...T-amps...what are you thoughts

dee1949

...just hooked up system below: Got a system for my Godchild for Christmas and ordered myself one.

....Speakers

http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-B652-2-Inch-Bookshelf-Speaker/dp/B002RMPHMU

http://www.stereophile.com/content/dayton-audio-b652-loudspeaker

....T-amp - Lepai LP-2020A+ ...read reviews below

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=310-300

...That little T-am is amazing.....dead quiet. 20watts per...great for near field and headphone amp on the CHEAP !

...and what can you say about a $40.00 pair of speakers that STEREOphile mag reports on.

- Bargain basement setup.....thats sounds awesome for the $$$$.

zingo

Agreed. Tripath based amps seem to be the best sound for the price.

rooftop59

I have have the cheapest dayton and the one in my sig. I have really like them both. The cheap one was 40 bucks and it sounds pretty good really, just not a lot of bass. the DTA 100a sounds good, really good actually. I am listening to it right now. it replaced an adcom gfa 535, and for near-field listening I don't really feel that I am missing anything, and I like the slightly warmer sound.

zingo

The King-Rex T20 is my favorite so far.

timalan

For years, I used one of the Sonic Impact Tripath amps with a pair of old Bose 8.2 speakers... we threw probably a dozen or more rocking dance parties at our place using that setup. Sounded crazy good when paired with high-efficiency speakers...

I've used the Sonic Impact Tripath with various other pairs of speakers -- Mirage, Focal, Athena, etc., and have always had great results in terms of sound quality. Truly amazing sound for the money. Nothing out there can touch Tripath from a value standpoint as long as you have high-efficiency speakers.

dee1949

...a friend who rebuilt my Maggies, swears by them. He uses it with some ole time Western Electric full range speakers. Of course, after research, those ole time speakers cost an arm and a leg.

...but research brings up Fostex full range drivers. These drivers require unique enclosures....Fun.

...amazing how many different designs are applied to the ultimate audio solution.

cnh

That's a nice combo for the "money". Those little T-path amps are pretty good at less than ear bleeding volumes. Perfect for a desktop, or PC system.

I've had my eye on the Lepai for a while, but I picked up a Realistic STA-700 and had some old Minimus 7s that act as my PC system. The little 700 receiver is only 10 watts x 2 but it draws 130 watts from the wall! And the EQ (for Minimus speakers) in the receiver really makes the Minimus 7s sound much "bigger" and more spacious than they should.

But I did own a set of KLH L652Bs--remember those. They used to get discounted to 20 a pair at BB all the time and NOT only are the "numbers" similar to the Daytons? The specs and appearance are also dead ringers!

See KLH below and compare:

cnh

mhardy6647

They are surprisingly good sounding; even the cheap ones - they make music sound like music.

dee1949

....just hooked up an ole pair of DCM cx-17's to the T-amp. Remember DCM? Time Windows. These speakers are a sort of coaxial design. Awesome sound. Speakers are 92db efficient. Can fill a large room with good sound. T-amp's are amazing. You can put it in your pocket and take it anywhere.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77287757@N03/7666580670/

...next I am going to try it with my DCM Qed's. They are a tower speaker, half of a Time Window. They are also efficient speakers.

timalan

What are the lowest efficiency speakers people here have used successfully with a Tripath amp? I think the Bose I had were ~94 or 95db efficient and would shake the walls at 10wpc.

Tbone289

timalan wrote: »

What are the lowest efficiency speakers people here have used successfully with a Tripath amp? I think the Bose I had were ~94 or 95db efficient and would shake the walls at 10wpc.

I ran Polk RT3s (88-89db) off a Lepai for a while. It was a desktop setup, so I didn't need gobs of power, but the output was clean at the volume levels I listen.

timalan

For fun, I need to try the Sonic T-Amp I've got with the Platinum Duos, at 84-85db and see how it sounds. Not expecting much, but worth hooking up all the options available just to see what happens.

dee1949

....Ok for some ultimate FUN. Anyone with a Carver preamp with Holography...I am using the C-1. Send the audio out from my pc to aux in on Carver C-1. The C-1 has 2 amp outputs. Connected one to my 5 channel in another room and one to the little T-amp connected to the cheap Dayton Audio speakers. Pushed the Hologram button.....added another dimension....some AWESOME fun sound for near field monitors. Not accurate but the sound comes out of nowhere. Worth a try.

...Playing Jenniffer Warnes greatest hits....awesome for cheap speakers and amp. Only if we had access to systems like this back in the late 60's.

tonyb

Could swear I saw a tubed t-amp somewhere....that would be interesting.

dee1949

...you could add a tube pre between source and T-amp. Probably a waste since these little suckers are quiet and warm sounding. Everyone should carry one of these in there pocket (big pocket). Brought one over to a friends house last night and we hooked it up to his Celestion 100's...84db efficient...and he was in aw...and he is a tube guy. He ordered one immediately.

Good read of amp shoot out below:

http://www.stereomojo.com/KingrexT20vsTrendsTA10.1amplifiershootout.htm

Nhpm510

Used the sonic t amp and now have a trends. Total fun for small system or computer set up. Just don't recommend a stack of 5 for the home theater.

Probably too many wires for the wives and non-audio enthusiast to mess with for a PC set up. ( better with active/power monitors)