I use the TA-10.1 (system "budget dynamics", in the budget systems section) and am having great results with Klipsch RF-52 speakers and Signal Cable products. The amp is very even across the frequency range, so you don't need "tone control" cables unless you have to correct something else or are after a particular sound.
As far as general personal impressions go:
At the price it has to be worth a try!
If you have low efficiency speakers that you are very fond of, forget the Trends. Using 90dbs Acoustic Energy speakers worked, but I always felt the amp lacked drive. Swapping in the 96dbs Klipsch units REALLY kicked more life into my music.
The amp seems to take just a weekend's continuous use to get nicely burnt in... so far people seem to agree that 50 hours is sufficient to get good things happening.
The amp doesn't veil music (the level of detail is phenomenal given low cost). An example of this is with the Oppo 970HD as a source: when used with the Trends amp I can hear the lean bass of the Oppo that many owners and reviewers have commented on. Until the Trends amp combination I didn't notice this. The upside is that great recordings sound clear and crisp, and room ambiance is not lost even in complex passages.
The amp annoys the hell out of me!... I know it is geared as a low cost, budget amp and to an extent I am grateful, but why not use better quality binding posts as standard, reroute the input path instead of using copper trace on the PCB etc etc? The Mardis mods address all these factors, but surely Trends could engineer many of these improvements in a more cost efficient way?? I have never modded before, but I think I will give it a go at some point because there must be more performance locked up in there!
I hope my comments help. Overall, I think it is worth a pop if your speakers are efficient.
As far as general personal impressions go:
At the price it has to be worth a try!
If you have low efficiency speakers that you are very fond of, forget the Trends. Using 90dbs Acoustic Energy speakers worked, but I always felt the amp lacked drive. Swapping in the 96dbs Klipsch units REALLY kicked more life into my music.
The amp seems to take just a weekend's continuous use to get nicely burnt in... so far people seem to agree that 50 hours is sufficient to get good things happening.
The amp doesn't veil music (the level of detail is phenomenal given low cost). An example of this is with the Oppo 970HD as a source: when used with the Trends amp I can hear the lean bass of the Oppo that many owners and reviewers have commented on. Until the Trends amp combination I didn't notice this. The upside is that great recordings sound clear and crisp, and room ambiance is not lost even in complex passages.
The amp annoys the hell out of me!... I know it is geared as a low cost, budget amp and to an extent I am grateful, but why not use better quality binding posts as standard, reroute the input path instead of using copper trace on the PCB etc etc? The Mardis mods address all these factors, but surely Trends could engineer many of these improvements in a more cost efficient way?? I have never modded before, but I think I will give it a go at some point because there must be more performance locked up in there!
I hope my comments help. Overall, I think it is worth a pop if your speakers are efficient.