[shep]

y'all having a good time out there spinning threads? I feel like a kid looking thru a plate glass window at all the goodies and can't find the door. I wanna play! Ok here goes nothing. I'm new to this format so I'm treading softly. Some of you play hardball...I'll spare you the intro. I'm mighty interested in this T-amp stuff. In fact I'm ordering something special from a guy out in the Pacific. He told me (while waiting) to have a look at the following; http://www.trendsaudio.com I haven't seen this reiteration of the t-amp theme on any discussion. I would appreciate any feedback if anyone knows anything. I want to put together a system after 20 years absence.
A nice simple low-budget one. I've started with a heavily modified Marantz cd player and the amp is next. speakers are a real problem, price-wise and because I live in the back woods of France. Analogue? I have boxes of mint LPs but they stay closed. I can't afford the kind of rig that would do them justice. Period.
Over.

[Scott F.]

You wouldn't happen to be in (or near) the Breton region would you?

[Duke]

Bonjour Shep,

Twenty years of abstinence, did you say??  Gosh, no wonder your nose is pressed up against the toy store window...

I took a look at the amplifier you provided a link to, and it looks like a very well made little unit.   Glancing at the specs, looks to me like it does 6 watts at low distortion into an 8 ohm load, and 11 watts at low distortion into a 4 ohm load.  So, my first thought is, look at 4 ohm speakers.

If I may be so crass, what sort of ballpark price range is realistic for you?  And, do you have any interest in a DIY project?  I'm thinking either used or DIY will probably make the most sense, though we may be able to find something new that will work.

Obviously with 11 watts and a tight budget, you can't "have it all".  So, what qualities are you most interested in?  And, what are your normal listening habits (how loud, do you sit in the sweet spot or like to be able to move around, what kind of music, etc.).

What's your room size, and do you have speaker placement limitations? 

No promises that I can come up with useful suggestions, but I'd like to try.

Duke

[JLM]

20 years out of the mix, wow you've got a lot deal of catching up to do.  The internet is a great place to start.  The trends of the past 20 years:

2-channel is being crushed in the market by home theater.

CD's have gone from being the great audio hope to being threatened with vinyl, SACD, and now various forms of PC based audio.  (If you are computer savy, you can't beat Squeeze Box, from SlimDevices as a source.  And they can be modded to improve the sound to top drawer status.)

The internet has spawned a cottage industry of very small audio equipment manufacturers.

Tubes have come back in a big way. 

Bass has gotten tighter, more interest in single driver speakers, room acoustics, and power conditioning. 

Regarding the amp:

$100 is a good price.  Red Wine Audio was selling similar amps, but with rechargable sealed lead acid batteries for $500.  All digital circuits need proper feeding.  Check out their circle below (especially the very long Dark Star thread) for much discussion regarding various similar small digital amps and the synergistic (open baffle) speakers.

I had one of the RWA amps, but my current 40 watt Channel Island monoblock chip amps are much better built, obviously provided much more power to allow flexibility in speaker selection, and sounded (soundstaging and level of detail) better.  Again speaker/amp synergy is important and I knew going in that the RWA amp was too small, but like you were fascinated by the concept.

Check out these reviews, just for starters:

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/sonicimpact/t.html
http://6moons.com/audioreviews/sonicimpact2/t2.html
http://6moons.com/audioreviews/redwine/clarit.html
http://6moons.com/audioreviews/redwine2/followup.html

I don't believe the Clari-T is still available, but other little digital amps exist (that reportedly kick the Clari-T's butt).

[Jampot]

Raining in Lot, should we be surprised?

Unless you are a linguist European boards are limited in usefulness -handy you found your way to AC - plenty of members with loads of experience and not afraid to share it.

Speakers are big and heavy to ship trans-atlantic, and then if the French system is anything like UK customs (I'm in England) we get hammered for TVA at least if not duty.

If you haven't already seen it, have a look at TNT http://www.tnt-audio.com/int.html

They even have a Brit on the writing staff who is resident in France.

There is good info about T amps on the site and they have taken to using the term 'T' to describe any low budget / good value kit. So for instance you will find a reveiw of a 'T' pre amp, which has nothing to do with tripath chips and is made in china!

French made speakers feature- in particular Triangle which have some fairly high efficiency models in the range if you can run to it.

I did a quick search for Enceintes on ebay.fr and found a about 110 items - give it a go, your ability to read it will probably be better than Mine

I have used vintage British speakers (bought on ebay) very succesfully with a  T Amp (actually JLM's very own until I bought it off him!). so I am sure you will be able to get fixed up pretty quickly.

I will look forward to reading further about you quest.

Jim

[warnerwh]

If you're not aware of Audiogon it's a place where audiophiles buy and sell used gear.  I sometimes see UK based sellers there. Buying used speakers is an excellent way to go and there's alot of them to choose from. 

Ebay also has alot of UK sellers. If I were you I'd let people know my budget and ask for recommendations. Then do all the reading or preferably auditioning you can. Speaker engineering has come a long way in 20 years and speakers and even inexpensive speakers that only cost 200 bucks brand new can sound surprisingly good. 

At used prices you can get some very good sounding speakers. One problem you may have though with that small of an amp is sensitivity. Unless you listen at very low volumes you'll be running out of power fast. The other problem is that small speakers are usually not very sensitive and can require a decent amount of power. Be sure to include you amp choice if you are dead set on one of these small amps.

In my opinion speakers should be chosen first then the amp to match.  This may make life easier in the long run and open up a broader spectrum of possibilities and remember that speakers will have far more effect on the sound of your system than an amp will.

[JLM]

With only 6 wpc from the Super T and trying to keep cost down, I'd try the German Visaton B200 extended range drivers in open baffles.  The B200 is well made, very efficient, and has a high Qts (to work well in open baffles).  Check out the Red Wine Audio Darkstar thread (really long) or the Open Baffle circle below.  Several guys there run similar amp/speaker combination and are quite pleased.  No deep bass, but should be fine for a 2nd system, and you could add a powered sub.

If your electricity is poor quality you may want to consider battery power.  The Super T can be made to run from batteries (digital circuits are particularly sensitive to power aberations).  If the Marantz doesn't cut it for you, check out Red Wine Audio for battery powered source options.