OK, I've just returned the TP which I have had on loan for a week+ now, and I am overall very satisfied. Read on for a long subjective (boring) ramble.
The design is nicer than I thought it would be. I like simplicity, and was fearing that the handles and the row of "machined" buttons along with the twin-displays and "rack mount"-mantra would make it look like a mixture of a rack mountable cisco switch and sun server. The handles are not dominating and the button row does not stand out under normal lightning conditions. And when the displays are dimmed/off it all looks quite tidy. I think that in a sense the buttons and transnav wheel are brilliant. However I also think I wouldn't be using them much over the SBC and the IR remote. So it sort of is a great solution to a problem which doesn't exist. I also found the transnav wheel to be a bit buggy. The biggest gripe was that it would accelerate/not-accelerate randomly. So in searching for element 605 I would get no acceleration going from element 1 to 600, and then full acceleration from 600, making it impossible to hit 605. And for the most important aspect, sound. I already have an SB3 with a slightly "better" than stock power supply. I can't hear any difference from the stock one. The TP is in another league (I've only used the analoge outputs). In ABX'ing I could easily pick out the TP from the SB3. Granted this was on chosen material, and not random tracks. Maybe I'm particularly sensitive to the SB3 flaws, but I was disappointed with its sound from day one. Probably because I was thinking of it as a hi-fi device, which it is not. Overall I think the sound of the TP is very detailed and a tad forward. Imaging is great, and so is resolution. Soundstage and perspective also ought to be, but I suspect my listening room is not up to par. Snare drums and female/male voices are stunning. Bass is also nice and well defined, though to my mind not as tight as it could be. The only area which I didn't find particularly impressing is in treble. I wasn't at any point hearing treble to the extent that I would bring out words such as silkyness and softness. This might be a moot point though as statistically a male at my age can't actually hear very much of whats going on in the top octave. But to finish of, the overall tonal balance is to the hard side, and the sound is somewhat forward. Contrary to what many seems to think, my opinion is that the TP is not lacking in musicality. I guess that could be because I like detail, and unless I'm listening for flaws, the sound of the TP does not at all bother me, rather occasionally hearing some (exaggerated??) detail puts a smile on my face. Based on my experience I can certainly see why people believe in the Modwright tube-mods though. Or any other mod which could improve the TP. I don't think it is perfect, but I think it is technically very good since it brings out such detail in music. Am I getting one? Probably. Could one get something better sounding for the same money. Dunno, I'm thinking probably if one went for a dedicated CD-player, but the differences are a matter of shades of, and personal taste. I very much like the whole SD streaming solution, and the TP provides me with a high quality source. Bjørn -- bhaagensen ------------------------------------------------------------------------ bhaagensen's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7418 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=43991
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