Carot One Ernestolo TA2024 T amp with tube preamplifier

I've had the Ernestolo amp for over 3 months now, and I can say it's now my current favorite T-amp. It's a beautiful looking jewel of an amp, and non hifi people compliment me on it's looks. It sounds even better than it looks with the focused, coherent, and punchy sound the TA2024 chip provides. It sounds even better than the typical TA2024 amp though, because the Ernestolo feeds the TA2024 from a tube preamplifier that is built into the same chassis.

The case design makes the separate nature of the the amp and preamp apparent. There is a clear "hole" in the chassis between the amp and the preamp. The amp and preamp are completely separate devices and each have their own power and audio connections. There are pluses and minuses of this design, so let's start with the pluses. This is one hot 15 watt amp! One of the biggest disadvantages of the Tripath TA2024 is its low power. The preamp of the Ernestolo feeds the amplifier a very loud signal, so this amplifier plays louder than you would expect. Louder even than my TA2021 25 watt T-amp. You would probably be happy with this amp connected to speakers with only average sensitivity, though I haven't tried it with any speakers other than my Axiom M3 speakers which are fairly sensitive at 93 db. The resulting sound is fantastic, and I'm very happy with the setup. It has a very small footprint, smaller even than my other T-amps.

The small footprint of the unit coupled with the fact that this is actually two devices mean the backpanel is cramped and cluttered. The preamplifier isn't connected to the T-amp internally, there is a small black 1/8" to 1/8" jumper that makes the connection. The power supply uses a splitter to connect to the barrel power sockets on both devices. With banana speaker plugs and an RCA audio patch cord connected to the back, you really can't reach the rear mounted amplifier power switch with out picking the amp up.

You might be tempted to just leave the amp on all the time, but you'll be rewarded with a very loud pop when you use the front mounted volume control to turn on the preamplifier. The instructions that come with the Ernestolo are very specific. Turn the preamplifier on first, then turn on the power amplifier. Neither has a "soft start," so even if you are following the directions you'll hear a clear pop as you turn on the device. The front mounted volume control has a great feel, and has a clear indent to turn the power to the preamp off. Also on the front is an 1/8" headphone jack and an 1/8" input which overrides the reat RCA inputs.

The preamp is a low voltage design (probably what is referred to as "starved plate") that barely makes the tube glow. For visual appeal, there is a very pleasant blue led to light the tube. I got my Ernestolo for $300 on amazon.com. That's significantly more than I've paided for my previous T-amps. Still, it's cheap by audiophile standards, and competitive for a (presumably) Chinese manufactured tube amp. The Ernestolo sounds an order of magnitude better than the Qinpu A-3 for example, and it's only $100 more expensive. If you can live with the cramped and cluttered back panel connections, the fussy powering sequence and in the inevitable pop when you turn it on, you'll be pleased with the sound of the Ernestolo.

Sure TA2024

The Sure TA2024 is my current favorite T-amp. It's cheap and commonly available on ebay for around $50. It sounds fantastic. It's well built, attractive and it has a couple improvements over my previous favorite, the Trends TA-10.1. Unlike the Trends, it has a front mounted power switch, a small, but to me important, detail. I hated the Trends' obnoxious blue power led and the Sure has a softer glowing ring around the volume knob. That's not to say everything is as I'd like it. Sure added an odd feature. When the amp is off, the orange ring around the volume knob slowly pulses. The Sure manual calls this "breathing" and comments that it will help you find the amp in the dark. Whatever.

There are several variations of the Sure TA2024. I have the AA-AB32157 model which has the Tripath TA2024C chip and uses a digital volume knob. It is definitely different than the volume controls I'm use to. It takes a little over 3 turns, 1080 degrees, to go from completely off to full on. It is an indexed volume control with roughly 25 detents, or clicks in 360 degrees. Based on this, I'm guessing the volume control is Sure model AA-AB11117 which has 83 total positions. When the amp is off, spinning the volume knob has no effect, the amp always starts with the same volume level it was set at when it was turned off. I would probably prefer a normal analog volume control, but honestly the digital one is fine. It has a good feel and even though it's indexed, there are plenty of settings and I can always find the volume I want.

There are at least 5 different variations on this model. The earlier ones have the normal analog volume knobs, and there is one variant with a headphone jack. Here's my understanding of the different models:

AA-AB32151: Front headphone jack, Digital volume knob with 12v 3a Sure power supply
AA-AB32152: Analog volume knob and 12V 3A Sure power supply, no headphone jack
AA-AB32156: Analog volume knob and no power supply, no headphone jack
AA-AB340: Seems to be identical to AA-AB32156
AA-AB32157: Digital volume knob with 12V 3A Sure power supply, no headphone jack
AA-AB32159: Digital volume knob with no power supply, no headphone jack

I'd sold the Trends TA-10.1 long before I got my Sure, but the Sure sounds like what I remembered of the Trends with an exceptionally musical presentation. I'm not good with audiophile terminology so I don't know quite how to express it. It's obvious that at least some parts like the speaker binding posts are made with cheaper materials than the Trends, but somehow the Sure seems more finished and less of a DIY project than the Trends. Still, if I look closely at the Sure from the right angle, I can see that the case isn't perfectly straight. That's quibbling though. This is a world class amp and an easy thumbs up.

Trends TA-10.1

Welcome to my T-amp blog and my first post. I bought a Trends TA-10.1 from Obad imports back in November 2007 and fell in love with T-amps. It's nearly four years later, and I'm surprised there isn't a dedicated forum (other than the excellent Italian language forum over at tforumhifi.com). I just sort of stumbled on T amps. I was looking for a small sized amp to pair with my iPod for an ultra compact system. I read the glowing review at sixmoons.com and I was hooked.

The Trends amp really is wonderful, though I've since sold it and bought several other T-amps. This was my first foray into the audiophile realm and it really opened up my ears. The Trends amp uses the Tripath TA-2024 amplifier chip (like many other T-amps) and has a wonderful musical quality. The TA-2024 chip though isn't known for it's linear response. Audioheuristics has a very good write up of a similar TA2024 amp and it's frequency response is uneven. Yet, the result is musical. Much has been made of the similarity between T-amps and tube amplifiers, and maybe the non-linearity of amp is part of this. I have a personal theory that the wonderfully coherent sound of the tripath amps has to do with keeping all the frequencies consistent in the time domain. It's been written that some amplifiers "blur" sound by presenting different parts of the frequency range slightly earlier or later than others.

The Trends, like other TA2024 amps, has a meager 10 watts per channel. If your speakers are efficient though, you won't be disappointed. It's a little hard to find these days, I don't know of a source other than the Trends website which is based in Hong Kong. They have a new TA-10.2 SE model with an upgraded volume knob and power supply which I'd find tempting if it wasn't $225 plus shipping. My only criticisms are the plain jane "project box" appearance, rear mounted power switch and ridiculously bright blue power led.