Well if it's just stock EH's,which I suspect,that's already saying a lot.Throw a quad of NOS Siemens in there and it will really sing.Looking forward to your post audition review. |
First of all corrections to my last post, "me" instead of "be", and insert "get" in my last sentence. My typing does not always catch up with my thoughts.
I do not know which tubes are in his base model 2.1. I have 2.1R w/ a volume remote and no other upgrades. Joseph or Victor would need to answer that question.
I listened well into the evening and have been playing my go-to CDs to see if I hear any differences between the Pass s.s. pre and the 2.1. Surprisingly I hear more similarities than I do differences.I will have to wait for better wire before I make any true comparsons. After all the Pass Labs X-0.2 retailed for $10k and the Audio Horizons 2.1 retails for $2K. The only thing I can say at this point is the Pass 0.2 has much finer control over volume levels. |
What tube complement is it running. |
I picked up the 2.1R today. It is up and running in my system. All my longer interconnects are XLR and I was using a pair of Cardas XLR to RCA adaptors to connect my Aleph 3s to my Pass Labs X-0.2 pre with balanced cables. For now I only have a pair of 3m $35 Audioquest Snakes....but it sounds great for the conditions! Joseph told be he runs his preamps for 1 week for breakin.
Once I some decent wire between my amps and the 2.1, I will chime in again. |
Unless Joseph is specifically selling a demo unit and/or has otherwise changed his policies, I had thought that all units shipped for evaluation were new with possibly just a few hours on them. A comment from Joseph or Victor here regarding this would be nice. |
Is it Joseph's practice to give out new units for audition? I would think he'd have broken in 2.1s for audition. |
O yea Siemens early 60s CCAs are a step up along with Josephs Dimension power cord and ICs. Time on my system adds up
pretty fast as i daily play at least three or four lps and weekends its a music fest down here.
After all these years i still cant get enough of that good ole classic rock and roll. |
It has been a few years now, but I recall deciding to keep my TP 2.0n after about 150 hours. My next step was finding a nice quad of Siemens CCa tube upgrades for further refinement. |
Sherod I went the audition route and would say Joseph gave me more
Than enough time and I was won over by the fine sounding 2,1.
I sure would like to hear from more AH pre users who have gone
The upgrade route.
Mike |
Which brings up the question: If it really does need 300-500 hours break-in to sound its best, is Joseph's trial period long enough to cover that? |
Gandame,
Keep in mind that unless the 2.1R you are auditioning is already burned in it will take 300 to 500 hours of play time before it sings. |
Gandme,
Joseph does great work on his tuner upgrades. He is the Master in this regard. He completely transformed my Harman/Kardon Citation 18 tuner. I look forward to your impressions of both the tuner and the preamp. |
I am new to this post. I have been a lover of classic analog tuners for many years. I am taking my Sansui TU-919 tuner to Joseph for mods. I started reading this thread and decided to kill two birds... I have wanted to try a tubed pre with my Pass Labs gear for years (the last time I saw a glowing tube in my system was 1971) but never really had a reason. Now conveniance(free home audition) and chance have come together!
I currently have a Pass Labs X-0.2 feeding two Pass Labs Aleph 3s in vertical bi-amp configuration. My speakers are Audio Physic Virgo IIs. I will let you know what I hear!
I drop off my tuner and pick up my Audio Horizon 2.1R this Saturday AM. |
Ouch! You beat me to it, Pat. I guess you'll have to start a new thread and get ready for the flames. (o: |
Can any preamp be better than the final Audio Horizons TP 2.1 ? (kidding) |
"Doppler Effect",don't go there we'll have the H-Cat crowd crying foul. |
Sorta like a "Doppler Effect" ? |
I'm curious if this "harmonic alignment" is something done to the power supply regarding AC filtration or to the actual signal in the circuitry. |
Harmonic alignment.......................cool. |
Cider many thanks for the info. Joseph is really going all out
With improving an already fine preamp. I'm hopping he has it all
Together by next month as I will be ready for rolling the dice
With shipping my 2,1 in for a upgrade. I've been lucky so far using
The usps you never no when your luck will run out though.
Mike |
Joseph brought a TP2.1 with Clarity capacitors and a feature he called harmonic alignment to test in my system yesterday. Sherod and others have noted the musical transparency of the Clarity capacitor. I agree with their assessment but will not repeat it here.
Without comment from Joseph, we listened to the preamp. What I heard that was new to my ears was an increased focus and dynamism to the individual voices and instruments within an ensemble. Voices and instruments seemed to me to vary more independently of one another.
I reported what I had heard and asked about "harmonic alignment." What is it?
It is a method to reduce distortion from signals greater than 60 kHz. Even though signals at such high frequencies are far above the hearing threshold of humans, these signals do cause harmonic distortions in frequencies that are within our hearing range.
At least, that is what I can repeat using my layman terms and understanding. I asked if there was attenuation of audible frequencies when the 60+ kHz frequencies are reduced. "No," for some reason related to impedance. Joseph has always been keen about impedance but he loses me quickly in that area.
Based on a single session of about 1 hour, I would say this feature reduces a distortion that masks the dynamics of individual instruments and voices. Of course, the voices continue to sing in tune together, but they do so in a more lively, independent, and natural manner. I guess you could call that singing with greater harmonic alignment. |
Mark,
I look forward to hearing your impressions after the upgrade. I am particularly interested at this time in the Vishay resistors. How many, what locations, and cost. I wish Joseph would upgrade his web site for current upgrades. |
Sherod,
No I didn't,I will be raising that issue with Joseph when I send the unit to AH for a full upgrade,Clarity caps,power supply,Vishay resistors,transformers,etc.Talk soon. |
Markwattkiss,
Did you ever talk with Joseph or Victor about lowering the gain on the preamp? I noticed that on their web site specs, the 2.1 comes standard with 20db gain, but 10db gain with "B" upgrade. |
Thank you for the excellent detail Cedar. It is very helpful. |
My room is 20' x 20' x 9'. Two adjacent walls have large openings, so the effective volume is larger than the measurements indicate.
I use a digital source.
The loudspeakers are specified at 92 dB with a minimum impedance of 10 ohms.
I listen to music at a volume that doesn't exceed 85dB, which is typical of what I hear when I attend the opera, seated within 15 rows of the orchestra pit. |
Cedar - thanks for the preview on the Set amp. Would you post whether you used an LP or digital source, efficiency of your speakers and size of your room, so that I can get an idea if the Set is something that may be in my future? |
Nice post on the amp. Well written and really paints a vivid picture of what you are experiencing with this amp. |
Cedar,
Thanks for the mini-preview of your beta-testing time with Joseph's new SET amp. May I suggest that you start a new thread on the amp and/or write up a separate review on it. I'm hoping that we can keep this thread going as it started on Joseph's preamp and its variations. Any technical information and pricing and availability on the SET amp would be helpful as well. The SET amp will probably benefit those with fairly high-efficient speakers( I recall that you have the high efficient Coincidence speakers) Those with lower efficient speakers might not be able to mate this new SET amp with their speakers. |
On a recent evening, I watched a skillful boxer beat a less skillful boxer. He was faster to punch, to change angles, to block, to slip punches. An athlete in peak form sees, acts, and reacts so quickly that we fans marvel at his speed and mastery. From the athlete's perspective, he sees, acts and reacts to events that unfold more slowly than he is able to respond to them. From his perspective, when in peak form, the game has slowed down.
I know now that an audiophile can share in the experience of an athlete in peak form. While testing the latest iteration of Joseph's new SET amp, I shared in it. The music came to me with such clarity, ease and fullness that I experienced it, and responded to it, more quickly and completely than I had known to be possible. The game has slowed down.
I heard what a live audience must hear from the reedy voiced Stacey Kent. Momentarily, she will delicately touch a warm, un-nasal, lower pitched vibrato. Alison Krauss' wispiest sibilants are no longer opaque; I can almost pause to inspect them, as they float past my ears. The game had slowed down.
Are there two pianists who interpret Mozart more differently than Mitsuko Uchida and Alicia de Larrocha do? I've enjoyed this difference many times. But, through this amplifier, I could hardly believe their interpretations of the allegro movement of Sonata K332 had been inspired by the same source. The recordings had not changed. My experience of them had changed.
This SET amplifier is special. I hope it reaches the market. The amp now moves on to another beta tester. I hope it returns soon. |
Caps and coils is where I purchased mine very reasonable for another
Option.
Mike |
Madisound recently lowered their prices on the Claritycap. I paid quite a bit more for mine from them not long ago. Oh, well. I'm still happy with them in my preamp.
http://www.madisound.com/pdf/printcatalog/claritycapMR.pdf
|
Gammajo you wrote it well in your post. I am so happy with my systems sound now that playing the equipment in and out game is not on my list any longer. Yes i can go along with upgrades to my gear thats a no brainer. And with AH, Nuforce, Tyler, Sora sound, and others in my fold its most definitely more than the gear. First class customer service and friendly business models are so refinishing and appreciated. And when it all comes together with a sound that is music to the ears quoting cousin Eddy "BINGO"
Markwatkiss nice jingle for the masses i'm sure.
Mike |
Well as they say on Good Morning America,Audio Horizons is an AMERI CAN story. |
I say we take the power supply out of the Dude and put it in the AH preamp. Then we'll call it the Frankenstein. (o: |
Besides stellar sound in a preamp, I also look for reliability, ease of use, tube rolling potential, great communication and helpfulness, attractiveness, an available upgrade path that is cost reasonable, and synergy with my other equipment. So far AH has fit this bill beautifully.
I know for me things really dialed in with the AH with an exceptional quad of Seimans NOS early sixties cca's. Other quads of cca's and other tubes just didn't do it as well for me. Victor confirmed my judgment of the cca's that I ended up with.
I am eager to hear equipment such as the Dude and the Sampsons that are reported as taking things even further but the incentive to chase the next best thing has been greatly diminished when it is so much fun to listen to what I already have and I am so pleased with the customer service. |
Guys, it's that power supply, the brothers at TRL have that down to a science, they made (past) / make (present) some of the best equipment on the planet, bar none. yep. |
Guys, it's that power supply, the brothers at TRL have that down to a science, they made (past) / make (present) some of the best equipment on the planet, bar none.
My NuForce / A.H. sounds great, but things can change as we know. |
Actually I made a mistake. Ater browsing through some of the older posts here, I read where member Tvad tried out the TP 2.1nb and it didn't work for him in his system. Victor also mentioned somewhere, either in this thread or maybe in a private e-mail to me, that a small percentage of preamps bought are returned with the money-back guarantee, but the majority end up keeping them. |
Joe,
There are a few others who have owned a version of the AH preamp and have since moved on to other preamps. Grannyring has so far been the only one with the cajones to post about it in this thread. I'm sure we'll hear from others some day. I'm glad that Grannyring has found something that best suits his listening preferences. |
Wow, after more than 1,000 posts someone who is very familiar with the AH, has treasured its strengths, and whose opinion invites respect posits a superior contender (at least in their system) for best in pre-amp class. I, for one would be highly interested in a comparison of Joseph's latest with the Dude. |
Mike, check out my review of the Dude on this site for particulars. More open, resolving, musical, dynamic, effortless, much "larger" sounding, instruments simply sounded like they do live to a far greater degree.
I do respect Joseph and still stay in touch having just purchased more cables from him. Perhaps I will get a chance to hear his best unit soon. I live in southern Minnesota about 90 miles south of the Twin Cities. |
Wow Sherod thats a little close for comfort. I love the way the country is moving &*%#@!?<+-.... yea right, sorry i know this is not the place for this.
Rx8man my job involves soldering in tight spots and componets ive been doing it for a while it should not be a big deal. But i thank you for the reply.
Does anyone know if Victors Clarity upgrade is just caps or is some other components included?
No doubt the dude has been getting a lot of posts here and other sites.
Bill when you say by a large margin could you expand on that for us?
Mike |
Bill( Grannyring) and Pat(Rx8man) should plan a get together to compare preamps. That would be a fun read. How close do you guys live to one another? I live out in the left armpit of Texas(El Paso). With the drug war going on just a few miles from my house across the border in Juarez,Mx. you wouldn't feel safe here. (o: |
I would also like to know. The Dude bested the 2.1 loaded by a good margin - pretty wide margin really. I understand Joseph is up to some interesting things and perhaps a shootout is in order soon.
Would be fun! |
Hey Bill,
Wonder how the Dude would compare to the A.H. with all the current updates ?
(I had to ask !) |
Clefhanger
I have compared the Rowland to the AH 2.1 fully loaded in my system some 18 months ago. I found the AH to be more musical, richer mids, more body and more to my taste.
One preamp that has bested both by a good margin is my current TRL Dude. You should also put the Dude on your list - $3500 new. Amazing unit to be sure. |
If that's the case, send your preamp to Joseph near Fall, have him do everything at once and be done with it.
There are certain things I do, but when it comes to small, fine soldering on sensitive circuit boards with close components forget it, I'd leave that to Joseph, trust me.
|
I was going to install them myself. It won't be till later in the
Summer before I can get the power supply upgrade. I refuse to be
Without music. What's your thoughts rx8man?
Mike |
Mike,
Is Joseph installing your ClarityCaps ? |
