What can you power with the Sonic T-Amp?

[Illah]

OK, not quite head fi, but whatever

With only 10-15W to work with what kind of speakers would one use this amp with? Sounds like a steal and at that price it's easy to try. My current mains are rated to 200W and my home theater sends them 110W / channel, not sure 10-15W would provide much punch. Am I missing something?

--Illah

 

[mrarroyo]

I would look for speakers with high efficiency. Say around 94 to 96 dB/1 Watt at 1 meter SPL raiting.

 

[musicmind]

Hi

Actually, you have a little less than the full 15W to work with. With the T-amp, going above 7-8W puts the THD levels at 10% so you wont be listening at those levels.
Check the reviews at 6moons, search here at head-fi and a few other sites for an idea of what to expect.
As mrarroyo said, you would like to use as high efficiency speakers as possible, ideally 90dB or more if you can manage to find a pair.
Also, take a look at the Trends TA10, which seems to be a better implementation of the tripath amp.

 

[SR-71Panorama]

I have had the original t-amp by sonic impact, its sequel, the super t amp, and finally the trends audio 10.1, but heavily modified. What is so great about all of them is they are basically free compared to the price of entry of most audiophile amps. Granted many don't count the original t-amp as audiophile, but I won't split hairs here. I'll just say I enjoy all of them, but the trends audio amp takes it to another level.
On a side note, I literally threw away the super t amp, because one day it simply was broken. Very static like, and unlistenable. I though maybe the psu was busted, but tried a few different ones, and, having lost my warranty info, was on my own with it. But no biggie, as it was not expensive to begin with

I have had no such problems with the TA 10.1, and will probably buy a few more down the road for secondary systems, as well as gifts for friends and/or cheap insurance should they be discontinued or I break one.
I am running them on the cheap Best Buy Insignia speakers, but plan on getting Zu tone or Omega Super 3 speakers, but am waiting to see what eddie current/moth audio release to expand their "cicada" line.

Take a look at Zu speakers, Omega Speakers, and horn shope offerings.

 

[musicmind]

Hi SR71

Which mods do you have on your TA 10.1?

Are you familiar with the Mardis mods? He seems to be the TA 10-amp mod guru over at diyaudio. Audiomagus is selling some versions of his mods.

 

[provny]

I think the decware dot com site lists suggested high efficiency speakers that work well with low watt amps (such as decware SET amps, and in your case t-amps such as the sonic impact).

specific speakers I've used with my sonic impact amp are Omega XRS speakers (93db floor standers), and, in a small office, Rogers LS3/5As-- which shouldn't have worked at all because the LS3/5As are very low efficiency speakers (83db I believe-- but an easy load at 15 ohms). The sonic impact sounded good with the Omegas, and good (at low to medium volumes) with the LS3/5As.

Besides the Omegas, another single driver speaker that should work well with the sonic impact is The Hornshoppe's Horn speakers. I haven't heard them but have read that they are pretty good-- and are a competitor to the Omegas.

as for the Trend amp, FWIW, if you do a google search on "trends ta-10 shootout" you'll find a shootout where the trends was matched against several other t-amps and came out on top.

another amp to consider in the $300 range (assembled) is the Charlize amp-- it's a t-amp sold at diyparadise dot com that's gotten some good reviews. I've compared it to the sonic impact and think it sounds a lot smoother, and better overall-- it seems like I had to turn the volume control up a little more to get similar output though.

 

[JadeEast]

My Tripath amp is from Yeo at diyparadise and
is she is super nice and plays well with a pair
of B&W 302s. The TA 10 is nice as well and
more of a finished product than the Chalize
but I like the module nature of the Chalize.

Low power Tripath amps will be able to drive most
simple 2 way speakers to average listening
levels but probably not to head-banging
levels. I have heard tripaths sound great with
bookshelf monitors, Altec horns and no name
vintage 2-way floor-standers.

 

[skullguise]

I used my SI T-Amp to drive several sets of speakers very well in my 14x14 room, with volume never getting so high (say, past 1:00).

Included are:

- Athena AS B1.1
- Sound Dynamics RTS-3 (sold these to Ooztouncer, he said they mated VERY well with his T-Amp)
- Ascend CBM-170's
- Athena S .5's
- PSB Alpha B1's

I even tried it on my low efficiency Eminent Tech LFT-16's (they're like 84db!). Had to trurn it up to about 3:00 or 4:00, but it was surprisingly listenable and powerful. The music wasn't as dynamic, but I didn't feel like I lost much at lower levels.

JadeEast is likely correct; my experience shows it'll drive many 2-ways. If you add an external preamp with gain (especially a tube pre) it shines even more!

EDIT: I alwys used an external Radio Shack 3amp PS with this; makes a difference over the basic Wallwart type PS.

 

[velogreg]

The T-amp will drive in a small room, most 89db and above speakers in two channel. I have had them drive Insignias, many different Fostex single driver configurations, and even some large three ways. Since this is not a very powerful amp I would recommend 90+ db speakers as a minimum. If you want to further journey down the tripath route I would reco you talk to Art at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ampbox/index.html he makes great looking tripath amps or cases what ever you want.

 

[Illah]

Great info, thanks a lot! I'm familiar with speaker efficiency but I've never even considered anything under 75W before for a 'real' speaker system, so when I saw 10-15W I was a little confused.

So does it provide any real volume? I'm not saying I want to shake the walls or anything, but when I need to listen quietly that's what headphones are for

--Illah

 

[velogreg]

Again, it is speaker dependent. I have found the T-amp can put out pretty good volume levels in a 12X12 room with 90db efficiency speakers. Techno or very loud live concert levels may have the speakers clipping. The higher in sound level you go the less pleasing the dynamics become. Go for it. Your investment is minimal and you can always find another home/use for the T-amp.

 

[SR-71Panorama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicmind /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi SR71 Which mods do you have on your TA 10.1? Are you familiar with the Mardis mods? He seems to be the TA 10-amp mod guru over at diyaudio. Audiomagus is selling some versions of his mods.

As a matter of fact, I have the Mardis edition (1.0) from Audiomagus. I bought it before the version 2, which as far as I can tell only adds black magic feet and relocates the rca so that it is inbetween the left and right binding posts to allow thick speaker cable. It really is basically a whole new amp when you look at all he changes. Mogami console internal wiring, vampire connections all around, new caps, pots, etc.

And just think the UNmodded version got a blue moon award at 6moons

 

[Illah]

What about bass? Do you guys pair a sub with the speakers? I'm mainly looking at this as a potential replacement for my Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 system on my computer - my actual home theater is quite nice already

My only concern is giving up the sub. I listen to a lot of bass heavy electronica and techno so I wouldn't want to completely lose the low end (though I actually run the sub *under* the recommended level, so I'm not a mindless basshead by any means).

--Illah

 

[Diablo]

I use my Sonic t-amp to drive a pair of Athena AS-F2s. (93dB efficiency) They are about 3 and half feet tall, weighing in at over 100 pounds for the pair and I never fail to amaze visitors when revealing their sole source of power, the diminutive little T-amp. The sound is nothing short of stupendous (to my ears), especially considering they were a long delayed upgrade from a pair of Advent Legacys I bought way back in Jr. High .

The Athenas are in a small room (10x8) and get too loud when maxed for roughly half of flacs, apes and mp3s I listen to through my PC. Still, as powerful as the bass in this setup is, I was considerably happier when I decided to pull the trigger on an inexpensive modded Sony sub that was getting some nice writeups a few years back. It was $70 shipped and made all the difference in being able to listen at moderate volumes while providing a 'feel' to the music that had been missing at all but the highest volumes. I am no basshead either, but before the sub arrived I usually had to turn up the volume to borderline ear-ringing levels (not necessarily a bad thing in itself, just tough on the eardrums) to enjoy my listening. With the sub set at considerable less than full level, I get the kind of satisfaction I'm looking for at only 1/2 to 3/4 the overall volume levels I'd had before. Someday I'll probably upgrade to a Panny digital receiver at something like 100wpc that may bring out more bass in the F2s and maybe the sub will become less important, but I'm in no rush at all because everything sounds pretty damn good as is. (a downright sacrilegious attitude around here maybe, but it could be that years of building my own PCs have partially cured me of 'upgradeitus' -- it doesn't take too long before you realize the unchecked mindset of 'needing more' often quickly gives rise to an almost insatiable time vampire, one that before you realize it, can drain away years of your attentions in the mere blink of an eye)

I digress. So anyway I can't speak for whatever setup you'll end up with, but FWIW with my T-amp and speakers I found that even a cheap decent sub made a big difference. Good luck with your Sonic, it's really an amazing little amp.

 

[krmathis]

A couple of Stax headspeakers...
Like the SR-X/MK3 maybe?