Mini-T amp: what sounds great, what sounds grating...

[Mr Nad]

Having used the Mini-T for several weeks, my enjoyment of music has been rekindled. Even more impressive, my wife is listening more to music too. So this amp is definitely hitting the right buttons :eyebrows: It's such a revealing amp.

Anyway, this thread is for users to tell us what sounds great and what sounds grating through the Mini-T. Please also let us know what your source and speakers are.

I'll start.

Source 1: Sony BDP-S380 used as CD transport; Beresford Caiman+
Source 2: Foretec Star FS4400 Satellite receiver (for digital radio); Beresford Caiman+
Speakers: Tannoy Mercury F3

Sounds Great:
Penguin Cafe Orchestra - all their albums
Tubular Bells II - Mike Oldfield
Songs of Distant Earth - Mike Oldfield
Amelie (soundtrack) - Yann Tiersen <-- Bursting with emotion
Greatest Hits - The Police
Hello children Everywhere - BBC/Various
Floored Genius - Teardrop Explodes/Julian Cope
The Singles - The Smiths
Power Themes - Various

Sounds Grating
The Immaculate Collection - Madonna
Karaoke Smiths - unknown
Tubular Bells 2003 - Mike Oldfield <-- instruments don't gel
Absolute Radio (all variants)
Capital FM
Radio 1

I'm sure the list will grow longer. I was surprised at how awful the Madonna recordings were, especially the earlier songs. And as for the radio stations - I couldn't believe how highly compressed they are. Inexcusable.:steam:

[jandl100]

Hmmm. :hmm: Yes, it is a "warts & all" type of presentation and can throw an embarassingly bright light on duff sounding sources and recordings, and also on faults elsewhere in your sound system.

I'm glad you're still enjoying it, though, Lenny! :thumbsup:

I enjoy everyting thru it, tbh, I prefer to hear what's going on in a recording, good or bad, rather than having it smoothed over with a lower rez bit of kit.

I use one in my 2nd system, in my conservatory:
Marantz CD63 cdp with valve output stage by TEN Audio
Mini-T
Usher X-719 standmount speakers.

Very nice. :)

[Mr Nad]

I'm working on uprading to better sources and speakers. The speakers are the priority at the moment - I'm considering IPL transmission lines, but I need to contact Ivan @ IPL first for advice. I'm tempted also by solid state players...

To add to my list...

Viva Hate - Morrissey. I'm hearing a whole new set of guitars being strummed that I have never heard before, which brings a whole new dimension to the recording.

This is Easy - Various. Again, a whole new set of instruments and vocal harmonies revealed, especially in 'Sentimental Journey'. It scared the animals... they retreated to their cage.

[DSJR]

Just buy an old Sony, JVC or Technics from the mid 70's - won't sound any different...

I can't believe you guys, the Mini-T at any rate sounds like a cheap Japanese amp from 1975, thin, hard-toned with a false sense of detail into most conventional speakers. No depth or air to speak of and certainly no bass power - absolutely gutless.....

Thank heavens I discovered valves at around this time :rfl:

You don't get owt for nowt in this world, and amps only get better from here :D

[jandl100]

Hee hee - deaf as two short planks, that's our Dave. :lol:

[DSJR]

Jerry, doesn't know how to listen or what to listen for, so he has to keep changing boxes every five minutes in the hope of finding audio nirvana :ner:

Just joking, and when Alex comes to sell his T amp I may buy it from him.....

[Macca]

What are the quoted, or measured distortion figures for the mini-T? I am guessing they are through the roof which is why some material sounds grating.

[Puffin]

Just buy an old Sony, JVC or Technics from the mid 70's - won't sound any different...

I can't believe you guys, the Mini-T at any rate sounds like a cheap Japanese amp from 1975, thin, hard-toned with a false sense of detail into most conventional speakers. No depth or air to speak of and certainly no bass power - absolutely gutless.....

Thank heavens I discovered valves at around this time :rfl:

You don't get owt for nowt in this world, and amps only get better from here :D

I would tend to agree with you in relation to the early implementations of the TA2024. However I would refer you to this link

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15343

[Mr Nad]

I'm not pushing the Mini-T at all. It's at 10 o'clock max, and by then it's plenty loud enough in my small listening area.

As for no bass. Ooh, I'll have to disagree with you. It's resolving plenty of bass, and just like guitars that's I'd never heard before, there are deep, DEEP, bass notes hidden in 'Late Night, Maudlin Street' (Viva Hate, Morrissey), that I have never heard/felt before.

Sire, If I had more $$$ I'd spend money on a 'proper' amp. This is on my list of 'one day I will buy...'

But for now, please tell me what you're listening to through your Mini-T. You may introduce me to some new music that I may never have considered before.

:ner::ner::ner:No disparaging comments from dinosaurs who are using an extinct technology :D:D:D (Joshing, just joshing, in case you were in any doubt)

[jandl100]

As for no bass. Ooh, I'll have to disagree with you. It's resolving plenty of bass, and just like guitars that's I'd never heard before, there are deep, DEEP, bass notes hidden in 'Late Night, Maudlin Street' (Viva Hate, Morrissey), that I have never heard/felt before.


Yep, I agree Lenny.

Some of the very best bass I have ever heard has come from a Mini-T into synergistic speakers. DEEP, taut, controlled, detailed, tactile - just amazingly good.

At Scalford last year with some loaned Tannoys - my Mini-T was really excellent and I've not heard better bass from Tannoys.

But ... IMO, IME & YMMV as ever! :)

[Bluedroog]

To be fair to the mini-T I think Radio 1 will grate through any system.

Mine is out on loan now but will try some of these suggestions when I get it back.

[Mr Nad]

I'm adding:
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman. New life given to this 24 year old album. Makes me wonder what Joan Armatrading sounds like...
Go Wild - Bow Wow Wow

Albums I'd like to hear through the Mini-T:
Any Joan Armatrading
Graceland - Paul Simon
The Queen is Dead - The Smiths (I'll have to fish this one out; it's somewhere)

@Bluedroog: to be fair to Radio 1, it's not nearly as compressed as most other pop music stations. Absolute was the pits, though. Which is a shame as there's some great 80s music being played.

[Bluedroog]

I was talking more content then compression. I’ve gone the best part of a decade without a court appearance, I’ve heard the likes of Moyles by pure accident and it’s driven me close!

What part of Kent are you from by the way? My old dear lives in Hildenborough nr Tonbridge and I lived in Gravesend (for my sins) for some years. Also in Sundridge nr Westerham.

[Mr Nad]

Gone are the good old days of Radio 1 (275 and 285... that might ring a bell for a few of us; the youngsters here won't have a clue).

I'm technically in SE London, but I prefer to class myself as NW Kent as I loathe London and listen, when possible, to Radio Kent.

Bromley, to be a little more specific, is my neck of the woods.