Summary: Completely uncharacteristic (in a good way!) Tripath amp. Without the dedicated power supply and preamp, it's a sweet enough desktop system, or fine with sensitive speakers at modest volumes, but with the PSU it gains a whole new lease of life: the bottom end fills out and everything is upscaled double. It doesn't have the typical sparkly high end, but it has a much more valve-like smoothness which makes it sound much more expensive! I also have the preamp which is an amazing bargain and lift the T20U to a different level. Everything is just beautifully made by people who really seem to care about what they're doing. I got mine from Item Audio in the UK, who also do modifications like AudioMagus in the US. I did have in mind to replace the OpAmp with a Burson version . . . maybe one day!
Summary: Having heard so much about this new giant-killer from KingREx, I decide to take the plunge and order one from KingRex directly. The build quality is quite good, only issue was that the volume knob was not firmly screwed-on and it fell off during the shipment. But for the price of a Class T amp and a built-un USB DAC, this was easily forgiven. The sound is very very good when partnered with a high sensitivity speakers.
I am using an old pair of Spica TC50i with the source being iTunes from a Macbook. All music was ripped using Apple Lossless format. I could not believe the quality of the sound I was getting for 245 bucks! The soundstaging was almost holographic.
I did not order the matching PSU (190 bucks), but I was told that it is a killer combination. For this price, nothing in the market beats it. Not even the Trends TA10.1.
I have not switched on my Mark Levinson No 390S + 331 + MG3.6R since I had this amp.
Strengths: * fantasic soundstaging and details
* Fantastic value
* Easy way to get quality sound
Weaknesses: None
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