[minimus]

Todd, Pete,
 
Congratulations on the new amp.  It looks great.  (Note to self: this amp may be cost effective for me because it would utilize the vast supply of tubes I have lying around from my failed Singlepower Extreme "experiment".)
 
Can you characterize the sound at all?  How is it different from the Peak + Volcano and/or the Pinnacle?  I know writing about sound is difficult, but I am curious if you had different goals in mind when you designed this amp vs. your other two?
 
Also, how do we sign up for a loaner?

 

[pmillett]

  Todd, Pete,
 
Congratulations on the new amp.  It looks great.  (Note to self: this amp may be cost effective for me because it would utilize the vast supply of tubes I have lying around from my failed Singlepower Extreme "experiment".)
 
Can you characterize the sound at all?  How is it different from the Peak + Volcano and/or the Pinnacle?  I know writing about sound is difficult, but I am curious if you had different goals in mind when you designed this amp vs. your other two?
 
Also, how do we sign up for a loaner?

 
Well... to date I'm the only one who has listened to it.  And really I'm the wrong guy to ask such questions, being an engineer
 
That said, it is very different than the Peak and the Pinnacle.  The Peak and Pinnacle are both pretty neutral amps with low distortion and low output impedance.  The Teton is... neither.
 
In terms of subjective sound, I would say that the Teton sounds more like a single-ended 300B or 2A3 amp than the others.  Depending on the music and headphones, some may find it more musical.  
 
Choice of output tube and headphones make substantial differences in the sound, whereas the Peak and Pinnacle are pretty unaffected by headphone loading.  
 
If you listen to female vocals with Sennheisers, you may fall in love with it.  If you listen to heavy metal with Grados, well, maybe not so much.
 
I'm sure after RMAF in a couple of weeks there will be plenty of reviews.  Honestly, because of it's different topology, I expect some people to love it and others to hate it.  This is an amp you really need to try with your music and your headphones before you render an opinion.
 
I guess I am too honest...
 
Pete

 

[shellylh]

  We look forward to seeing you Monkey! I have a glass and a cold one reserved for you as well as a seat in front of the Teton...
 
Shellylh you can sign up for the loaner - email me (todd@ttvjaudio.com) and I will put you first on the list to hear it after RMAF.
 
I am excited to get feedback from CanJam on our new amp. I hope to see a lot of you there.
 
Todd

 
Oh, a loaner program is very tempting but I fear it may be bad for my wallet.  I bet this sounds great with the HD800. 
 
Looking forward to the Monkey's impressions!

 

[Dubstep Girl]

How would it pair with something like beyer t1?

 

[minimus]

   
In terms of subjective sound, I would say that the Teton sounds more like a single-ended 300B or 2A3 amp than the others.  Depending on the music and headphones, some may find it more musical.
 
Pete

 
Thanks for that in-depth impression.
 
I have long been searching for an amp that has much better build quality but a similar sound signature to the Singlepower Extreme of yesteryear, which was an OTL with a 6SN7 input tube and 6080 output tubes (but solid state rectification, I believe).
 
Your description makes me think this would be exactly what I and a lot of others have been looking for.  Thanks.

 

[GloryUprising]

You had me at:
 
Quote:

   
If you listen to female vocals with Sennheisers, you may fall in love with it. 

 

 

[achristilaw]

Nice looking amp fellas!! Looking forward to melting some phones to the head with this one......

 

[Audio Addict]

I look forward to listening to it at RMAF.;

 

[wphantom]

teton means "man with big t*ts" in spanish

 

[foreign]

Hmmm I'm going to keep an eye on this amp. Looking for something decent to pair with my senn collection

 

[pmillett]

  teton means "man with big t*ts" in spanish

 
No wonder my Spanish-speaking friends always snicker when I tell them about the Teton.
 
I did know that it means "nipple" in French, though. 

   Oui, oui!

 

[reiserFS]

Based 6AS7G tubes.

 

[mab1376]

   
My beat-up 2004 Subaru Outback drives just fine and has more space inside than my 2012 Infiniti.  The Infinity really doesn't do anything differently than the Subaru.  But I'd rather drive the Infiniti.
 
Personally, I agree that tube rectification doesn't make a huge audible difference over solid-state (assuming SS is done well, which it rarely is).  But many listeners prefer the tube.
 
Oh, did I mention the Inifinity cost about 10x what the Subaru cost? 

 
Pete

 
Don't get me wrong i'd love to own it, i've been looking at the Little Dot MK VI+ which also uses 6SN7 and 6080 tubes ($800). I bet its a superb piece of hardware, but the pricing limits a good chunk of the market from never being able to touch it, me included.

 

[pmillett]

   
Don't get me wrong i'd love to own it, i've been looking at the Little Dot MK VI+ which also uses 6SN7 and 6080 tubes ($800). I bet its a superb piece of hardware, but the pricing limits a good chunk of the market from never being able to touch it, me included.

 
I understand.  It IS expensive.  Hopefully you believe me when I say that the selling price is based on the cost to build - it is really not the same as the Little Dot amp with an enormous profit margin.
 
The unfortunate reality is that you just cannot build something in the US at anywhere near the cost (using locally sourced parts) in China.  Fabricating the metal chassis for this amp costs me almost the same as what the entire Little Dot amp costs you to buy!
 
Chinese manufacturers seem to be able to live on very thin profit margins as well.
 
Every time I've tried to do anything "affordable", I've lost a ton of money.  Best leave that to China, I'm afraid.  So the stuff I build is at the opposite end of the spectrum.
 
Pete

 

[BlueSundays]

You know thats kind of sad. I bought a Wheatfield HA-2 from headroom and you helped me out trying to find a match for the MS Pros I had. I was disapointed in the bass output but that was more a case of me equ-ing the cans to basshead levels. So I eventually got a 990dt pro (the metal silver one which are on my head right now hadnt came out yet...) and it was good but not perfect, and for ****s and giggles I tried a good rectifier, the one thing everyone said would make little difference and suddenly I was totally satisfied. I think the one included was a fake mullard, probably Chinese because I think you said that was probably the case. I had gone the full gamut through MDR-10s and a cary 300 (vka, who owned an orpheus said the R10 combo was more accurate than the Orpheus and was my end game as I had not been satisfied with anything else) and had to sell those to pay bills unfortunately. Bosebuttons has my R-10s or at least he did but as I was getting some $$ again I looked for a unit like the HA-2 but at the time  there was none to be found until Woo Audio made his, or I found out about it anyway... I bought the wa-2 with blackgates and a stepped attn, I might have been the first guy to do that but Im not sure. He made it a custom option after I did that on the website. It sounded very good, but how much better if at all than the HA-2 is debatable. 
 
Its sad that that this unit is no longer available, and when resurrected so to speak it is out of many's price range. Yeah by now youd figure Id have a career by now that could afford a WA-2 at least but I dont. Lets just say Im part of the demographic who has a 25-30% unemployment rate and like everything else of note you wont find that on the 6 o clock news. Id consider saving up for a say $1k unit but alas, no its considerably more than that! And Im sure this unit sounds great, Im willing to bet it doesnt sound $4000 better than a csp-2,3 or a Woo Audio 2 Or a DNA Sonnet. 
 
Id love to buy a product from you cause you make legendary products, I know first hand; but I cant afford anything youve put out that has an electron tube in it lately, as others have put out units of very high merit and quality for substantially less.