[Tyson]

Plugged it in immediately after lugging the boxes in, had them playing a little over an hour now.  It's too soon to say a whole lot yet, they still need a little more time to run in again, but even after just one hour the sound has bloomed quite a bit.  

One thing I notice right off the bat - the BASS!  The depth and power has increase signifigantly, very happy about that

The other thing I notice has to do with dynamics and how it seperates "primary" musical lines from "secondary" musical lines.  In most gear you will get good micro and macro dynamics, but the difference I hear now is that the "R" series stuff is able to handle a dynamic surge in the "primary" musical line (or instruments), while keeping the secondary musical line at a stable level.  For example, listening to Norah Jones, you hear the drums and bass keeping the rhythm as the "secondary" musical line, while the guitar or piano will "take off" on a small riff.  With the "R" upgrade, you hear the riff a bit more distinctly from the backing instruments.  It's not so much an issue of "louder or softer" as much as it's an issue of "attack" of the notes.  The instrument that is riffing just has that little extra bit of attack and intensity to the notes.  

Tied in with that is the fact that when the music gets busy and/or loud, the seperation of all the different instrumental strands stays excellent, which is very, very rare in my experience.  Usually only (very good) pure tube equipment is good at that, but of course tube equipment would never have the dynamics and drive with my speakers (VMPS RM40's) that the 550exr has.

Of course these are all just preliminary impressions, I've got to run a lot more CD's through my system to form a precise, detailed fix on the changes/improvements.  Watch this space

[John Casler]

Cool!

Did you get a chance to see how the "re-modded" neopanels sounded before the change?

[Tyson]

Yes I did, before the upgrade they sounded more clear overall, but the mids were a bit too prominent.  I decided to wait before re-tuning until I got the upgrade finished, and I'm glad I did because the bass w/the upgrades now balances very nicely w/the rest of the spectrum, and I didn't have to retune at all. . .

[ekovalsky]

What do you mean by re-modded?  Is there a new, better way of fixing the Level9 panels?

[Xi-Trum]

Hey Tyson, what's the word on these now that you have over a month with them?  

[Tyson]

It's funny that you should ask that now, as I feel that they have just finished their "break in" period, and I had to re-tune my RM40's to them.  In short they have gone from great to awesome.  The only issue I had with them before breakin was their much more "upfront" sound.  A lot of the soundstage depth was gone, and the overall sound was more angular, inspite of using Mullards in the 550ex (which had been very soft sounding with these tubes before I sent it off).  But the increase in dynamics and resolution were very satisfying.  I figured I would just need to get used to the new sound.

Then there were several weeks where I could not really listen much, so I kept the system on and running tunes through it, even though I was busy with other things and couldn't sit in the sweet spot or even listen critically much at all.  

But this past week I got a chance to sit down and re-listen and also re-tune the 40's a bit.  And I gotta say that it was completely and absolutely worth getting the upgrade, the improvements are now across the board.  The tonal balance and warmth of tone is at least as good as before I sent it off, while impact, bass, resolution, all have taken a big step up.  So, I've gotta say I'm pretty dang happy.  Considering that the "R" upgrade is now standard on new units, they go from "solid" rec's, to "no-brainer" rec's.

I know that I "should" drag some other world class amps and preamp over to do comparisons to really see how things measure up (like I have done in the past), but honestly the sound I'm getting is so good, and so satisfying, that I just do not care what other stuff sounds like.  I'm too busy enjoying my music.

[amandarae]

I received my Transcendence Seven ECR last December 18.

First impression.....hum from just turning it on is as loud as I can possibly tolerate and more!

Tried cheater plugs as Frank suggested, tried it in my second sytem with different amps and speakers, and tried it in my brothers system with/without inputs connected and outputs to the amp.  The hum is ever-present and increases with the volume control

I will ship the unit to Frank on the 26th (to avoid holiday shipping madness just in case) as per his suggestion after talking to him.  

I bought this preamp after considering impressions and reviews from you (Tyson), Cut-Throat, Jackman, MarcB, etc. about this preamp.  I figure, that I will have the same gratification that they are experiencing after buying this preamp.   I am right!  The sound is great but the hum in my unit made me very disappointed after all the waiting and dreaming about it for two weeks.

Which reminds me, I should ask Frank when my 30-day period of trial should start considering that I have to ship it and may see it back by 2004 already.  Hmmmm...

Oh well, I hope that everything will work out in the end.

[Tyson]

If it hums, there is something wrong.  It should be dead quiet.  My T7 is the 2nd quietest preamp I've every used (after the Bent).  Probably a problem with the transformer.  I'd either send it back or get a replacement sent.

[jackman]

I'm with Tyson.  Very sorry it's not working out for you but mine is the quietest preamp I have ever tried.  There is literally zero noise coming from the speakers, even when you put your ear directly against the tweeter.  Maybe you have a bad tube.  I'd send it back and have it tested.  There is definitely something wrong with it.

Good luck, keep the faith.  I wouldn't give up on it because of this.  Frank and Co. will not let you down.

J

[amandarae]

Jackman,

I am "keeping the faith" alright!  I am sure that Frank will resolve this in a professional manner.  BTW, got the tubes today, thanks!   At least something went right!

Tyson,

It is funny!  I am considering replacement instead of repair in my case since the unit was DOA by all means.  I am just a little bit adamant to ask Frank about this due to respect.  Would you think it will be fair to send a replacement because of what happened?  I know about customer relations and such, and I don't doubt that Frank will deliver.  But sitting here, staring at my T7ECR in a box , waiting for the 26th to arrive so that I can ship the unit (take note, ship not receive) kills my holiday spirit day by day.  Will see what happens when I received the T7 (similar serial number or not) back.

I guess it's a matter of the "why me?" case here.

Having said all that, make no mistake , I will have a very nice sounding T7ECR free of hum soon.  I just wish it is sooner than I suspect.  The T7 supposed to be a Christmas gift for myself for working extra hard for the past couple of months for Chrissake

At present, I am stuck with the pre-pro to play my main rig since I've sold my other preamp after knowing that the T7 will be arriving almost a week ago.  (Believe me, the sound sucks bigtime!  )   That is how much confidence I am giving this (T7) product with. Lesson learned, and learned the hard way.