Trends 10.1 T-amp

[StevenSurprenant]

I have had one this these for a few weeks now and I am very impressed with it.

It improved the sound of everything I connected it to.

The greatest changes were transparency and separation which resulted in a very clear soundstage.

I used it on my Maggie MC1's which while not playing overly loud sounded much better than going through my Yamaha RX-V1800 receiver. Well, there goes that idea that Maggies sound better with more power. We'll have to change that to better amplification instead.

I also ran it through my homebrew Newforms and the results were amazing. I have only one 10.1 and I biamp my speakers. I used it on the tweeters of both channels and used my Panasonic (also a digital amp) on the woofers. Then I used the 10.1 on one speaker and the Panny on the other. There is a huge difference between them. The Panny sounds somewhat opaque compared to the Trends. Just so you know, I replaced a very expensive amp with the Panny because of its clarity. Well I thought it was clear until now.

I was wondering if others had experiance with this amp and what their opinions were.

I've read all the reviews and have to agree with most of them. I am more interested in what the people here have to say.

So wadaya think?

[dingus]

i started out with the original Sonic Impact t-amp, got a Super-T and then followed up with the Trends Audio TA-10.1. the Super T and the TA-10.1 are a cut above with the TA-10.1 edging the Super-T in terms of refinement and mostly for being able to deliver more dynamics than the Super T. the speakers i use these on are a pair of ADS L-710's and L-810's, not the typical high efficiency speaker one would normally choose to use with a t-amp. the TA-10.1 just does a better job with the load that these ADS speakers carry. i run the Super-T on the 710's stacked on the 810's that are driven with the TA-10.1 ... this is a very, very good sounding combination. all of these are stock units, but you can improve any of them a great deal with some fairly simple DIY mods.

i did use the Super-T once with a buddy's pair of Pioneer S-1010's and that is an awesome combination. a quote from that experience at http://www.sound-thinking.org/index.php?showtopic=826

wow, what a fantastic speaker. very, very clean highs without being bright and not a hint of harshness, i just loved how smooth they were. as for the low end, nice and tight with lots of authority. i was very suprised at the high level of refinement these speakers are capable of, i would be very happy with them.
i have also heard a modded original SI t-amp on a pair of Tannoy Berkley's and this was another stellar combination. both of these experiences proved to me that to get the best from this class of t-amp, you really need to run with a high quality and high efficient speaker.

i havent had the opportunity to try other t-amps so i cannot comment further.

[StevenSurprenant]

I guess that that not too many people have tried this amp, too bad. I thank you for your reply. You seem to have looked into this very thoroughly. I just ordered my second unit to complete my bi-amp system. BTW, I bought the value modded ones from audiomagus.

I have to tell you this...

One area that these amps excel in is the delineation and separation of images in the soundstage. Also it seems to allow me to hear things, and hear very clearly, that I didn't even know were in the recording to a greater degree than most amps I have heard. I've played the very same CDs on many very expensive systems and have never heard what I hear on my Newform/SEAS system. I suppose that it's a matter of synergy. My speakers are about 91db efficient.

Although the transparency is almost the best I've heard, it does sound a little dry. I'll be inserting a preamp in the system to see if it warms it up a bit. They were very warm sounding with the Maggies.

Another idea I had was to replace the input caps with Mundorf silver/oil. I had great results with them used as a speaker crossover. The only thing is they won't fit in the little case. The Mundorf seemed more harmonically rich over the lower priced caps.

Anyway, thanks

There's no going back now!

[dingus]

... Although the transparency is almost the best I've heard, it does sound a little dry. I'll be inserting a preamp in the system to see if it warms it up a bit ....
ah, i forgot a critical element. in every instance, in my experience, these amps benefit greatly with the use of a good preamp. i did little or no research, just tried them out (because they are inexpensive) and reported my findings. i like these little amps. they give you a high level of refinement for not a lot of $$$. match them with the right speakers and you have sound that can easily compete with amps that retail in thousands of dollars.

[audio amateur]

I'm loving mine. I wish it had a little more power though, as my speakers are quite inefficient