[johnmatrix]

I was thinking of upgrading the my reciever because it is the one thing now holding me back in the audio chain. A few months ago after reading the AVS forums, I bought my parents a panasonic digital amp to power their paradigm studio 20's and I loved the sound. It powered the studio 20's with ease and fidelity. The other bargin in audio is the t-amp line, it has been getting rave reviews as well and I could hook it up to my recievers line out.

I am looking for something fairly cheap(~250) and these two amps seem to be the standouts, but I am open to other suggestions as long as they are surround.

 

[uzziah]

interesting question; i wonder how those panny recievers stack up

 

[Unclewai]

I tried the t-amp with my vr-1 and they make my speakers sound very thin. I think it is fairly overrated due to its cheap price, or may be I didn't use a custom power supply.

How about Pioneer Elite A-35R? You should be able to get it from Ebay under $150, they pop up once in a while.

 

[Tachikoma]

For $250 I think you'll be better off getting something like the Charlize from diyparadise.com instead of a super T.

I've been wondering how the Panasonic SA-XR70 compares with the t-amp/TA2020 myself, though.

 

[johnmatrix]

The charlize project looks nice and cheap. Does it produce more power than the super t-amp?

Edit: Lol, I need to read. It looks like it has about 7 clean watts at 8 ohms which is 1.5 times more than the orginal.
Here is a quick compartive review of several diy t-amps vs the orginial. http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/tripath_amps_e.html

 

[dwc]

one vote for the panny xr-55

 

[roadtonowhere08]

I second the Panny XR-55. If you are primarily concerned about music, forget the XR-70, as it is older and has crappy posts for the surround. Besides, the 55 can tri-amp the fronts to add more current. I have one and I LOVE it. Forget the T-AMP, go with the XR-55... much more power and all digital via coax or optical instead of analog RCA to digital like the T-AMP.

 

[yo2tup2]

t-amp only has like 6 or so watts at 8ohms. its only to be used with very high sensitivity speakers.. greater than 93db.. for good results. anything below that will sould sterile.

 

[Tachikoma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadtonowhere08 I second the Panny XR-55. If you are primarily concerned about music, forget the XR-70, as it is older and has crappy posts for the surround. Besides, the 55 can tri-amp the fronts to add more current. I have one and I LOVE it. Forget the T-AMP, go with the XR-55... much more power and all digital via coax or optical instead of analog RCA to digital like the T-AMP.

Is the XR55 modable though? Could you describe what it sounds like? (looking for something a little warmer.)

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tachikoma (looking for something a little warmer.)

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/v...ic.php?t=11032

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yo2tup2 t-amp only has like 6 or so watts at 8ohms. its only to be used with very high sensitivity speakers.. greater than 93db.. for good results. anything below that will sould sterile.

that's extreme. i disagree. efficiencies in the high 80's do fine; as someone else pointed out the charlize puts out more than the t-amp, so that's another digital possibility.

i talked with yeo of diyparadise, and asked him about speakers for the charlize. i mentioned triangle titus 202. he said he didn't think much of them, and suggested i use jordan jx92s drivers in a fullrage application. without a crossover, they can do with less powerful amp. they have 88 efficiency. i have yet to try this design however so i cannot comment on results. crossoverless fullrange design (near-field-monitor "headphones" anyone?) have a great advantage in completely avoiding the pitfalls of crossovers, but they can easily loose something in translation, such as a bit in the high and low. the jordans are indeed world class, but the best implimentations i've seen usually do involve a crossover for a tweeter (ribbon is popular), and sub. however, most will let the jordan's produce most of the frequency range, aided in small part by a tweeter and sub to handle the very highest and lowest. however, i'm not sure if a charlize would have the power to drive such an implimentation (jordans w/tweeter). i'm still trying to decide whether to put the majority of my $$$ into phones or speakers, but if i choose speakers i may try these jordans; most likely in an 8liter sealed box, and will sit on my desk, used mostly in near field position. but i digress.......again

the t-amp itself has fared well with my axiom m3ti and polk r15. i certainly would agree that 93db or so would let the t-amp really perform, anyone who's buying speakers that efficient shouldn't be spending $30 on an amp. the axiom's are rated at an unusually high 92db, but i believe this is fudged, and they've been measured more around 88. anyway, and decently efficient bookshelf will fare fine with the t-amp, and anyone wanting to spend $400 or more on speakers should probably consider a better amp implimentation such as the charlize, or of course myriads of others.

 

[johnmatrix]

How does the panny analogue section sound? I have a Denon 2900 and would like to use the analogue outs for SACD and DVD-A playback. That was my main concern with getting the panny. I had read that the analogue section was not that good.

 

[]|[ GorE]

The DAC on the Panasonic receivers varies widely according to the "All-in-One" decoding chip used by panasonic(its got a video and audio dac on the same IC).
The SNR could be anywhere from 70db(as in mine) to 110 db on the top of the range receivers.

 

[NeilPeart]

I am a fan of the digital receivers - even via analog from the DAC1 they were superior to the T-amp (both process the signal via analog->digital->analog). However, going straight from the transport into the receiver (digital->analog) the sound is even cleaner (the T-amp always sounded weak and even harsh at higher volumes, and I owned the super modded unit with a regulated, linear PSU). The many solid-state amplifiers I've used with the K1000 made the highs too harsh and female vocals sound too sibilant; tube amps tended to distort at high volumes and even the RKV had issues with bass clarity. Using my Kenwood VRS-7100 via digital input cures all these issues. The bass is clean and tight with plenty of impact; the midrange is smooth and never sibilant and the highs are never harsh. There is ample volume reserve and the soundstage is unreal. The only amp I've heard that betters the VRS-7100 is the EAR V20 (I have NOT heard the Pass Labs or First Watt amplifiers with the K1000).

 

[soundboy]

Somewhat related....

The upcoming Panasonic XR57 has HDMI v1.2 input, thus allowing those with a SACD player that has the corresponding output to transmit hi-rez DSD from player to amp using one single HDMI cable.

The XR57's owner's manual is online already (see page 37)

http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/SAXR57.PDF