• 11-18-2011, 05:08 AM
    StevenSurprenant
    Trends TA 10.1 versus Tube amps
    At present I own a Trends TA 10.1 T-amp. In many circles, it has been reviewed well and some have suggested that it's characteristics are similar to tube gear in terms of soundstaging and separation.

    The question is... Have any of you compared a T-amp to tube gear (in your home) and what are your thoughts on this? I'm less interested in power output and more in sound characteristics. But it has been said that small tube amps can produce the best sound. I really don't have any idea or experience in this. Your thoughts?

    My background...

    I've listened to many tube amps, but all of them in different systems. Some of them were warm sounding and some of them sounded like SS gear. Some of them image well while others were about average. I've heard great soundstaging from both SS gear and tubes. The point is that I cannot get a handle on them and say they are better than SS, the same, or just different. My experience is extremely limited.
  • 11-18-2011, 05:41 AM
    Feanor
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by StevenSurprenant View Post
    At present I own a Trends TA 10.1 T-amp. In many circles, it has been reviewed well and some have suggested that it's characteristics are similar to tube gear in terms of soundstaging and separation.

    The question is... Have any of you compared a T-amp to tube gear (in your home) and what are your thoughts on this? I'm less interested in power output and more in sound characteristics. But it has been said that small tube amps can produce the best sound. I really don't have any idea or experience in this. Your thoughts?

    ....

    I have owned both Tripath (Bel Canto) and International Rectifier (Class D Audio SDS) power amps; both were/are exceptional in resolution and what I call transparency -- i.e. the ability to separate individual instruments and voices in the soundstage. Unfortunately I don't have the experience to compare with a tube power amp, although the Monarchy SM-70 Pro's I previously used were supposedly more "tube-like" than most s/s. Both of my class D's were a bit more transparent than the Monarchys.