TA-100 vs. A-100+BasX PT-100 -- Sound quality

[solvetek]

I am planning my first audiophile system.

My room is 19 feet long x 13 feet wide x 10 feet high.

I will be sitting about 13 feet from the speakers.

I will be using the T1 speakers.

I listen at low to medium sound levels.

All of my music is streamed through Bluetooth from Amazon Unlimited.

Does the TA-100 integrated amp sound as good as A-100+BasX PT-100?

How much of a difference in sound quality is there?
The reason I ask is because I am trying to keep the cost down. 

[martindktm]

Cost wise the Ta and the T1 will be cheaper. But someday you will plan to upgrade. You will find yourself in a better situation to upgrade if you have a separate Pt-100/A-100/T1. My opinion on what you plan to do.

But If I was you I would wait a little more and save just a bit more and go fort the Pt-100/a-300/T1 trio. To make sure that the t! sing to their potential. In that situation you will be able to upgrade one component at a time depending on your budget without having to replace the entire system at once. If you ever decide to upgrade a single component in the trio that I suggested the 2 others will still be good to use with the one upgraded component... And while I never heard the a-100 I would go for a little more power hence the a-300 that I said. I personally listen my stuff in a 12x14 room via a dual mono component that push 220w/ch. It gives something more to the experience.

But that's my opinion. Others might have some good advise better than mine to give you before you spend your hard earn money.

[mountain]

If you can afford it, I would also recommend the a300 amp.  In my experience the more powerful amp (150 watt/channel vs. 50 watts/channel) will sound better, even at lower volume.  I agree That it is a bit more future proof as well.

[indyscammer]

If you want to start slow, there is nothing wrong with that. The TA-100 will drive the T1s fine at medium volume. It also has pre-outs so if you find later you need more power you can buy a bigger amp and you are still good to go. Want to add a sub? It has 2 summed outputs for subwoofer connection. I don't think you can find a more cost effective entry product than the TA-100.

[dsonyay]

Yes.. starting with the integrated is a good thing to do.. later you can use it as a preamp, and buy bigger amp, add subwoofers, etc.

I starter out with PT100 plus amp.. added a bigger amp later.. then upgraded the preamp at a certain point.. although I will admit.. the PT100 is a fine preamp and had great digital and phono inputs .. my upgrade to a better preamp didn't make hardly a change in sound quality (to my ears)

David

[garbulky]

Apr 9, 2020 15:38:44 GMT -5 solvetek said:

I am planning my first audiophile system.

My room is 19 feet long x 13 feet wide x 10 feet high.

I will be sitting about 13 feet from the speakers.

I will be using the T1 speakers.

I listen at low to medium sound levels.

All of my music is streamed through Bluetooth from Amazon Unlimited.

Does the TA-100 integrated amp sound as good as A-100+BasX PT-100?

How much of a difference in sound quality is there?
The reason I ask is because I am trying to keep the cost down. 

You should NOT stream via bluetooth. Bluetooth streaming is low quality lossy streaming.
Instead use an echo dot device. Their sound quality is quite good especially for the ridiculously cheap price of $30. They have a headphone out jack that you can plug in to the analog input of your TA-100. This would allow for lossless audio. If you wish, you could purchase an Echo Link (but it is $200) to get lossless digital audio straight to your TA-100. The reason you would want to do this is to allow for the DAC on the PT-100 (which is quite good) to do the decoding.
Amazon also has the echo amp which you could use as an all in one product instead of the Emotiva amp - but the measurements and subjective sound quality were considered "lackluster" on their amps section.

In terms of the TA-100 vs the A-100, I would consider the differences not very big. If I were you, I would just get the TA-100.
But you should know the real sweet spot is a used Emotiva DC-1 coupled to Emotiva PA-1 monoblocks - a real perfect match for your Emotiva T1 speakers. But yes, the cost is a bit more, but it's a really quality setup that you can use many years down the line without needing to upgrade.

[pob]

Apr 11, 2020 10:44:20 GMT -5 garbulky said:

Apr 9, 2020 15:38:44 GMT -5 solvetek said:

I am planning my first audiophile system.

My room is 19 feet long x 13 feet wide x 10 feet high.

I will be sitting about 13 feet from the speakers.

I will be using the T1 speakers.

I listen at low to medium sound levels.

All of my music is streamed through Bluetooth from Amazon Unlimited.

Does the TA-100 integrated amp sound as good as A-100+BasX PT-100?

How much of a difference in sound quality is there?
The reason I ask is because I am trying to keep the cost down. 

You should NOT stream via bluetooth. Bluetooth streaming is low quality lossy streaming.
Instead use an echo dot device. Their sound quality is quite good especially for the ridiculously cheap price of $30. They have a headphone out jack that you can plug in to the analog input of your TA-100. This would allow for lossless audio. If you wish, you could purchase an Echo Link (but it is $200) to get lossless digital audio straight to your TA-100. The reason you would want to do this is to allow for the DAC on the PT-100 (which is quite good) to do the decoding.
Amazon also has the echo amp which you could use as an all in one product instead of the Emotiva amp - but the measurements and subjective sound quality were considered "lackluster" on their amps section.

In terms of the TA-100 vs the A-100, I would consider the differences not very big. If I were you, I would just get the TA-100.
But you should know the real sweet spot is a used Emotiva DC-1 coupled to Emotiva PA-1 monoblocks - a real perfect match for your Emotiva T1 speakers. But yes, the cost is a bit more, but it's a really quality setup that you can use many years down the line without needing to upgrade.

Just received my TA100

[pob]

I just received my TA100, I had been running a vintage Sansui Receiver with some very old JBL TLX171. Amazing difference, It has been a long time since i have enjoyed music once owning a $20,000 system. Thinking of upgrading eventually to the TZero or T1 but i have to tell you, the detail in the JBL's sounds pretty great. Any suggestions on TZero or the T1, I am on a very limited budget.

Thanks, POB

[garbulky]

Apr 11, 2020 11:54:50 GMT -5 pob said:

I just received my TA100, I had been running a vintage Sansui Receiver with some very old JBL TLX171. Amazing difference, It has been a long time since i have enjoyed music once owning a $20,000 system. Thinking of upgrading eventually to the TZero or T1 but i have to tell you, the detail in the JBL's sounds pretty great. Any suggestions on TZero or the T1, I am on a very limited budget.

Thanks, POB

I think they are all very nice speakers. I've listened to the T2 speakers and these speakers are what you need in your size room for full range sound.

Just take your time, spend a few months and save up for the better speaker - you know why? Because these speakers can last you decades imo and stay at top of their class.
I used to upgrade "incrementally" and what I found was that I spent wayyyy more money in the long run doing so. I stopped doing that and simply took my time saving up. Then when I bought equipment, I found I stopped needing to replace them because there was something "better out there". I saved money by spending more initially, if that makes any sense. Think of it this way. If you buy the tzero for $400, sounds great right? But then you are hungering after the T-1. Oh wait but that's $700. Even if you sell your Tzero's for $250, you're still out a good chunk. Etc. You get the idea. Cheaper just to save up and buy the right speaker for you than let your circumstances dictate your decision. Don't be afraid to go used. You could buy the T2's used for close to the price of the T1's new. Emotiva's warranty transfers. You can also give Emotiva a call and see if they have any used T1 or T2's (or B-stock) in their inventory. I have seen a lot of reports where they've often have had unlisted stock of that type.

Case in point, I spent two years saving up for my XPA-1 gen 2 amps. Now that I got them, they were worth every single day I waited for them Zero regrets. No thinking about selling them for something better.

Either way both the tzero, t1, should give you a more finer detailed sound compared to your JBL's. The t1 should also be able to produce cleaner detail in the low end. The JBL's will likely sound "bigger" due to the size but may sound blurred and muddy in comparison with a bit of a roll off in the top end. Imo the Emotiva speakers are in a whole nother level than the JBLs.

[dsonyay]

Or get the PT-100, PA-1 mono blocks, and "T2" speakers. Boom .. done.

I hear rave reviews of those PA-1 amps. Of course, you need two, but they're a bargain.

[pob]

Thanks for the advice, I am going to wait. Is there a big difference between the t1 & t2? I read an article that said the t2 wasn't worth the extra money.