Rx8man I'm in a holding pattern waiting for
My claritys to arrive. Between Sherod and your
Comments It won't be a minute to soon. I'm like you
Daily enjoying the music keep us updated.
Mike |
I'm around the 150 mark, still waiting for more to happen, but I'll hang in there, cause it still sounds awesome. |
The 200 hour mark on the Claritycaps is the first milestone where the caps begin to relax and slowly disappear. They will continue to gradually improve even more through the next 100 hours. Enjoy the music. |
200 hours on the Clarity caps. Nothing short of remarkable. Easily the best 150 bucks that I've spent on audio. My TP 2.1 is now second string and wondering how the heck the 2.0 took its job. |
Charlie,
I look forward to hearing your impressions of the sound of these upgrades. |
Thanks for the welcome. I would not be in a position to take advantage of this new technology if were not for you and the other folks on this thread. I'm relatively new to this high-end audio but look forward to participating and sharing impressions where I can. Thanks again to all. |
Charlie,
Welcome to the AH club. I look forward to hearing your impressions. I am also in line to send my preamp to Joseph for the transformer/Vishay upgrade. As you know, I already have the Claritycaps. (O: |
Hey Sherod:
Just got word from Victor:
"We have finalized the price of the Clarity-Vishay upgrade for the TD 3.0. This upgrade includes 4 Clarity MR caps, 8 Vishay resistors. With it we also do a Harmonic alignment, which requires a few more parts to align and adds an extra layer of smoothness and coherence to the sound. It is a very definite step up in performance quality."
Moving forward with this upgrade. It will will be a few weeks yet but parts are on the way. Keep you posted if you are interested.
Cheers
Charlie |
Cdente,
It's your call,but I'd wait for the new Claritycap for the preamp since you're already getting it for your DAC. I would do one thing at a time to avoid confusion. Let the Clarity caps break into your DAC and listen to your favorite reference music to make sure that you like the new sound. If you hear the improvements like I think you will, then I would look at the preamp next, of course with the newest upgrades depending on your budget. In my opinion, the Claritycap MR option is a "no- brainer". (O: |
Hi Sherod
Thanks for your input. Still waiting on pricing for the Clarity-Vishay upgrade on the DAC. I guess the free trial would be the way to go. Just wondering if it would make any sense to evaluate the preamp without the Clarity cap upgrade given the fact that the dac would have these better components further upstream? Your thoughts.
Charlie |
Cdente,
I don't have Joseph's DAC, but I'm going to assume that the Claritycap will raise the level of quality of sound just as it does in the preamp. Joseph would be better qualified in telling you if one or all caps should be changed out to Claritycaps. If you want to see if the AH preamp would synergize better with your DAC than your Bel Canto, try out the AH preamp yourself in your own system with their return money-back guarantee. If you like the AH preamp the best, I would imagine that you could resell your Bel Canto on Audiogon for a reasonable price. Maybe someone that currently owns the AH preamp who might have previously owned the Bel Canto pre can chime in to give you some first hand experience advice. |
Hello all. Just thought I would chime in here and ask a few questions. I'm in the process of having my TD 3.0 upgraded with the Clarity MR caps as we speak. Just waiting on Joe and Victor to finalize the source and pricing.
Question 1: What impact will this upgrade have at the DAC level without an AH preamp? I'm assuming it will be much better then my current configuration which is still quite nice. There are four caps in the dac as opposed to two in the preamp.
Question 2. Currently using a Bel Canto PRE3.
Would there be added synergy with a AH preamp with the powersuppy and Clarity cap upgrades?
Thanks in advance for your comments.
Charlie |
Well, Pat. If you like the sound now, just wait until those caps start to relax within the next 100 hours. I doubt if we'll be hearing from you for a while as you'll be too busy being caught up in the music. Just remember to do something nice for the wife from time to time. You don't want her to think that you're married to your beloved stereo. (o: |
OK,
First evening with the preamp, initial impressions :
VERY, very relaxed and easeful, music has greater separation, dynamics and harmonic structure.
Much smoother and flowing, like water in a river, it's so easy and beautiful to listen, like real music.
I'm done for now, the preamp and I are slowly disappearing in the chain. |
Anyone know the cap values on the TP 8.0n phono stage. I was looking to swap out the caps. Yes, I could ask Joseph, but have some reluctance knowing how he's not too craze about someone getting into his units. Thanks. |
Hi Clefhanger,will send you a pm,I don't want to clutter the thread with my ramblings. |
I listed the top dogs in order. :-) I would love to hear from somebody who has heard those worthy contenders.
Thanks for the feedback on Capri and Dodd, Markwatkiss.
Can you describe the sound from the other preamps? so we can validate our impressions. What characters did you think was better on the AH?
What speakers and amp do you own? Maybe we can have an idea on the synergy of your system in judging your findings.
Thank you |
Hey! We're all in this together. There are many others out there who have compared far more preamps out there than myself. All I know is what I have now sounds pretty darn good. |
It's about time Sherod, we're all counting on you, the pioneer with the big machete, start choppin boy ! |
Let the challenge begin! (o: |
In response to Clefhanger I've owned the Capri and the Dodd and can say in no uncertain terms that the AH is superior to both.Now the Cary SLP-05,that would be an interesting shoot out. |
The Claritycap MR sounds very decent right up front. It will go through a mini roller-coaster ride up to around 100 hours. At about 100 hours the cap starts to relax and slowly disappear, letting the music come through with that nice ebb and flow feeling of musical naturalness. The bass will further extend and tighten up while the highs will not only extend, but cymbals will have a natural sheen and brilliance that will give you an ear-to-ear grin. From 100-200 hours the roller-coaster ride smooths out dramatically with gradual improvements heard daily. After 200 hours, you'll be so enamored of the music, hearing nuanced details and natural tone and timbre that you'll forget about the cap. You'll be rearranging your music collection, anxious to hear your old favorites like never before. |
Installed the Clarity cap in my TP 2.0n. Been only about 20 hours so far, but the improvement in immediacy and lack of noise is impressive! |
Can anyone who has heard any of the preamps below provide feedback on how it compares to the Audio Horizons TP?
These are the preamps that I am considering with my budget of a new TP 2.1nB.
1) Cary SLP-05 used
2) Ayre K1xe used
3) Pass Labs XP-10/XP-20 (or a used X-1 at half the price)
4) Dodd Audio Preamp (used at half the price)
5) Jeff Rowland Capri (used at half the price)
Thank you |
Thanks for the words of encouragement Sherod.
After mine settles in, comparisons with other top-flite preamps is in order, just to have a better idea where it stands. |
Pat,
You will have your preamp back early next week and it will be in pristine condition ready to put out some glorious music for you. It will be well worth your wait. I can't wait to hear your impressions. |
I parted with mine for almost 3 weeks (thanks to FedEx and UPS) you'll all get over it, I did. |
I hear you, Mike. It's tough parting with a component that is so crucial in your system when everything sounds so musical. Plus the hassle of unplugging, carefully packaging(apparently Fedex and UPS run periodic tests of dropping packages containing fragile electronics off the Empire State Building for their tests)and then waiting the two weeks to get it back into your system. I'm also debating whether to go with one or more upgrades so that I can get it all done at once and not have to worry about returning it a few months later for another upgrade. I have to fight my "Audiophilia Nervosa" syndrome at times. (o: |
I contacted Victor last week and he responded to me, power supply upgrade was 500.00. They were at that time still looking for suppliers of Clarity and other manufacturers of caps to put a price on that upgrade. Turn around time one week.
I'm most interested but dont want to be with out my system. This will give me time to hear what others think about this upgrade as my next planed vacation is months down the line.
I'm enjoying music daily and have no problem with the sound of my system using the stock 2.1rnb. But like my last and most recent upgrade my speakers a huge audible move upwards, i'm thinking this upgrade to 2.1 will be another positive move and hopefully worth the price.
Mike |
I think we are all waiting for Victor or Joseph to make the announcement of exactly what upgrades are available and what the price is for each. I have a feeling that they are probably trying to get the best OEM price for key parts to be able to give a realistically fair final price. I realize that Joseph is in the business to make money, but he also wants to be fair in giving us all the best value for our dollar spent. |
Also awaiting Rxman's comments, final price, and some extra cash to come my way, then I"m in for the upgrade if three green lights on issues above.
Joe |
Actually, there is one (bad-boy, ultra linear, super quiet, EMI-RFI minimal radiating tranny) replacing the other two.
Look mom, no more copper wraps ! |
I'm anxious to hear Pat's(Rx8man) impressions on how the new transformers sound. That would be my next upgrade consideration. I'm also curious what Joseph decides regarding the new Vishay resistor upgrade. I would probably do both if the price is right. (o: |
That's a nice pic sherod the lay out is different than 2,1 for
sure. Keep us updated on further developments. |
Thanks to Sherod, I had him post the photo of my preamp in its finishing stages.
Mark, I agree about room to spare, having the flexibility to accomodate future upgrades within a clean, simple, well executed design environment, or as Sherod quoted 'topology'
I should receive my pre next Tuesday (that's if FedEx or UPS don't perform a miracle disaster on it with their kid-glove services) |
That's one of assets I love about this pre amp,there's a lot of room to play around inside.I've decided to move forward with the power supply upgrade and clarity cap install.Just waiting for a final price. |
Here's a link to a photo of Joseph's power supply upgrade on the TP 2.0:
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t300/Sherod_01/AHnewtransformers.jpg
|
Before I listened to the ClarityCap installation, I returned my pre to Joseph for the power supply upgrade as well.
This should merit quite a phenomenal improvement across the board, without changing the original voicing or magical qualities already present.
I'll post in the next couple weeks when all breaks in and solidifies. |
I figured it so, Pat. That's why I threw it into the post.
(O: |
"Topology" that's the word I was looking for last night Sherod. |
Joe,
Joseph has designed an excellent preamp with a great topology at a specific price point. But even with the best-designed preamp circuit topology, it is only as good as its parts can give you, hence the desire to upgrade to premium parts. But these premium parts usually come with a price, so that is why Joseph gives certain upgrades to help those who are set with a certain budget. I believe that this new Claritycap MR line is an advancement of capacitor technology, and it is relatively new to the market and as a result, since Joseph's evalution, he will soon place it into one of his upgrade packages. Victor also mentioned that Joseph is currently experimenting with some premium resistors that will further improve the presence and aliveness of the sound of the preamp. "Good things come to those who wait." ( my mother used to tell us this, but I never did understand it. (O:) |
I want to add my thanks to Victor and Joseph and all the AH explorers that are willing to experiment and share the results. I'd much rather upgrade this great preamp than look for anything else becuase it already has the rightness and musicality that I had been searching for.
Joe |
Tuesday will be my day for listening pleasure with the ClarityCaps and some other goodies I had installed.
I'll post results when I run more hours on my unit, but so far what I gather from Sherod's results, it's a clear winner. |
Hey, Mike. Thanks for the commendation. This was all a "labor of love" for me. I know that Joseph gets a little nervous when someone gets inside his preamp and messes with it, but I had a gut feeling about this new cap and wanted to hear how it sounded. If after it had broken in and didn't show any merit, I probably wouldn't have said anything about it. But when I heard just how much better it made an already great preamp sound, I just had to let the word out. I am happy( and more so, relieved) that both Joseph and Victor, after evaluating the cap, did indeed hear its potential. There was a possibility that neither of them would have liked the way this cap sounded in their system and I certainly would have come out of this thing with egg on his face. I am not a technician and don't know a lot about circuit designs and would never make an attempt to change that which Joseph, the Master, has designed. I look at this as a parts replacement tweak that only further refines and brings out an already great design. Kind of like experimenting with what power cords, interconnects and speaker cables work best in your system. |
Sherod thanks to your findings with clarity caps and Josephs announced upgrade Audio Horizon preamp users will be getting a better preamp, and to improve on what i hear now from my 2.1 NBR i cant wait. What i mean is i could not be more satifyed now with 2.1 hours on end with complete musical enjoyment.
Many thanks to you Sherod for your efforts and to you Victor and Joseph for the up coming improvements.
Mike |
Victor,
I am pleased that you and Joseph have heard the merits of this new Claritycap MR. I have over 300 hours on mine and their transparency and superiority over previous caps have shown me the greatness of Joseph's preamp circuitry. I can go crazy with audiophile superlatives but as I mentioned to Pat in a private e-mail, our Rx8man here on this thread, this cap comes as close as you can get to sounding like "no cap", which theoretically, that's the way it should be. This output cap is supposed to let AC through and block out DC, and that's all. From top to bottom, this cap just lets more of the music get through to your speakers and in a most wonderful way, I might add. I have read that this cap will further improve up through the 500 hour mark. I can hardly wait. |
So many of your have asked about further upgrades to the 2.0/2.1 that I'm happy to announce that next month Joseph will be offering two upgrades: 1) an extensive power supply upgrade packaged with other improvements, and 2) after auditioning the Clarity caps as per Sherod's pioneering efforts, we have been sufficiently impressed with their performance and with their excellent value that we have decided to offer them as part of a second package of upgrades. For more details and prices, drop me a line.
Thanks again for your continuing investigations and for your support.
Victor |
One of the things I would like to remind all Audio Horizons product owners( and to all audiophiles in general) is to periodically clean all your cable connections. Depending on where you live regarding differing conditions of humidity, unless you use all gold-plated contacts or have your contacts covered with a specially formulated contact paste,i.e. Xtreme Quicksilver Gold, etc. I found a wonderful cleaner called Kontak. This product cleans off all oxidation with a couple of swabbings and dries instantly leaving no residue, and just as importantly, leaves no sonic signature like some cleaners I've tried. Once all your connections are properly cleaned and re-inserted, the overall sound opens up very nicely. This inexpensive tweak of contact cleaning is sometimes forgotten in the scheme of things as we look at other ways of improving our system. Have a great weekend, everyone, and hopefully this thread will continue with periodic posts of information from past, current, and future owners of the AH TP preamps. I have about 300 hours on my new Claritycap MR caps and will post a report soon. |
I concur with Sherod about the Caps........ past, present and future. |
Only Joseph, and perhaps Victor, knows what the new cap in the 2.1 is. He is keeping it proprietary. The copper foil around the new cap is not there to hide anything about the cap. It is there as a shield to block out EMI/RFI. I doubt if the cap is from Claritycap, especially the APW, as it is an inexpensive cap and Victor once mentioned that their new caps in the TP 2.1 cost them around $80.00. The Hovland is a musical cap, but it does have its limitations, hence, Joseph's change to the new cap in the 2.1. Joseph will be soon evaluating the new Claritycap MR series and I'm looking forward to his impressions. |
