That's interesting! I was wondering what your reaction to using a new battery in the T1 would be like. My hunch all along was that it's just a case that you'd rather a different sound signature than the one that emanates through the T1, and I thought that that predisposition would outweigh any subtle improvements a new battery would bring. I say this because you alluded to what I thought were legitimate critiques (seemingly lacking detail, and closed in soundstage) as your reasons for thinking your T1 was defective, with the battery in suspect. I think it's interesting because you thought you had a dissenting view of the T1, whilst I can cite two of what I feel are premier reviews of the T1 that may be inclined to agree with you.
Here's an excerpt to Clieos' review:
"As far as RMAA goes, T1 pretty much passes with flying color. The FR curve is dead flat from 20Hz to 20kHz. Noise is almost as low as O2 (or at least the limitation on what I can measure with my setup), and isn’t an issue of course. The only area that T1 doesn’t measure as well is stereo crosstalk. With O2 at -61.6dB on 16ohm load, T1 only measures -52.5dB. Still, it is a good enough number. Output impedance is measured and calculated at around 0.55ohm using a 47ohm load and a 1kHz tone. Power over the same load is slightly higher than O2 and almost matching that of Leckerton Audio UHA-4, which means it should have plenty of juice to spare. For the 20 or so portable amps I measured in the past, the best of them has very little to no power drop when I tested them from a 47ohm to a 23.5ohm load. T1 on the other hand not only has no power drop, it actually outputs 3% more power with the lower impedance load. That’s really something I never see on another amps and an indicator that T1 might works very well with low impedance IEM, especially since its has a low output impedance already."
The second germane extract is from Shigzeo's review:
"Sound – Stereo Image
Unlike the Rx, the T1 has a somewhat compressed stereo image. Typically, solid state amps push anywhere from 70-90dB unloaded. The T1 pushes 63dB from an iPod nano 6G. It’s not a good score, but it’s not a doomer either. Amps with very wide stereo images tend to sound crisp, clear, and oftentimes, scratchy. It is one of the pains we’ve had to come to live with when dealing with digital audio. In the case of the T1, sound is a bit more ‘analogue’ in that you get neither too great nor too little separation between channels. Intimacy is another term for it. Of course, greater stereo intimacy can also mean smaller soundstage."
Shigzeo later surmised that this subpar stereo image might in fact be a design choice. The above two findings square with my own listening impressions of the T1. You won't get that razor sharp, and strident detail retrieval. It's very smooth, yet very detailed. I hear the music first, and then if I want to, I can zone in on the details in the music. That is, the details don't stand out in contrast to the music, but rather complements it. I find that it minimizes the 'digitalness' of the sound from my iPhone 4, and so gives the sound a natural presentation that is quite layered. I also like it's portrayal of vocals, and find them to be refined, and focused, with good weight. I also like how the T1 is able to sustain the weight of piano notes...
I personally don't find the T1 as 'uncoloured' as a few folks in the thread do. To me it's slightly warm, but maintains a good representation of the source. Arguably it's fairly neutral. I've had quite a number of portable amps and have returned/sold all of them because I thought they offered terrible value for the subtle improvements they brought. To be quite frank, the improvements the T1 brings relative to listening unamped are still subtle. Perhaps, I have grown to now recognise and relish these subtleties, or maybe I have learned to curb my expectation bias, because I've been very pleased with the T1.
