Have a chance to get my first tube amp.
Don't know anythinga about it, except the seller sez it
works well, and is a heavy "brute."

Any feedback would be appreciated.

thanks,
dennis

There´s mention of a 1590E here, but it´s not tubed.

http://alteclansingunofficial.nlenet.net/p...iers/index.html

Looks like a heavy brute. Is it worth it? Depends on how much you are paying.

Jorge

The specs.

Looks like it´s a mono unit. Good for a sub project, I´d say.

Jorge

Hey, Hifi.
Perhaps the C is tubular and the E is SS?
Yeah, it's mono, and the fellow wants 100 bux for it.
A pair of them went for under 150 dollars on ohboy.
I decided to take a pass on it. It seemed fairly "ordinary,"
and the kind of thing I'll jump on if I stumble across it for cheap.
Instead, I am going to abide by my plan to sell off all of the scraps
to spend the money on a really nice amp.
I am not decided whether it will be something tubular,
or solidifiedstate. I'm thinking tube makes sense with my
Klipsch speakers, which are one of my top components.
IF I do go SS, the brand and model will depend on how much
cash I shake free. Seems like a situation where if I spend
$1,000 rather than $500, I can get far more than double the
performance. I like my Adcom CD changer a lot, and they
have some good stuff closer to the $500. Carver has a broad
range of stuff.
I've never heard anyone badmouth Bryston,
but I haven't bracketed the market, so I may be talking
out of my hat on that brand.
I'm going to do a LOT of listening while I'm trimming down my collection,
and I'll be coming back to y'all for some feedback.

Thanks again,
dennis

if you dont want to spen a lot of $$ but still want some very good sound from an amp, i think the Trend Audio T-10.1 or the Sonic Impact Super T-amp would be very good candidates for Klipsch speakers.

i have both of these little chip amps and think they are both excellent performers for the money. the only caveat is their low power (15wpc) which makes them much better suited for hi efficiancy speakers, like Klipsch. which one sounds best to my ears? the margin is small, they both sound great, but right now i am leaning towards the Trends Audio.

What kind of price range are we talking about with the Tremd Audio
and Sonic Impact models you mentioned, Scott?

Super T - http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=300-956
i read somewhere that there will soon be a new Super T, but there is nothing on the Sonic Impact site about it - http://www.si5.com/products.php?pID=4004.

Trends Audio TA-10.1 - http://www.audiomagus.com or http://www.hifilogic.com. i got mine from Audio Magus because they do a full function -*test*-('") before they ship the unit. Trends Audio site - http://www.trendsaudio.com/EN/Product/TA-10_desc.htm.

both amps have several avenues available for DIY modding if you are so inclined. as you can see on the Audio Magus site, there are several levels of upgrades that can be done to the TA-10.1 for you, if you dont want to DIY.

both of mine are stock and sound good enough that i am not looking to upgrade them at any time soon.

I concur with Scott about chip amps. I have the super sonic-T and i like it a lot.
Here's a list of some Digital Amplifiers you might like to know, as well :

http://soundt.18.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=787

Not going to generate any heat sink envy here...

So, instead of my first tube amp, I got my first chip amp.

Showed up today, about four days after I ordered it.
Think Geek had the thing SHIPPED within 12 hours of the order.

I'm going to go thru my stuff and see what I have in terms of cabling to hook it up. I have a small box full of converters, so I should have a 12v adapter to make it go. Oherwise, I'm intrigued by the idea of running an amp on AA batteries!

I have been using the super long life lithium batteries in a walkman, and after probably 8 hours (intermittent), they are still showing full power.

The box sez hook them to any speakers, and indicates 4 or 8 ohm speakers.
How do you think this portable t-amp will handle a 4-ohm load (KLH 20s)?

dunno, but there's only one way to find out. whats the efficiency rating of the 20's?

Why are chip amps talked highly of when it is a Sonic T or the like but in a full on receiver it is shunned? I have a chip amp that I posted about a long time ago on another forum and everyone said chip amps were crap. I know very little about the workings and therefore functionality of these things so i can't decipher what to think of all this.

Amp...



Chipset...

Hey, SuperFly.
If it's the forum I'm familiar with you from, they make a habit of looking down their noses at, and making fun of, anything that does fit neatly into their biases. I don't mean to be talking out of turn, but I've discussed this phenomenon with several members. I experienced the same thing on a forum dedicated to one brand of speakers and was JUMPED by a troglodyte to the point I just bowed out.
One question that generated particular derision: Why couldn't several types of computer cable be used as speaker wire? Seemed to me that was an innocent enough question, and if the answer was "Because X won't achieve Y" then we've achieved something.

To me, closemindedness and attacks are the ANTITHESIS of these fora. It's a FORUM, an exchange of ideas. That includes protection for all of the ignorant and naive questions people like me ask. I recommend you start the same thread here and see what the response looks like, or just hijack this thread. Unless I'm asking a very specific question, I don't much care where a discussion goes.

Kelly,
i dont know anything about your chip amp in question, other than it is a vastly different animal from the T-amp and its ilk. as for the T-amp -vs- receiver debate, imo the T's modest power makes it suitable only within a narrow range of applications, where as a receiver of only average power is going to be much more versatile. as for sound quality, i'll put my Luxman R-117, Yamaha CR-2020 or Carver Receiver up against any T-amp, any day.

lots of people do just that. CAT5 cable is widely accepted as a DIY speaker cable of better than decent (zip cord) sound quality.

Kelly,

I´m no expert, but the pics you show us are of a receiver with Darlington Power Packs on the outputs.

Those Darlington Power Packs were widely used in the 70´s in many receivers, and I believe they comprised a lot of output transistor equivalents in just one small package.

I know for sure that some highly respected Sanyo Receivers from the 70´s used them, including the JCX-2400 that I have had at a Tech´s to be repaired for well over a year ( I think I´ve lost all hope of ever getting it working now ) as well as some of the MOTL Pionner and Technics units too.

IMO your receiver is not a chip unit. I believe modern chip amps are different beasts all together, mostly class D, based on highly efficient switching power supplies, as used in car-audio, hence the reason they can be powered by batteries or smallish DC adapters. I´m sure you understand now why they are looked down at by audiofools, sorry, audiophiles.

Again, going back to your receiver, you can see a large power transformer, as well as some large caps in the power supply. All classic stuff.

I´m sorry to break the bad news to you, but I don´t think you own a chip amp.

Jorge