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Just ordered a Trends 10.1 Class T Digital Amp - A whopping $130


Cut-Throat

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hi cut throat, (what is your name anyway...? :) ),

well, i did intend to hook one amp to the speakers and enjoy it with the intention also of doing an a-b comparison with my current amp. i have mentioned also that i dont have the best system and i really hope to be able to hear a marked difference. be that as it may, i am enamored with the idea of being able to maximize as much as is practical with this pair of amps. if it's possible to hook up both and get a better sound and/or level of performance then i'd like to do that. however, if not then so be it. at this price point i'm not out by too much and maybe will keep the extra amp for a spare or maybe resell it. still i would very much appreciate whatever words of wisdom could be shared about being able to utilize both amps if it would yield any advantage. thanks very much for sharing your experience and know-how.

pete

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p.s. would bi-amping be able to raise
any real level of performance with the klipschorns? volume?
better anything?

In the Dope From Hope PWK
wrote about biamping experiments and found no advantage. He may have
been doing it old primitive style - see picture below... Modern style
splits the signals early so the amps don't carry a full spectrum
frequency. Dr Who and others know more...

post-16099-13819330578542_thumb.jpg

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Someone said what this country needs is a good 5 watt amplifier. I
played Bach organ music yesterday loud - pedals and all - I'm so
stunned! This amp is spectacular. I can't recommed strongly enough that
every high efficiency Klipsch owner should get one. The next listening
party I attend I will walk in with this amp in my pocket...

For those wondering about how much it puts out, here is the 2024 sheet.

post-16099-13819330586816_thumb.jpg

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hmm, another question. my speaker setup isnt optimal and i've been raising the base gain on the nad amp to bring out the lows. what is available in the way of an equalizer in case i want to do this with the trends. obviously there are many equalizers out there but i wonder what might be available in a low cost unit that wont degrade the sound. thanks again for the advice!!

pete

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Pete, the graph is showing that the distortion and noise of the Trends

stays below .03% up through just over 5 watts, then starts to rise.

This means with KHorns, LS, and Belles it stays below .03% up to SPL

levels in excess of 110 dB. And don't worry about the low end - my La

Scalas are scaring me with loads of lovely liquid bass.

post-16099-13819330587456_thumb.jpg

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OK - To all you guys that think this sounds fantastic....... If you spent $600 for this, would you still give it such glowing reviews? $1,000? I'm asking if the praise is based on a "OMG, this sounds great for the money" type thing.

I think it would be deliciously fun to put in into a shootout and do blind tests. Actually, in these local get-together shootouts, I never see any blind tests being done. If I hosted a shoot-out, I'd have everyone close their eyes or leave the room while I changed wires to an amp and threw a sheet over everything. :) Wish people would do that more.

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OK - To all you guys that think this sounds fantastic....... If you spent $600 for this, would you still give it such glowing reviews? $1,000? I'm asking if the praise is based on a "OMG, this sounds great for the money" type thing.

I think it would be deliciously fun to put in into a shootout and do blind tests. Actually, in these local get-together shootouts, I never see any blind tests being done. If I hosted a shoot-out, I'd have everyone close their eyes or leave the room while I changed wires to an amp and threw a sheet over everything. :) Wish people would do that more.

Actually I just sold a pair of Monarchy Monoblocks that listed for $2K, this little Trends amp is far better than the Monarchies. So, I'd say the amp is Damn good even if it was $800. At over $1000, I've got better SET amps. So that's where it fits for me. At $130 it's a fricken steal.

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meagain,

I've been using a Tripath amp for years and have compared it over time to other amps. In a way it IS a case of how I would like it if it cost $600, or $2000. What I've suggested to people who hear it is, if they're going to spend more money on an amp it should sound better than the Tripath.

What I've found is the Tripath is a great lesson in what low distortion at low power does for Klipsch speakers, as long as users keep other distortion producing things such as preamps out of the audio chain. Often people think the high end is muted or soft (thus the reference to higher output impedance at 10 to 20 KHz). But I think what they are really hearing, sometimes for the first time, is a lack of high end distortion that they've heard in all amplified sound, that gives it a kind of kick or "slam." Without that distortion slam they think it's rolled off. But it isn't, that's just the way things really sound, and obviously several people here are finding they like something closer to the real thing.

I have found amps that I prefer, but they all cost much more. I think the Tripath amps are a great reference. One of mine is now on loan with a pair of RB-5s to a friend who is trying to design a new system. Based on the Tripath performance with Klipsch speakers, he is basing his new multichannel system on Klipsch speakers.

Leo

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OK - To all you guys that think this sounds fantastic....... If you spent $600 for this, would you still give it such glowing reviews? $1,000? I'm asking if the praise is based on a "OMG, this sounds great for the money" type thing.

I think it would be deliciously fun to put in into a shootout and do blind tests. Actually, in these local get-together shootouts, I never see any blind tests being done. If I hosted a shoot-out, I'd have everyone close their eyes or leave the room while I changed wires to an amp and threw a sheet over everything. :) Wish people would do that more.

I can't comment on the Trends amp but I can comment on its cousin the Sonic Impact T-amp. Considering that it sounds incredibly better than any amp I've ever owned (which, honestly, haven't been anything high-end: 70's Harman/Kardon 730 twin powered, mid 90's Sony Dolby Pro-Logic receiver, new H/K 3480 2 channel), to me it would make sense that I would have paid at least $500 for it. If someone were to have taken all the guts out of the t-amp and put it in a full-size audio chassis complete with quality RCA inputs, nice volume knob, nice speaker wire connectors, etc, etc, I'd see there being no problem for someone to plunk down $500 for it.

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I just hooked mine up to the k-horns last night. It is fantastic! You just can't go wrong with this thing for 130.00 it is a steal. It played loud enough for me in my smallish room (13x21). I never play real loud anyhow. I am going to try it with my H3's in the bedroom system. If all goes well I can sell off the sunfire stuff I have in their, clear up some room, and have a few bucks for the pocket book.[:D]

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Pauln - Do you feel this Trends sounds better than what you were running before?

Overall
I'm thinking yes. I think in order to match it I would need to get an
expensive sub (like an expensive REL) to mate with the SETs. That would
give the Trends a run for the money (but the money difference would be
a few thousand dollar$!)

The Teac version uses the same 2024 chip and the instructions
for that mentioned that the fine timing of the transistor switching is
controlled by an algorythm that "learns" how to optimise the switching
as more and more music is played through the amp. Since the Trends has
the same chip this may be true for it as well, but I find no mention of
it. Do your SI instructions say anything like that? Many are finding
that the Trends sounds better and better as it gets some hours on it
(run in?) and I suspect it may use the same switch optimization
algorythm to dial in the performance.

I know you like it
loud and extended low. The Trends has a great solid low end and will
play clean (.03%) up through 5 watts (110dB on the big Heritage). You
know how loud super clean peaks of 110dB sounds... (I don't, 'cause
I've only approached 100 which for me is very loud - especially since I
am still getting used to the La Scalas playing deep bass loudly without
room effects - still freaking me out!). I'm trying to listen to
something a little louder each day but I have already passed the point
of what I would consider max super loud for me (2 watts peaks!).

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The TEAC doesn't use the 2024.

The Trends has a great solid low end and will play clean (.03%) up through 5 watts (110dB on the big Heritage). You know how loud super clean peaks of 110dB sounds...

Yeah, if you sit three feet in front of the speaker and don't factor in headroom. Into an 8 ohm load these things barely hit 6 wpc. Into 4 ohms, you get about 9 -- and to handle peaks without clipping you need at least 3dB of headroom. In my room, it sounds clean and uncompressed up to about 95dB, which is what one should expect sitting about 12 feet back with a 104dB speaker. Anyone into a lot of live level listening should ignore this thread.

http://www.crownaudio.com/apps_htm/designtools/elect-pwr-req.htm

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