Just got a Transporter... on loan.

[bhaagensen]

but what a wicked machine!!! Of course it really, really better be given it's "noticeable" pricetag, but in spite of that I am pleasantly surprised. I'm having it on loan for a week and will update this thread with questions and opinions when I've had the opportunity to listen more.

Edit: Oh, this seems to be thread #21000 in this subforum, this truly is an seminal day

Regards Bjørn

[SuperQ]

Yup, I love my TP. What do you have yours connected to. I'm still saving/shopping around for a better setup to connect mine to.

[peter]

SuperQ wrote:
> Yup, I love my TP. What do you have yours connected to. I'm still
> saving/shopping around for a better setup to connect mine to.
>

I'm not much of an audiophile but I like this mod:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/m...ansporter.html

If only for its steampunk-like combination of bare tubes and wifi
antennas with the digitally rendered VU meter...

Regards,
Peter

[SuperQ]

SuperQ wrote:[color=blue]
I'm not much of an audiophile but I like this mod:

I dunno, I don't think it's all that useful compared to an entire tube amplifier:

http://www.atma-sphere.com/products/s30.html

OR even more tubes

http://www.atma-sphere.com/products/ma1.html

I guess I'm biased, as I'm friends with the atma guys ;-)

[peter]

SuperQ wrote:[color=blue]
> Peter;274089 Wrote:
>
>> SuperQ wrote:
>> I'm not much of an audiophile but I like this mod:
>>
>
> I dunno, I don't think it's all that useful compared to an entire tube
> amplifier:
>
> http://www.atma-sphere.com/products/s30.html
>
> OR even more tubes
>
> http://www.atma-sphere.com/products/ma1.html
>

Definitely more tubes!

> I guess I'm biased, as I'm friends with the atma guys ;-)
>


Won't be making such a nice whole though.

Regards,
Peter

[bhaagensen]

What do you have yours connected to.

For amplification I've got the (original) british Audiolab 8000S and 8000P. Speakers are M3 Signature from a danish company, Audiovector. It's all connected by various Nordost-interconnects.

B.

[Shredder]

You will get dissenting opinions about the Modwright TP (mostly from people who have not heard it, amazingly enough), but I highly recommend it. The standard TP is great, but the MW sounds much more musical to my ears. I run mine direct to my amps w/no pre and prefer its sound to the standard TP w/nice tube pres (Mac, MW 9.0, etc.).If you factor in the cost of a nice pre, the mod is actually less expensive.

[peter]

Shredder wrote:
> You will get dissenting opinions about the Modwright TP (mostly from
> people who have not heard it, amazingly enough), but I highly recommend
> it. The standard TP is great, but the MW sounds much more musical to my
> ears. I run mine direct to my amps w/no pre and prefer its sound to the
> standard TP w/nice tube pres (Mac, MW 9.0, etc.).If you factor in the
> cost of a nice pre, the mod is actually less expensive.
>

I thought it was a power amp!
It won't look nearly as cool stacked on top of another amp.

Regards,
Peter

[bhaagensen]

OK, I've just returned the TP which I have had on loan for a week+ now, and I am overall very satisfied. Read on for a long subjective (boring) ramble.

The design is nicer than I thought it would be. I like simplicity, and was fearing that the handles and the row of "machined" buttons along with the twin-displays and "rack mount"-mantra would make it look like a mixture of a rack mountable cisco switch and sun server. The handles are not dominating and the button row does not stand out under normal lightning conditions. And when the displays are dimmed/off it all looks quite tidy.

I think that in a sense the buttons and transnav wheel are brilliant. However I also think I wouldn't be using them much over the SBC and the IR remote. So it sort of is a great solution to a problem which doesn't exist. I also found the transnav wheel to be a bit buggy. The biggest gripe was that it would accelerate/not-accelerate randomly. So in searching for element 605 I would get no acceleration going from element 1 to 600, and then full acceleration from 600, making it impossible to hit 605.

And for the most important aspect, sound. I already have an SB3 with a slightly "better" than stock power supply. I can't hear any difference from the stock one. The TP is in another league (I've only used the analoge outputs). In ABX'ing I could easily pick out the TP from the SB3. Granted this was on chosen material, and not random tracks. Maybe I'm particularly sensitive to the SB3 flaws, but I was disappointed with its sound from day one. Probably because I was thinking of it as a hi-fi device, which it is not.

Overall I think the sound of the TP is very detailed and a tad forward. Imaging is great, and so is resolution. Soundstage and perspective also ought to be, but I suspect my listening room is not up to par. Snare drums and female/male voices are stunning. Bass is also nice and well defined, though to my mind not as tight as it could be. The only area which I didn't find particularly impressing is in treble. I wasn't at any point hearing treble to the extent that I would bring out words such as silkyness and softness. This might be a moot point though as statistically a male at my age can't actually hear very much of whats going on in the top octave. But to finish of, the overall tonal balance is to the hard side, and the sound is somewhat forward.

Contrary to what many seems to think, my opinion is that the TP is not lacking in musicality. I guess that could be because I like detail, and unless I'm listening for flaws, the sound of the TP does not at all bother me, rather occasionally hearing some (exaggerated??) detail puts a smile on my face. Based on my experience I can certainly see why people believe in the Modwright tube-mods though. Or any other mod which could improve the TP. I don't think it is perfect, but I think it is technically very good since it brings out such detail in music.

Am I getting one? Probably. Could one get something better sounding for the same money. Dunno, I'm thinking probably if one went for a dedicated CD-player, but the differences are a matter of shades of, and personal taste. I very much like the whole SD streaming solution, and the TP provides me with a high quality source.

Bjørn

[Fifer]

For amplification I've got the (original) british Audiolab 8000S and 8000P. Speakers are M3 Signature from a danish company, Audiovector. It's all connected by various Nordost-interconnects.

B.

Coincidence. I'm using the new 8000S with mine (and Kef iQ7s), although my main mode of listening is through headphones (HD650s and a class 'A' White Noise Audio Headamp MkII).