Trends Audio TA-10 Integrated Amplifiers

Trends Audio TA-10 Integrated Amplifiers 

DESCRIPTION

Class-T Stereo Amplifier

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 15  
[Mar 26, 2020]
Karkkelley5277


Strength:

Has a HIFI sound quality. Commercial Real Estate Dayton Ohio

Weakness:

None so far.

Purchased:
New  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Mar 22, 2020]
Lomholt


Strength:

This is for the Trends Audio ta-10.1 Incredible level of detail, regardless of price level. Pin point imaging. Kicks my cayin 265ai class-a amp's ass (which i really enjoy, and higly recommend) in those two areas.

Weakness:

The following "weaknesses" is in A/B comparison to my Cayin 265ai class-a amp (retail price when new aprox $2.500,-) Soundstage not as wide. Soundstage not as tall. Lack of dynamics. Lack of sheer power. (dB) (Keep in mind, those are shortcommings when compared to a 50lbs class a amp, at 20 times the price)

Price Paid:
80
Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Aug 20, 2009]
Janjuc
Audio Enthusiast

This is a great little amp, sturdily buillt , and perfect as an alternative to the amp you can use for your computer, witha reasonable set of moderately efficient speakers, I am currently using JohnBlue JB3's . Also the TA 10.1 would be suitable for a bedroom, or small listening area where space was at a premium.
I also use one to power a set of 'outdoor' speakers which I attach an iPod to and can get good listening levels for BBQ's on the verandah.
Overall a nice little amp, yes it has it limitations @ 10W a channel, but with a little care with speaker selection, they are very good, and even have the ability to be use as mini Power Amps if the occassion warrents, simply by changing the jumper.
Finally they are not the be all and end all of Hi-Fi amps, just an amp that seems to fill a niche.
Some good reviews are offered here :-
http://6moons.com/audioreviews/trends/ta10.html
http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/trends_ta10_e.html

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 07, 2009]
drumerbob
AudioPhile

This little box rox!!! It will power my LS7s (barely) which surprised me. Prefers the Clements 106s( reworked). with new drivers and X over change. Don.t forget to reset the bias after burn in. I just sit and shake my head at the sound. Detailed Warm.... im still waiting for the thing to blow up and say FU. LOL
Owned... HH Scott, Quad 11, Dayton Wright

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 17, 2008]
StevenSurprenant
Audio Enthusiast

Here's the deal with these amps...

You cannot use them with inefficient speakers. For instance, I tried them with my Magnepans and they sounded great, but they wouldn't play very loud without distorting. Magnepan's need a good amount of power and this little amp is too small. That's what you have to take into account if you decide to buy this amp.

I tried this amp on four different speakers and other than the Maggies, they played plenty loud, louder than I care to listen.

I now use them on my DIY home brew speakers which consists of Newform tweeters and 4 SEAS exel woofers. I have these speakers bi-amped through an electronic crossover and into two on these amps. In case you were wondering, I am horizontally bi-amping them, I was vertically bi-amping them, but I think horizontal sounds a little better and gives me the ability to adjust the tweeter level up for low volume listening at night.

So, how do they sound?

Glorious! They are champs at clarity and soundstaging.

My old system used a Mark Levinson 331 amp, which was good, but doesn't hold a candle to this little amp. To put this in perspective, the ML cost about $5,000, the Trends T-amp cost a little over $200. I sold the ML and would not take the ML back in even trade.

This doesn't meant the ML is a bad amp. It's a great amp, but in my system, the Trends is much better. I know that sounds crazy, but that's the way it is.

I get goose bumps when I listen to my system now. The sound is so good that I stopped going to these highend stores looking for the holy grail of sound.

I have heard systems that are better than mine, but it is rare, very rare. Of course, my system is not perfect and some systems I listen to are better in one area or another, but overall, I would not trade this for them.

This little amp is fantastic at calrity soundstaging, imaging, warmth, and whatever other term I can think of. Sure, there is better, but at what price?

The bottom line is that with the right speakers, this amp is hard to beat at any price.

I believe that if you listen at moderate levels this amp will work with most speakers, or if you use very efficient speakers (95db and above) then it will shake you walls.

My listening room is 16 foot by 19 foot, my speakers are about 90db efficient and I bi-amp through an electronic crossover into two of these amps, so I am getting a little more mileage from these amps and they play way too loud if I turn it up too much..

One thing I should point out is that they can use a pre-amp because they have passive attenuators and sometimes the signal from the source is too low to get the volume I need.

Well anyway, I am one happy camper!

The really cool thing is that for the money I have invested in my system (about $1,500 to $2,000) it is not at all embarrassed in the presence of mega buck systems.

I'm just so full of myself...LOL

But really, I'm just so excited with level of quality I have been fortunate to attain at such a low cost.

My last system cost me $15,000 and while I loved it, I like this system even more.

I think that says it all!


OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 19, 2008]
Miche
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:



Musicality. transparence, surprising punch and power for 5 clean watts per channel.

Small size, runs cool, doesn't heat at all. Sense of correctness, cohesiveness.

Weakness:

In my sample. Big hiss that distract the listener to really appreciate the music and the SILENCE BETWEEN NOTES.

I received this little amplifier on September the 12th.

Immediately upon receiving it. I carefully installed it. So cute, so small. Finish is OK!

Featherlightweight. Click I start it up. HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. A diffuse hiss.

I tell myself, I suppose it will diminish when warmed-up.

I put a CD increase the volume to 1/3. Besides the noise, the sound is very very nice. I would say more agreable than my Cambridge 640A. More punch, beefier bass extension, more precise mid and treble. But.. on soft passages, HISSSSSS like a badly pressed vinyl record. So mine had this problem which is not the case of all the owners' amplifiers.

The Cambridge is noise free, no noise, silent, still vey musical, but the Trends despite this problem nobody could stand, is very natural, very honest.

Quality check should be improved from Trends manufacturer.

Customer Service



I will know in a very near future because I asked for a refund.

Similar Products Used:



Cambridge 640 A

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
3
[Nov 23, 2007]
bob niven
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Detail, midrange very strong, soundstaging

Weakness:

Only one input

Wow, just out the box, not properly run in and already it's kicking my musical fidelity xa100r's arse. Detail astonishing for the price, running on monster sized (esp in comparison to this little giant slayer) kef 104.2's, which are about 92db efficiency.
I just know that my other amps are now going on ebay - got to buy another 10.1
for my planar 3.
Again repeat - detail like this shouldn't, but thank god is..... available at this price

Similar Products Used:

Many and varied over the years, all costing 10x this at least

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 03, 2007]
Eduardo
AudioPhile

Strength:

The price, obviously...Trends Audio could probably put this little amp inside a bigger more luxurious-looking box and added an extra zero after the pricetag and still do quite well!

Gorgeous sound, truly the best of both worlds: the warmth and naturalness of analog amplification, with the clarity and zero noise floor of digital. Absolutely no listening fatigue. Detail, rhythm, pacing, timing, soundstage, imaging...it's all there more or less. Surprisingly strong bass, a huge improvement over the original $30 Sonic Impact T-Amp. The midrange is delicious, voices (esp. female ones) and piano sound amazing...attack and decay is easily in the same league as AB amps costing over $1000. Treble is not as warm and rolled off as with a tube amp, but quite refined nonetheless. Lots of air between instruments, handles complex as well as simple compositions well.

Weakness:

If you have 4 ohm speakers with low (e.g. 84db) sensitivity then yeah, this is not a great idea. I'm running mine on middle-of-the-road, 89db sensitivity bookshelves and have no problem hitting fairly loud (not eardrum-blasting, but still pretty rockin' loud) SPLs of around 80db in a medium sized room. And of course it's a pretty bare bones amp, if you have more than one source spend another eighty bucks or so on the T-Preamp (google it).

Disregard the blatantly bogus smear-review by "Bubbles"---what a joke! Sounds like some high-end audio dealer who's scared sh*tless by all the audiophile-quality gear coming out these days with bargain basement price, such as this. I would be too if my livelihood depended on it, heh. But maybe I wouldn't sound so bitter and hysterical and hopelessly one-sided, come on!

Customer Service

No idea, haven't had any problems with it nor do I expect to...these T-amps are known for excellent reliability (except for the original $30 S.I. T-Amp).

Similar Products Used:

NAD c272 and c162
Panasonic sa-xr55
Rega Mira
Marantz PM7200
Sonic Impact T-Amp

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 30, 2007]
Keith
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very Clean, very musical

Weakness:

Only one line level input. No remote. Only works with pretty efficient speakers.

I bought the Trends Audio 10.1 about 4 months ago. I used it to replace my Rotel RC-972 pre-amp ($895.00 new, $250.00 used on EBay) and a pair of Marantz THX, 125 watt mono-block MA-500s ($300.00 new, $150.00 each used on EBay). I use them to drive my Klipsch RF-3s.

The improvement in sound was dramatic. The Klipsch RF-3s are terrific speakers for the money ($600-$800/pair depending on where you buy them). At 96db they are very efficient. The problem I had with them and my original set up was that they could also be VERY bright. When I replace my $1,500.00 (new) system with the $140.00 Trends Audio integrated amp, I heard and immediate improvement in the smoothness of the high-end. The bass was clear and immediate.

I am now running the Trends on a 12 volt (Sealed Lead Acid - SLA battery) so as to have zero noise from AC current.

6moons.com review a number of digital amps, including one that was over $2,100 and the Trends Audio came out on top.

Last week I replaced my Klipsch RF-3s with a pair of Klipsch La Scala (104db at 1 meter with 1 watt)…audio nirvana with the Trends Audio.

I would recommend anyone with VERY efficient speakers to try the Trends Audio.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 24, 2007]
Keith
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Tube like sound. No perceptible distortion.

Weakness:

Only one audio input. Only 15 watts/channel. No remote.

I bought the Trends Audio 10.1 about 4 months ago. I used it to replace a Rotel RC-972 pre-amp ($895.00 new, $250.00 used on Ebay) and a pair of Marantz THX, 125 watt mono-block MA-500s ($300.00 new, $150.00 each used on Ebay). I use them to drive my Klipsch RF-3s speakers.

The improvement in sound was dramatic. The Klipsch RF-3s are terrific speakers for the money ($600-$800/pair depending on where you buy them). At 96db they are very efficient. The problem I had with them and my original set up was that they could also be VERY bright. When I replace my $1,500.00 (new) pre-amp and mono-block amps with the $140.00 Trends Audio integrated amp, I heard and immediate improvement in the smoothness of the high-end. The bass was clear and immediate.

I can drive my Klipsch to the threshold of pain with no distortion what so ever.

6moons.com review a number of digital amps recently, including one that was over $2,100 and the Trends Audio 10.1 came out on top.

I would recommend anyone with VERY efficient speakers to try the Trends Audio.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 15  

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