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TRL Dude Dilemna

Based on all the high praise for the TRL Dude preamp here and other sites, I took a chance and bought one from a local A-goner to see if it could displace an Air Tight ATC-2 preamp currently in my system. The two amps I currently use are a McIntosh MC-402 and Viva 845 SET Monos. It turns out that the Dude is not compatible with either amps due to an impedance mismatch. So I only got to hear the Dude in a compromised performance mode.
I was not quite wanting to give up on the Dude yet given everyone else's enthusiasm about its performance. I am considering the Samson monos as a natural match. I can convince myself that the Samson's could be better than the MC402..My real issue is that I would have to give up the Vivas. Not sure I can make the leap that a solid state amp will satisfy me as much as those SET Vivas. Then there is the leap of faith that I cannot hear the Samsons with purchasing them....
Has anyone replaced their SET amp with Samsons and remained satisfied with the decision? My speakers are the Green Mountain Audio Continuum 3 which are about 90db efficient with an impedance 6.5 Ohms, +/- 0.75 Ohms 150Hz to 20kHz. Thanks for your input..
tellefsen
agear
1,362 posts
 
Tellefsen, how does you speaker behave with the two different amps? And what if anything is missing with the Airtight in the chain?

My speakers are a relatively similar load to yours, and even the more high powered SETs did not have the same "swing" as the Samsons. And this was not due to an input impedance issue as the Kora input impedance was around 81k
tellefsen OP
73 posts
 
The Viva's have a purity to the sound and a "thereness" to the sound that the McIntosh does lack. The Viva's also seem to go deeper in the bass, but lack some control in comparison.
It just is not practical to use them all the time and certainly not for home theatre duty...They give off too much light that washes on my projector screen..not tom mention the heat.
I find myself more transported to the performance with the Viva's...
agear
1,362 posts
 
Understood. Have you ever heard the Vivas on more efficient speakers?
agear
1,362 posts
 
And when you say the Vivas lack control, do you mean the bass is a little loose or bloated?

Another solution would be to have 2 dedicated systems...and the AV side would not, IMO, need to be audiophile grade....something like Onkyo.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Tellefsen,
That "purity" and "thereness" you mention is very hard for most other types(non SET) of amplifiers to achieve, at lease when compared to the better built SETs.
The trade off is relatively lower power output, but is overcome with the right speaker choice.

The Viva with the Trenner-Friedl RA Box speaker I heard at CES 2010 was ultra dynamic,impactful,energetic and the most close to 'live' like sound at that show. I was there 3 full days and heard many different rooms/systems.

Bass control has much to do with speaker selection for a given amplifier. If I did`nt have my sublime Frankenstein mono amps, the Viva Verona would sure be on my to buy list. You have a very fine amplifier.
Take Care,
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