Conrad-Johnson TEA-2 phonostage

[Rafale]

conrad-johnson knocks down the hierarchy with the TEA-2, extracted from the article of Alan Sircom HIFI + issue 70

' There is something intrisincally right about the TEA-2. It's the kind of phono stage that makes you wonder why you aren't playing more records, even when you are. It's not sweet or comfy sounding, but it's the sort of enticing sound taht makes you just want to listen to a lot of music. If it didn't sound like a back-handed insult, this would be called a phono stage with a transatalntic accent. It has the solidity and image size, the sheer detail and the dynamic superiority of American high-end component, but it also al lot of the up-tempo sense of speed and grip over the lower end that UK amplifiers are often so good at. It's more American than UK sounding and the sense of musical beauty wins over. Those who value their audio by its ability to track the 'boogie factor' of Dr John records will pass on the TEA-2, but those who are less wedded to 4/4 time will find it has a lot to offer. On the other hand, those who do choose their audio equipment by the bar will be more likely to find a friend in TEA than almost any other American, tube (valve) or 'American tube' piece.
In fact, what this offers is superior musical integrity, and that shows by it not overstating 4/4 time at the expense of others, more complex time signatures. Two easy ways of hearing this are Dark Side of The Moon by Pink Floyd and the whole Time Out by Dave Brubeck Quartet. Both use 'different' time signatures and some phono stages seem to enforce a more simple structure to what are ( for the genres ) complex temporal pieces. In other words, if you can find yourself tapping your foot along to 'Money' or 'Blue Rondo à la Turk' in an orderlt fashion throughout, something is wrong. The TEA-2 clearly shifts from 9/8 time to 4/4 time and back again.
Where that enticing sound really wins out is with a dman good recording, like an old Decca SXL of the Pirates of Perzance. This is a simple Decca Tree microphone set-up, and gives you a true sense of sitting in front of a live performance or even the worst set-up, but here the sound comes alive. This is not about image size, solidity, detail of the ability to portray dynamic scale with a right-sized accuracy, it's all about transporting you in to the Sadler's Wells theater to listen to the D'Oyly Carte as a kid. Of course, that time machine activity can only take place when the equipment is good enough to deliver to-notch image size, solidity, detail....
Perhaps it is the sign that something important happening in audio. The TEA-1 is a remarkable reference point for LP equalization, but it's expensive enough to limit the number of people who can reach that high. The TEA-2 reaches almost as high for a significant cut in outlay. That makes it a perfect partner for the new wave products that deliver almost as much as the reference point for a fraction of the cost ( the VPI Classic springs naturally to mind). These two-coupled with a good sub-£600 cartridge from Dynavector, Goldring or Lyra for example, and you could have a turntable set-up for a little over five grand that you might need to spend £20,000 or more to improve upon. Now that takes some beating!:yes:

[Rafale]

http://www.audiofreaks.co.uk/images/2009-10-02-AF-UK-Audio-Show.jpg

[Rayooo]

all I can say is WOW!

[joeinid]

all I can say is WOW!

+1

Very nice.

[Coppy]

Nice set up. I also have a GAT but with a TEA 1. I initially put my TEA 1 on the shelf under the GAT and it produced a good deal of 60 cycle hum when playing records. I called C-J... they confirmed that the big power transformers in the GAT were the cause and there was no sensible magnetic shielding process. The TEA 1 is now separated from the GAT by my heavily shielded Marantz SA7 CD/SACD player and all is well. So if you notice some hum,,,

[Rafale]

Hello Coppy......congratulations the TEA-1 must be exceptional ....what are the other elements of your system ?
Besides the photo shows a TEA-2, which is not mine, I use the Linn Urika... thanks for the tip concerning the hum

[Coppy]

Rafale... Maybe that TEA is far enough away to not receive the hum from the GAT. I'm trying to figure out how to add an image from my photos. It's probably simple but in the meantime... from C-J: Gat pre, LP140 monos, Premier 350 amp, TEA1bc phono amp, Sota turntable, Marantz SA7-S1 CD/SACD, Magnum Dynalab 108 tuner, Shunyata hydra power system, Wilson Sasha speakers. MIT Magnum cables, etc.

[turntable]

Hi Coppy

Great system.

How do the LP140's do driving the Sasha's?

[Rafale]

Rafale... Maybe that TEA is far enough away to not receive the hum from the GAT. I'm trying to figure out how to add an image from my photos. It's probably simple but in the meantime... from C-J: Gat pre, LP140 monos, Premier 350 amp, TEA1bc phono amp, Sota turntable, Marantz SA7-S1 CD/SACD, Magnum Dynalab 108 tuner, Shunyata hydra power system, Wilson Sasha speakers. MIT Magnum cables, etc.

Coppy, fabulous system....:thumbsup:
how the LP140M compare to Prem 350 ?

[Volks]

Beautiful Amp!

[Coppy]

Hi Coppy

Great system.

How do the LP140's do driving the Sasha's? and... how do they compare to the Premier 350.

Folks,

Thanks for the complements... all this is a result of my fifty year Hi Fi hobby. As to the 140s driving the Sashas... really no problem. My listening room is only about 14 by 25 with an 8 ft. ceiling so super power is not required. I seldom have the GAT volume above step 14 (of 100) when listening, and often below. Interestingly, the gain setting for listening is is the same for both the P350 and the LP140s. Maybe if I went all the way to clipping the P350 would be playing louder but it's so far from where I listen and my pain thresh hold I'll never know. As to comparing sound quality the amps are a bit different. As you know the P350 is highly regarded and should be. If the music content has a good deal of very low frequency content... and almost nothing I listen to (jazz, classical, no rock) does, the the P350 has a bit more speed and impact for those low tones. However, what I give up the couple of times a year when I drag it out of the closet, is a transparency and stage debth/width/height that is just thrilling for me to hear. I love to listen to acoustical instruments recorded in real space as unmixed as possible, so you can literately hear the hall in the recording. Maple Shade, Reference Recordings, older Telarc, etc. The LP140s give me more of that than the P350. So it depends on what you're listening for. If I were into rock, i would probably prefer the P350 for it's fast, penetrating style. It sure is a nice backup to have for the tube amps when they need a bit of service or tubes. Would I like the ART Monos 275 watt/channel? Sure; their transparency and bandwidth would be even greater. But. I'd need an upgrade to the central air in the house to deal with sixteen 8550s pounding away. Anybody know how I add a picture to one of these posts?
Thanks...

[Coppy]

Coppy, fabulous system....:thumbsup:
how the LP140M compare to Prem 350 ?

Oh Philippe... forgot to ask the most important question... how's the wine over there?

Bob

[Rafale]

Oh Philippe... forgot to ask the most important question... how's the wine over there?

Bob

Bob .....very attractive fruity wines here ... Chinon, St Nicolas de Bourgueil, Vouvray, Saumur Champigny.....

[Jerome W]

Could we see a porn pic of the TEA 2 ?

[Rafale]

http://www.audiofreaks.co.uk/images/2009-06-TEA2_Beauty.jpg

[Jerome W]

http://www.audiofreaks.co.uk/images/2009-06-TEA2_Beauty.jpg

Philippe,
Is this a catholic porn :D ?
I meant a "nudie" !

[Rafale]

TONEAudio Magazine 24 – Magazine | TONEAudio MAGAZINE (http://www.tonepublications.com/magazine/toneaudio-magazine-24/)

You can see it naked......

[Jerome W]

TONEAudio Magazine 24 – Magazine | TONEAudio MAGAZINE (http://www.tonepublications.com/magazine/toneaudio-magazine-24/)

You can see it naked......

Thanks Philippe !

[Rafale]

SE version of TEA2 available : TEA2 MAX

"The TEA2 MAX employs pure Teflon inter-stage and output coupling capacitors, along with large Teflon “bypass” capacitors on the audio circuit power supply. All audio circuit resistors and critical power supply resistors are upgraded to VISHAY and Caddock resistors. The result is a treat for the confirmed phonophile"

Does anybody know the price and was lucky to listen to this beast ?

[Puma Cat]

Nope,, but my guess is $4K....I wouldn't want to have to burn that puppy in though with low level phono signals? Good grief....it'd take forever...

[dpod4]

Would love to hear that phono stage. Not sure if this burn in cd would work on teflon caps but I used it on my preamps phono inputs. specifically made to burn in phono preamps.

Granite Audio
Model #CD-101.1
Moving Coil & MM Phono Burn-In & RIAA Test CD

The Model #CD-101.1 is a new specially enhanced version of our popular #CD-101 and has the additional Moving Coil Bonus Tracks added, so that it will work on both MM and MC phono preamps. The MC version was specially commissioned by musicdirect and they are the exclusive distributor of the new improved #CD-101.1

The #CD-101.1 has all the same original 32 tracks as the earlier MM version. The additional Moving Coil track #33, highlighted below in blue text, is specifically designed for the lower signal level of moving coil circuits and is mastered at 0.7mv output level from a standard CD player. Use Track 33 to burn-in your moving coil phono stage. Put your CD player on track 33, single track repeat, and only play track 33 repeatedly for optimum burn-in of MC stage. Tracks 1 thru 32 will also burn-in the MC stage, but will do so at a higher voltage level that is equivalent to the output of a MM cartridge.

The Model #CD-101 is specially recorded with the RIAA Frequency Curve at 4mv output from a standard CD player for playback through the Phono input. This simulates the output level and signal of a Moving Magnet or High-Output Moving Coil phonograph cartridge. For standard burn-in of a phono section, just put this CD on your CD player, plug the RCA analog cables into the phono input, and play the entire disc as many times as needed to complete the burn-in process. Playing tracks 1-22 through the phono input will give readings of +0dB to the Reference Tone at the tape output if the preamp's Reverse RIAA circuit is working properly.


Click here to read an article by Don Hoglund about what the RIAA curve is.

Using this CD to burn-in your phono section will save needless wear on your record stylus and turntable. Standard music CD's cannot be used for this purpose because their signal level at 240mv to as much as 4 volts would overload your phono inputs, which are designed to handle only about 4mv of input signal. Also, conventional CD's would have their low frequencies boosted by 20dB more than a phonograph record that was encoded with the RIAA bass rolloff. So, playing a standard music CD through your phono input could also damage your speakers with excessive bass tones. DO NOT attempt to play any standard music CD's through your phono inputs. You can only do this with the Granite Audio Model #CD-101 Phono Burn-In CD. Our CD is the only one that has been engineered for this purpose.

Test CD produced by Don Hoglund of Granite Audio using Hewlett-Packard random noise generator, HP decibel meters, Tektronix ultra-low distortion audio signal generator, Tek digital frequency counter, Tek digital decibel meters, and Tascam Pro-Studio CDRW. This test CD is not engineered for human consumption. Don't actually listen to it. It is meant to burn-in the phono section while you're not listening to it. Some of the RIAA test tones are recorded more than 70dB below reference and therefor the SN ratio is also very low. Do not play this CD through other inputs because the RIAA high frequencies are 20 dB louder than the reference frequencies when not played through the RIAA equalization circuit of the phono input and can damage your tweeters or hearing.


Copyright 2003 All Rights Reserved.

[Rafale]

As I asked my importer if CJ had new models in preparation for 2012, here is what he answered me: ' Maybe there will be a very expensive phono stage, but I have to tell you that the TEA-2 MAX performs SO well, there is no need for anything else...'

[Coppy]

Nope,, but my guess is $4K....I wouldn't want to have to burn that puppy in though with low level phono signals? Good grief....it'd take forever...

Well, once again, my TEA 1bc has lots of teflon in it and sounds terrific. I still believe these long burn in times may be overstated. I'll probably never put 1000 hours on mine. It's coming up on three years old and has maybe 100 hours on it.

Enjoy the music...
Bob

[Myles B. Astor]

Nope :( And it's more in the line and phono than amp due to the lower voltages involved. 300 definitely. 100 and it is dynamically compressed, dark and definitely a reduction in extension at the frequency extremes.

To simplify things, get ahold a a KAB reverse phono EQ so you can run your CD player in the KAB and then put it into your phono. Therefore you can get the required time in no time :) Personally, I use the old Thor Audio phono burn-in but it's long out of production. KAB does the same thing.

[Coppy]

Nope :( And it's more in the line and phono than amp due to the lower voltages involved. 300 definitely. 100 and it is dynamically compressed, dark and definitely a reduction in extension at the frequency extremes.

To simplify things, get ahold a a KAB reverse phono EQ so you can run your CD player in the KAB and then put it into your phono. Therefore you can get the required time in no time :) Personally, I use the old Thor Audio phono burn-in but it's long out of production. KAB does the same thing.

Thanks Myles... Good suggestion. Looks like they are in New Jersey and the thing is only $80. so I'll give them a call tomorrow.
Happy New Year to you.
Bob

[Myles B. Astor]

Thanks Myles... Good suggestion. Looks like they are in New Jersey and the thing is only $80. so I'll give them a call tomorrow.
Happy New Year to you.
Bob

Yes good deal. No fuss, no muss. Just one extra set of ICs needed. And shows that there is a good use for digital :D

[Coppy]

Yes good deal. No fuss, no muss. Just one extra set of ICs needed. And shows that there is a good use for digital :D

Miles,

And, Elusivedisc had one for $70 and 10% off no shipping or tax. It's on it's way. What if I used my tuner and some white noise... would that work okay as well?

Thanks,
Bob

[dpod4]

Granite audio cd made for mm/mc phono burn in works like a champ. $30.

[Myles B. Astor]

Miles,

And, Elusivedisc had one for $70 and 10% off no shipping or tax. It's on it's way. What if I used my tuner and some white noise... would that work okay as well?

Thanks,
Bob

Not sure about white noise but don't see why a tuner wouldn't work either. Guess question would be how do the outputs from the two compare?

[Coppy]

Granite audio cd made for mm/mc phono burn in works like a champ. $30.

Quote: Myles B. Astor: Not sure about white noise but don't see why a tuner wouldn't work either. Guess question would be how do the outputs from the two compare?
01-03-2012 10:36 PM

Thanks you Gentlemen. I should be good to go.

Bob