[Fishline]

For those who have googled this amp, you might have seen this come up:
Mobile01 [開箱] TNS SWEET-2 真空管 DAC

It appears to be a Taiwanese forum. Anyway, one person bought the sweet-2 for US$299 and posted pics (box, manual, amp, remote, etc.) This is the first tube amp for him/her. It's stated that the DAC is Burr-Brown Japan PCM2702. S/he also said that there are some noises when mp3 changing tracks (from the "machine", not speakers).

 

[Loftprojection]

Hey Skylab, did you leave the amp running, if so it must be close to 100h on it now? Would be nice to know if it evolved a bit or if it is still the same. I suspect the highs and bass could have evolved a bit. Thanks.

 

[Skylab]

I don't leave it on at night. Had it running all day today in the office but had a very busy day at work and didn't get to listen to it at all. hopefully more time Monday.

 

[Skylab]

Update: spent some time listening to the USB DAC. The Sweet2 installed in Vista with zero problems, and the sound from the USB input is really surprisingly good. I'm impressed. HOWEVER, it does make an audible mechanical clicking when switching tracks. This is a function of the DAC chip I guess - my Meier Opera did the same exact thing. But the sound is quite good using USB. Quite the flexible little tube amp!

 

[Loftprojection]

Seems like you'll have a collection piece Skylab, the Sweet is not listed anymore on ebay. If it is the same as a few years ago, TNS came up with a so called "copy" of the Jasmine T200 and then it disappeared. I'm not sure exactly if TNS is a real audio company or some kind of re badged manufacturer. Doesn't change anything to the amps quality though and I'm sure you got yourself quite a bargain there.

 

[ux226]

Nope - it's back
Link

Is all still well with the unit Skylab? Thanks.

 

[Skylab]

Yes indeed - the TNS is a really nice little amp! If anything it's continued to sound a little better as it burns in. I have been using it mostly as a speaker amp, but every now and then I try it with headphones, and it's quite nice sounding there too. No hum. Really the only "issue" is that plugging in headphones does not defeat the speaker outputs, so you can really only easily use it for speakers or headphones, but not both interchangeably.

Also, the USB DAC worked well, but DOES have an audible clicking of a relay in the DAC whenever songs start or stop.

 

[Fishline]

Found the marathon thread dedicated to the TNS brand on a Chinese hifi forum (if you can read Chinese: ä¼*神TRANSCENDERE胆机用家专æ* - éžå¸¸å‘çƒ§è®ºå› - Powered by Discuz!NT). From what I can glean, the brand "Transcendere" was recently founded by Kenny Wu, who had designed the original T-200, under a brand that he and some friends established. He's now on his own. The Sweet-2 was originally designated T-300. Looks like in addition to Sweet-1 and Sweet-2, he also came out with S3, a preamp, and S5, which is S2 + S3. As well, he introduced the LM102 monitors with 90dB sensitivity to match the tube amps. Don't know if any of these will make it here. The S5 uses an Onkyo DAC, supposedly an upgrade from S2. Several people complained that the USB has lower volume than the RCA input, even though all volume controls in the PC is at max.

(I believe he also builds the GLOW amp one for Glow Audio.)

It looks like he has gotten quite a loyal following in China. He seems quite willing to fix any problems users reported, and sometimes offer free upgrades. (British transformers were said to be a very good upgrade.)

 

[.Sup]

pics of the backside of the amp please Skylab!!

 

[Haoting]

Isn't this called the TMS T300 MKII now?

All the pics can be found at this Taobao store.

¡¾ÈÈÂôÍƼö¡¿“СÌðÌ𔣻ÎÒ³¹µ×±»Ä㶾µ¹£¡ µ¨Ê±´ïT-300MKIIµ¨»ú-ÌÔ±¦Íø

 

[Skylab]

No. You are thinking of something else. The TNS Sweet-2 is this:

http://web.musicalparadise.ca:8103/i...products_id=39

I will try to take some pics of the back panel soon.

 

[lowendfrequency]

Hey, I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on one of these little amps and was wondering if I could get some advice.

First, I was hoping to use these to drive a pair of HD 485's for the time being, but I'd like to leave myself open for upgrades. Does this sound like an appropriate amp?

Second, I was hoping someone could recommend a nice set of bookshelf speakers in the <$150 range that would be appropriately/efficiently powered by this amp.

And third, I was wondering what's up with the DAC. What software would I use to playback my audio? Were there any specs provided in the manual? Mac compatibility?

Sorry for all the questions, but this is kind of new to me. I currently have a nice analog vinyl setup going through a Millet SS amp... but I'd like to power some speakers in the bedroom and a remote is a major plus as well.

Thanks in advance


p.s. For those inquiring about an image of the back panel, I found this while browsing a link that someone posted.

 

[lowendfrequency]

BUMP


Can anyone weigh in with any input here? I'd like to get this sucker ordered, but I need to make sure that this is a wise purchase before I bite the bullet.

 

[Skylab]

The only one of your questions I can answer is the one about the USB DAC - in Windows it was plug and play, and I use iTunes to play music through it. It sounds pretty good. I know nothing about Mac.