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Review of the New TTVJ FET-A Headphone Amp / Preamp - Page 3

post #31 of 41
3/1/09 at 2:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbd2884 View Post
But the M^3 from Rockhopper is so reasonably priced, well below the 650 price. Did you see he recently sold a beta22 and sigma22 combo for only 1,800? I believe YBM sells their beta22 what 3 grand?
So, just to be clear, you're comparing an amp that you haven't heard (the TTVJ FET-A) at its price point to another amp (the Rockhopper M^3) that...uh, you HAVE at least heard THIS amp, right?

Let's leave aside for a moment the whole question of why an identical amp manufactured in a DIY/DIFP environment might be less costly for a moment. You're comparing prices and making relative value judgments, and you've never even HEARD at least one of the amps. The casual reader has cause to ask what exactly is the point of your posts. Of course, if the casual reader had ventured by the "Where is SinglePower? Where is Mikhail?" thread, they might have been forewarned.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mbd2884 View Post
Still OT, lol.
I won't speak for others, but I'm not LOL'ing.
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post #32 of 41
3/1/09 at 3:20pm
I am one of the few who prefers plastic or wood knobs. In some cases you can hear the sound change when you touch a metal knob, something to do w/ grounding I am told.
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post #33 of 41
3/1/09 at 4:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by WilCox View Post
Actually, this amp uses the same instrument-grade collet knobs used on the TTVJ Millett 307A.



They are actually more complex and expensive than a simple metal knob with a set screw as collet knobs always remain centered and will not slip due to the collet's "death grip".
I knew there was a reason why Pete and Todd liked those knobs! Thanks for that info.

Quote:
Originally Posted by elrod-tom View Post
So, just to be clear, you're comparing an amp that you haven't heard (the TTVJ FET-A) at its price point to another amp (the Rockhopper M^3) that...uh, you HAVE at least heard THIS amp, right?

Let's leave aside for a moment the whole question of why an identical amp manufactured in a DIY/DIFP environment might be less costly for a moment. You're comparing prices and making relative value judgments, and you've never even HEARD at least one of the amps. The casual reader has cause to ask what exactly is the point of your posts. Of course, if the casual reader had ventured by the "Where is SinglePower? Where is Mikhail?" thread, they might have been forewarned.

I won't speak for others, but I'm not LOL'ing.
Yeah, I'm not LOL'ing either and frankly I am tired of you crapping on this thread. I tried really hard to respond to your initial post with substance and restraint even though I was unclear on your point and suspicious of your tone. When you said that my response lacked "bite" was "too agreeable and nice" it confirmed to me that you were trolling and baiting me into an argument. You won't get one here, so please move on.
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post #34 of 41
3/1/09 at 5:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Voltron View Post
Yeah, I'm not LOL'ing either and frankly I am tired of you crapping on this thread. I tried really hard to respond to your initial post with substance and restraint even though I was unclear on your point and suspicious of your tone. When you said that my response lacked "bite" was "too agreeable and nice" it confirmed to me that you were trolling and baiting me into an argument. You won't get one here, so please move on.
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post #35 of 41
3/1/09 at 5:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Voltron View Post
Yeah, I'm not LOL'ing either and frankly I am tired of you crapping on this thread.
This thread and pretty much any other thread he posts in.

Al...great write up as always. This amp looks like a serious contender in the under $1000 amp department. Bet it looks right at home next to the TTVJ phone stage.

I gotta hear one of these for myself.
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post #36 of 41
3/8/09 at 11:42am
I had a chance to spend some time with this amp at the meet yesterday. First, it looks better in person than it does in the pics. The sound quality is excellent. It has a nice black backgound and doesn't seem to anything wrong. It is well worth the asking price and probably some more. It was in a loud meet (much of the time because of me) so I am not going into specifics. Suffice it to say, if I were in the market for a sub $1000 amp (with a bonus preamp), this would be very high on my list and probably on top.
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post #37 of 41
3/14/09 at 1:36pm
Todd was cool enough to let me borrow the FET-A for a week and take it to the SoFlo meet with me. Here are some of my thoughts:

I listened in a few different environments in my home set up through the duet, in Boomana's rig with the exemplar cdp and at the SoFlo meet with the philips cdp that was APL modded. Phones were the AT AD2000s, Sony R10s and W2002s.

Across all of the set ups I felt as though the fet-a was very transparent and had a fast leading edge with great dynamics. Details were well presented as Diana Krall and Jacqui Naylor's live releases had plenty of hall presence complete with spacial information as well. It rocked out well with plenty of PRaT as previously mentioned by Al, Led Zeps Ramble On had me air drumming couch/air drumming as did Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name Of. The next test for me was could it present small combo jazz well as that is 50% + of my listening content. The fet-a did well presenting Kenny Burrell's Chitlens Con Carne with smokey goodness as well as presenting the interplay between Scott LaFaro and Bill Evans on Waltz for Debby well.
Is it the perfect amp, well no I'm not sure one exists and certainly not in the sub $1000 category but the TTVJ Fet-A punches well above its weight and represents a great value. I would also like the aesthetics to be better but at this price point I'd take the plainer looks to save a few hundred. Overall I highly recommend this amp.
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post #38 of 41
3/14/09 at 2:14pm
One is making it's rounds through the mid-east as it will be in central Illinois and west-central Indiana this weekend and next. If anyone in this land of nowhere cares to hear this, check out the meet thread at the bottom of my post.

I think this amp hits a needed spot in the hobby. You can get $100-200 amps aplenty. From there, you go all over the place until you get into the high three figure amps. If this amp performs like past designs have, it gives the hobbyist an upgrade worthy of the bang without having to get into multi thousand dollar amps.

I am looking forward to hearing this thing and thanks to all who are making it happen.
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post #39 of 41
3/14/09 at 8:08pm
Thanks for the great review. Surprised to hear you think FET-A is significantly better than the EC/SS...I'd love to see a direct comparison of FET-A vs KICAS or Caliente.
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post #40 of 41
3/14/09 at 8:45pm
Thanks for your comment jp11801. I know the FET-A seems like a great amp, but how good is it with the AD2k? I really wonder how good is it compare to the G-Lite when use with the AD2k
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post #41 of 41
3/15/09 at 12:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nhat_thanh View Post
Thanks for your comment jp11801. I know the FET-A seems like a great amp, but how good is it with the AD2k? I really wonder how good is it compare to the G-Lite when use with the AD2k
Can't really compare it to the Glite as the last one I heard was years ago, I did like the fet-a with ad2ks. Audio Technicas can be fickle when it comes to amps and it matched up well with the fet-a.
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