dangerous little box. i liked it so much initially i recomended a friend buy it too. his circuit breaker tripped & when his wife flipped the breaker back 2 huge adcom monoblocks fried due to the X10D circuitry...the MF owners manual details this issue. Plus, it is really much more of a toy than an audio tool, and adds an extra stage so you need an addtl IC. you'll lose lots of detail & dynamics just to gain fat tubby bass. $ is better spent on a new amp or source IMHO...

I tend to agree here, although I didn't experience the dangerous sides of the X10D. I used to have an old one (the can) and initially I liked it a lot. But once I took it out and I realized that I had been sacrificing lots and lots of details for a slightly more coherent sound. And I did use good quality interconnects.
The best tweak I ever did was taking it out of my system and selling for the same price I had bought it. I now have a (tube-buffered) ShengYa with upgraded tubes and am happy again...

gooberdude · « **Reply #409 on:** 21 Nov 2006, 08:03 pm »

best part about the MF tube buffers is they retain resale value.

with the v3, there's a dire warning about turning on your amps at the same time as the X-10 in the owner's manual. since the X-10 doesn't have an on/off switch, my buddies mono's got friend when they, along with the X-10, turned on at the same time. i had no problems since i knew of the issue, his poor wife must've felt terrible. of course i received the guilt trip too for recomending the stupid box.

my opinion is that a great preamp will do much more for a system than a tube buffer stage. buy a TVC and fu'get about it!

BoemPaukeslag · « **Reply #410 on:** 21 Nov 2006, 08:45 pm »

Quote from: gooberdude on 21 Nov 2006, 08:03 pm

my opinion is that a great preamp will do much more for a system than a tube buffer stage. buy a TVC and fu'get about it!

I agree, good preamp and source work better than extra components. Therefore I also ordered a preamp from Nicholas. Expecting it this week...
BTW in my opinion in modern cd-players output stages are generally much better than in the old grainy boxes and tube stages are not really necessary (anymore). But tubes glow so nicely...

cutcopypaste · « **Reply #411 on:** 21 Nov 2006, 10:32 pm »

Quote from: BoemPaukeslag on 21 Nov 2006, 08:45 pm

Quote from: gooberdude on 21 Nov 2006, 08:03 pm
my opinion is that a great preamp will do much more for a system than a tube buffer stage. buy a TVC and fu'get about it!

I agree, good preamp and source work better than extra components. Therefore I also ordered a preamp from Nicholas. Expecting it this week...
BTW in my opinion in modern cd-players output stages are generally much better than in the old grainy boxes and tube stages are not really necessary (anymore). But tubes glow so nicely...

Interesting........The next part of the puzzle for me is a CD player and or DAC. Currently into the TVC I run a Marantz CD63KI into a ME sound DAC to a Musical Fidelity Tub buffer, or a Cambridge Audio CD 4se to Tube buffer. However have had very nice sessions with a Shaling CD100C. Been considering it's little brother the Shaling CD80; has anyone got any other recommendations?

acd483 · « **Reply #412 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 12:51 am »

Quote from: BoemPaukeslag on 21 Nov 2006, 08:45 pm

BTW in my opinion in modern cd-players output stages are generally much better than in the old grainy boxes and tube stages are not really necessary (anymore). But tubes glow so nicely...

Again, sound is purely subjective, however if you have perfectly ripped albums on your computer with digital audio output to a solid state system with silver interconnects, etc...you are going to encounter what I call over "clarified" sound. To me, it's fatiguing, and while all of the definition is there, it's not always the best result. In my personal system, a tube buffer will add that bit of warmth and round off some of those highs in a way that I find pleasing.

On the other hand, a guy with a complete tube setup might want a component in his system that does deliver as a true and uncolored a sound to his equipment as possible; here the solid state DAC would be appreciated greatly.

Nicholas, both camps will want a DAC complimentary to their setup, but considering the DAC is doing the work of taking 1s and 0s and producing analog sound, it makes most sense to me to add a tube buffer for some character and much needed warmth.

P.S. Guys, stop wasting money on CD players...pick up a small computer and HD, rip your music and enjoy the best quality transport money can buy!

PaulFolbrecht · « **Reply #413 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 02:29 am »

Guys,

My system at home is a solid-state DAC feeding a TVC feeding a pair of single-ended triode tube monoblocks. Awesome sound. The best I've heard...

My system at work is a SS DAC (USB) feeding a SET headphone amp... ditto on the sound.

The purist in me could never settle with the notion of inserting something in the chain to "add" something. What you want is what's on the recording, with as little as possible added. I believe this setup is getting me pretty close.

FWIW.

NewBuyer · « **Reply #414 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 02:30 am »

Quote from: PromitheusAudio on 21 Nov 2006, 04:23 pm

...Would like to gain some feedback on our up coming dacs

I will be basing the DAC on Non-Os using the 1545 chip. By i will be using a nickel core special wound by us pulse transformer and the output of dac goes into an active stage. The active stage will have a transformer output.
On the active stage what do guys think, do a tube stage or a solid state stage? Do i focus on one or just do both versions?
As you know by now i am a big fan of trans and impedance matching hence the dac we will be making will feature this same effect...

Please do both versions. I am personally most interested in the solid state version, but I think you will find many customers for each version.

Questions/requests regarding the DAC:
- If using the 1545 chip, can you still do filterless and passive I/V?
- If USB input is included, can the USB signal also be transformer-isolated?
- In the active stage, can you do a discrete op-amp approach (similar to the Burson Discrete Op-Amp?
- Can you choose a digital receiver that accepts a 96kHz signal, e.g. like the CS8414?

I am very interested in this DAC, I can hardly wait for it to arrive. The separate power supply idea is very nice.

I also wonder if GHM has received his Power Energizer yet...

04dgmsilv · « **Reply #415 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 03:14 am »

I have read most of this thread on and off over the past few weeks and am very interested in the Reference TVC as a possible change from my Modwright pre. I really like the modwright, but it is pretty noisy in my current living space (lousy AC I presume b/c in my old apt it was near dead quiet). My source is a SB3 into a AS NOS DAC. My amp is a AS 'patekclone' into Zu Druids. I have spent some time listening to the DAC straight to the amp, but that loses something with the digital volume control in the SB3, hence why I want to try the TVC.

Anyone here come from a decent tubed pre to the TVC? As one poster put it above, I don't want my system to become too 'clarified'. I am mainly looking to get a blacker background (and maybe put a few bucks in my pocket at the same time).

Thanks,
Dan

PaulFolbrecht · « **Reply #416 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 03:24 am »

Quote from: 04dgmsilv on 22 Nov 2006, 03:14 am

Anyone here come from a decent tubed pre to the TVC? As one poster put it above, I don't want my system to become too 'clarified'. I am mainly looking to get a blacker background (and maybe put a few bucks in my pocket at the same time).

Yes, me. Tried several tubed pres in the $2K range and the ModWright was the quietest.

With 101dB speakers, you will PAY THE PRICE for every active stage in your system in the noise floor. You are really going to at least be able to notice just about any active preamp. TVCs are just beautiful in such a setup. You will lower the noise floor and keep the dynamics intact.

GHM · « **Reply #417 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 09:25 pm »

Quote from: maxwalrath on 18 Nov 2006, 11:10 pm

Thanks Gymane! I REALLY hope I like it..that extra cash would be great.

Hi Max..the Promitheus is on its way. It could show up by Monday. I hope you enjoy it.

Quote from: NewBuyer on 22 Nov 2006, 02:30 am

I also wonder if GHM has received his Power Energizer yet...

I wish Newbuyer

not as yet though. Since I ordered a Promitheus for a friend. Nicholas decided to send all three units at the same time. This will be good. My buddy is driving me nuts about the Promitheus!!

He's called me everday since I took the V2 model out of his system. He's also upgraded the unit once and may have me send more money to upgrade it again.

He told me last night he doesn't like listening to his system now..without the TVC. He says the music is lifeless now using the EE MiniMax. I guess it's my fault..I took the darn thing over there. Now I'm paying the price!

I totally agree with balancing the system out for the best sound. I would like to try Paul's idea of using tube amplifiers with the TVC. There's a balancing act with every system..mixing it up a bit can be a very good thing.

I hope Nick finishes up those tube hybrids soon...I'm very excited about trying them out!

At the rate I'm going..the whole system will be Promitheus Audio besides the speakers and the Dac..unless Nick's Dac knocks it out of the main system.

I feel like Dave Chappelle in my avatar waiting for this stuff...drunk and slightly crazy!!!

O' yeah.. I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving!! Unlike most I must work at least part of the day. Law enforcement doesn't get any special days off.

PTC · « **Reply #418 on:** 23 Nov 2006, 12:03 am »

Hello anyone try the TVC with Nuforce amps?If so does the RFI emitted by Nuforce cause any hum or buzz,Thanks,Paul

GHM · « **Reply #419 on:** 23 Nov 2006, 12:13 am »

Quote from: PTC on 23 Nov 2006, 12:03 am

Hello anyone try the TVC with Nuforce amps?If so does the RFI emitted by Nuforce cause any hum or buzz,Thanks,Paul

Mike aka bikesandbeats uses the Nuforce amplifiers. If you go back a few pages I think he comments that he doesn't have any noise what so ever. Hopefully he'll show up and give a response.