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TRL ST225 - Goodness anyone else own this amp

I will soon be writing a review on this amp and wonder if any fellow Agoners own this gem. If so, please let us hear your comments on it. I am nothing short of amazed by it. I had to "downsize" and sold a tube monobloc amp and tubed preamp combo costing over $15,000 new. Both pieces were fine sounding and well regarded.

I ended up trading a set of speakers for a TRL ST225 integrated amp. I had never heard of this amp before and was not aware of Paul's work.

All I will say for now is this integrated amp bested my previous set-up and is the finest sound my speakers and room have provided.

I am a tube guy folks and this SS amp is still the finest amp I have ever heard. I put $5000 in the bank and have better sounding music. Now that is exciting!!!

They cost some $5500 new and mine was purchased/traded as used. It had just been updated by Paul and came direct to me once the upgrade was finished.

Happy in MN

Bill
grannyring
grannyring's avatar
grannyring OP
6,592 posts
 
I was listening to great music tonight and am so thankful for this amp. Natural is the word of the night. Music flowed so naturally and easy.

Every CD I play just gets my full attention.

I keep my amp on at all times and have not noticed a larger electricity bill? Can't be pulling that much juice from the wall? The amp is never even warm to the touch.

Paul did confirm the amp uses no fuses as they degrade sound.

Bill
sherod
1,690 posts
 
Bill,
You're going to get spoiled not having to replace tubes any more. Just imagine the long-term savings. Adios to tube rolling. (O:
grannyring's avatar
grannyring OP
6,592 posts
 
Yes, tubes are a thing of the past for me in my main system. I may play with a small tube based system for my bedroom someday.

Bill
hchi
43 posts
 
An excellent tube circuit design would yield the liveliness, sound stage, layering, and ambient decaying that many ss designs still come short of. In contrast, an excellent ss design has bass extension, impact, dynamic, and transient attacks that many tube can't quite match. That's why I have been preferring the ss amp and tube pre combo. The ss amp design gives me the luxury of having it turned on 24x7 and not worrying inability to drive difficult-load speakers. Because of TRL extreme low noise-floor, grain-free nature, it makes matching higher sensitive speakers possible also (heard ST-225 with 90+ db speakers before). The tube rolling at pre gives me that flexibility of adding a touch of warmth and improve liveliness without sacrificing (much) neutrality and full spectrum balance. I have no complaint but prasie for my TRL monos. The high gain amp design makes finding a matching pre a bit tougher. However, that's the inconvenience I am willing to go through considering the musical fulfillment the amps have brought for thus far. :)
terryn
9 posts
 
Grannyring: Thank you for your post. I was considering 2 of the amplifiers within your list and you may have just saved me thousands of dollars. I have been in contact with one ST-225 owner and plan on visiting him in a week for a listen. He also has the TRL 3 ways, TRL cabling and their modified Marantz SA-8001, so I feel that I'll have a good idea as to their house sound.

Hchi: How much does the battery power supply help? Is it worth the extra money? How much room does the battery power box require? I'm assuming they are sealed batteries, so no smell?
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