This is my first thread on this forum. To provide a little background so readers understand my benchmark, my main system is a Sony CMT-EP313 paired with a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 50 speakers, which provide an extremely pleasant experiência.
That said, my goal with the T20X MKII was to have a system that at least matched the sound quality, but with a bit more power. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, at least not in terms of sound quality.
The build quality, on the outside, is excellent. The aluminum cabinet is very well finished, with aluminum knobs that control bass and treble potentiometers that provide tactile feedback where the amplifier should be "flat." The rear panel connectors are of good quality. Okay, cosmetics discussed, let's get to the point: the sound.
When used with monitor audio speakers, the flat knob position doesn't produce a flat sound. In fact, far from it. The resulting sound is devoid of bass and treble, leaving a slightly shrill mid-high. By increasing the gain for bass and treble, the result is an acceptable sound for songs with few instruments. Jazz, classical, and bossa nova perform "audibly," albeit with sibilant female vocals, something I detest. The real problem is when songs with many instruments and a lot of mid-bass are played. It seems like the pre-amplification circuit is saturating, and this frequency range becomes muddled and unclear. In other words, it doesn't matter if you can compensate for the frequency deficiencies in the amplifier's interaction with your speakers. If you listen to something a little more complex, you'll hear male vocals, drum tones, and everything in that frequency spectrum, as if it were coming from a low-bitrate MP3 file.
I believe these problems are due to the tubes used in the project. There are reports in YouTube videos that, if RCA or GE 6AG5 tubes were used, the resulting sound would be much clearer and more defined. But before I even considered this possibility, after less than 24 hours of use, one of the tubes simply stopped lighting up. When I tried to remove it from the socket, with all due care, it broke. I may have been unlucky with this tube, and the reported problems are highly likely attributed to it. In any case, I ordered a pair of RCA 6AG5s in the hopes of achieving decent audio.
After the tube broke, I opened the case to thoroughly clean it. What I found worried me a bit. The main capacitors and most of the others are from an unknown brand called MJIE. The others are good-quality ELNA. The rest of the construction seemed excellent, with no poor soldering or residual solder flux. In any case, it seems to me that the questionable capacitors don't fit a design that's light years from hi-fi.
That said, my goal with the T20X MKII was to have a system that at least matched the sound quality, but with a bit more power. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, at least not in terms of sound quality.
The build quality, on the outside, is excellent. The aluminum cabinet is very well finished, with aluminum knobs that control bass and treble potentiometers that provide tactile feedback where the amplifier should be "flat." The rear panel connectors are of good quality. Okay, cosmetics discussed, let's get to the point: the sound.
When used with monitor audio speakers, the flat knob position doesn't produce a flat sound. In fact, far from it. The resulting sound is devoid of bass and treble, leaving a slightly shrill mid-high. By increasing the gain for bass and treble, the result is an acceptable sound for songs with few instruments. Jazz, classical, and bossa nova perform "audibly," albeit with sibilant female vocals, something I detest. The real problem is when songs with many instruments and a lot of mid-bass are played. It seems like the pre-amplification circuit is saturating, and this frequency range becomes muddled and unclear. In other words, it doesn't matter if you can compensate for the frequency deficiencies in the amplifier's interaction with your speakers. If you listen to something a little more complex, you'll hear male vocals, drum tones, and everything in that frequency spectrum, as if it were coming from a low-bitrate MP3 file.
I believe these problems are due to the tubes used in the project. There are reports in YouTube videos that, if RCA or GE 6AG5 tubes were used, the resulting sound would be much clearer and more defined. But before I even considered this possibility, after less than 24 hours of use, one of the tubes simply stopped lighting up. When I tried to remove it from the socket, with all due care, it broke. I may have been unlucky with this tube, and the reported problems are highly likely attributed to it. In any case, I ordered a pair of RCA 6AG5s in the hopes of achieving decent audio.
After the tube broke, I opened the case to thoroughly clean it. What I found worried me a bit. The main capacitors and most of the others are from an unknown brand called MJIE. The others are good-quality ELNA. The rest of the construction seemed excellent, with no poor soldering or residual solder flux. In any case, it seems to me that the questionable capacitors don't fit a design that's light years from hi-fi.
