Triode Amps makes very pretty ones. Do you mind trying them out for me?
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I’m sure @NickMimi is tripping over a few in his house.
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@NickMimi have you been hiding one of these?
http://www.triodelab.com/2a3-integrate
I would really like to hear it vs the radu. Same style and same Hashimoto transformers.
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I already started eyeballing the Decware one, 20th anniversary in monoblock config. And I haven’t even listened to my new speakers yet. It’s a disease. lol
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I think it’s nice gear but established brands and you’re also paying for the name. Part of the reason we’re all here is because we’re maybe keen on getting the best sound for our buck or maybe because we don’t want what everybody else has. Naim, B&W, I’m not sure for US but in EU these are like in almost every hifi shop. These brands are what you see when you first start looking through the Hi-Fi window. A lot of people just stop there and happily settle with their system and the appropriate proud of ownership. We just couldn’t stop reading and went on from there…
On Naim, there is old Naim which was more full bodied, there is new Naim which is a bit leaner and now they have partnered with Focal so not sure what the coming range will be like. I’ve auditioned the Supernait 3 when I was looking for my amp but went for the Rega Aethos instead which was cheaper and sounded more refined.
Here in EU these Naim guys have a real following, almost a cult sometimes. For some there is nothing better than Naim, only another more expensive Naim with a beefier Naim PSU. All connected with brand specific connectors because only a cable with a Naim connector can deliver the best sound, lol. Their model and philosophy is really about adding Naim boxes and preferably only Naim.
I think, at times, we’ve all spent more than we should or bought something we shouldn’t. Or just spent way to much time reading into another silly subject or device or already looking for a used one. Probably because you read about it somewhere else and you just have to know everything about it and read every review that’s available and maybe buy it. Time and money that maybe could be spent less selfish. At those times I sometimes think, why couldn’t I have just settled on a Naim system, be happy, enjoy the music and move on.
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I think Nick may actually have something similar.
@dB_Cooper I will bring up some DHT SET mono-blocks so you can play with them for a few months. You may have to purchase some fresh tubes to roll and try them out but worth the cost for the overall experience of having them in your home to flip between amps.
@Souldriver negative on those particular amplifiers, I have just recently learned of the triode labs products myself. They seem really nice 
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You just missed a gorgeous and heavily upgraded Alan Eaton built 45 amp. Don’t rush my friend, there are many amps available for you to stumble across and try once your toy fund has been replenished and you have had some time to play with your new toys.
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The guy selling it told me a lot of good things about that 45 tube amp and was offering me $1700 for local pickup… I backed out and regret it 
This is what he told me, “ Also, the ad doesnt mention it but this is my preferred “Eaton” build on the larger, more easily accessible chassis versus what I see him doing now. One thing my tech did was to reroute a few wires to insure no crosstalk issues plus thats also why I went with the shielded silver wiring from rca input to the TKD pots.
As for using a preamp, you absolutely dont need one especially now that the pots have been upgraded. Audio Note in England seems to really like the TKD units and often use them in their higher end stuff so thats what got me going in that direction. You can find many folks online saying that they preferred this amp without a preamp. That is how I listened to it - straight from my Audio Note tube dac into the amp. You have individual adjustment for both left and right so, in effect, it acts as a “Balance” control which I loved because I dont have a wall on one side of my listening space. So I was able to really tune the image with slight adjustments.”
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The other reason is that those of us who can’t afford the higher tier items are buying different products entirely. I don’t come here to find things I might want to buy as that is unrealistic, I come to enjoy the hobby with others.
That’s why I like to go for cheaper but more unusual things when I get something - that doesn’t make it likely to generate a discussion though as me and the few other people that have bought a Softone amp, for example, are unlikely to bump into each other here.
Brands in Europe are also different and a lot of them are never discussed on most forums purely because of the US bias of all English language spaces - just because of numbers really. These things are all reducing the numbers of people who will contribute to a conversation for any specific item, let alone those outside of the peer group preferences.
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Interesting you say that because one of the few industries that remained manufacturing in the US is the high end stereo equipment. So much of manufacturing elsewhere moved abroad but high end audio remained. I guess because the market and the profit margins it remained a viable business.
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It tends to be a real nice group of people here.
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Seems to be the case in the EU as well. There are larger brands that outsource manufacturing to China of course but also a lot that are building in the EU. Often very hard to find English language reviews of some of them.
For many of the US boutique brands that do not have distribution deals an EU consumer has to factor in a minimum of +21% and more like 25-30% additional cost in import and sales tax. This puts a lot of the more accessible costly gear in a higher price category. So for example a BF2 at $800 becomes $1000 retail if bought from the EU distributor and upwards of $1100 if privately imported direct from Schiit. This makes them just uncompetitive. I think this will also work in reverse too so EU brands will be uncompetitively priced when imported to the US - everyone likes to try and protect their local, smaller, manufacturers.
I think this is one of the reasons that the Chinese manufacturers have done so well in market reach. They have the distribution networks to sell cheaply in other markets. If your budget is about say $700 and you live in the EU what are you going to do? Get a well reviewed Topping product, an EU made device with almost no English language reviews or take a punt on a device you have heard little of outside forums and will end up paying significantly over the odds for.
A good example is this:
Is it any good? No idea. I have found almost nothing about it at all outside of Thomann, the Palmer website and one very obscure reference in an interview with a music producer who swears by it. It could be an amazing deal for budget buyers but they will never even find it, let alone get recommended it.
I think the influencer culture has lead to us not really trusting reviews so we find a community we trust and get out reviews from our peer group. This also inevitably leads to much narrower tastes.
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I have been wondering that. I fear, as soon as I have less space constraints, I will find out 
One issue with a US centered forum audience is the obscure brands from other places are mostly not present (some exceptions).
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I reeeeeeally want to know. I’ve been thinking about that amp off and on for a couple of years.
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Palmer makes excellent equipment.
@MazeFrame put me onto one or their devices that helped with a noise issue I was having.
They also make some really nice junction boxes and volume controls (among many other pro oriented things).
If you ever try it, please post your impressions.
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Agreed. I have some palmer gear too.That’s what got me curious about their active audio gear.
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I’ve liked the palmer monicon for a nice passive desktop monitor controller for not much money
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I picked up a DSDjr last year from TMR as my first expensive DAC (over the Bifrost) and have just been enamored with it since. It sits on top of my Hegel H190 and does streaming duty as well. I’ve had it upstairs on my headphone system and gone back and forth with my more-recently-aquired TT2 and it really doesn’t sound I’m losing details. Granted I have to listen to the TT2 on the 4th (warm) filter or it’s a bit too incisive for my taste.
I came really close to trading it in for a Mk2 when they were offering a lot on trade, but then I’d need to buy a streamer and I didn’t want to invest that much…just yet.
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