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Lyngdorf TDAI-3400

Well, after reading all the rave reviews of the Lyngdorf TDAI-2170 both here and other places, I decided to order a TDAI-3400 for myself.  I must admit I am still skeptical that such a diminutive piece of equipment can sound better than the Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP tube amp weighing more than 50 lbs, but I have been so intrigued by everything I have read I simply had to pull the trigger. 
I just unboxed it today, hooked everything up, and am listening to it for a while before setting up Room Perfect. 
I really want to hear the what the amp sounds like as-is for a bit to understand it better. 
First impressions:  Without Room Perfect it sounds like very nice solid state amps I've owned in the past, but to be honest, I don't find the sound to be particularly moving.  I moved to tubes after years of solid state, and I swore I would never go back.  That is where I'm coming from.  I should also add that I always try to keep an open mind.  While my initial take on it might sound like I don't like it, I hope folks just read this as me being as honest as possible about what I hear.  I know the tendency when buying new gear is to want so badly to love it in order to justify the expense that it's easy to fool oneself into believing it's an improvement over what you had before, even when it's not.  Of course I really want it to be as mind blowing as it has been built up in my mind to be, but if it's not I am OK with simply moving back to what I have liked so far.   
I have only been playing records through it so far.  Analog makes up 98% of my listening so that's where I am starting with it.  I have a nice CD transport that I will connect to it in the next day or so just to hear the DAC in the unit.  I will also experiment with playing files from USB sticks, computer audio from my MacBook Pro, and whatever else I decide.  I am not prepared to purchase a music server just yet, but it's something I have thought about for a while.  
My system:  speakers are Harbeth Monitor 40.1's.  Turntable is an SME 20/2 with SME IV.iv tonearm and Kiseki Purple Heart cartridge, fed to a Parasound JC-3+ phono preamp.  Power conditioner is Audioqest Niagara 7000.  CD transport is a Wadia 8.  
I will report back as I have more time to experiment and let the amp break in.  

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shkong78's avatar
shkong78
1,485 posts
 
It could be QC issue.

Just bad copy.

If that is the case, replacement can be requested.

I am looking at this product to find out whether it can replace my Accuphase Digital Equalizer, EMMLab Dac2 and tube amplifiers.

I also look forward to hearing from Waltersalas whether 3400 can match the good SET sound.
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,714 posts
 

Quick question about running an out board DAC. Would you not then be converting the Digital in your out board DAC to analog then back again to digital inside the TDIA? seems this is not optimum and better to use the internal DAC only or am I missing something?

I've been eyeing these units too with interest.

jcarcopo's avatar
jcarcopo
504 posts
 
@shkong78 It definitely has its moments of competing with a SET amplifier. Ultimately it will never best a SET amplifier, but I do have to say it comes very close, but it doesn't mimic the 2nd or 3rd harmonic distortions that a SET can produce in spades which are part of the reason one wants a tube amplifier, that and the lack of crossover distortion which both amp topologies seems to posess.  I'm sure I'll get my Lyngdorf issue resolved eventually, but I'm a tad irritated with why its taking so long to get it addressed.  Maybe they are too busy with sales as the TDAI-3400 has been an extremely hot selling item for Lyngdorf. 
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
I will add that digital room correction is a mixed bag. If the software is trying to heavily boost a null in the bass then it could easily cause your amplifier to clip in the bass even at modest volume levels.

Audyssey XT32 limited their bass boost to 12 dB on room correction however even that is excessive IMHO.

I no longer use room correction software as I prefer the natural sound of the room and speakers over anything software engineers have been able to achieve artificially!!

On perfectly natural sounding speakers, room correction always sounds slightly artificial to my ears. Some speakers will of course sound better corrected.

unsound
7,332 posts
 
Shadorne, I suspect that to truly make room correction work, one must couple the speaker baffle to the room as much as possible.
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