Audiophile PDP 3000, P3000 and PA3000 Review

1
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6
Systems Player amp combo
For anyone who has
fallen for one of these
beauties from Herford,
there is no escaping
any more. A second,
a third and probably
even a fourth will follow!
Everything you ever wanted
to know about T+A
8
Systems Player amp combo
No, what this
picture shows is
not a power amp!
The 16 power
transistors serve
solely and only
the output stages
of the PDP 3000
HV player. One
half gives out the
specially processed DSD signals, the other the
PCM signals – in
balanced format,
of course.
Author: Johannes Maier
D
o you know Tony, Tim, Terry, Ted
and the others? Or Anna, Aisha,
Amy, Abby et cetera? No, then hold an
SACD to your ear one day and listen very
closely. Then you can hear the ‚bit families‘,
also known as PCM and DSD, quarrelling.
„Ha, ha! You lot can scarcely count to one!
We on the other hand have had a mathematical education and can effortlessly do
calculations involving the most complicated
of fractions.“ „So what,“ answers back the
DSD group from the SACD‘s top layer. „We
can scurry much more briskly and above
all in a much more natural way than you
around the wildest corners.“
Well, and if things get serious, the Tonys
and Annas embrace and cry bitterly. „Oh,
bloody hell! Now there‘s one of those greasy thumbs fumbling around on us again.“
And: „Heaven help us! Now, we‘re getting
put onto a windy plastic balcony and pushed into a wretched, rickety carousel.“
But stop, there‘s hope! For a few days
ago in North Rhine-Westphalia and recently at Audiophile in Swabia as well,
wholly different scenarios began to play
out: „Hey, Katie, take a look at the splendid PDP 3000 HV, made by Herfordbased manufacturers T+A and costing
€12,900!“ Now, the discs and music data
make it the purest of pleasure to lie down
onto the majestic, heavyweight ark milled
from one solid block and – thanks to
stainless steel tracks and sintered metal
bearings – to glide silently and without
any play into the inside of this dream
palace. And where otherwise a power
supply whistles within sight and ICs chatter, you enjoy heavenly peace for once
on the wonderful turntable, protected
from any disturbance by aluminium walls
centimetres thick.
No problem – it‘s practically fun there
to slip on the fine laser beam across into
the decoder. And, now here‘s the thing:
while in all other players the data is all
P 3000 HV: the
volume is determined by precision resistors. The
gas-tight adjusting relays that
switch them sit
in the middle of
the circuit boards
responsible for
the left or right
channel respectively. Residing
to the left and
right of them are
sound-regulating
modules.
lumped together, the PDP 3000 HV asks
the Pulse Code Modulation boys in here
over wide routing bridges and the Digital Stream Direct girls in there. Stabilised
in each case by their own highly stable
quartz oscillators, their hearts – and indeed each kind separately – ought to
beat with wonderful regularity. In the
PCM case that applies also at the relatively fast rate of 384 kilohertz. In the
case of octuple-rate DSDs (the name of
the latest, richest DSD version) the extra
pure pulse ought to be up to 24,576
million beats per second.
One way or the other, the heartbeat
is now right. So that no disruptive peaks
nevertheless creep across by galvanic
means, our darlings get delivered to their
converter stages via small magnetic
couplers. And in the case of high-pulse
DSD newcomers that is to a DAC produced in-house at T+A. For in order to
handle the exceedingly fast bit chains in
a worthy manner and to connect them
up into seamless analogue oscillations,
you definitely need a very special combination of professional logic modules
and current source helpers‘ helpers, the
like of which are not available on the
mainstream market. In the case of the
PCM data items containing up to 32 digits T+A were, however, able to rely on
the wealth of experience of the BurrBrown engineers and their best converter workhorse, the PCM 1795.
Anyone who fears that the PDP 3000
HV in the in-house DSD conversion mode
will nevertheless discharge too much
high frequency, may also call on the 1795
to do its duty. While it doesn‘t sound
quite as good, it is, on the other hand,
better able to pre-filter. And, in any case,
the analogue output flows both on the
T+A DSD side and the Burr-Brown converter side to its own output amplifier
(composed of fine field-effect transistors)
and its own optimised analogue filters.
Which now, as portions of conti- >
10
Systems Player amp combo
German quality
work: the big
wheel in the
bottom of the PA
3000 HV power
amp is a ring
core transformer bought in
from specialists
Sedlbauer. T+A
encapsulated it inside an aluminium
pan and hooked
it via absorber
elements onto the
aluminium chassis.
Theoretically, the PA 3000 HV stereo power amp can also serve as
a mono block. With one such unit for the right channel and another
for the left, each combined with the additional PS 3000 mains adapter, what you then have is the ‚really big‘ T+A set.
nual oscillation do nothing any more but
cheer. For, thanks to T+A‘s high-voltage
technology, which combines extremely
low-noise and high-voltage-capable FETs
so cleverly that all told what results is the
favourably elongated characteristic curves of valves, there is not the slightest
danger of them having to wade in the
disruptive mud at the bottom or of them
banging heads at the top.
And last but not least, a whole troop
of beefy power semi-conductors take
care of the final strengthening and ensure that no external dangers arise on
the coaxial or balanced connection paths.
News of such luxury soon gets out and
thus it is no surprise that USB Dick (up
to 384kHz / 24bit and DSD 512) and PCM
Harry (192/24 via RCA, optical, lab BNC
or studio XLR) also strive towards the
PDP 3000 HV. As it is, words fail the human observer of the back of the player
upon discovering that the T+A has two
mains connections on the extreme left
and right and ergo – shielded in each
case by an aluminium arch – completely
separated mains adapters for the digital
and analogue section.
The P 3000 HV pre-amp has likewise
two supply compartments, with one of
them – headed by an encapsulated transformer and 16 already magnificent electrolytic capacitors – occupying the whole aluminium-walled basement. Thanks
to a particularly large number of windings, this transformer also assumes the
function of a choke, which ensures that
the charging current – which would cause
excess stray fields – never runs too high.
Logically, our new signal arrivals – after
being selected via ‚bi-stable‘ encapsulated relays, which open or close and are
After the additional PS 3000 HV mains adapter is docked on, the PA
3000 HV‘s end transistors feast on extra reserves from a doubled
electrolytic capacitor storage capacity. The amp now assigns its own
not inconsiderable reserves completely to the input stages.
then dormant with no current – stroll
immediately into an HV amplifier‘s palatial dynamic spaces. To then already be
supplied with considerable voltage, such
that when it comes to volume level regulation (controlled by a solid metal rotary knob mounted in needle bearings)
the signal community can give up some
of the volume again with a smile. To be
more precise, can give it up to a ridiculously expensive network of anti-magnetic precision resistors that is controlled
by bipolar gold contact switches.
The luxury journey may possibly also
lead through tone control stages for
highs, lows and loudness. For extreme
room-acoustics emergencies T+A even
provide a signal treatment by gyrators
– which raises the question as to what
that is again: actuators (formed from a
row of transistors) that simulate a variable coil and ultimately form filters, with
which a certain bass frequency can be
emphasised or notched out (a total of
three frequencies can be treated).
There follows in turn an HV amplifier
and indeed, as already at the input stage,
in quadruplicate – because the T+A pre-
amp is able to pre-amplify not only on
the left and right, but balanced plus and
minus sides fully separately as well. Whether the total of four XLR inputs and the
corresponding output are ‚genuine‘ ones
with truly comparable poles therefore
needs in the case of the P 3000 HV no
further consideration. More though the
fact that thanks to the help of beefy final
power amps our dear music community
is able to stroll unscathed through the
longest of cables.
Thus at the PA 3000 HV power amp‘s
HV input are music signals that are cer-
12
Systems Player amp combo
T+A
PDP 3000 HV
T+A
P 3000 HV
T+A
PA 3000 HV
List price: €12,900
Guarantee period: 2 years
Weight: from 26 kg
Size (W x H x D):
46 x 17 x 46 cm
Surfaces: aluminium or black
List price: €9,500
Guarantee period: 2 years
Weight: 26 kg
Size (W x H x D):
46 x 17 x 46 cm
Surfaces: aluminium or black
List price: €11,900
Guarantee period: 2 years
Weight: 38 kg
Size (W x H x D):
46 x 17 x 46 cm
Surfaces: aluminium or black
As in terms of structural quality the T+A player embodies an
expensive measuring device, it
is difficult to find any fault with it
using such an appliance.
In any case, the PDP 3000 HV
creates practically no noise or
distortion and if ever it does then
in a musically harmonious spread.
There is no jitter, either.
In the case of the P 3000 HV there is also no need to talk about
frequency response or distortion
levels. Only perhaps about the
three bass anti-drone equalisers
feature, which can be set by
laptop or T+A download. However, the equalisers exploit their
advantages only in very difficult
rooms.
The PA 3000 HV power amp provides never-ending power, which
can not necessarily be much
increased by the additional PS
3000 HV mains adapter, though
it can be musically ‚consolidated‘.
When it comes to boundless
dynamic range and spaciousness
the T+A unit knows no bad semiconductor habits at all.
Distribution: T+A, Herford
Tel.: 0 52 21 / 76 76 0; Internet: www.taelektroakustik.de
‚‚
Test CD
Marialy
Pacheco
„Introducing“
T+A Developer Lothar Wiemann
„To use antimagnetic materials close to the signal and
to forgo even critical connecting wires means a great
deal of complexity, but you can hear the difference.”
tainly in robust health and high spirits.
Further HV circuits that go about their
work using an even more buffered out
and valve-like FET mix at already plus/
minus 160 volts, straighten up the signals
still further.
The drivers and the eight on-semi
output transistors are then activated at
full stroke already via a single end stage
running at very high quiescent current
and thus practically free of any distortion.
These thermo-track types (with built-in
feel-good/warmth control diode) thus
then only need to amplify currents. As a
result, here too no acoustic potential is
left unexploited.
None at all, hailed the joyful Tonys
and Annas, starting to sing their praise.
From the dark rumbling of the left hand,
via warm, full, weighty piano chords true
right to the finest resonating hair-ends,
all the way to not overly light and not
glittering like bling runs of the right hand.
The unparalleled benefits of this ‚as in
real life‘ sound and the complete equilibrium between high and low were not
limited to just the mighty concert grand.
They were also felt, for example, by an
almost bashful stirring with the drum
brush. The soft pressure on the skin, the
stroking and the lightness with which the
steel bristles tremulously lifted off again
appeared with the T+A system almost
alarming and spine-tinglingly true to life.
Yes, admittedly other systems claim
to be masters of fine acoustic mapping.
However, the T+As – individual assessment quickly showed that every component had perfected the same fine art –
place everything into an endearing, warm
and thoroughly breezy context.
And certainly not into a didactically
strict, let alone a ‚here I now come‘ aggressive one. The PDP 3000, P 3000 and
PA 3000 HV have thus earned the crown
of semiconductor high-end creation. And
that‘s something that excites not only us,
but will excite our children as well... <
All solid as a rock
to sit on. For safety reasons, T+A
have built in a predetermined break
point on the back
of the CD drawer.
It can be patched
back at any time
by sticking a pin
into a silicon bearing.
The Cuban pianist learned a great
deal not only at music college, but
from Gonzalo Rubalcaba as well. On
her CD she provides her own interpretations - and impulsive, full-bodied
touchstones for amplifiers.
The author
Johannes
Maier
Started around 35 years ago, helping
out in HiFi-Stereophonie‘s test lab and
after technical analyses on tuner and
amplifier matters rose to the position
of tester. With stereoplay from 1985
and currently with Audio.
AUDIOphile character
effortless
spacious and soft
gripping
emotional and
dynamic
neutral
authentic
immediate
high resolution
AUDIOphile potential
Recommendation
Within the field of semiconductor technology the T+A system
represents what is at present humanly possible. The striking thing
about it: top resolution without
even a trace of hardness.