Neuhaus Laboratories T-2 Amplifier

I have not used it but this amp looks cool. This just looks like a great idea for those of us that have all our music on computers now.

Yea, I was wondering when someone was going to post about this. They mentioned it on Engadget a few days ago. Design looks good, and built in DAC is nice for 795. Just dunno about performance :P

Edit, anyone notice that 1.5% harmonic distortion @ 1khz? Was talking to one of the other Electrical Engineers (my superior specifically ) and he was mentioning that at 1khz it is one of the easiest frequencies to get low distortion.

Cult of mac did a review of it. Though the author says him self he is no audiophile Review: Neuhaus Labs’ T-2 Tube Amp Transports You To Audio Heaven | Cult of Mac

I was searching around about the T-2 also and found this review

Neuhaus Labs T-2 Integrated Vacuum Tube Amplifier Review*-*AVRev.com

Seems to be a little more in depth and from an audiophile perspective

I feel bad about digging this one out of the grave, but does anyone have this amp?  Any personal experience with it (driving both speakers and headphones)?  It seems odd there are no professional reviews of it online, almost as if the "industry" doesn't want to support it, since it undercuts other comparatively spec'd tube amps.

I agree with you VR6 - I've been looking all over the net and have found very little on the T-2.  Now there is a smaller T-1 Hybrid out and again very little info.  I have a feeling Neuhaus does very little to promote their products.   

I have the T-1 and its great. Recent review done by CNET

It says the frequency response of the headphone output is only 40hz - 15khz. 

 

I bought this recently and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in setting up a high performance (but moderately priced) home theatre system.

 

I hooked this up to my video player which has an optical Toslink output for the sound.

 

The speakers I am using are Alesis Monitor 1 MK2 passive speakers (which is btw, another highly rated giant killer).

As long as you are pairing this amp with efficient speakers, you will experience very good results.

I have not had to turn up the volume on the T2 amp to more than the 1/3 mark clockwise from zero volume.

 

Using the stock Chinese tubes, I watched the movie "Zathura: A Space Adventure".

There was this scene from the movie whereby there was a stream of water on the right side of the screen when the protaganist was escaping from some lizard man-eating aliens. 

With this T2 amp, I actually heard the water stream flowing from top to bottom on my right!

This was exactly what was shown during the movie.

So for an outlay of around US$1000 ($795 T2 amp + Flat worldwide Shipping $40 + Speakers $200), you can get 3D surround sound from a 2 channel speaker setup.

This is really neat! :)

 

My T2 amp is still undergoing the burn-in stage(*)  at the moment and I'll post a more comprehensive review soon.

 

(*) About 10hrs so far out of the manufacturer recommended 50hrs. 

This is not inclusive of the 24hr burn-in time after I upgraded and replaced all the stock Chinese tubes with various 1950s NOS tubes I purchased from other tube suppliers.

Hi folks,

 

I have to withdraw my previous glowing report.

 

I used this amp for only 3 months.

 

Just recently, the transformer blew itself up when I turned it on.

There was some smoke and smell of burnt solder.

The "blasted" (PUN intended) amp can only produce music in one channel now.

 

I was that hoping this amp would last at least one year as per its warranty period.

It would cost me at least US$400 to ship this amp to and fro for repairs, which won't make any economic sense since a new amp costs US$800.

 

I sent an e-mail to Neuhaus Labs but have not heard from them since.

 

Well the "silver lining" for me is that now I have a legitimate excuse to get either the Decware Zen Torii MK3 or a PrimaLuna amp which I have always lusted after.

 

Moral of the story:- Beware of Cheap Chinese Amps!