I was PM'ed this and thought to post it as others might be interested... (John, if you object let me know and I'll remove it)
Quote:Brad,
I own HDT original speakers and started with a select. Liked it, but not enuf bass. I had the amp modified to EX and liked the new weight and bass response, but missed the air and top end to some degree of non ex. I have since sold the EX and was looking at moving to the TORII MK2, but the few comments I've seen so far from Decfest (whats going on) seem to rate the Taboo as tonally better than the Torii Mk2, so I'm rethinking to maybe a Taboo.
I was planning to run direct from CD thro amp to HDT's. Do you think Taboo would be ok doing that.
Also have you moved to the mods for the HDT's (with gel waxing as well?) and how do they compare to originals.
Thakns for any info. The forums for some reason seem to be doing alot of non audio discussion lately, and I thought I would try this more direct approach.
John
No, I have not gotten "gelled" yet
I can't speak to the Torii as I've never heard it. But I would say that certainly with the HDT's you don't need more power than what the TABOO puts out. You might however get better bass (extension/weight, not necessarily speed/tone) due to the increased headroom of the more powerful Torii. Certainly a nice thing about the new Torii is the larger choice of speakers you have - you'll never have to worry in the future if a speaker will mate well with it since it's powerful enough to drive all but the most inefficient speakers.
Were those comments you read about the TABOO vs the Torii with the HDT's or other speakers? And was that the MKI or MKII HDT's? Are these comments posted somewhere on the forum?
IMO, you likely won't go wrong with either amp. Just buy the one that fullfills your power requirement given your room and speakers, and listening tastes. You can adjust the tone/signature of either amp through tube swapping. Tube swapping is a bit cheaper with the TABOO as EL84's are relatively cheap. And of course the smaller signal tubes are low cost if you don't go for the rare NOS types.
I'm in the middle of trying out other tubes in my TABOO - Sovtek 12AX7LPS signal tube and waiting for my JJ EL84's to arrive. Not that it doesn't sound fantastic with the stock tubes (JJ ECC83 + SV83's), but I'm just curious how the sound changes - and I heard the EL84's have more "spank".
Going direct from CD to TABOO will depend on the output of the CD player. I heard an expensive Shanling CD player hooked up directly that did not have sufficient volume. On the other hand,
I just hooked up a (~$120) Pioneer DV-578A SACD/DVD-A player (that I have been using temporarily while my Sony 999ES player is getting modified) directly to my TABOO and the volume turned up almost to the max setting. With this setting I get a volume level as loud as I ever listen (in my large room with vaulted ceiling) and no distortion or amp clipping. Turning the volume up higher still to the max setting, I can hear distortion, but again this is louder than I like anyway. Also, the sound quality is decent given the cost of the CD player.
My personal recommendation to you given your desire for both top end and bass is to get the TABOO and the CSP. And whatever you do, install the HDT Alternate Tuning tweak - it makes a big difference IMO. And if you haven't done it already - put felt on your FE206EM phase plug.
I hope this helps. -Brad-
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HDT's with TABOO (Read 4882 times)
