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Sterojoe, Yes Joe the source and speakers are key to a fine system. however the addition of a tubed buffer stage[active pre] will enhance the TVCs performance. The active will add additional bloom, air and that organic touch that solid state just cannot offer. If you have not experienced a state of the art preamp in your system you will never know what is truly possible. If distorsion was the only parameter then just buy a SS receiver from Japan say Sony, Marantz or Denon. They all have record low distortion levels but sound OK. The distortion of tubed equip is second order harmonic and actually with SETs sounds quite good. The addition of the tubed buffer, when all else is good will bring the sound to a more natural venue. Until you have tried it don't knock it. The addition of the buffer, gain stage will allow for use of a phono stage without the need of a step up transformer for some users as well. The main feature of the TVC is the transformer based volume control in lieu of resistor based volume control. So combining both gives best of both worlds IMO. I think that Nicholas is spot on with the active stage and TVC combo. Try one for 30 days and if not convinced send it back, but I think you won't.rollo
hey guys,tweak of the week: remove all the screws from the TVC. If your transformers have the black gunk under them, they are secure (i think!). I re-addressed the Source selctor knob issue by adding a piece of sticky 3M double sided foam tape under the mount in lieu of damping & the screws - works incredibly well. adhesive damping if you will.There are no screws on the underside of my TVC now. of course if I were to transport i'd put the tranny screws back in. The selector knob mount no longer flexes when going through the clicks..with the screws in it would.i've been listening with the lid on/ off and on w/o screws. In my room, to my ears, lid off is the best sound...so smooooth. try listening with lid on but no screws. also, i removed one of tiny allen screws on the collar that attaches the knob rod to the switch. only 1 is needed on the side of the collar that attaches to the switch itself...its more secure this way on mine. this go around i tightened down all the other allen screws on the new wood dowel rod...the selector knob action feels more solid now.overall, this tweak releases the sound...the soundstage gets larger and images sharper. makes it easiesr to place footers too, no more mine field.I just started listening to my Ipod with the TVC, quite a thrill. it drives the sub better than the cable tv box and xbox too. Imod coming soon... there's something to a battery powered source with the TVC.matt
I would imagine that if removing the screws and then the top improves the sound, then the ultimate tweek in this direction would leave you with something looking like the Altman Attraction DAC:http://www.mother-of-tone.com/attraction.htm.. and for good reason, according to Yves Bernard Andre of YBA fame, and Charles Altman. Either Charles can't make boxes or he's doing it that way because it sounds better. It wouldn't be too hard to find out!Just take it all apart and mount all the stuff on a slab of pine, cover the pine with some violin lacquer and sell it for a couple of thousand, based on the sound and the time it took to find the right lacquer.
C37 might be straw that breaks the camel's back here! mounting our gear to proper tonewood boards is no joke, and useful in a host of applications. spend $ like that on footers &/or a suspended plinth for the this tvc 1st though.someone with a line into mapleshade (rollo) should find out what lacquer their woodworker uses. just messin' with you rollo! i'd bet dr. sprey found a generic version of c37 to use with his boards, they sound insane. been listening to 4 difft 4" thick air dried MS boards lately. they are a wild ride compared to the other tonewood boards i own. for the tvc chassis tweaks, does it make sense that the trannies and switch - which is all there is - are more isolated from one another with all the screws out? they can do what they do w/o as much intereference from the physical vibrations of the other parts. playing with difft mountings of the steel lid resulted in much smaller gains/losses than removing all the screws. the lid is non-magnetic.Gymane, are you saying to apply C37 to the inside of the TVC chassis? all over or just certain chassis panels?? C37 is crazy, stupid expensive. the finish on my tvc looks to be a lacquer. since this stuff soaks into the wood and chemically bonds, i wonder if C37 would be as effective (if at all) on an existing tvc versus applying it to a new unfinished case. its interesting that people shellac expensive single driver set-ups with the stuff.about a week ago i was posting about the possibility of making a single vol ctrl tvc into a double. that tweak is many moons away now - the soundstage is more than wide enough after all the recent tweaks. not only are there no holes in the soundstage, but all the holes are filled in with fleshed out musicians. quite a trip really. i've been rockin my ipod and cdp lately & every so often install the Ult Triplepoint footers from my TT under the TVC, in lieu of the cheaper versions of the same model. if i spend any more $ to make this TVC better, other than the freebie tweaks you all come up with, it'll be on a set of them. the sound is more than adequate with the smooth top'd 2" footers though.the added zing, bass imaging and size of the sound the pointed footers add is cool though.what about damping the underside of the wood bottom'd tvc's? that wood plate is pretty thin. Nick, is anyone in Malaysia doing case mods??
I don't doubt that Nicolas' tube buffer sounds very good, and can probably make bad recordings more enjoyable. But for me, it is not an option to add another component to the sound chain. If the TVC did sound thin and bright in my system, I would replace it with something else or take a closer look at the sources.
Hi Dave,The rest are: RWA SB2 (transport), Altmann DAC, AudioSector Patek, and BB FTA-2000s. I also have a pair of Clari-T monoblocks, no volume pots, fully upgraded with Black Gates and Audri caps, and they will be next to try with the TVC.By the way Dave, I like and concur with what you said ealier about your experience with the TVC because it's so true."I liked what I heard (the purity of the sound; the clarity; the feeling that a veil had been removed from the music) and the volume was much louder than I'm used to. So, I made the switch, and I'm glad I did. I have no basis for comparison to other passives, TVCs or active pre-amps, but I do know this: I have experienced absolutely no loss of bass (and possibly some gain). My volume settings are fine (I usually play music at 10-12 o'clock, first time around on the clicks). The clarity is wonderful, and the TVC is especially good at operatic voices. It always seems as if the voicer is in front of the orchestra, rather than the other way around. Most importantly, that electric sound--that's the only way I can describe it--is gone. Now, I only play classical and opera (with a little bit of rock mixed in), and I don't like flavored music at all. Well, the TVC doesn't flavor the music. And there are times when I'm startled by the clarity (as in, it actually makes me sit up and notice). By the way, when I put my ear to my speakers at minimum volume, I hear nothing. No buzz. Just black."I may repeat myself if I said it somewhere earlier, but the TVC just lets music flow through, with glorious midrange, highly detailed trebles, deep bass [if exists in the recording] intact. I am now a TVC convert, although it has only been here for less than a week (4 days to be exact).
would it be a good idea to put the stuff on the bare tranny output wires? i was thinking aboutapplying the lacquer to the wood, silly me. are the tranny wires bare? look to me like they are. would covering the innards with lacquer help to stave off oxidation??
