Mallette Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Paul: Love that avatar...looks just like you! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Well, I've been listening to the Trends for a couple of days. It is a cute little guy. Probably 20% cabinet volume of the Super T. I've been listening to a Super T amp for several months, and am quite fond of the sound. I'd read a six moons review of a shootout that included these two amps. Even though they gave the nod to the Trends, among the reviewers it was always close between the amps and a significant number of reviewers thought it was too close to call. When I first listened to it, on a particular track, I wondered if the Trends was as detailed as the Super T. Just a wondering and don't now recall what I was listening to. For the most part, I couldn't tell any difference at all. I think I might prefer the feel of the attenuator/volume knob on the Super T. Blue LED on the Super T is larger and much brighter. That's not a plus for everyone. On my Trends unit, the blue LED went out after two days. Now I'll have to deal with a return to the dealer. Also, will need to decide, I suppose, if I'll just return it or request an exchange. Anyone else have a problem with the Trends? On preference for sound, anyone that could tell the difference in sound, in a blind test, more power to em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Interesting Dee. Is your T a suped up version like Dean's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauln Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 My blue light started blinking intermittantly on about day three andfinally went out for good. Thank goodness! I was considering putting apeice of black tape over the LED or snipping the leads to the littlelaser wannabe from day one... Performed the DC offset today.Original levels were 2 and 4mV, now both 0. Both still measured deadzero after putting the case together, I'm pleased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted May 8, 2007 Share Posted May 8, 2007 Arky, Just the stock Super T. Wow, another LED out on a new Trends. That must be a pretty common quality problem with Trends. I wonder about the rest of the elements in the little guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhendrix Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 My little blue light is blinking, too. Doesn't seem to affect the sound, but it is annoying. I emailed Mike Wyatt at Audio Magnus at 11:28 PM and he responded at 11:32PM. Now that's service!! I continue to be most impressed with Mike Wyatt at Audio Magnus. Here's his response: Sorry about that! Trends got hold of a batch of bad LEDs. They shipped amps before they knew. (It typically takes a bit of playing time before they fail.) The fix is a replacement LED. I have a box of good LEDs here and can send a replacement or you can return the amp and have us do the replacement. Its a simple soldering job.Regards,MikeMike Wyattwww.audiomagus.comtel: 360.551.6945fax: 206.238.3130email: mwyatt@audiomagus.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatsix Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Bill, I agree, Mike does provide great service. I also like his emphasis on DIY. I ordered one of his TweaKits for the 10.1. I want to listen to it stock for a while before tweaking, though. Great amp -- fun stuff. --Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 That is surprising to see a third forum member with a bad LED. They certainly did get a bad batch. Sounds like the audio magus guy is excellent for service. I ordered mine from the east coast distributor haven't heard back from my e-mail yet, but the guy was helpful to send a tracking number to confirm shipping. Probably will hear back today. Might be easier to do a diy repair, if that is all it is. It's an inconvenience to pack up and ship. I suppose the only problem would be voiding the warranty if something else should fail. I will have to say that the Super T amp has had no quality problems at all. I've been running mine for months without a problem. I've been thinking about moving it to my main system, but would need some sort of a component switcher/selector. Haven't seen anything that I especially like, maybe the Niles audio unit. Any suggestions? Ken, When you do the tweaks, be sure to post your take on the sound. Listening stock for a while is a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 I'll probably order this next week: Tripath 2020 with PSU in separate chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 I'm just not sure class D is really digital - I have not found anything published about it yet that says anything other than that it is analog all the way. Is there something I'm missing? =============== I think what's missing is the "third choice." These are neither analog or digital, they are "switching" amplifiers. If by third choice you mean the digital signal of delta sigma modulation, then yes...there is a third choice. It's still digital. SACD's use sigma delta modulation and they even taught us how to design digital filters for it in the DSP class I just finished on Monday...SDM is indeed different than PCM, but there's nothing stopping you from translating between either format digitally. In fact, that's something my lab partner and I hope to become more familiar with next fall...(feeding a PCM signal directly into the chip of a digital amplifier, where the digital signal is amplified and filtered into analog in the same process).Basically, anyone that is arguing that SDM is analog is arguing that PCM is analog. Time to start learning how these things work instead of sharing feelings about their behavior... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Is that 20W per channel Dean? Any reason the PSU is in a seperate chassis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Is that 20W per channel Dean? No, it's 13 wpc into 8 ohms and 22 into 4 -- just slightly more than the 2024 chip. Any reason the PSU is in a seperate chassis? I suppose it might reduce noise -- I can't think of any other reason. The main appeal here is that it's a more serious undertaking than you normally see with these things, and not for all that much more money. The chassis' and VC are more upscale, and you get a regulated power supply with a good deal more filtration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhendrix Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Mike Wyatt, Audio Magnus, says that Trends is now working on a preamp. Now, if only we could find a Dobly/DTS package with 7.1 we'd have a winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhendrix Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 I found a lot of interesting stuff on T-Amps on Michael Mardis site. Michael does mods on the Trends through Audio Magnus. http://www.michael.mardis.com/sonic/start.html Not affiliated . . . yada . . . .yada . . . .yada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Here's one for folks who can't stand the thought of not having some tubes in the system and want a little more power. Tripath 2022 for 60wpc and buffered VC using two EF91 tubes. Pretty expensive though at $399.00. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Seems to me if it has an analog input -- it's analog, and if it outputs in analog -- it's analog. I suppose because of the switching, it's a digital/analog hybrid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Dr. Who.. In these PWM amplifiers, as we are referring to here, what is the input signal, and what is the output signal? If you take an A/D feed it to a D/A it is both analog in and analog out... surely you are not going to tell me it isn't digital? Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Dean, "Seems to me if it has an analog input -- it's analog, and if it outputs in analog -- it's analog." You plug POTs into a VOIP router use a VPN to get to another VOIP router with a POTs plugged into it and talk over it.... analog in, analog out.... is it an analog connection? Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 "Which PWM amplifiers have ADC and DAC in them?" What function do you think the modulator performs? And what function is the power stage/output filter? AnADC modulates analog audio into pulse code modulation. The Tripathmodulator modulates analog audio into pulse width modulation. ADAC takes pulse code modulation and in combination with the outputfilter spits out analog. The Tripath output stage takes pulse widthmodulation and in combination with the output filter spits out analog. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 Sorry just double checked the Tripath sheet and I used the wrong terms above. Tripath calls the input chip the 'controller' and the output chip the 'modulator.' Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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