I bought a new amplifier

[cubdog]

After much internal debate I bought a HLLY Tamp-300 integrated amplifier. I had been leaning toward Bel Canto or Wyred 4 Sound but decided to go with the HLLY. I currently own a Tamp-90 that is my favorite amp. I'm probably going to sell my Adcom and Onix tube amp, they aren't seeing much use anymore. Hopefully the Tamp-300 will be as good as it's little brother. I'll post a reveiw and pics when I get it.

cubdog

[danz1906]

Congrats!

[cubdog]

Congrats!

Thanks. I guess there aren't many tripath fans around here.

cubdog

[skrol]

I have heard good things about some of the Tripaths and I'm intrigued.

[outlander]

Are you sure getting rid of the Adcom's and replacing them with the Hilly is an upgrade? I mean no disrespect but am I missing something?

[slk55amg]

not up on that amp, looking foward to al full report.....................

[madmax]

Would love to hear a review!

[zingo]

Tripath is my favorite class D amp sound; very different than ICEpower. Should have a great sound on the Klipsch's as my second amp for my Klipsch's is also Tripath and I love it. There are definitely better amps, but not for the money, and the over all package that Tripath offers and musicality of sound is unmatched to my ears so far.

[cubdog]

Are you sure getting rid of the Adcom's and replacing them with the Hilly is an upgrade? I mean no disrespect but am I missing something?

Depends on the speaker. With the right speaker I'll take a HLLY over the Adcom any day. Have you heard a HLLY with a nice pre driving efficient speakers? If not, then yes, you are missing something.

cubdog

[cubdog]

Some pictures. The coin is a quarter but the remote works just fine.

cubdog

[fishbones]

Congrats, my next amp (hopefully) will be a Virtue Audio 901 w/tube injection.

[newrival]

eek. is that amp sitting on your sub?

I like tripath, btw :)

[cubdog]

eek. is that amp sitting on your sub?

I like tripath, btw :)

Not a sub but a speaker. Just a temporary set up but I had to try the amp out.

cubdog

[m.afaqanjum228]

Tripath is my favorite class D amp sound; very different than ICEpower. Should have a great sound on the Klipsch's as my second amp for my Klipsch's is also Tripath and I love itwill be a Virtue Audio 901 w/tube injection

[Flash21]

I guess I'm a Tripath fan, since I really like my Bel Canto eVo2i II integrated...

[cubdog]

How do you like your VR2s Flash? My big dilemma now is choosing the right speaker. I'm leaning toward some newer Klipsch possibly RF7s but there are so many possibilities I want to take my time.

cubdog

[zingo]

IMO, Klipsch's are at their best when they are a three way design with mid-horn. This usually means going vintage as the new mid-horn designs are big money, but I feel that is the best sound Klipsch has to offer.

[Flash21]

How do you like your VR2s Flash? My big dilemma now is choosing the right speaker. I'm leaning toward some newer Klipsch possibly RF7s but there are so many possibilities I want to take my time.

cubdog

I love them actually. So much so that I am wrestling with myself about possibly upgrading up the VS line to VR-33s...the conservative in me tells me I am nuts to spend $4K on speakers as I am not a wealthy man, but as I approach 50 I am starting to say "f*ck it, you can't take it with you".

[mikephonic]

Hey cubdog,

i just registred to post in this thread ;-) I'm thinking about buying the tamp-300 for months now as it seems to be the only t-amp capable of driving my technics sbm-1000, but wanted to read a detailed review about first.
I feel like beeing on tenterhooks since i found your thread... Do you want to post your first impressions for us, so the time for the detailed review would become a little bit shorter? I would be very glad...

[cubdog]

I haven't yet purchased speakers for the Tamp-300. I'm leaning toward Klipsch. I will tell you that the Tamp-300 with it's built in HLLY pre amp sounds much better than my HLLY Tamp-90 with a Yaqin tube pre. I had the 300 hooked up to Klipsch CF4s and was surprised at how great it sounded. Cleaner and more dynamic than the Tamp-90. The drawback with dealing with HLLY is that they are a Hong Kong based company and communication can be an issue. I love their products but wish they had a US based distributor.

cubdog

[mikephonic]

that was fast, thanks! Yes i know, i already had some contact with david, who told me that the pre-ins are connected now and the amp has about 200 watt rms (for whom it might interest :-)). Did you receive a manual with your tamp?

[cubdog]

No manual. I heard there would be one which would be great.

cubdog

[cubdog]

Mike, can you post some pictures of your speakers? I've heard good things about them but you don't see them very often.

cubdog

[mikephonic]

i won't come home to my speakers the next three weeks, sorry. However, i found some pictures in the net which should give you a good impression.

The speakers have a very warm sound and would have a fantastic soundstage if i wouldn't use them in a too small room with to much stuff in there. The highs are not that much in the foregound than many prefere like it, but detailed though - which (at least for me) makes it easy and enjoyable to listen to them for many hours. The low end is the most impressive (see the four speakers + passive membrans-system), but doesn't pardon an amplifier whithout very refind and crisp bass.

you see, i love my speakers very much :-) which leads my to another question: Do you trust the t-amps build quality, in other words do you think its safe to use it with expehensive speakers (concering crackles etc.)?

[cubdog]

I can only speak from personal experience which is to say I have never had any issues with how my t amps interact with my speakers.

cubdog

[mikephonic]

sorry, i meant that particular t-amp's (the 300's) build quality, as it has enough power to damage the speakers...

[mikephonic]

sorry, i meant that particular t-amp's (the 300's) build quality, as it has enough power to damage the speakers...

i decided to test the build and sound quality myself ;-) and so my tamp-300 finally arrived today.
On a first look into the inside, the tamp-300 makes a good impression. It seems organized and well build and is enclosed in about 2-3 mm brushed metal plates (alu?) which look very nice. After turning it on i noticed a humming of the transformer (148 $? see hlly page), but it is not very loud. I also noticed a humming in the speakers (92 db), which was only noticable to a distance of about 50-70 cm in front of the speakers. However i would think twice of using it with very effective speakers.

The first test with the magnat supreme 200 (these harmonize very well with the topping tp20 mark2 and also make a really fun sound with the muse m20 ex- amazingly crisp bass! and a detailed, wide soundstage, however mids are not that impressive compared to the topping. Both have been connected to a stabilized 13.8 V 5 A linear power supply).
With these speakers and compared to the previously mentioned tamps the tamp-300 performed far below my expectations. However, this was a first test with rather cheap speakers.
I then connected the tamp-300 to the technics (see post above). For the first hour i thought about putting the tamp-300 on ebay when i wake up tomorrow... What annoyed me most were the mids which were not very detailed and the bass felt somwhat out of place and "rolled" (not crisp).
But time passed fast and right now i have been listening for 5 hours with the technics and the tamp-300 sounds better and better to me. I'm not shure if this can be called " the first burn in", or rather should be called "getting adapted to a new amp" or might be due to any other sort of whatever psychological process. The sound became more balanced after three hours. The bass is still deep and doesn't sound "rolling" anymore. The mids became clearer and the highs are fine.It feels like the amp reacts much faster now.
I tested with Adele (flac), Celine Dion (flac), Annie Lennox (flac), Tom Jones (flac) two steps from hell (24/96), several hans zimmer pieces (24/96 and flac), Klaus Badelt (flac), .... Expecially pieces recorded in high quality gave me here and there the impression of listening to one of the smaller tamps.
To answer my question - the technics still work:-)

As i wrote above, this was just a first impression after 5 hours of listening. If it didn't end on ebay i will add a more detailed review in about two weeks or even later. I did not use much audiophile equipment before so my references do not qualify me as a "state of the art" reviewer :-)
In a german forum i read that hlly uses rather cheap cabs for the tamp-300. This might be a first step two tweak the sound quality rather easy...

[DON73]

Depends on the speaker. With the right speaker I'll take a HLLY over the Adcom any day. Have you heard a HLLY with a nice pre driving efficient speakers? If not, then yes, you are missing something.

cubdog

How efficient would the speakers need to be? I have some wonderfull speakers rated at 87db would these be efficient enough? My Adcom drives them very well.

[mikephonic]

How efficient would the speakers need to be? I have some wonderfull speakers rated at 87db would these be efficient enough? My Adcom drives them very well.

The speakers my tamp-300 drives have 86 db.