Eclipse td710z mk 2. Solid state or valve amp?

tintin

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Scratching an itch and been looking at the big Eclipse speakers.

Looking for any user opinions on which type of amplifier they decided to use with these.

I have no preference myself but from a brief look at Audiolincs website it looked like Jim preferred

valves as he had the Consonance mono blocks driving them in one of his pics.

That might be all the answer I probably need but would be good to have other user opinions and

what worked for them.

Cheers

T.

 

lordmortlock

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I've always been interested in these too. I remember speaking to the chap at the Bath dealership about suitable amps and he said to not worry too much about the low sensitivity rating, 20 watts upwards should be fine. Although thinking about it I suppose a dealer is going to say that.

 

cobbler

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I was interested in a pair but as yet never owned them, Jim is a valve man and he felt they worked great with valves. Is Jim still trading ? He's very helpful and a great bloke to deal with.

There was a pair up in Scotland for sale ex dem a while back.

 

tricka

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I have a pair en route to me in Sydney from the UK. I have a Leben CS 600 with KT 120 valves I will run with them. I think that being a fibreglass woofer, and low sensitivity, that some good transformers will be necessary to control them, and a push pull circuit won't hurt. I would not want a low powered SET.

Have heard them with a large Pathos hybrid, which worked very well. They are amazing speakers.

Bought mine off Donald at Musicarch in Dundee. Great service and a good deal.

Oh and I think they are TD 712 mk2, not TD 710 mk 2's. Pedant I am.

Cheers

Andrew

 

tintin

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Oops! you're right Andrew I did mean td 712 mk 2's.

Donald is excellent to deal with having dealt with him in the past. Amazing that your pair are being shipped from Dundee to Sydney!!!

I have a poss of borrowing a Lyngdorf Millennium mk4 to try with a pair and an Audio Research VS55. I'm hoping this will give me some ideas.

Jim's website has been a static for a while, not sure if he's still trading.

I have a pair en route to me in Sydney from the UK. I have a Leben CS 600 with KT 120 valves I will run with them. I think that being a fibreglass woofer, and low sensitivity, that some good transformers will be necessary to control them, and a push pull circuit won't hurt. I would not want a low powered SET.Have heard them with a large Pathos hybrid, which worked very well. They are amazing speakers.

Bought mine off Donald at Musicarch in Dundee. Great service and a good deal.

Oh and I think they are TD 712 mk2, not TD 710 mk 2's. Pedant I am.

Cheers

Andrew
 

Tenson

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The thing is, they have low sensitivity so this would suggest a solid state amp with a bit of grunt is needed. However the higher output impedance from an amp with output transformers (most valve amps for example) will interact with the rapidly rising impedance at the top end of the drivers range and give a little more output up top counteracting the natural roll-off of the full range driver. In short they need some power, but most valve amps will no doubt sound more open and airy with these speakers.

So you have two options. 1) You can get a powerful low distortion valve amp with good output transformers. 2) Get a powerful solid state amp and add a resistive / inductive element added the output to duplicate what an output transformer does, but not adding extra distortion or limiting power. Rob of Baker Audio (and my close friend) makes a neat little box that does this for exactly such situations. He demoed it to Tony on PFM once I think.

 
G

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The HiFi+ review of these (issue 74) says they have "a low sensitivity of 84dB coupled with a suggestion not to use an amplifier that exceeds 70w maximum power output"

Don't know if that helps.

 

tintin

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The HiFi+ review of these (issue 74) says they have "a low sensitivity of 84dB coupled with a suggestion not to use an amplifier that exceeds 70w maximum power output"Don't know if that helps.
I will try and find that review and have a read.

Thanks for the input so far, I'll see how this mini bake off goes with the Audio Research and the Lyngdorf,

it should give me some idea whether this a good idea or not.

 
G

Guest

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I will try and find that review and have a read.Thanks for the input so far, I'll see how this mini bake off goes with the Audio Research and the Lyngdorf,

it should give me some idea whether this a good idea or not.
If you get the HiFi+ app on iPad or 'droid you can buy it as a back issue. That's what I did.

 

flapland

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I have a pair of TD512 which are a bit beaten up but sound good with a Quad 405 and also 306 although a reasonable output valve amp I suspect would also work well. I am not sure I would pay full price though for the speakers as beyond the design research they don't have that much material value and I suspect are a challenge to move in the 2nd hand market.

 

flapland

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Tintin, there are a pair of TD512's with matching stands on the well known auction site at the moment for £700. Not mine by the way just thought a cheaper way to scratch a itch.

 

tintin

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Tintin, there are a pair of TD512's with matching stands on the well known auction site at the moment for £700. Not mine by the way just thought a cheaper way to scratch a itch.
Cheers Paul. Ill have a look at that.

Still undecided which way to go with these!!!!!

 

tricka

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I have had my TD 712's now for a couple weeks; glad I bought them. They are still running in, and will need several hundred hours yet to open up, but early signs are encouraging. I thought the Leben CS 600 under powered, although with a very sweet mid range. I have changed amps to an Allnic T2000, which will arrive in a day or so.

I was characterise them as completely transparent and highly resolving. Their timbre is wonderful. Piano's sound like piano's to me. They are quite sensitive to placement with a narrow sweet spot (not ESL narrow but narrow). Get it all right and "beguiling" is how I would describe them. Lovely enveloping sound that is never fatiguing. I wouldn't use them with a SS amp (but then again I am, by and large, a tube person) and they reward a good front end. Vinyl is heavenly.

Not everyone's cup of tea, but certainly mine.

Two thumbs up for Donald at Musicarch - best hi fi buying experience I have had in a long time.

Happy hunting .

 

pilingninja

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I have had my TD 712's now for a couple weeks; glad I bought them. They are still running in, and will need several hundred hours yet to open up, but early signs are encouraging. I thought the Leben CS 600 under powered, although with a very sweet mid range. I have changed amps to an Allnic T2000, which will arrive in a day or so.I was characterise them as completely transparent and highly resolving. Their timbre is wonderful. Piano's sound like piano's to me. They are quite sensitive to placement with a narrow sweet spot (not ESL narrow but narrow). Get it all right and "beguiling" is how I would describe them. Lovely enveloping sound that is never fatiguing. I wouldn't use them with a SS amp (but then again I am, by and large, a tube person) and they reward a good front end. Vinyl is heavenly.

Not everyone's cup of tea, but certainly mine.

Two thumbs up for Donald at Musicarch - best hi fi buying experience I have had in a long time.

Happy hunting .
Have a pair of these myself and echo your summary, very pleased with mine. Recently introduced vinyl to my set up which has taken my listening pleasure up another notch.

Run my speakers with SS amps no problem but would love to try valves one day. Please let me know how you progress.

 

tricka

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G'day Tom

Ohhh...another TD 712 owner!! - exciting. These are rare on the forums. We can enthuse together. :D

I owned a P75 phono with xx2 cart with a WTL simplex for a couple years - terrifiic combonination - love the Dyna stuff. NICE table & arm. You don't mess around.

I bet those bc's give the TD 712's the curry up. As I say, I'm a tubey kinda bloke.

I'll update as the system beds in. Recieved my T2000 amp yesterday but unfortuantely it had a blown tube (and with it the fuse) sooo I has to wait 'til tonight to see howse it sounds (in my best Aussie accent).

AS

 

pilingninja

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Andrew, yes the eclipse do seem rather rare on here, maybe it's their looks maybe people think for the price they don't get a lot of speaker for their money not sure but give them a chance and one could be pleasantly surprised.

I looking to house them in a larger room next year hopefully coupled with a dabble into the world of valves so very interested in how you get on with the new amp and good luck

 

tricka

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Jury is still hearing the evidence - the T2000 is certainly beefier than the Leben but the Leben was/is the better (purer) amp with better imaging etc. I think the magic of the Leben is in the Pre section.

Neither The Allnic or Leben have the bass control of my friend's Pathos Lagos, which is a very sweet sounding amp indeed. and drives his TD's really easily. I really should have just bought what he has - it is a lovely combo - sweetness of tubes but the control and punch of SS.

Last night I was running in my speakers with james Blake's self title LP via Spotify. With "Limit to your Love" when the bass kicks in with my friends system it is breath taking - tight and very deep. With my system it is a one blurred smudge of bass and ill distinct. Which I think is part amp and part that the drivers are still not run in. Actually the drivers have some way to go - it gets a little messy when things get busy.

I received my Allnic H3000 today and will plug it in shortly - hopefully it will have synergy with the T2000. If not I'll sell the T2000 and get eg a Lagos.

One thing is for certain - the speakers aren't going anywhere.

I thought they were "lifestyle" speakers when I first saw them, and was very doubtful until I had heard them. Then I had to buy them.

Check out Jeroen van Veen (I Spotify alot) if you like some gorgeous piano..

Cheers

Andrew

 

tricka

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Sep 23, 2010
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An update to this thread: as you can see from teh signature I am currently running a Gato DiA 400 with the TD's. I find they respond very well to the Class D Gato's. very impressive amplifiers.

They really are heavenly speakers.

 

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