Tact 2.2 XP: which configuration to get?

No, I wouldn't countenance using the TacT's internal D:AC for the sub's and a separate external one for the main speakers ~ that would be awfully complicated. The 2.2XP offers a complete 2+2 system configuration with its own A:DC and D:AC, though it hasn't occurred to me to try using the digital outputs with anything other than the TacT S2150. I had an S2150 briefly, but the result was horrible distortion, apparently due to my room demanding more RC than the combination could handle. This problem may have been fixed with TacT's latest software, though I managed to sell the S2150 to someone fairly local and he's delighted with it. I wish it had worked okay here, because it's an amazingly fine amplifier without that distortion problem (I fed the digital output of my transport directly into it). Now I use a pair of Bryston 7B-SST's and a Lyngdorf SDA-2175 driving a pair of TacT/Lyngdorf sub's. Main speakers are a pair of PMC IB2's (not the latest i versions ~ I couldn't afford £9,450 for a pair of those!)

The TacT 2.2XP is a magnificent, technology-packed product that offers what must be almost unrivalled fine-tuneability, but it's also extremely tricky to get exactly right. Many have tried and failed and even now I'm only just about there. The Lyngdorf is probably easier in that regard.

Folks,

Thanks for the input. It has been 2 years since I posted, though, and in the meantime I got financially hurt (which delayed things) and have now chosen a different route: room treatments and a class A tube preamp. Quite a change!

I haven't yet discarded the Tact, although now I consider it as a room correction unit (on top of the room treatment) plus an outboard DAC unit. I'll revisit that down the road, when finances permit again.

Thanks anyway for the input.

Horacio

Using an external D:AC with the TacT 2.2XP going into one of its analogue inputs seems an odd choice, given that all incoming signals are processed in the digital domain for the purposes of RC. I tried it with an old (but still very good) Trichord Pulsar D:AC 1 and the character of the system didn't change at all.

As mentioned previously, the 2.2XP can sound very good indeed once you finally get it tuned exactly right, though it does seem to highlight the worst of less than great recordings as much as it highlights the best of good recordings. It isn't at all forgiving and assuredly won't make your entire collection sound wonderful, hence your relationship with it can tend to be a mixture of love and hate. But, with the right recording, the right company, a glass of your favourite tipple and a fair wind, it can sound superb. Just don't expect it to sound that way with everything and anything you may play through it.

Jools,

The option I'm contemplating is for the digital signal to be fed to the 2.2XP for it processing and from there to an outboard DAC. This assumes he outboard DAC is better than the one supplied by Tact, which I don't know to be true.

Point taken about the added resolution and hence some crappy recordings will sound crappier. I gues that's our eternal tradeoff!

Thanks!
Horacio

Horacio,

Ah, I see ~ but how would you vary the analogue output from an outboard D:AC to feed your power amplifier/s? How many D:AC's are designed to drive power amplifiers directly? It's my understanding (but I may be wrong) that the digital outputs from the TacT 2.2XP are variable only for the purposes of driving one (or more) of TacT's own digital amplifiers. Results with an outboard D:AC might be very different (and possibly destructive). And how might an outboard D:AC handle a room-corrected digital signal coming from the TacT? If your speaker system comprises two main speakers and two subwoofers (as does mine), then an outboard D:AC with no crossover facilities is a non-starter.

If you're not happy with the fundamental sound quality of the TacT 2.2XP, then it might be better to remove it altogether from the equation and go for an analogue pre-amp fed from the output of the outboard D:AC followed by something like the Lyngdorf RP-1 which, as mentioned easrlier, according to most reports, seems to impose little or no sonic signature of its own on the overall character of any components upstream. The RP-1 includes a crossover too, though whether it's as adjustable as the one in the TacT 2.2XP I'm not sure.

I have been thinking about moving on from my TacT 2.2XP to a Lyngdorf RP-1, but what has held me back are the expense of having to buy a D:AC and pre-amp as well, plus the fact that the Lyngdorf doesn't offer the almost infinite fine adjustability of the TacT. If none of the preset voicings in the RP-1 is exactly what you want then, apart from downloading a few alternatives from the Lyngdorf site, there's nothing you can do about it. The result (after having shelled out a lot of money) could be that all you've done is exchange one set of good-but-not-quite-there frustrations for another. But I recently acquired a pretty good outboard D:AC (the Trichord Pulsar) for very little money and my local dealer's happy to lend me his (highly regarded) Electrocompaniet EC4.7 pre-amp. So, if I can find a used RP-1 at a moderate price, I might just give it a go. We'll see.