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Lyngdorf TDAI-3400

Well, after reading all the rave reviews of the Lyngdorf TDAI-2170 both here and other places, I decided to order a TDAI-3400 for myself.  I must admit I am still skeptical that such a diminutive piece of equipment can sound better than the Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP tube amp weighing more than 50 lbs, but I have been so intrigued by everything I have read I simply had to pull the trigger. 
I just unboxed it today, hooked everything up, and am listening to it for a while before setting up Room Perfect. 
I really want to hear the what the amp sounds like as-is for a bit to understand it better. 
First impressions:  Without Room Perfect it sounds like very nice solid state amps I've owned in the past, but to be honest, I don't find the sound to be particularly moving.  I moved to tubes after years of solid state, and I swore I would never go back.  That is where I'm coming from.  I should also add that I always try to keep an open mind.  While my initial take on it might sound like I don't like it, I hope folks just read this as me being as honest as possible about what I hear.  I know the tendency when buying new gear is to want so badly to love it in order to justify the expense that it's easy to fool oneself into believing it's an improvement over what you had before, even when it's not.  Of course I really want it to be as mind blowing as it has been built up in my mind to be, but if it's not I am OK with simply moving back to what I have liked so far.   
I have only been playing records through it so far.  Analog makes up 98% of my listening so that's where I am starting with it.  I have a nice CD transport that I will connect to it in the next day or so just to hear the DAC in the unit.  I will also experiment with playing files from USB sticks, computer audio from my MacBook Pro, and whatever else I decide.  I am not prepared to purchase a music server just yet, but it's something I have thought about for a while.  
My system:  speakers are Harbeth Monitor 40.1's.  Turntable is an SME 20/2 with SME IV.iv tonearm and Kiseki Purple Heart cartridge, fed to a Parasound JC-3+ phono preamp.  Power conditioner is Audioqest Niagara 7000.  CD transport is a Wadia 8.  
I will report back as I have more time to experiment and let the amp break in.  

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jaredjcrandall84's avatar
jaredjcrandall84
6 posts
 
I am in the camp of being very happy with the Lyngdorf 3400 but wonder if I can improve even further if I went digital out to a dac (i love chord dacs), and then a great amp (pass labs, etc.). I suppose at this point in time the 3400 would only serve as room correction and front end, but if adding a DAC/AMP of my choice hopefully adds more value that is worth the cost, thoughts?
mifanning's avatar
mifanning
13 posts
 
@yyzsantabarbara asked what I meant by a non-private sale for my TDAi-3400. It’s for sale on Audiogon, which I consider a non-private (public) sale. I mentioned on this board that it is for sale without going through Audiogon, which I consider a private sale. I don’t know whether that makes sense but that was my rationale.
biggund
2 posts
 
Hi there, I've found this thread and others on the Lyngdorf units very informative, and I thought I'd ask a few questions.  I am interested in upgrading my amp to a unit that has some sort of room correction, and am looking at the TDAI-3400 as well as an Anthem STR Integrated with ARC correction. It seems like there was a preference for the Lyngdorf based on another thread...

I live in a loft, with very high ceilings, lots of glass and concrete floors, and a large open room where the stereo is - there is a tremendous amount of echo and reflection. I am slowly applying room treatments like bass traps but it is still not getting to where I'd like it to be in terms of sound quality.

So this leads me to some questions on the TDAI-3400:

  1. What are people's experiences with using the unit as a Roon Endpoint and using the ethernet connection? Will the ethernet connection allow UPNP/DLNA service with a renderer and something like MinimServer? Are there improvements to be had using a dedicated streamer like a Lumin U1 mini or Innuos Zenith to connect via USB?
  2. Related to the above - I have seen some threads suggesting that sound quality improves using a higher end DAC to feed the unit - is it advisable to stick with a digital in and use the unit's internal DAC, or could it be an improvement to use an external DAC?

Any comments would be appreciated.  Cheers, Gerry

mifanning's avatar
mifanning
13 posts
 
@biggund If you wish to purchase a 3400 with the optional analog module, I have one for sale.
jnehma1
111 posts
 
@biggund I can't answer all of your questions, but I use my TDAI-3400 with Roon and it works flawlessly. You can control it from the Roon app, turning it on or off. If it's off and you press play on a song, it automatically switches on and the song waits a couple seconds to start playing while the amp powers up. Similarly if you turn off the Lyngdorf while playing a song, Roon automatically pauses. It's all integrated perfectly.

I haven't used it in conjunction with other DACs or streamers to be able to answer that question but I feel like it would be somewhat redundant and a waste of money. If you want to use a separate streamer/DAC, I probably wouldn't choose the TDAI-3400. Get something where all of your money is going into parts/features you are going to use.
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