[Rasta]

Thanks for the informative comments Brain and Martyo.

My hope would be that “softer” was a reference to the leading edge and not to resolution and/or dynamics.

I guess we’ll just have to wait to hear the differences.  I’m very intrigue with this new dac and it may be the answer to my search for a new tube dac.

[kbuzz3]

This is great news. I have been awaiting to buy my first AVA piece and this truly could be the one.  AS far as im concerned, tube to me does not mean soft or rolled off-it means lack of sibilence.  I hope franks tube dac takes this to a new level.

In the even i order one it will have tough competition, I currently use both a modded meitner bitstream and a new MHDT  paradsea ...

[Toka]

Man, from the way people keep talking about the new T8's, I really need to hear one! I'll likely still prefer the Ultra, but all the right keywords keep getting tossed around... 

Anyway, I wonder if the new design of the T8 DAC will lead to refinements elsewhere in the lineup?

[rlee8394]

Very interesting tube audio circuits, not like anything else we have done before.

That statement made me think the same question. At least as it applies to the T8 Pre. Of course it would depend on whether the statement applies to the analog filter or the audio output circuits.

Ron

[Wayner]

I'm running the T8 into the OmegaStar 170 (in the Dynaco Stereo chassis) and the combo is more than happy together. Of course I prefer vinyl in this setup and really think the phono section of the T8 is very liquid, nice bass attack, cymbal crash and decay that I always look for. The remote control option that I have is a nice convience too. I do like the T8 running a solid state poweramp, but that's my preference ('cause the old Dynaco speakers I have at the end of the chain love the 170). It's kind of a three-some 

Hope to hear the T8 DAC on Frank's HT3's soon.

Wayner

[avahifi]

Actually the goal of the Transcendence Eight DAC was to get as close to the Ultra DAC as we could at a lower price.  I think we have done it.  People now using the Transcendence SL preamp know what we mean.

Frank Van Alstine

[stereocilia]

I assume it will be added to the website with pictures and a more detailed description.  When can we see it there?

[rlee8394]

Also, is there any info regarding the new design faceplates?

Ron

[avahifi]

To answer a few questions posted herein:

Combining a DAC and preamp in the same chassis?  We tried that with the solid state circuits some time ago and simply could not get it quiet enough to release. With the tube or hybrid units, the physical size of the circuits make that impossible, the chassis would have to be huge to support all the necessary boards, not a practical approach.

New faceplates?  Not going to happen in the foreseeable future.  Cost too high and we could not come up with a reasonable consensus with the variation options we showed at the recent RMAF show.  Nothing would please more than a too small minority of potential clients, and no way could we afford to offer multiple options.

If you would like to order a new unit with a unique one off faceplate, we can do that with the samples we made for the RMAF show for $200 extra.  Choices are all gold, gold on black, and black on gold.  Available on amplifiers, DACs, and preamps. Call us if you are interested. Not available for existing units. No guarantee we can supply all matching units unless you order all at the same time.

Enjoy the music.

Frank Van Alstine

[avahifi]

Oh yes, appearance of the Transcendence Eight DAC?

Take a look at the Ultra DAC at our web site.

http://www.avahifi.com/root/equipment/dac/transcendence_dac.htm

The appearance of the T8 DAC and internal layout is identical.  Only the board are difference in their circuit contents.

Frank

[weirdo]

My wife said she wanted a T8 DAC and a trolling motor for my her birthday.

[Wayner]

My wife said if I even think about getting the T8 DAC, I wouldn't see another birthday!

 

[Toka]

The faceplate question got me looking at the RMAF pics again...still like 'em well enough but the current look is still tops in my book, all told. But, I noticed something in the pics I didn't see before...looks like a PS Audio power distributor behind the equipment. Did this help out the notorious "hotel power" that is frequently maligned by participants?

[Charles Calkins]

Wayner:

  Time to get rid of the frau!!!


                                 Cheers
                                 Charlie

[dB Cooper]

My wife said if I even think about getting the T8 DAC, I wouldn't see another birthday!

 

Eternal youth, WOO-HOO!!!!

[avahifi]

The power supply box was free for the use during the RMAF show, and we were happy to use it because we knew that the hotel power supply would be really ugly with all hundreds of audio components running off of it at the same time.

Did it make a difference I could hear?  Unfortunately no, the room acoustics still dominated.  Also we did the listening with first setup without the conditioner late the night before the show started, when all was quiet and the hotel power would have been much less disturbed.  So we did not give the conditioner a fair A-B test.  Certainly it worked well for the weekend and one of my techs bought a smaller version for his home system.

Do I need one at home? Probably not. Do you need one, depends upon your AC line.  I don't know of a good way to test in advance.

Regards,

Frank

[ajzepp]

Does the option exist to hvae more than one input on the T8 DAC? Or the Ultra DAC, for that matter?

[ajzepp]

Cool, thanks Brian.