AMP8

The T+A amp arrived. First listening is pretty good. More than enough power, lots of dynamics and obvious very wide band width and speed. It is a tad "tight", or a slight "harshness". This is typical of every new amp I have tried until they break in a little.

So my question is, how much breaking in can I expect with a T+A amp?
 
Randy Myers said:
The T+A amp arrived. First listening is pretty good. More than enough power, lots of dynamics and obvious very wide band width and speed. It is a tad "tight", or a slight "harshness". This is typical of every new amp I have tried until they break in a little.

So my question is, how much breaking in can I expect with a T+A amp?
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250 hours.


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It will change quite a bit and those problems will go away. I find it to be quite a smooth amp with a neutral to perhaps slightly warm balance.

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Randy, I look forward to your continued thoughts as your amp breaks in. Congrats!
 
Thank you. I am not one who runs a new piece 24/7 to break in. I will just play it and listen to music. If everything holds true I will notice it improving every few days and I will get happier and happier with this amp. :D....
 
Everest Audio said:
It will change quite a bit and those problems will go away. I find it to be quite a smooth amp with a neutral to perhaps slightly warm balance.
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This has been my experience as well. I find that most every amp I have tried started out a bit harsh and bright and smoothed out to their "sound" after about 100 hours. Most continued to improve for the next couple hundred hours. It appears that the T+A will probably do the same!
 
Listening just a few hours and I definitely have noticed some characteristics of this gorgeous little amp. It has a lot more breaking in to go, but I can definitely see what I believe is the family sound.

Very open... very musical... one thing that I have already noticed is the sound stage. The PS Audio amps had excellent separation but the center image seemed to wander... not really stable. Almost like the singer, or the instrument moved around a bit. But with the T+A the sound stage is very very stable. A lot of depth and does not appear to wander at all. I guess I never realized how much this was going on with other amps until I heard how utterly stable the T+A sound stage is. Very nice indeed.

Still lots of breaking in to go :)...
 
Anatta said:
Can you compare it to the Job 225?
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I was thinking this exact thing. The Goldmund Job 225 is a fine amp and the T+A AMP 8 is similar, only everything is stepped up to a higher level. Both are very dynamic and very fast amplifiers. I would compare the two as being of the same design concept, typical European open dynamic and musical.

Both are compact and produce a ton more than their diminutive sizes would indicate that they would be capable of. Of all the amplifiers I have tried in my quest to get "the one", these two are two of my favorites.

While the Job is Goldmunds lower level, with cheaper connectors and only SE inputs, the T+A appears to be of the same build quality that is used through out their products. Therefore I would say the T+A AMP 8 is of higher build quality than the Job 225. Better connectors, fully balanced, interfacing with the DAC 8 DSD's controller; all in all top quality construction. The Job is a great little amp, the T+A is definitely better built.

It is too early to give an honest sound comparison. At this point I would say that the T+A produces a ton more power than the ratings (80 WPS 8 ohm Nominal, 110 WPC 8 ohm peek), and is extremely dynamic. It is the only amp I have had that I would say is as fast as the Job was. The one area that it is already showing its superiority is in the soundstage. I have never heard an amplifier with as stable and deep soundstage. Not only separation, but what really has surprised me is how the center fill does not appear to wander as other amps I have had do.

It has a ton more breaking in to go, but it is already showing what I would imagine is the T+A family sound... and I like what I hear so far.
 
Randy.......Your new T+A components are quite attractive. The sleek and compact design exudes typical German attention to detail without being pretentious. The T+A AMP 8 packs a lot of power into its diminutive package. I was impressed to read the amplifier uses ThermalTrak output transistors. This advanced transistor design allows each transistor to bias itself independently in real time according to the output device's temperature. This ensures extremely low distortion and nearly perfect linearity across the audio frequency band and beyond at all output levels. I noticed also that there is a cooling fan. Is it audible at any time?

Your sound system has been in a relatively constant state of flux these past few years but it appears you are now reaching a level that should satisfy you for years to come. Congratulations on a fine looking sound system.
 
Thank you Dan. I think I am finally reaching a point of satisfaction. I am really liking the T+A gear. Very high quality, and as they have stated, the gear is not design to last for years, it is designed to last decades!

I have never heard the fan; T+A say you probably will never hear it because it is a low spin fan.
 
Sounds good... you guys pitching in to get one for me :D....

Yea, the MP 8 would be sooooo much nicer if it played SACD... and as the most expensive of the three :)
 
Randy Myers said:
Sounds good... you guys pitching in to get one for me :D....

Yea, the MP 8 would be sooooo much nicer if it played SACD... and as the most expensive of the three :)
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I know I was reading the manual, the unit doesn';t even support DSD by its self, it has to be used with a DSD DAC and still the manual doesn't mention it actually working with DSD, so some clarification is needed.
 
It is definitely designed to go along with the DAC 8 DSD; however this should not exclude it from doing SACD. It could be like Esoteric, McIntosh, PS Audio, etc., and do direct link to the DAC and use their proprietary converter for SACDs :(...
 
The amp continues to break in nicely. Very subtle differences. It seems like it has settled into what I assume is the T+A sound in first 30+ hours. Not sure how many actual hours are on the amp. I would guess under 100 for sure; it is really smoothing out. Very fast, similar to the Goldmund, but much smoother and seems to be very well made. I still am very impressed with the sound stage. Better then any if the others I have had, and better then I have heard (other than the MBL that a buddy has, then again his system is probably 10 times the price of mine :)).
 
Glad to hear your amp is breaking in nicely, Randy. Please continue to update as any changes come about.


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The T+A AMP 8 is settling in very nicely. I can honestly say that I am very pleased with the sound and the quality of construction. I would serious consider their higher level products if I could afford to look for equipment in that price range.

There are only two small considerations; thoughts if you will.

1) I am not particularly fond of the auto power. It seems to work fine, but having the amp power up from signal on the inputs would not be my choice. The trigger cable from the DAC is fine, but I mostly want them to power separately. Would prefer a power switch on the front or standard power trigger from the pre-amp.

2) The size :). It is so darn small (for a power amp) that it is hard to wrap my head around how good it is :D.
 
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