Tripath amps abound lately

[Blvdre]

Well, it looks interesting. I did find some posting on an Asian forum. Sounds like it could be a diy kit or something. There are some remarks about white noise being a problem.

http://www.review33.com/palm/forum_msg_palm1.php?topic=45080530121731&number=301

Thanks for that link, interesting stuff. He (she?) initially complains of white noise, but then swaps out the gain stage op-amp for an LM4562, after which he claims excellent results. White noise much reduced, improved detail etc., even going so far as to say it bests his SET amp. Hmm...

You can buy pop pulse stuff at obad import. I don't think they offer these in kits, but I could be wrong.

[Daddy Dee]

Well, it looks interesting. I did find some posting on an Asian forum. Sounds like it could be a diy kit or something. There are some remarks about white noise being a problem.

http://www.review33.com/palm/forum_msg_palm1.php?topic=45080530121731&number=301

Thanks for that link, interesting stuff. He (she?) initially complains of white noise, but then swaps out the gain stage op-amp for an LM4562, after which he claims excellent results. White noise much reduced, improved detail etc., even going so far as to say it bests his SET amp. Hmm...

You can buy pop pulse stuff at obad import. I don't think they offer these in kits, but I could be wrong.

yeh. I have to say I couldn't track that thread at all.

[Daddy Dee]

Do you think you've got the bandwidth for a road trip?

Road trip to AR! Let's see, I'd have to bring my SET amps, Jamboree bass bins, Jubilees?, passive networks for Jubilees, V-Trac horns with BMS drivers and probably quite a few other things I can't think of right now.

It would only take me two days to get there.

You'd have to put the worm on the hook for me. LOL.

Greg

Heh, yeh. I'll be glad to bait your hook.

Seti has some Jub clone bass bins and Bob has got MWM's so there won't be so much to pack! []

Of course, by the time you get here, it's only two more hours down the road to Hope! We can go down there to harass Roy Delgado at thet Klipsch factory and get fajitas at Amigo Juan's.

[greg928gts]

Do you think you've got the bandwidth for a road trip?

Road trip to AR! Let's see, I'd have to bring my SET amps, Jamboree bass bins, Jubilees?, passive networks for Jubilees, V-Trac horns with BMS drivers and probably quite a few other things I can't think of right now.

It would only take me two days to get there.

You'd have to put the worm on the hook for me. LOL.

Greg

Heh, yeh. I'll be glad to bait your hook.

Seti has some Jub clone bass bins and Bob has got MWM's so there won't be so much to pack!

Of course, by the time you get here, it's only two more hours down the road to Hope! We can go down there to harass Roy Delgado at thet Klipsch factory and get fajitas at Amigo Juan's.

It is very tempting. I would love to meet you guys and to see the Hope factory would be fantastic. I just can't do it right now.

Greg

[Daddy Dee]

Yeh. I hear that.

You've got a rain check for a better time.

One other thing. Of course, you will want to have pics made visiting the Peabody Hotel ducks and the Clinton Presidential mobile home..... er Library.

[Blvdre]

yeh. I have to say I couldn't track that thread at all.

Alry!

[sheltie dave]

Looks like the Sonic T is back... http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-958

[Mallette]

Just got this from a newsletter I get at work:

Rolls PA202

At 159.00 the price is promising. No hint as to the chipset, but it's bridgeable to 40w.

Dave

[Tom Mobley]

>> "Looks like the Sonic T is back... http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-958"

Wow, $69. I got mine for $50 less than that. It's still hooked up to my faithful Corns and sounds as good as ever.

[Mallette]

Just bought this for 202.50.

I did a bit of research and the reviews were all glowing. However, like the Panny's and such, they seem to have failed commercially. One person had replaced the same Panny I have with this and said it sounded better. Hard for me to imagine as my Panny is accurate and smooth, however, that specific reference clenched the deal.

Anybody know anything about this chip set? Seems like the Tripath is all that gets any respect, but what I've heard from my Panny is precisely what folks say they get from the Tripath...except I am getting it with a lot more watts and features. Looking forward to messing with the Ethernet connection.

So the Panny migrates to the Frazier Eleven system, the Sony that is there now goes down to the master bedroom system, and the Denon that is there moves out to the patio system (it's ProLogic died and only two channel remains anyway). Citation goes back to the audio closet.

KENWOOD VRS-N8100 7.1 Fineline™ Networking A/V Receiver

li>Dolby® Digital EX, DTS-ES® & Dolby® Pro Logic® llx 7.1-channel Surround Sound

Dolby® headphone & Dolby® virtual speakerRigid chassis constructionSurround power: 100W x 6Plays audio, video & picture files from PCs via ethernet connectionPlays still picture files from media cards via a PCMCIA card slotPure Path Digital™ power amplifier & high-resolution digital volume controlSHARC® 32-bit floating-point DSP processingSilver

AV Control Center with Network FunctionSilver Aluminum panel, hairline finish and slim designPure Path Digital Power amplifierDivX playback capabilityPlays DivX5, DivX4, DivX VOD video contentHD component pass throughDigital AM/FM tuner; 40 presets

Features & Specifications:

Product Model	VRS-N8100
Analog to Digital Converter	96kHz - 24bit
Digital to Analog Converter	96kHz - 24bit
Frequency Response	20Hz to 20kHz
Processor	ADI SHARC 32-bit - DSP
Channel(s)	6.1 Channel(s)
Output Power	6 x 100W RMS 1kHz) @ 6Ohm 0.5% THD - Surround2 x 100W RMS (20Hz to 20kHz) @ 6Ohm 0.7% THD - Stereo6 x 130W RMS 1kHz) @ 6Ohm 10% THD - Surround2 x 130W RMS 1kHz) @ 6Ohm 10% THD - Stereo2 x 70W RMS (20Hz to 20kHz) @ 8Ohm 0.7% THD - Stereo
Impedance	6Ohm
Sound System	Dolby Digital EX EmbeddedDolby Pro Logic IIx EmbeddedDTS EmbeddedDTS-ES EmbeddedDTS Neo: 6 EmbeddedDTS 96/24 EmbeddedDolby Digital Embedded
Frequency Band/Bandwidth	AMFM
Controls	Front Panel : AV/Aux InputGame Video Inputs

More Information:
Ethernet ConnectionGUI Operation for Networking FeaturesQuartz PLL Synthesized Digital TuningActive EQ by DSP5 DSP listening ModesSupreme for MP3, WMA playbackMemory cards photo data reading capability by front panel PC card slot

[Daddy Dee]

Dave,

Very cool. Hadn't heard of this one. Looking forward to hearing your take on it.

I got my Virtue in the mail today and have been listening this afternoon.

The sound is very good. Vaudio says it needs break in for 100 or 200 hours. We'll see. I'm impressed already.

[Mallette]

Dave,

Very cool. Hadn't heard of this one. Looking forward to hearing your take on it.

I got my Virtue in the mail today and have been listening this afternoon.

The sound is very good. Vaudio says it needs break in for 100 or 200 hours. We'll see. I'm impressed already.

Break in DIGITAL? Sounds pretty weird to me. Digits get more accurate with aging?

Anyway, I realized that since there are only two chip sets this one is TI like the Panny. So, worst case is that it performs as well, which, IMHO, is about as good as it gets.

Dave

[Daddy Dee]

Yeh. I don't understand that break in, either.

It will be interesting to find out if you hear any difference between the kenwood and the panny.

It is sort of odd that the chip amps are still sleepers.

[greg928gts]

Vaudio says it needs break in for 100 or 200 hours. We'll see. I'm impressed already.

I'm very suspect of directives like this. What it sounds like to me, is the company is buying time with each unit sold, so that if the customer doesn't like it for some reason, they will be able to say "well, did you give it 100 hours of break in time"? 100 hours for me would be three months (in my living room system), and that's only if I'm not rolling amps.

Greg

[Daddy Dee]

Yeh. It's hard to know what one really hears over time. There is a genuine, I think, phenomenon in listening that is something like acquiring a taste for a different reference sound. So, break in... I'm glad at least they aren't talking about breakin for cables. I got the same break in advice when I ordered the upsampler option for my AH! cdp. In that case the product is excellent. The advice just sounds odd. The Virtue amps are the real deal, BTW.

Here's a little info on the dif between Virtue ONE and Virtue TWO

For those of you interested in the actual differences between the ONE and TWO, here they are:

Feature	Virtue.ONE	Virtue.TWO
Controller chip	TC2000	TC2000/1
Power chip	TP2050	DDX2260
Input cap	Virtucap	Auricap
Binding posts	Brass	Copper
Power supply (std)	24v	30v
Big power cap	35v ECO-S1VP223DA	50v ECOS1HP223EA
Small power cap	1000uF @ 35v ( EKZE350ELL102MK25S )	820uF @ 50v (*EKZE500ELL821MK35S)
Name-plate	Red	Silver

Does the Virtue.ONE on the standard 24 volt supply sound different to one used with the 30 volt supply? Again the difference was small with my efficient speakers. Trying it with the IPL A2's (89db) I felt there wasn't such great control of the bass with the 24v supply. I always tended back toward the 30 volt supply, and at the price, I would personally recommend that option with the Virtue.ONE. It makes a very good amplifier into a great one in my opinion.

[Mallette]

On break in or breaking one's self in, I seem to be the opposite. I recall hooking up my Panny for the first time. I was working a contract at Fort Lost in the Woods, MO and had a pair of Frazier Monte Carlos with me along with a Denon receiver. I put on "Cookin'" by Miles Davis and at the first cymbal strike I was totally bowled over and in love. Not subtle or slow to grow, I mean like "I've been an audiophile for nearly 40 years and never heard a cymbal like that" good. Like many things, it became routine over time and now I just enjoy with the big rush.

Dave

[Deang]

Vaudio says it needs break in for 100 or 200 hours. We'll see. I'm impressed already.

I'm very suspect of directives like this. What it sounds like to me, is the company is buying time with each unit sold, so that if the customer doesn't like it for some reason, they will be able to say "well, did you give it 100 hours of break in time"? 100 hours for me would be three months (in my living room system), and that's only if I'm not rolling amps.

Greg

They draw so little power most people just leave them on. In my house, the break-in period would be over in about four days. I believe in burn in time, but in the case of capacitors, Richard Marsh told me that 10-20 hours is all it takes. My Super-T did smooth out after a couple of days. Nothing dramatic, but I noticed it.

[greg928gts]

Vaudio says it needs break in for 100 or 200 hours. We'll see. I'm impressed already.

I'm very suspect of directives like this. What it sounds like to me, is the company is buying time with each unit sold, so that if the customer doesn't like it for some reason, they will be able to say "well, did you give it 100 hours of break in time"? 100 hours for me would be three months (in my living room system), and that's only if I'm not rolling amps.

Greg

They draw so little power most people just leave them on. In my house, the break-in period would be over in about four days. I believe in burn in time, but in the case of capacitors, Richard Marsh told me that 10-20 hours is all it takes. My Super-T did smooth out after a couple of days. Nothing dramatic, but I noticed it.

Oh, I thought it would have to be playing music.

Greg

[Deang]

I think you only need music when you're breaking in speakers. Heck, that could be what they mean, if so -- I agree that 100+ hours is a bit ridiculous.

[pmsummer]

>> "Looks like the Sonic T is back... http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-958"

Wow, $69. I got mine for $50 less than that. It's still hooked up to my faithful Corns and sounds as good as ever.

$39... with power supply.