What a wonderful looking amp- can I ask how it differs in performance to an Sta 25? I would imagine it has even more control and authority than the Sta25..
Senior Member
Location: Wirral
Posts: 120
I'm Chris.
What a wonderful looking amp- can I ask how it differs in performance to an Sta 25? I would imagine it has even more control and authority than the Sta25..
Thorens TD 124 mkII, SME 3009 mkII unimproved, Transfiguration Spirit mk1. Arcam Delta 70.3.
Radford Revival STA 25 and Rothwell Indus
Tannoy Cheviot and RFC crossovers.
RFC Mercury interconnects and Rhodium Twist speaker cable.
Senior Member
Location: london se6
Posts: 823
I'm AndyElectroNumpty.
It does look lovely, would you consider making them from scratch? Not that I can afford one lol. Bet it would look good in British Racing Green.
In many ways it's very similar to an STA25 and with some speakers you might not hear a massive difference I suspect ... The 35w STA25 is superb with Tannoys generally but to really get the most out of HPDs - which though harder to dive than earlier variants in the Monitor series are capable not just of stunning treble performance but stonking bass as well (the specs for the 12in HPD are similar to 15in Golds in terms of bass response, though with less risk of cone break-up at the crossover point) you need an amp that is more robust at the bottom end and simply has more power available.Originally Posted by guero
The other difference in this amp is its clarity in the treble, not that the STA25 is in any way inadequate in this regard but it just seems that bit more capable at presenting room ambience - I suspect this is where the vanishingly low distortion figures come into play.
But as I say with some music there's not a great deal of difference, it's only at the extremes where the extra capability becomes apprent in any obvious way.
Senior Member
Location: Wirral
Posts: 120
I'm Chris.
Thanks for describing the two amps, very informative.
Thorens TD 124 mkII, SME 3009 mkII unimproved, Transfiguration Spirit mk1. Arcam Delta 70.3.
Radford Revival STA 25 and Rothwell Indus
Tannoy Cheviot and RFC crossovers.
RFC Mercury interconnects and Rhodium Twist speaker cable.
Senior Member
Location: London
Posts: 434
I'm Nick.
Congratulations, Tom - I was waiting to see when you would post about this. I saw David Coe today and he mentioned you had collected it. Very happy for you that it's everything you hoped for after such a long wait. It sure is a beauty!
Senior Member
Location: Bristol
Posts: 6,843
I'm Justin.
The KR KT88 is reasonably priced. 596 Euro plus VAT for a quad from Best300B.
My bet is they'll be worth every penny and will transform the amp for the better.
Senior Member
Location: London
Posts: 434
I'm Nick.
Would be fun to hear the TT100 alongside the STA100 sometime - I'd be curious to hear if there's a big difference or not.
Trade: Wakefield Turntables
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 9,322
I'm Andrew.
I will probably be making similar comparisons with the sta100 against my sondeX s100 at some point in the year.
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
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PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
Senior Member
Location: London
Posts: 434
I'm Nick.
Yes, that would be interesting! I would imagine the Sondex, being all valve, would be closer to the STA100 in sound... I'm curious to hear what, if any, difference the FET solid-state inputs make to the sound, seeing as the rest of the TT circuit is very similar to the STA100.
Also, to quote a post here "the output transformers in the TT100 were wound for 4-8 ohms - much more sensible for modern speaker loads than the 8-16 ohm/100v setup of the original STA100" - but I'm not sure if that applies to Tom's RR STA100 anymore, as I guess it's been somewhat modernized?
Senior Member
Location: London
Posts: 434
I'm Nick.
However, it's clear that the (new) STA100 is far more beautiful to behold than my TT100, which is a basically huge black metal box!
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