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Lyngdorf TDAI-3400

Well, after reading all the rave reviews of the Lyngdorf TDAI-2170 both here and other places, I decided to order a TDAI-3400 for myself.  I must admit I am still skeptical that such a diminutive piece of equipment can sound better than the Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP tube amp weighing more than 50 lbs, but I have been so intrigued by everything I have read I simply had to pull the trigger. 
I just unboxed it today, hooked everything up, and am listening to it for a while before setting up Room Perfect. 
I really want to hear the what the amp sounds like as-is for a bit to understand it better. 
First impressions:  Without Room Perfect it sounds like very nice solid state amps I've owned in the past, but to be honest, I don't find the sound to be particularly moving.  I moved to tubes after years of solid state, and I swore I would never go back.  That is where I'm coming from.  I should also add that I always try to keep an open mind.  While my initial take on it might sound like I don't like it, I hope folks just read this as me being as honest as possible about what I hear.  I know the tendency when buying new gear is to want so badly to love it in order to justify the expense that it's easy to fool oneself into believing it's an improvement over what you had before, even when it's not.  Of course I really want it to be as mind blowing as it has been built up in my mind to be, but if it's not I am OK with simply moving back to what I have liked so far.   
I have only been playing records through it so far.  Analog makes up 98% of my listening so that's where I am starting with it.  I have a nice CD transport that I will connect to it in the next day or so just to hear the DAC in the unit.  I will also experiment with playing files from USB sticks, computer audio from my MacBook Pro, and whatever else I decide.  I am not prepared to purchase a music server just yet, but it's something I have thought about for a while.  
My system:  speakers are Harbeth Monitor 40.1's.  Turntable is an SME 20/2 with SME IV.iv tonearm and Kiseki Purple Heart cartridge, fed to a Parasound JC-3+ phono preamp.  Power conditioner is Audioqest Niagara 7000.  CD transport is a Wadia 8.  
I will report back as I have more time to experiment and let the amp break in.  

128x128snackeyp
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

"The unit sounds best when not using an external dac, most of the time, because there is no need for the added cables, complexity and longer signal paths."

>>>>I totally concur. In my particular case I’ve been able to eliminate the external DAC, AC power and AC Ground, power cords, interconnects, transformers, big honking capacitors, speaker cables, fuses. All of which obviously introduce noise and distortion to the sound. Also eliminated in one swell foop with small portable battery powered headphone system are requirements for the usual room acoustics devices, only the ones that operate outside the conventional modes are needed. You know....

These rather severe measures allow me to get down to the real nitty gritty.
mickeyb
534 posts
 
Give it time and most importantly your ears time to adjust. The transition from tubes to ss takes time. I just can’t seem to get used to ss no matter how hard I try. The best I could do was get a tube hybrid and I’m pretty happy with it. Good luck! Hope it works out. 
mofojo
2,171 posts
 
2170 kicked the pants off everything I've owned ss or tube. Room perfect on.
snackeyp's avatar
snackeyp OP
455 posts
 
Thanks for all the comments, folks.
I will be setting up Room Perfect soon.  I just didn't have time to set it up yesterday when I unboxed it, so I decided to give it some listening time without RP so I can understand by comparison the difference it makes once it has been implemented.  In my first post I meant to convey the message that this amp sounds very good right out of the box, even without RP turned on.  But it has a very solid state sound to it, and in my past I have always preferred tubes to SS.

I believe that with RP properly set up I will like this amp more than anything else I have owned, otherwise I would not have bought it.  

I can't wait to get the DAC in action.  This will happen soon.  Most likely I will plug in my Wadia transport using a coaxial cable to start.  I have a balanced digital cable but it's super short and won't reach.  I will probably buy a longer one at some point.  

Yes, I got the version of the amp with the high end analog inputs.  This was very important to me as I mainly listen to vinyl.  I skipped the HDMI inputs as I had no use for them. 

I will leave the amp on 24/7 per suggestion, at least for a while until it is broken in.  Thanks for this suggestion.

I will check back in a day or two.  I've been very busy sending my son off to college this week so it might take a bit longer for me to respond.

Cheers 
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,254 posts
 
I hope you find it to your liking, the amp does have quite a following.
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