Sure Electronics New Tripath Board tc2000+tp2050

[dr_vega]

Originally Posted by Theo404

Sorry for OT, thanks for the response.... I need a think! I jumped to the obvious conclusion that having long low level cables would just result in worse SNR.... hmmm.

My experience with the Sure is not scientific, no blind testing, no ABX, not even simple AB testing; I just changed the configuration and noticed a difference. In my opinion, the change was as dramatic as changing the input capacitors, and similar. The sound is crisper, sharper, and more detailed. At the same time, it is smoother and sweeter, especially the sopranos and trumpets. The system really didn't have anything you could call harshness or grainyness before, but now it has even less.

It's kind of like replacing the input caps with poly film and being impressed with the accuracy and articulation that results, while the tonality gets sweeter.

I had been trying some high-end speaker cables I was borrowing from friends. I could hear some real (perceived) improvements with some of them. But some of them cost more than $500 and all were over $100. Instead I spent $70 on a Sure and a power supply and it sounds better (to me) than any of the high end speaker cables.

-dr_vega

[dr_vega]

Before the little Tripath amps made superb audio affordable to us plebians, we struggled with mid-fi. One of the "adjustments" we made were soft dome tweeters. The metal dome tweeters were "harsh" and "overly bright." Those nice silk tweeters were so much easier to listen to.

Now that we have truly first rate amplifiers for less than $100, we can re-examine those tweeters.

It turns out that those metal tweeters weren't harsh, they were merely revealing the harshness of our mid-fi amps (mostly caused, I believe, by electrolytic capacitors). The soft domes masked that harshness so we thought they were better.

The modded Tripath amps don't have any harshness, so metal dome tweeters really come into their own. Their extreme accuracy, which sounded bad with bad amps, sounds great with great amps.

-dr_vega

[soldersmoker]

Mark's announcement is a bit of a deflator--this was on another thread. I'm still waiting impatiently for my Sure board, and now this:

"I have shelved my Sure Electronics board although its still working fine. It doesn't hold a candle to the new T.I. class D stuff from Class D Audio in CA. Right out of the box the T.I. board is a mind blower!!"

Grr. Class D merry-go-round.

[wushuliu]

Originally Posted by dr_vega

Before the little Tripath amps made superb audio affordable to us plebians, we struggled with mid-fi. One of the "adjustments" we made were soft dome tweeters. The metal dome tweeters were "harsh" and "overly bright." Those nice silk tweeters were so much easier to listen to.

Now that we have truly first rate amplifiers for less than $100, we can re-examine those tweeters.

It turns out that those metal tweeters weren't harsh, they were merely revealing the harshness of our mid-fi amps (mostly caused, I believe, by electrolytic capacitors). The soft domes masked that harshness so we thought they were better.

The modded Tripath amps don't have any harshness, so metal dome tweeters really come into their own. Their extreme accuracy, which sounded bad with bad amps, sounds great with great amps.

-dr_vega

I was/am surprised by the sound of this sure amp. It's my first Class D/T amp and in my head and from all the reviews of the original SI T-amp, I was expecting thin, metallic and harsh. But instead it's more laid back than my Audiosource Amp 3 SS and the touch of harshness that went with it is gone ( I too thought some of the blame lay w/ my tweeters). The only downside is that the increased transparency of the Sure shows up any flaws upstream...

[dr_vega]

Originally Posted by soldersmoker

Mark's announcement is a bit of a deflator--this was on another thread. I'm still waiting impatiently for my Sure board, and now this:

"I have shelved my Sure Electronics board although its still working fine. It doesn't hold a candle to the new T.I. class D stuff from Class D Audio in CA. Right out of the box the T.I. board is a mind blower!!"

Grr. Class D merry-go-round.

Does anyone know of any amp boards that use the TI chips that take digital input? I'd love to try pure digital all the way to the speaker cables.

-dr_vega

[soldersmoker]

Originally Posted by wushuliu

It's my first Class D/T amp and in my head and from all the reviews of the original SI T-amp, I was expecting thin, metallic and harsh.

I have a second generation SI amp, and "thin, metallic and harsh" is certainly not my experience with it on high-efficiency speakers (95dB/1W/1m). It's quick yet mellow, especially when I spin records. It looks "thin, metallic and harsh!"

[sendler]

Originally Posted by soldersmoker

Mark's announcement is a bit of a deflator--this was on another thread. I'm still waiting impatiently for my Sure board, and now this:

"I have shelved my Sure Electronics board although its still working fine. It doesn't hold a candle to the new T.I. class D stuff from Class D Audio in CA. Right out of the box the T.I. board is a mind blower!!"

Grr. Class D merry-go-round.

.
.
3 times the price though. Those are the Ferroxcube cores that I am waiting to try. Huge magnetic AL requires only a few turns. They were wise to spend a bit more on their output filter but if you are willing and able to mod, you can still do it much cheaper with the Sure 2X100
.
Class D Audio 160W X 2 300W X 1 Class D Audio Power Amplifier - Home and Pro Audio - Amps

[Mark Allen]

Grr. Class D merry-go-round.

And so it will be with any ampilification device!

I just don't see as much promise out of the Sure board. I also don't think it's a bad board by any means but the T.I. board is far more capable right out of the box and alot more power. It too may need some mods but not so far. I think 155.00 is a very good price for a made in the USA amplifier board.

Mark

[wushuliu]

Originally Posted by Mark Allen

And so it will be with any ampilification device!

I just don't see as much promise out of the Sure board. I also don't think it's a bad board by any means but the T.I. board is far more capable right out of the box and alot more power. It too may need some mods but not so far. I think 155.00 is a very good price for a made in the USA amplifier board.

Mark

I'll probably get one soon.I like the idea of supporting a U.S. based small business. Especially these days. And in this case - local!

[soldersmoker]

Originally Posted by Mark Allen

And so it will be with any ampilification device!

I just don't see as much promise out of the Sure board. I also don't think it's a bad board by any means but the T.I. board is far more capable right out of the box and alot more power. It too may need some mods but not so far. I think 155.00 is a very good price for a made in the USA amplifier board.

Mark

You're killing me! I haven't even gotten my Sure board yet, and it's already eclipsed?

Let the chips fall where they may . . .