This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below
What does matter is that those amps have forced me to rethink my notions of purity, dynamic envelopes, and the sheer love of music. At first, I spent a good deal of time focusing on the typical audiophile aspects of the reproduction. Thankfully, each time I let my guard down for a moment, I was lured in, sucked in, dragged in (as if my little finger had been twisted), to emotional nuances conveyed that would then not let go. These 2A3 amps are not dynamic in the sense that many of us have come to know, but they are dynamic in more meaningful ways; their vibrance is less physical, but more virtuous, in an innocent and heartwarming way.

Sidebar II
Background of staff by Victor Comerchero
Joseph Chow has been an audiophile since he was a teenager. For as long as he can remember, he has wanted to be an audio engineer. His first engineering job over 25 years ago was with Kenwood in the FM Tuner division where he played a role with Japanese engineers in engineering the KT 7500, KT-615 and other receivers in Taiwan (Kenwood's high-end tuners were all developed in Japan and not at Kenwood Taiwan). His specialty was small signal processing, a specialty that permits him to reach surprisingly high S/N figures with small signals...
continue

Listening to the LA4's Just Friends through the 8.0 and the 2A3s, I felt immediately drawn into the performance and lost all interest in traditional sonic benchmarks; they became secondary, almost unnecessary - but oddly, still compelling. In retrospect, I see that the subsequent compulsion to measure the performance was driven only by my responsibility to find the words to describe my intense interest in the proceedings. 'Nuff said?


Speaking from a more traditional perspective, here's the wrap up. To my ears, the TP 8.0 is to the Art Audio Vinyl Reference what the Herron Audio VTSP-1 was to the Art Audio as well. The Herron excels in areas appreciated by many: a more 'neutral' sound, with tighter (and lighter but still extended) bass and performances delivered on a wide, well-layered soundstage. The Vinyl Reference offers more flesh and blood, the most musical low-level resolution and communicates more textural nuances especially in the critical midband. It also sells for three times the price of the TP 8.0 All the phono stages mentioned stack up well when it comes to PRaT and overall resolution but when compared to the Herron, I'd give the transparency, low-level resolution and dynamic edge to the TP 8.0. On the other hand, the Herron gets bonus points for more holographic imaging in the midrange.


In the end, we all listen to or through our systems from somewhat different intellectual, physical and emotional angles. Some prefer an insightful and cerebral experience. Others want the goose bumps they get when their entire being is engaged. And others want nothing more than to sit down and feel their shoulders drop when the needle hits the groove. There is nothing right or wrong about any of those leanings (unless you're you ... or me).


If I'm to be objective and take my preferences out of the equation, I'd respond to the question of whether or not the TP 8.0sMCpn is the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing this way: When I consider that sonically it bumps up against the VTSP-1 at about half the price (when that model was in current production up to about 3 years ago), one thing is clear: There's nothing sheepish about this Audio Horizons product. It's an impressive product that will make many people happy.

Sidebar III
What these designers listen to at home
Victor listens to Transars speakers designed by ESS in 1980. Most Transars were 3-way speakers comprising a 12" long throw subwoofer in a rigid cube designed as an end table (in the lower right-hand corner of the first photo below) covering the frequencies below 140 Hz; and a panel consisting of an Heil Air Motion Transformer woofer (a long tube-like bipolar driver running vertically up and down the panel covering the frequencies from 140Hz to 1000Hz) and a "Great Heil" bipolar Air Motion Transformer covering the midrange/tweeter frequencies from 1000Hz to 20kHz. Victor's Transars are 4-ways with an added a bipolar 'super tweeter' atop the "Great Heil" that covers the frequencies from 10kHz to 25kHz. Only two of these 4-way Transars were ever made...
continue

Quality of packing: Inadequate from my point of view. Although the unit arrived undamaged, it could only have been that the Gods were smiling upon that box such as it was. I don't have anything against people making their own boxes by cutting down a bigger one for a better fit. And I don't have anything against using Styrofoam peanuts (especially when they're recycled). But to ship a sensitive electronic instrument without double boxing is asking for trouble. To be specific: the 17" wide and 9" deep and 3.5" high unit was wrapped in a single layer of thin bubble wrap and then put into a 24" W x 17" D x 13" H box (along with the power cord and interconnects) that was filled with the styronuts. When I picked the box up on arrival, it was easy to feel and hear the products sliding around. I can't imagine it surviving any rough handling.
Reusability of packing: I reused all the materials after placing the unit and accessories in a second, smaller and well-protected box.
Ease of unpacking/repacking: Easy unpacking. Annoying repacking as I couldn't, in good conscience, send it back packed in the same manner in which it was sent to me.
Condition of component received: Not damaged, performed properly.
Completeness of delivery: Optional power cord, optional analogue interconnects, RCA loading plugs with appropriate values for my Denon and Dynavector cartridges, owner's manual - everything one would need to get spinning.
Quality of owner's manual: Nothing fancy, but simple, direct and concise.
Ease of assembly: None required. Tube replacement requires removal of top cover held in place by four screws.
Website comments: Nothing flashy but I was able to find desired info easily.
Warranty: Limited, 3 years parts and labor.
Human interactions: Prompt and professional. Thank you Victor!
Pricing: High value for performance delivered.


Audio Horizons responds:
A word about the packaging before I comment on the review: The unit shipped to 6moons was a very early model, shipped before later packaging had been prepared. First we'd like to thank Stephæn for considering it important to present a manufacturer's design goals and philosophy, and we appreciate the extent to which he spent time and effort in insuring that these matters were covered in depth. We'd also like to thank him for always acknowledging his own sonic preferences when evaluating the TP 8.0, and for acknowledging its excellence, those preferences notwithstanding, a virtue of immense importance, we think, because what makes audio so exciting for so many of us is how deeply personal music -- and that means, audio -- really is. We each harbor in our heart and in our ear a vision of how the music we listen to "should" sound, and we all long to realize this vision.

We welcomed Stephæn quoting us to the effect that "We believe music lovers and audiophiles come from all walks of life, and we believe a music lover should be able to purchase a superb sound system for less than it costs to buy a luxury sedan. We at Audio Horizons are happy only if our $2000-$3000 components compare favorably with components costing two to five times more."

Have we succeeded? We think so. And with this quote from the review, I should like to close our remarks: "Speaking from a more traditional perspective, here's the wrap up. To my ears, the TP 8.0 is to the Art Audio Vinyl Reference what the Herron Audio VTSP-1 was to the Art Audio as well. The Herron excels in areas appreciated by many: a more 'neutral' sound, with tighter (and lighter but still extended) bass and performances delivered on a wide, well-layered soundstage. The Vinyl Reference offers more flesh and blood, the most musical low-level resolution and communicates more textural nuances especially in the critical midband. It also sells for three times the price of the TP 8.0. All the phono stages mentioned stack up well when it comes to PRaT and overall resolution but when compared to the Herron [MSRP $3650], I'd give the transparency, low-level resolution and dynamic edge to the TP 8.0."

Thank you Stephæn.

Victor Comerchero
Director of Marketing
Audio Horizons

Audio Horizons website