That's no secret weapon!
That is more like an open secret! It's basically singing beautifully. Been listening to it since morning.. I have lost count on the 'burn-in' hours and I think there are no more sonic improvements.. However the speaker relay board is still a prototype. Just completed the PCB drawing today.. will try to etch it tomorrow..

something like that
buffer stage are used normally for impedance matching...
if done properly will have some enhancements in the sonic department.. hopefully!

Some pictures from me:
[attachmentid=635605] [attachmentid=635608]

I have been listening to my T-amp all these while minus its casing as my choice of Rosewood jewellery box is very thick to work with but I am not giving up on it (the Rosewood casing) as yet. I recently got an aluminium project box from e-Bay meant for my second T-amp in the office and started working on it yesterday - drilled the holes at my friend's place but some were badly off the mark so I manually filed to correct and enlarge them later in the late evening after coming back from JP (bump into a forumer there). I would say the holes are perfect and properly aligned now but my hands are full of blisters. 

I thought the rear of my second T-amp looks very much like a Trends TA 10.1 T-amp especially its rear. 

Gabanyayaya,
Thank you.

The attenuator with the T-amp is lovely and perfect to my ears in the 3 dimensional soundstage and silky to almost liquid sounding midrange it projects. It could not be fitted into the aluminium casing though as it is much too big, so it would have to reside in the Rosewood jewellery box, my first T-amp.

Panasonic FC series are made in Japan whereas FM series in Malaysia. Difference in price is very insignificant, 18 sen for the 470uF 25V ones (FC more expensive). These are both low ESR caps and are suitable for use in the power rail of our T-amp. I read that the FM caps are actually very much improved which are capable of 40 - 70% capability over they were designed for (low ESR) and meant as eventual replacement for the FC caps, so I ended up with FM caps.

Some pictures from me:
[attachmentid=635605] [attachmentid=635608]

I have been listening to my T-amp all these while minus its casing as my choice of Rosewood jewellery box is very thick to work with but I am not giving up on it (the Rosewood casing) as yet. I recently got an aluminium project box from e-Bay meant for my second T-amp in the office and started working on it yesterday - drilled the holes at my friend's place but some were badly off the mark so I manually filed to correct and enlarge them later in the late evening after coming back from JP (bump into a forumer there). I would say the holes are perfect and properly aligned now but my hands are full of blisters. 

I thought the rear of my second T-amp looks very much like a Trends TA 10.1 T-amp especially its rear. 

RM5.50 each from JP, nothing expensive.

Oh yeke...ok...same block few shop next to the shop selling Acrylic and Vinyl sticker sheets...next to Maplin u will find an abandon shop without doors, just grill, also 2 old mattress homeless use to sleep at night.... further down the road.... 
[attachmentid=637659]

Ahhh.. now you're 'cookin'
BTW, It's not across the chinese school, further up towards JP. Nearer to the T-Junction.
Heyy, where got leng lui there!

Ooops, too much OT.. sorry guys

Previously I had only shown the external rear pictures of my second T-amp, now some internal ones:

[attachmentid=640279]  [attachmentid=640280]

I have again replaced the stocked caps on board: the input ones with Vishay Roederstein MKT1822 2.2uF 100V metalised polyesters (word of ERO is missing from the caps) and those on the power rail with Panasonic FM 470uF 25V electrolytics. These latter caps sound so much different from the stocked 470uF 25V caps supplied with the latest batch of T-amps.

I have been listening quite a fair bit to my second T-amp after the caps' change and my conclusion thus far is that my discrete attenuator contributed a substantial difference to the T-amp's sonics, tonal balance included. Without my attenuator, I would not have raved so much.

Junchoon, hehehe......since you are bringing some LPs (as in long play and records, right?) for Jazzy to record, I thought you must be having a turntable and phono stage at home...

Gabanyayaya, I did not see your name on your list; you not coming? And you left out March05 who has confirmed he is coming.

A quick report from my perspective on our first T-amp t/t session yesterday:

The listening was done in a less-than-perfect office environment instead of our comfy home but I thought we did have some fun time together listening to our little 10W giant-slayer amps. We had joked over drinks 'n' makan that the sound we were listening to earlier was so enjoyable that perhaps we may have even preferred T-amps over Krell amps. 

March’s old faithful original Heybrook HB2 (first launched in 1979), a pair of standmount loudspeakers with medium sensitivity of 86dB/1W/1m were setup midway into the listening area, some 7 – 8 feet from the rear walls with no reinforcement to the bass. To me, this pair of loudspeakers represents one of the best of British products ever made. What we heard were good depth, fabulous midrange and decent bass (definitely insufficient to bass lovers) and the overall sound is thoroughly musical and well-balanced that we enjoyed all music played through them.

The sound would have been a little different if full range floorstanders of high sensitivity were used instead.

The shootout:
In term of look’s department, Jazzy’s aluminium casing with a 'working' cool blue LED won hands down. In term of subjective sonics, Jazzy’s first version (the one with F-ELNA 2.2uF as input caps and total of 690uF electrolytics in power rail and SMDs replaced by Vishay BC 0.1uF and 0.4uF caps and Vishay BC 20K resistors) won. It complemented the HB2 so well that it brought great musicality and tonal colour to music played. As for his version where only the input caps are replaced by Epcos 10uF, I thought it was a little harsh-sounding with sibilance more apparent that all other configurations. All of Jazzy’s variants sounded more powerful especially in the bass region and I attribute this to his excellent choice of Meanwell 13.6V DC SMPS over the fixed 12V DC computer-notebook-styled ones which I myself used. A special mention must be given to Lai’s T-amp (where he has replaced stocked caps with Vishay Roederstein/ERO MKT1813 2.2uF 63V and Panasonic FM 470uF 25V) which is extremely high on the emotion factor with vocals very prominent - female voices sounded so expressive and syrupy.

Jazzy, how about you posting a picture or two on yesterday’s session?  

hi guys,

would be great if u have bookshelves lah.  please bring some speaker cables.

is gabanyayaya, Lai and/or YC coming? 

cheers,
wps

Jazzy,
Gabanyayaya must have favoured the discrete amp over our T-amp.    After meeting him in person during our 1st T-amp session, Lai and I thought he is truly a music lover. 

After trying out your Pana caps, do let us know whether they do have any impact on the sound of T-amp.

On our next T-amp t/t session, I feel it is too short a notice to hold it this weekend. Let us see response for it at next weekend onwards. On my end here, I have been in close contact with Cyl1000 and he is eager to attend one. On your side, I read that wui223 is also keen to attend another. As for me, I am rather neutral and will present myself should there be a next session.

gabanyayaya, I wish I had your resolute resistance to this involvement. 

March,
I'm not going for battery power although I've read and convinced of its benefits. It's the convenience I'm after instead of absolute sound quality; my T-amp is not part of my main system at home. On leaving my equipment permanently on, I was made to understand that the capacitors of these equipment would last longer than the constant switching on/off.

On the switching-on thump sound, the wiki of diyAudio.com (URL provided in earlier posting) has this to say on "Which input cap is best? What size cap do I need?" - No one has yet to establish a "best" cap. Any good metalized film or film/foil cap will make you happy. Some users have reported preferring electrolytic cap, such as Blackgate, for more bass impact. A value of 2uF or 2.2uF is as large as you need. Voltage can be as low as 5V. Bigger sizes, say 4 to 10uf, will definitely give a big switch-on thump.

Some of us ask questions and once the questions are answered, they would then gleefully disappear without any sort of acknowledgement.

---

Added on November 16, 2008, 4:35 pmWe thought you're truly a music lover, and that is a compliment. 

Take your time, bro.

Gabanyayaya,
I'd not be able to tell whether those Alps Blue A X2 / RK27112 going for sale at eBay for RM56.XX (USD16.XX) are only replicas and not the real thing themselves. The representation made is they are genuine. Yes, I joined hohodiy bulk order and bought one 50K pot for myself, again not 100% sure it is not an imitation although I doubt it is fake.

I am not really a believer of Alps volume pot. Built-wise, it may be better than the Alpha pots from JP but in term of sonics (transparency and musicality), no way near the resistor type. And I am not alone in my thought, see the following comment at Audiomahus:

"You will find a new volume control potentiometer, the Precision Electronic Components (PEC) volume pot. Made in Canada, this all-carbon POT with a solid-carbon wiper is resin sealed and built to military specs. We spent a long time searching for a great pot and we found something very special with the PEC. It is transparent and very musical ?span style="font-size: 10pt;"> more detailed than the Alps Blue, but with the mass and substantive build that the Alps lacks"

Gabanyayaya, I already have the RM2.50 Alpha pot from JP in my second T-amp. I am getting the Alps RK27 as it is better built and should make a slightly improvement to the sonics of my T-amp at RM30 thereabout.