Good deal. Congrats Qualia8. I cannot say that I've heard your AI preamp with your T200, but having heard them seperately, I would think that you could not do better value wise. I'm not a big fan of Revel speakers, but a good friend of mine is, and they sound pretty good in his system.
I would think that your next upgrade would be on the digital front end, or maybe you should first install dedicated lines and deal with cabling/power sources.
I guess to really answer your question one would want to know just exactly what you feel is lacking from your current setup.From my previous experiences', you have to tread lightly once you get a sound that you are fairly happy with. It is easier to screw things up than to acquire perfection.
Cheers,
John |
Thanks for the advice, everyone. I ended up getting it for 1250. Now, any suggestions for upgrading other parts of my system to match this amp? |
Unsound, I agree that the caps normally go before the transistors. I haven't heard of any new IGBT's though. Jon Soderberg would know better than me though, I only mention it as a caution.
Mlsstl, yes NOS tubes are much more availible, mostly because Threshold invented/patented and are the only ones to use IGBT's (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors). It was a marriage of MOSFET's and Bi-Polar transistors, the best of both worlds, if you will.
They do sound incredible, possibly as good as you can get with a silicon chip. The reliability and replacement are the only issues.
Qualia8, I bought my T400 from a local friend for $1800 about 5 years ago. I sold it for $2000 about 3 years ago.
Is my current sound better? No. It may have been for awhile (this is all in our heads, remember?) I would say that I did spend many times (3X?) more money to get what I thought was better sound.
I did really love the T400, and truth be told, I probably never really upgraded at all. The sound changed.....change is not always an improvement though.........
Cheers,
John |
I agree with John, offer them $1200.00. |
> IGBT transitors were obsolete
I find it hard to believe that in a world where vacuum tubes that haven't been in production for 50 years are still available on the NOS (new old stock) market that there will be any serious problem repairing the amp if that need arises. |
Rumour has it that the original IGBT transitors were obsoloete, but, there are newwer, better ones avialable now. Should one need a replacement, a complete rebuild may (I suspect this is the case) or may not be necessary. This should keep the performance of the original more similar than a change to a duifferent transistor technology, it may even improve upon it. The issue might be moot, the IGBT's have a reputation for being pretty robust and reliable. I would guess the caps might need to be replaced long before the IGBT, which would probably be the case regardless of the output technology. |
$1400 is a bit high for a T200, IMHO. I'll bet you can knock at least $200 off the price. AgoN bluebook values are not always a very good measuring stick.
As for the new Threshold rebuilds, they change all the transistors from the IGBT's to regular bi-polars, and from reports that I've heard, also change the sound. Slightly more dynamic and transparent, but less rich and sweet I'm told. I can't confirm this, but those are the choices one faces.
Sonically, for <$1500, I don't think you can beat the sound of a T200 with a SS amp. The IGBT issue may be disconcerning, but they sure do sound fabulous.
Cheers,
John |
Detailed, detailed, detailed,
A slightly analytical touch, I've since gone to toobs so have a slight sand bias.
Slam is not the forte, excuse the pun of the Threshold stuff, that's for Krell, but I can't listen to a Krell for long, where as the T-holds are --- well let's put it like this. I still own one. I had the T3i pre-amp, and swaped it for the BAT gained smooth, lost detail. The amp stays.
loon |
Thanks for the info. 1K sounds like a great deal. Here, the asking price is $1400 from an audio dealer.
I saw the rebuild offer from Threshold. Looks good, but I don't have that kind of cash.
Is $1400 too much? A-gon bluebook avg price is $1820 and the bluebook at the audio store said $1650. So $1400 looked like a deal to me. But maybe I should offer less?
The amp continues to sound great with my Revels... |
I own a T-200 and I am very pleased with it. I am running it with Martin Logan's. As far as taking the plunge, it depends on the price. I purchased my from the orginal owned for $1000.00. The resurrected Threshold company will rebuild T-200's and T-400's and include a three year warranty. I have not done this but I might someday. |
I owned a T400 several years ago. It was a fantastic sounding amp. My only concern would be the output transistors. In the T series amps Threshold used IGBT output transistors, which are now obsolete. So if one of the transistors should bite the dust (remote, but always a possibility), the amp would need a quite extensive rebuild. As I'm sure you would have to then replace all of the transistors as well as any other ancillary components. You may get more detailed information from Jon Soderberg at Vintage Amp Repair.Cheers, John |
