Tact room correction?

Thanks Merlin...

 

Antonio, I hope that you didn't think my comments were sarcastic. The disclaimer was a joke and the 'killed' comment was lighthearted but the congratulations were genuine. I was happy enough when my own product got reviewed in a mag and we all know the care and effort you've put into your system.

 

If I had taken your comments wrong you would have gotten the appropriate answer, ask Merlin... :JPS:

Cheers... :beer:

By the way, a friend ordered a couple of sheets of Stillpoints ERS, yesterday I gave it a try, and one is staying under the Krell Showcase, close to where its digital circuits and toroidal are, remove it and it is like adding a veil in front of the speakers...

 

Antonio, did you ever have a chance to use the TimeEq on the your TAG ?

 

Yes I did, and with great results too, it was as transparent as one could ever wish, the Krell also has EQ, but more limited and more audible, anyway, I found out later my room ressonances where more acoustic feedback to the player, and I solved it with good supports, no more ressonances no more need of EQ... :MILD:

 

Just finished listening to Saint Saens's violin concert on MEZZO, beautifull, I think I had it once by that nice looking Corean player, had forgotten about it...

 

One more question on AV...

Can you connect the decoder thingie so that the front main channels go through the hi-fi pre and power amps (so you can effectively use the preamp selector to choose AV) or is it all too much hassle getting the volumes right?

 

Easy with an AV bypass (bypasses volume, so you set in AV), on the hifi pre, hassle otherwise...

 

Do many pres come with an AV bypass? I guess it would be easy enough to retrofit. Sounds like an excellent way to integrate the AV and stereo systems or am I missing something?

 

As I never needed one, I dont know what is available, Michaelab knows better, but it shouldnt be too difficult to modify one for you techies...

 

Steve,

You mentioned the Nonsuch 2 earlier in this thread - when will it break cover?

 

Tom, the Nonsuch 2 is more or less done and dusted design wise, apart from the stand.

The company is in the process of attracting a very considerable 'Business Angel' investment to take it from the 'Business Angel' phase to the 'Venture Capital' phase (3 years after investment).

Meanwhile, I am looking for investors to chip in a lesser amount to fund the company while I wait for the Angel funding which I expect to take a few months. As soon as the company gets the interim funding I will build batches of Nonsuch 4s and the new Nonsuch 2s and get started on the final prototypes of the new Panel range. If I get time I will also play around with some exciting new subs for the Little Awesome range.

Probably more information than you needed to know but you asked.

 

Thanks for the info Steve, I'm fascinated! If you have an idea how much the Nonsuch 2 will sell for, could you drop me a line at [email protected] ?

Thanks

 

Tom, I'm planning to price the Nonsuch 2 at under £1,800 per pair (not including the sub or active crossover).

Like the Nonsuch 4, the Nonsuch 2 will be operated full-range without crossovers or filters. It will need a sub-woofer (or two) and, most commonly, it is expected to be partnered with a single Little Awesome. The impedance of the Nonsuch 2 will be 8 ohms and power handling about 50 watts with an 88dB sensitivity.

If anyone's interested, I can set up the Nonsuch 4s so you can hear them with only two drivers operating. This gives a pretty good idea of the sound of the Nonsuch 2.

 

return to topic....

A question regarding the Tact system - what do you plug it into?
Looking at their website it appears you buy the 2.0 or 2.2 version with digital output. If you want to use a traditional amp you have to purchase an add-on analogue output board.

without this presumably you would want to to plug this into a digital power amp of some kind? But who makes such a device? The Tact amplifiers on the same website appear to be integrated amps rather than power amps, and the cheaper semi digital amp needs an analogue input. Any ideas?

 

Pretty much spot on Alan but they do produce a digital power amp - the S2150. My 2.0 has the optional d/a output board and I've run it into a Rotel power amp and a Technics H/C integrated (using the 2.0 as a DAC, with the volume set at max for unity gain) with mixed results. It's now run directly into the aforementioned S2150 via AES/EBU and the differences aren't subtle. Using the 2.0 with analogue connections creates a loss of absolute volume and dynamics and whilst still good - it isn't the best. The fully digital connection is much more beneficial, giving vice-like grip and zero distortion.

 

Thanks for the info - but the S2150 is described as an integrated amp with volume control on their website www.tactaudio.co.uk - all you would need with it is a cd transport.

Is there such a thing as a pure digital power amp - i.e. no source selection or volume control? It seem to me that if the Tact RCS can perform the pre-amp functions then why have the functionality all over again on the amp you plug it into?

 

Alan,

that's the M2150 - the S is the same but without the volume wheel on the front.

Because both pure digital amps (or power dacs) vary volume by increasing or decreasing the voltage supply, they are more or less identical inside.

Calling the S2150 an integrated amp is a little artistic shall we say, unless you are happy with dual volume controls!

 

Is the 'AV Bypass' of which Antonio spoke the same as the 'tape out'?

 

No. A number of stereo integrated amps (and pre-amps) have an "AV bypass" option which is basically an input that is unaffected by the volume control. It's sometimes known as a "unity gain" input.

This is useful in an AV setup because, with an AV processor or receiver with pre-outs you can send the front two channels through your normal stereo system via this input so that you can use the volume control on the AV processor/receiver and not have to fiddle with the volume on your stereo system. It is, as you say, an excellent way to integrate stereo and AV systems, and one that I use .

You're effectively "bypassing" the volume control of your pre-amp, whether integrated or separate.

Obviously, you have to calibrate your AV setup with an SPL meter so that the front channels are at the same level as the centre and surrounds (for a given seating position and signal level) but all AV processors and recievers allow you do to this.

Michael.