Hey guys, I know a lot of you are considering the sure 2x100 or hifimediy amps. I just did a comparison of both...here's what I found:
Sure 2x100 w/meanwell 27v power supply
- Jantzen input caps
- wurth inductors
- 50K volume pot
- Wima caps in other signal locations
Great top end, bass is there but undefined. Big, wide soundstage. Smooth, liquid sound. Very smooth. Build quality is pretty good but the board is a pain to work on. Solder pads lift easily, had some issues getting the DC offset low enough.
Hifimediy T2 w/meanwell 27v
- Jantzen input caps
- 25K ladder pot
Tight bass. Highs are good but not as smooth and silky as the sure. Soundstage seems smaller but better defined. Somehow seems punchier and tighter with better pacing. Worse vocals but better drums than the sure if that makes sense. Build quality is great. Easy to work on. Overall output seems slightly lower than the sure, might have less gain built in, could be changed with a resistor swap. Seems more detailed and less smooth than the sure.
Speakers used are Focal 714V's which are 8ohm nominal but dip down to 4ohm. So I went w/the T2 (4ohm version) instead of the T1 (8 ohm version). Some of the strength of the T2 (recommend for 4 ohm speakers) vs the Sure (recommended for 8 ohm speakers) could be due to speaker inpendence relationship. It could be that the T2 is simply able to drive these Focals w/ a 4 ohm min. impedence better.
I prefer the T2 vs. the Sure. It's a trade off betwen the liquid, smooth sound and great vocals of the Sure vs. the more muscular, detailed sound of the T2. If one was more into Jazz or vocalists than the Sure might work better for them. But for rock or for those of you who need tight bass the T2 is far better. Overall, the T2 is the better amp I think. And the T2 has speaker DC protection and relays which are a big plus I think. And I don't worry as much about reliability with the T2, with the Sure I always worried about heat and the fan constantly twirled. Also, there was a nasty turn-off thump w/the Sure.
Lastly, for those of you thinking of modding these boards I would advise to go w/the T2. My Sure was modded to within an inch of it's life and finally gave up after a year or so of abuse. It's simply not as beefy of a board and uses more surface and pad mount components. Simply getting the inductors off the board is a pain. The T2 has more mod-friendly thorough-hole components.
I am happy with the T2 after spending some time with recievers and solid state integrateds. Easily betters all the sub-$1000 integrateds and receivers I've heard and impresses your audiophile buddies before you tell them what it cost. I've made many a tripath convert with these amps.
Sure 2x100 w/meanwell 27v power supply
- Jantzen input caps
- wurth inductors
- 50K volume pot
- Wima caps in other signal locations
Great top end, bass is there but undefined. Big, wide soundstage. Smooth, liquid sound. Very smooth. Build quality is pretty good but the board is a pain to work on. Solder pads lift easily, had some issues getting the DC offset low enough.
Hifimediy T2 w/meanwell 27v
- Jantzen input caps
- 25K ladder pot
Tight bass. Highs are good but not as smooth and silky as the sure. Soundstage seems smaller but better defined. Somehow seems punchier and tighter with better pacing. Worse vocals but better drums than the sure if that makes sense. Build quality is great. Easy to work on. Overall output seems slightly lower than the sure, might have less gain built in, could be changed with a resistor swap. Seems more detailed and less smooth than the sure.
Speakers used are Focal 714V's which are 8ohm nominal but dip down to 4ohm. So I went w/the T2 (4ohm version) instead of the T1 (8 ohm version). Some of the strength of the T2 (recommend for 4 ohm speakers) vs the Sure (recommended for 8 ohm speakers) could be due to speaker inpendence relationship. It could be that the T2 is simply able to drive these Focals w/ a 4 ohm min. impedence better.
I prefer the T2 vs. the Sure. It's a trade off betwen the liquid, smooth sound and great vocals of the Sure vs. the more muscular, detailed sound of the T2. If one was more into Jazz or vocalists than the Sure might work better for them. But for rock or for those of you who need tight bass the T2 is far better. Overall, the T2 is the better amp I think. And the T2 has speaker DC protection and relays which are a big plus I think. And I don't worry as much about reliability with the T2, with the Sure I always worried about heat and the fan constantly twirled. Also, there was a nasty turn-off thump w/the Sure.
Lastly, for those of you thinking of modding these boards I would advise to go w/the T2. My Sure was modded to within an inch of it's life and finally gave up after a year or so of abuse. It's simply not as beefy of a board and uses more surface and pad mount components. Simply getting the inductors off the board is a pain. The T2 has more mod-friendly thorough-hole components.
I am happy with the T2 after spending some time with recievers and solid state integrateds. Easily betters all the sub-$1000 integrateds and receivers I've heard and impresses your audiophile buddies before you tell them what it cost. I've made many a tripath convert with these amps.