Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[electric beach]

Hi Jerry

Well firstly, I know my speakers (nOhr 9.0) are a difficult load and really need some power to make them sing. Bearing this in mind I wont be critical of what the Mini-T's can't do in this situation, I'll save that for when they're driving 95db, but they are showing me potential.

Initially detailed, snappy but lacking in body; not bass but a weight to the sound. 2 days run in and that still remains, but changing the speaker polarity brought the sound back to what I expect from the rest of the system, albeit at the expense of some of that resolution. With simpler music, not acoustic but a small well recorded band like Jamie Cullum, there were many times when the detail retreival brought new insight.

It seems to have some element that I can't put my finger on; as someone already commented, it has something in common with a Levardin sound, which is one of my favourites ever. Its kind of a classy sound, composed and refined. As you said, they are very fast, but I'm not hearing natural. Even presenting solo female voice, although I don't hear any sign of a strident treble and there are bags of detail information, the illusion of a living, breathing person on the other side of the mike is lost.

Flying solo, connected standard, I can see the transparency and detail that you love, but then I feel like I need to work on other aspects.
Running from a valve preamp and reversing the speaker connections gave me a better all round cohesive sound, but then not as striking.

So at the moment I would say the Mini-T is fine as a back up on these current speakers and there is enough resolution and transparency to expect the free flowing nature of higher sensitivity horns to compliment it's strengths and limited output to deliver a real class act.

Good call Jerry!

[jandl100]

That's interesting, Steve.

I find the Mini-T delivers a natural and uber-transparent sound into my low efficiency (83dB/W) but easy load speakers (6 - 8 ohms except at high freqs).

I guess that I'm not that surprised if the small power supply on the Mini-T runs out of puff and does strange things when given a more challenging electrical load. I suspect that would explain the lack of weight that you hear, the higher energy bass freqs are simply running out of steam.

Do you have some easier load speakers planned or available? You mention 95dB ...

[electric beach]

Very useful call Jerry. My AOS/Yaqin has just thrown a hissy fit and I need a backup in order to send to Anthony for a check-up, so I ordered a Mini-T TA2020. yesterday, after reading all that you've been saying.

It will have to drive 87db from a Mapletree tube pre for a couple of weeks - then I will have the 96db drivers arriving for a pair of Sachiko horns. Now that will be interesting

I would like to try the Sach's with a low power SET like the Decware 2W SE84 in due course and this should be an informative comparison between highly revealing oldest and newest technologies.

[jandl100]

Aha - and the motto is ... "read ALL of the post"

[michaelhigh]

Yup I can definitely confirm that this sounds WAAAYYY better than you would probably expect. It's a little 'loose' and there's a slight electronic sheen to the upper frequencies which makes them stand out a little but there are none of the nasties that you might expect from a studio amp with this much grunt...

As Clapton said, It's in the way that you use it! I have a Crown XLS-802 that does 800 wpc @ 4 ohms per, and I use the headroom to produce a smooth, controlled response that isn't harsh or growly. I compare it to a vintage Crown D-75 I own and they are very compatible, aside from the power difference, and play together quite well.

[jandl100]

A forum friend has very kindly loaned me his Perreaux PMF 2150B power amp. 200wpc.



Hugely powerful sounding, and just amazingly fast and controlled. Transients not only start very quickly, but stop just as quickly which is a rather harder trick to pull of, ime.

The amp's owner has had it fully rebuilt and refurbished.
He's a big techno-dance music fan - slamming bass and ultra-fast mid and treble transients at stupidly loud levels is where it's at as far as he is concerned!

Streuth on a pogo stick - but the MBLs rose to the challenge! On one track my chair was noticeably vibrating along with the bass. He reckoned the speakers were pumping out 25Hz.
For those folks into this sort of music the Perreaux sound is truly amazing.
Not for the faint hearted though.

Once Bob had left I returned to my usual genteel (by comparison) musical fare, and I have to be honest and say that the Perreaux was simply too up-front and inyerface for my delicate sensibilities and I returned to my own amp combo with a sense of musical relief and relaxation.

Oh yeah ... to keep you up to date, I now bi-amp my Mini-T TA2020 t-amp with an Alesis RA300 90wpc jobbie. Adds a bit of welly to the Mini-T sound while allowing it free rein just driving the mids and treble. Yup, I like this sound.

[Marco]

It's the audiophile dust that does it, Jerry!

Another interesting update, as usual - what's your T/T situation these days?

Marco.

[jandl100]

It's the audiophile dust that does it, Jerry!

Another interesting update, as usual - what's your T/T situation these days?

Marco.

Yeah - I'm afraid I will always be a slob. Dusting is for wimps and sissies!

TT is as per signature below - still happy with the Techie SL1800 with Herbie mat and my trusty re-bodied Denon 103.

[Techno Commander]

That Perreaux looks mighty fine. I do like muscle amps, especially ones that manage to exert total control over the music without killing everything.

[jandl100]

Latest addition at Jerry Mansions ....



A Musical Fidelity A5 power amp.
255wpc.

Initial impression - Oooo! That's bright.
After a few hours of warm up the overly bright presentation calmed down a lot. Another few hours and this amp is clearly settling down very nicely, although on some material a slight sting at the top can still be heard.
Huge amounts of power - it sounds magnificent with my MBLs on Big Orchestral music. Not quite the start/stop abilities of the Perreaux, but (imo) much more musically rewarding in terms of delicacy and soundstaging (the Perreaux is a bit 2D), a subtler presentation all round.

I need to settle down with this for a while ... and let it continue to warm up!
This is one amp that gives a very misleading impression when first turned on. At least a few hours warm up is def required to start to show its true tonality.

I'm not sure yet that the midrange detail and transparency that I hear from the Mini-T has been surpassed, but for the moment the Mini-T amps are "resting". ... in fact one is about to be posted to a forum member to try out.