Audio Horizons TP 2.0 Preamplifier

I just receieved the 2.1RPNB for trial , plus interconnects and power cord with the Seimans tubes.
The unit was well packaged and looks well built. Unfortunatly, I will be out of town most of next week.

First impression, there does seem to be a shift in center stage to the right of center . I hope this just some strange breakin in behavior.

Ozzy, I would allow at least 60 hours of continous play before you do some serious listening. Maybe you can put a tuner on it while you are gone to slowly break it in. The Hovland caps, as well as the Blackgates take a few days to settle in so the off-center soundstage is more than likely a break-in issue. As you have heard, the Blackgates are notorious for long break-in periods. I'd give it a couple of weeks before you do some serious listening.

Sherod, Thanks for the reply and suggestion.

You're welcome, Ozzy. Once you get back home for some serious listening evaluations, I look forward to your impressions.

I brought Ozzy's perception that there "does seem to be a shift in center stage to the right of center" to Joseph's attention, since we are always attentive to ways to improve the preamp.

Here is Joseph's response, edited just a little: "The gain deviation between channels is 0.2 dB; the tracking error from the volume pot is -1 dB or better when the volume pot is set at -60dB position. This could be an issue for the n version since it has higher gain than nB if the system has highly sensitive loudspeakers. It will be hard to find tighter tolerance available from the supplier of the motorized pot; it will be much easier to get regular pot in tighter tolerance."

I take this to mean that while the the output deviation is small, at some points on the pot at certain gains, with certain highly sensitive speakers, a 1 dB deviation between channels could occur. Sometimes other factors unrelated to the preamp can also contribute a small amount to the perceived deviation.

I take it, without his needing to comment, that Joseph will look for a tighter tolerance pot.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Victor