Ah 4000 vs. Shanling T100, anyone compared....?

Upgrade the tubes to the Western Electric, and you will be VERY happy with the Shanling....I am with mine...
cheers, Ross

I think you are probably right, I don't know if T100 I've heard was stock or not.

Regards
Kaaos

Hi Kaaos,

I'm not sure if the Shanling you heard was a stock unit with the Chinese tubes it ships with, as you didn't say... but everyone seems to agree that the stock unit is nothing compared to a unit with a minimum of having the tubes upgraded to the Western Electric 396A's. From there forward, the T100 seems to posses some remarkable qualities which only continue to impress as additional upgrades are added.

As far as the stock unit goes, from a number of T100 owners who have responded to my inquiries, a couple of aspects to the soundstage seem to be present with the T100 which I feel is lacking in my Ah! 4000 beginning with this first upgrade, and that is more 3-dimensionality and palpability to the instruments and performers.

For that, I'm willing to try a T100. While I'm sure the already modded APL3910 may well better a stock T100, I'm talking about an entry point of around $1,000 - $1,200 for a used T100... not $5K for an APL3910 http://www.aplhifi.com/product.html (I have no idea what they might go for used or if any can be found)

A fully modded T100 is in the class of $10 - $15,000 units a number of reviewers have noted, and to get it to that point the mods range from $1,000 - $2,650... still less than what an APL 3910 seems to go for.

For the money, as well as the sound to dollar value, I think I'm pretty safe going with the T100... plus I get the stunning looks on top of it.

I had a chance to hear both and I own Tjoeb. I think Shanling is nothing special apart from look.

My suggestion is forget the look, you already have modified player and you know it sounds much better than most of the unmodified players within the same price range, so why you don't continue the same way? Find something wich is much better modified unit like APL, eXemplar or Modwright.

Me...?! after reading so many positive reviews about APL players I decide to buy APL 3910.