So, the wife was out and the baby asleep last night, and I got a chance to do a more extended listen. Each amp swap was a few minutes of messing around with cables, so it was less than ideal. All my impressions were long gone from my short-term memory by the time I got to listen to the other amp. I was comparing:
Creek 4330 amp vs. Trends Audio TA-10.1 Using an Arcam 7se CD player and Epos ES-12 speakers. I don't have any lossless encodings on the Squeezebox. Perhaps I should have done that for this forum :). I mostly listened to Elliot Smith, from Either/Or. As said before, the speakers are probably a bit too much of an effort for the poor little amp. To give it a chance I was only about 6-8ft away from the speakers. I was playing about 2 full songs with each amp before switching, because of the hassle factor, and I couldn't form a coherent conclusion. The T-amp was definitely more bright, sounded a clearer, but I alternately felt each was doing a better job than the other. A few times when I switched the Creek back on I thought it sounded relatively dull and muddy, but then I'd change my mind. In the end, I found a short passage to focus my attention on, and really listened to some details. Then, the verdict was hands down to the T-amp. I was clearly hearing and enjoying some background instrument details which were much less distinct and clear on the Creek. The T-amp just had better resolution of the the sound. I don't couldn't reproduce my impression before of the bass being indistinct either. I adjusted the output bias before listening, and it was off (~5mV and 2mV - doesn't sound much?). Perhaps that had an effect? Seems unlikely. I'd criticise the t-amp as being a bit over-bright in my setup - a little more wearing to listen to than it should be. My hearing is very sensitve to volume, particularly at the high end. Also, at times I was completely undecided, so it was quite a close thing. All the same, I think the fact that it was close, and ultimately I decided I heard more and enjoyed the music from the TA-10.1 better, is remarkable for an amp that cost 1/8 of the Creek. A miracle after all. I didn't have the SA-T-amp on hand to try that, and anyway, I was fed up with all the switching by the end. I'd love to do a blind test. Now the poor TA-10.1 is back in the kitchen facing the indignity of pushing the really muddy Optimus speakers, until and unless I replace them. -- jimmyfergus ------------------------------------------------------------------------ jimmyfergus's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4323 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=33112 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
