Promitheus TVC passive preamp anyone?

launche · « **Reply #520 on:** 13 Dec 2006, 04:39 am »

Quote from: brashgordon on 13 Dec 2006, 02:18 am

Please don't slow him down .... I want my TVC .....

too bad I don't have a Mark Knoppfler / Sting lead in for that ...

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Now that was funny.

That'll stick in my head for a few days and oh so appropriate.

rollo · « **Reply #521 on:** 13 Dec 2006, 03:20 pm »

Isn't this the Promithius Circle ? With over 500 views Promitheus should have its own circle.I wonder how many sales were generated from our posts[53 pages].C'mon Nicholas make the move,were with you.
rollo

tanchiro58 · « **Reply #522 on:** 13 Dec 2006, 08:18 pm »

Quote from: GHM on 16 Oct 2006, 11:17 pm

Quote from: anubisgrau on 16 Oct 2006, 08:54 pm

Thanks Valvelover - Musiclover

Excellent review - it is a direct TVC competition where Promitheus is going to prove itself. If I may add, TVCs are not for everyone and for every system, and it would be really great to read more reviews and test how Promitheus would compare with some of the best active preamps out there on the market.

For example, my current benchmark preamp is Pass Labs X2.5 because it is one of the seldom active SS designs that marries realism, transparency and musicality. Most of the other big names I have tried usually excells in one field and fails in another and X2.5 is just a great allrounded.

However it costs 3.900$.

If Promitheus would be able to hold it's own against it......whoooahhhh, maybe i should stop dreaming.

But still, if any of the current users tested it against some of the big active beasts out there, it would be great to hear the score.

And yes, I got slowly adjusted to the idea of living with no remote.

Hopefully the reviewer of 6moons will do some good comparisons. Correct me if I'm wrong.. Have you heard any TVCs before?..I didn't think you had. I believe this is the only way for you to ever know if it competes for your taste or not.

You can read the reviews till your eyes hurt...you must eventually find out for yourself. I can tell you cost isn't a real factor here. If something sounds great to your ears..that's what matters most.

Good listening

Hi Everyone,

I agree with GMH since I also listened to many high-end and high price preamps (Cary, CJ, First Sound, etc...). Promitheus TVC is a leader all around. I even think about getting a Reference with dual mono volume control since it makes my system rocking and my music singing with transparent and musical sound. This is what I have searched for many years of listening music. Audiophiles and Musiclovers should not underestimate the Malaysian TVC with its affordable price.

tanchiro58 · « **Reply #523 on:** 13 Dec 2006, 08:28 pm »

Quote from: akmal00 on 12 Dec 2006, 05:58 pm

I wondered how many of you have your TVC on a glass shelf in a hi-fi rack ? That's what mine will be sitting on.

- jaspal.

I have seen and heard the TVC placed on an Acrylic shelf. Doesn't work. The mids became thin and the bass was worse. Wood especially a good platform with some other vibes draining method seems to work great for this TVC.
[/quote]

Hi,

I place my TVC on a 2 inches maple wood block and has three DH super cones. It sounds good to my taste. I am going to try with my Shun-mook resonators I had before and will let you know.

akmal00 · « **Reply #524 on:** 14 Dec 2006, 01:13 pm »

Quote from: rollo on 12 Dec 2006, 11:16 pm

akmal,
Is that the wood plinth from Nicholas.Please describe.I'm awaiting one from Nicholas along with the TVC.Due to circumstances beyond nicks control the unit was shipped Mon. instead of Fri.

thanks rollo

Yes, I got it as a loaner but begged Nicholas, he sold it to me afterwards. It's multiplt layers of Indonesian ply. Dunno from which wood. Any of you guys compared multiply with hardwood or tonewood. Mine is not even painted or coated. Just one layer of teak oil. Better than the birch cutting board from Ikea. Better than my mdf shelf. Hard to fine maple or any other material in affordable prices where I am.

PromitheusAudio · « **Reply #525 on:** 14 Dec 2006, 04:23 pm »

Hi guys
sorry have not gotten back to you sooner.
recently there was a lighting strike near my house and it fried my modem so i had pretty much un-hooked from the net also been super busy for this month. I am rather half stone now from 6 hours of sleep each day only.

On the RCA cables we have come up with the "DELUXE" version which features double runs of the silver cable for both the "hot" and "cold" connections. This address most of the problems much by Matt/gooberdude as the minus part of the cable was that it had less highs but with better midbass body and presence. Most important it is not so dry anymore but a fuller sound. But with a double run of silver cables this brings up the price more to about extra USD30 more.

I upgraded the RCA cables of both Eric/launche and Gordon/brashgordon to this. So guys enjoy your new stuff

On getting more extension easy, isolation and as mention some of the new upgrades but the isolation part is way improtant and don't undestimate this area.

What you can do buy/beg/borrow/steal a chopping board from your wife and place it under the TVC cones. So the tvc sits on top of the cone and the cones rest on the chopping board. Then below this chopping board add another layer of isolation cones. Works well to improve the sound. Our design for the isolations works on this principle of providing an extra layer of isolation to the tvc which really is very noticable. Coming from Akmal posts he mentions that the wood we used for the isolation platform really helps and is an audible difference than other types of wood. I will be finish tweaking the platform and will be ready to launch this with some nice pics.

Also you can cheat by placing some coins on the stainless steel it might be worse though as there is some plus points and some minus doing this

Wendell
On your problem, i am sending you another unit to test out. Save you some problem in trying to troubleshoot.

On the forum thingy sounds like a great idea where do i sign up. But this MUST be after christmas. Everybody once their stuff ASAP.

On the ebony knobs really got to love the killer looks. I believe rollo got his with the ebony already.

Jaspar
Not to speak ill of Mana products but the day i broke my mana glass was the day i was happy and cursing at the same time. THe glass made clean up hard as i drop my mono block amp which was like about 70lbs on to it. but after i replace the glass with the indonesian marine ply man the highs really open up while being more natural and transparent. but bear in mine my products work superb with wood and so your results might vary.

Guys i not sure whether you can get this. You know the top plate you are having is screw down with stainless steel bolts it seems there is an audible difference if you change this to brass screws. The screws are M4 or 4mm. Are friends reported back to me on this. The love the preamp as what ever they did to it they heard the improvements or the reversal audibly.

Also i am thinking of closing after christmas until the new year. At the momemt i can't wait for christmas. On christmas day i am going to sleep the whole day perhaps extra to make up for the lost days.

Also next year we will be offering the Polarity switch as an extra for our balanced units. The improvements on out of sync recordings is superb. Some records are record out of phase and this gives a bass suckout and a wind instrument to be blowing inwards instead of outwards. The polarity fixes this problem. Thanks to a user who ordered this effect is really usefull.

And guys have a truly blessed christmas and a happy new year. Your cards are on the way.

wendell · « **Reply #526 on:** 14 Dec 2006, 05:04 pm »

NIck, sent you e-mail with my info

gooberdude · « **Reply #527 on:** 14 Dec 2006, 05:06 pm »

Hey guys,

Right after Christmas I plan to look into buying a bulk amount of Brass sheets and have them
cut to size to fit the top plate of the TVC's. I should be able to make 5 or 6 of them for around $30 each if not less, incl shipping to the US.

With all my experimenting with Brass & tonewood, I agree 100% that replacing the screws with Brass screws is the way to go. I have not tried this, but do not doubt it would be an effective tweak and have had this thought for some time. Brass mounting screws changed the way my turntable cartridge sounds....
Making certain that little or no ferrous material is inside the TVC would be worthwhile too.

If anyone has a local supplier of these brass screws, would they be interested in buying some in bulk & offering them to others here? I may be able to find a local supplier, but am going to work on securing the Brass top plates for now. can these be purchased at Home Depot??

if Brass is good for a trumpet, its gonna ge great for the TVC.

Nick,

You've made my Christmas this year, you deserve a day or 2 off!!!!!

Glad to hear you installed a polarity switch. What about a +6db version and an option to lift the ground?
with these 3 options, this TVC would be able to be compared 'straight up' to ALL the high end TVC's.

matt

brashgordon · « **Reply #528 on:** 14 Dec 2006, 10:58 pm »

I got my TVC .......

Thanks Nicholas ..... safe arrival...packaging was great ....

Beautiful woodworking.... knobs are cool ....
box is heavier than I thought it could be...

Ran a Purist Audio design CD enhancer for 75 minutes ....

and NOW.... can barely type .... the sound is SO good ....

Holy Batman, Robin ....

I thought the bat-ears might be...... fading .... with age ...
But this new box....convinces me ......

there's ......a new beginning .... if I could just stop hanging upside down ...

GHM · « **Reply #529 on:** 14 Dec 2006, 11:03 pm »

Quote from: brashgordon on 14 Dec 2006, 10:58 pm

I got my TVC .......

Thanks Nicholas ..... safe arrival...packaging was great ....

Beautiful woodworking.... knobs are cool ....
box is heavier than I thought it could be...

Ran a Purist Audio design CD enhancer for 75 minutes ....

and NOW.... can barely type .... the sound is SO good ....

Holy Batman, Robin ....

I thought the bat-ears might be...... fading .... with age ...
But this new box....convinces me ......

there's ......a new beginning .... if I could just stop hanging upside down ...

Gordon..man I'm glad to see you've recieved your TVC!

Still waiting on mine and a friends. I hope they show up tomorrow. It's great read you're enjoying the new toy!

I'm so happy..I'm dancing and drinking..refer to avatar!

PromitheusAudio · « **Reply #530 on:** 15 Dec 2006, 12:11 am »

GHM
you will be rather shock when you received your 3 boxes though. the power energizer will be the biggest box. Just take care of your backbone though.

matt
Have you tried nylon screws for your turntable cartridge it sounds better than brass in my opinion perhaps they dampen the sound. Also the one of the best tweaks is get some copper sheet and do something like the isolator with double sided tape(thick type/ or heavy duty) and you will be pleasantly surprised by the results

gooberdude · « **Reply #531 on:** 15 Dec 2006, 02:22 am »

Hey Nick,

i had not heard of trying nylon screws & washers, thanks! A while back i upgraded from
stock grado stuff to Extreme Phono's & there was a difference. the change to brass hardware was
even more positive - though finding small brass screws wasn't easy.

thin Herbie's Grungebuster material is proving to be a worthwhile Isolator material inbetween my cartridge and headshell. My guess is that difft tables and arms are gonna respond differently to the same materials.... thin EAR Isodamp wasn't a good match but the thin Grungebuster patch is quite interesting.

the copper plate Isolator sounds great - i'll try it with Grungebuster material in place of the double sided-tape also. aa

So far, Herbie's Grungebuster material works as advertised in that it helps footers with flat surfaces, it aids coupling. it doesn't seem to isolate. i have small pieces of it inbetween my amp and Mapleshade Heavyfoot footers - there's a definite improvement over just laying the amp on the footers (bare metal-to-metal)...i'm really surprised. this stuff might be great speaker gasket material too.

Nick, you got anymore cheap tweaks?

rollo · « **Reply #532 on:** 15 Dec 2006, 06:33 pm »

Hey Gents,
Rec'd mine yesterday.The finish is top notch.Out of the box no break in sounds very good.After approx. 10 hours opened up a bit but has that bit to go.After 300 hours I will report on my findings.Popped in Nicks cable Immediately the bass just kicked ass.The speed of this cable is incredible maybe alittle dry but time will tell[200 hours].
The only issue I have is that I ordered aunit with one input and I received 2 inputs.Wanted to elimanate the switch and addtional wiring to simplify matters.Installed shorting plugs which made a difference for the good.I don't know why however.
The one thing that caught my attention was how effortlessly the music came through,no strain at all,just seemed my Cyber 211's gained more power[.6 input sensitivity].The most impressive aspect so far is the imaging and seperation of instruments in thier own space, depth as improved as well.The Pipedreams can image real well and the TVC brings more to the table so far.
Well,so far so good only time will truely tell.
Happy Trails rollo

jaspal kallar · « **Reply #533 on:** 15 Dec 2006, 06:41 pm »

Quote from: rollo on 15 Dec 2006, 06:33 pm

Hey Gents,
Rec'd mine yesterday.The finish is top notch.Out of the box no break in sounds very good.After approx. 10 hours opened up a bit but has that bit to go.After 300 hours I will report on my findings.Popped in Nicks Immediately the bass just kicked ass.The speed of this cable is incredible maybe alittle dry but time will tell[200 hours].

Great to read you've received and that it sounds impressive out of the box!

I was wondering if you can clarify what the cable was? Nick mentioned yesterday about an improved silver IC but I don't see it on his website - he mentioned that the price had gone by $30. I was curious if it was this cable you received?

- jaspal.

acd483 · « **Reply #534 on:** 15 Dec 2006, 08:16 pm »

I'd like to know which cable as well, because I don't know which I'll be receiving.

rollo · « **Reply #535 on:** 16 Dec 2006, 12:35 am »

The cable is the original cable consisting of 2 wires twisted The new wire has 2 wires per leg.Nicholas says the new cable is richer.Some felt the single wire model was dry sounding.I didn't notice that yet as the cable had less than 1 hour on it.I was so overtaken with the bass initially I grabbed an organ recording and aglass of scotch and went to bed with a big smile on my face.My wife wanted to know when I bought a new sub.
rollo

Early B. · « **Reply #536 on:** 16 Dec 2006, 01:10 pm »

Nic --

What is the current turn around time on orders placed for the TVC -- 4 weeks, 6 weeks? Is each TVC built after it is ordered?

Randy · « **Reply #537 on:** 16 Dec 2006, 03:48 pm »

I was so overtaken with the bass initially I grabbed an organ recording and a glass of scotch and went to bed with a big smile on my face.My wife wanted to know when I bought a new sub.
rollo
[/quote]

Yes, I also was immediately struck with the bass response of the TVC. Astonished might be a better word.

launche · « **Reply #538 on:** 16 Dec 2006, 04:34 pm »

I received my TVC yesterday

Grayhill selector
CMC RCA's (2 outputs, 1 input)
Standard RCA's (3 Inputs)
And Nicholas' upgraded silver cables, Thanks Nicholas

I really only use one input source so I figured one set of CMC's were fine (of course I should've gotten matching in's and out's but figured the signal going out from the TVC was more important anyway...my rational)

The unit is better looking and more substantial feeling that expected. from my chair the TVC's finish looks great and make me wish some of my other black boxes had this simple yet rich looking finish.

Anyway, after a 6-8 wk wait I want to do some listening.
I'll be happy to report back but I'm sure it'll be more of the same good praise.

PaulFolbrecht · « **Reply #539 on:** 16 Dec 2006, 05:24 pm »

Quote from: rollo on 15 Dec 2006, 06:33 pm

The one thing that caught my attention was how effortlessly the music came through,no strain at all,just seemed my Cyber 211's gained more power[.6 input sensitivity].The most impressive aspect so far is the imaging and seperation of instruments in thier own space, depth as improved as well.The Pipedreams can image real well and the TVC brings more to the table so far.

Hey Rollo,

I own the 845 output version of the Consonance Cyber monos. These are killer amps!! I always like to chat with fellow owners since they seem to be not too common. What speakers are you driving them with.

NICK - I did receive my TVC a week or two (!) ago already - thanks! I guess this is inexcusable, but I haven't tried it yet.

It is slated for my 2nd system, and I'm still waiting on long-backordered parts from Welborne for the DRD 45 monoblocks that will be driving the Zu Druids there.

I really need to put it into the main system in place of the Audio Zone PreT1 TVC there now. I think I'll do that tomorrow!