esec

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $90.00 from Buy/Sell Forum

Summary:
I wish to share my experiences with this component here as I have been using it for more than 13 years. I owned the original TLC but a year back, part of the circuit burned out so I had it replaced with a used one bought at S$90 only from a local buy/sell forum. Apparently not many appreciate this product & may have some bad experiences with it, so this partly account for the low low price. And, the replacement is the newer model with the separate DC power supply which is better!

I use the TLC together with a Kimber AGDL & Audioquest VideoZ cables. These are comparatively very much cheaper than the top-of-line Aural Symphonic digital cables (Statement, Standard) I have. When used with a very old model CD player, the Marantz CD52 (bought at S$60), the sound improved tremendously & comes close to being on par with the Theta CD transport (S$3K) I have. Out of curiosity, I used the TLC with the Theta CD transport & lo & behold, I was shocked; the sound quality took a great leap up another level, doubled, if I may say so. I had not expect this result with a high-end transport but the music was now so much more relaxed, refined & real. The music from a piano sound so eerily lifelike & comes much closer to that from a real piano playing in my house. Similarly, when connected from a Pioneer LD player via a Toslink cable, the sound quality improved significantly, though not by the same degree as the CD transport.

I have experiment with many cables in these setups & I must that the results vary. With some very expensive cables like the Aural Symphonics, the improvement is mininal or the results can even be negative. Why, I don't really know. So the right match/synergy, if this is the proper word to use, is critical when using the TLC. As this is a very old product, the TLCs can be obtained very cheaply. So those who owned older transport/dac separates may want to consider putting this in their system. You may be pleasantly surprised or thrilled as I am in my case!

Strengths:
Simple. Fantastic sound improvement - realism, details, transparency, smoothness etc,

Weaknesses:
Need to get another digital cable, additional costs.

pekak62

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Leading Edge Audio,

Summary:
NOTE Price paid was A$500. OK only in bog standard form. The Theta needs to be modded before it really shines. Paul Miller of Miller Audio Research reviewed this unit when it first came out and found out that the input and output had a common ground. Break the ground and it will be the better for it. (Look up I think circa 1995 Hi-Fi News and Record Review - alternatively e-mail me if you want a scan of the article.) I did the mod - replacing the cheap RCA sockets with 2 separate quality units thus giving the input and outputs separate grounds. Modded with a decent power supply, this unit transforms, more than meets the ears. Std is OK but Modded is the only way to go.

Strengths:
Necessary even between the Esoteric P-10 and the Musical Fidelity Trivista DAC 21 (and the Wadia 15 before it). Richer, more musical sound with an enormous 3 dimensional sound stage.

Weaknesses:
None really save that you need 2 lots of digital cable. Wall wart power supply must go. A high current clean regulated power supply is a must (I use a 2.5 amp unit).

Similar Products Used:
Standard Theta TLC

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
This is yet another largely useless audio "gadget" whose only legitimate purpose is to convert signals between forms. As far as being a jitter-reducer, it serves no purpose whatsoever and actually induces jitter into your soundstream. I tried this contraption between a Theta ProPrime IIA and both a Theta Data Basic and a CAL Delta transport and it mutilated the sound in both cases. Jitter boxes as a whole are suspect at best and rely largely on junk science and the ever-amazing gullibility of "audiophiles" for sales. If you want to experience the absolute worst in sound mutilation, chain a couple of these clunkers together, or better yet, use them with an Isophase crossover- you won't believe how similar your speakers can sound to a couple of soup cans while this thing is on. The extra-cost external power supply made absolutely no difference. If your transport has a serious enough jitter problem to warrant your looking into gadgets to rectify it, perhaps it's time to replace it with one that works properly- a good transport doesn't jitter. If you're relying solely on your golden ears to tell you if this thing works, I would suggest you learn to use an oscilloscope and run your own tests on it as I did. Unless you have some arcane need to convert signals from one form to another, don't waste your money on this toy.

Strengths:
It's inexpensive, relative to other "audiophile" geegaws.

Weaknesses:
It's useless at best; at worst, it muddies your soundstream to an almost unbelievable extent. Completely unneccessary unless your transport is a total piece of crap.

Similar Products Used:
Monarchy DIP (another useless piece of junk).

Price Paid:  $200.00

Summary:
This kind of product is brain teasing. But, after years of use withan Adcom GDA-700, I've determined it actually "adds" jitter. Does not work well at all with my Sony S500 DVD as transport. This may be the fault of a poor QC on the Sony Dig Out. But, a double locking device like the GDA-700 lokcs faster on any transport without the TLC in the chain. It has alos become unreliable after 4 or 5 years, losing it's lock while playing music. I now use a Denon w1500 as transport, but the TLC resides in the closet.

Strengths:
Nothing really

Weaknesses:
Adds jitter, according to my results and numerous articles stating the same.

Similar Products Used:
Adcom GDA-700 DAC

Price Paid:  $200.00

Summary:
Fantastic. I was about to invest in an Audiocaom upgrade for clock & PS for my Sony SACD777ES but no longer. The TLC using Optical in and spdif out provides new focus, sharpness & stability to the whole soundstage.

Strengths:
Complete value for money.

Weaknesses:
None