I'm blown away by the Sonic Impact tripath amp.

If you like the liquidity of triodes, you need to check out the ClariT. Think of it as a tough inner-city SET, wearing leather, but obviously in touch with its female side. To be honest, the ClariT, now fully burned in, makes tube topology inadequate for my listening. Speaker control from hell. What battery power does for attack transients has to be heard to be understood. Realistic, not overstated, exaggerated, overhanging, bloated bass. Once your ears become accustomed to this sound and this level of Control, for me, there is NO going back.

Amandarae,

I have audtioned several of the above mentioned audiophool units; battery juice is something Entirely different, trust me. The First Watt is the most important, and when this thing is harnessed to compatible, read: >95db speaks, it gets pretty special. And Very, very different. Then you add battery powered, non-OS DAC, and different still. Your equation of Mo Money = Mo Betta is wrong here.

Amandarae,

Sorry if I ruffled your feathers, I am just so over people making sweeping generalizations where $$ issues in terms of kwality, are supposed to be a key factor. In what? "Ultimate" enjoyment? I think the phrase "up the ladder," understandably brought on my spate, as in, "here we go again. Unfortunately you got swept up. Good to see some grounding, pardon the pun! You're on my side.

Having said that, Vinnie's little creation makes a joke out of ALOT of what is out there.

Slappy,

Don't get me started. When I was a kid playing in a rock band, I had to make do wiring the wondrous triode amp in my Hammond organ into the Altec A7's we used as a PA system, to listen to practice tapes and albums. Little did I know that I had stumbled into what many here would consider "destination" sound. I know what "real music" sounds like, unlike many audiophiles. This I believe is the distinction between audiophile, and music lover.

What I have learned from the ClariT amp is that AC-based power is an absolute enemy of sonics, unless you do an awful lot to ameliorate its evil. Stray AC will ALWAYS leak into the system, whose topology is unusually susceptible to hash, unless, it is run on pure, unadulterated DC, ie, a battery. A/B'd recently with the BC eVo, we all preferred the ClariT. And by a wide margin...Batteries. Deluxe, clean, hash free power, and a fabulous source of musically nutritious current. I believe Sealed Lead Acid 12 volt batteries are an absolute boon to audio. To wit: soon I will be off the National Electrical Grid for good, as I have found a battery operable CD transport to complete the concept. Battery amplification, source and transport. No noise floor considerations. No need for power conditioning. No noise folks. You have to hear it to understand.

I also plan on a custom high efficiency 12 or 15 inch/CD horn rig of about 100db, possibly using TAD drivers, if they can substantiate their primo price tags. The point is, Vinnie's amp is already perched pretty near the top of your ladder, and many people will overlook it based on price. Sad. Girard knows of what I speak.