[ges11t]

  Guys ,
 
Just got a TA-03 locally in Australia from A1Futureshop  . They are the distributor for Australia and New Zealand. 
Haven't got a chance to test it out yet. Do you reckon they will drive the Senn HD700 ? .

Hey, I'm in Australia as well. Would love to hear your opinion on the TA-03, especially with the HD700 as I've got the HD800 and looking for a nice sounding tube amp.

 

[kablecorner]

Glad you asked. I first was thinking of either Schiit Audio or Woo Audio. However after discovering the TA-03 is much less in price and has a built in dac I gave it a go.
 
The built quality:
Very impressed.  Much much better then those Little Dot and Dark Voice/La Figaro amps.  Nice solid built with smooth side panels and has gold plated rca terminals. The packaging was great too. xDuoo spent some effort on the packaging to make it look professional unlike La Figaro was terrible. Instruction manual was clear and precise written in english.  Comes with a usb and AU type power cable. 
 
The sound:
At first the TA-03 sounded bit thin and bright. After about 10 hours burn in it started sounding more like a $300+ amp.  Through the HD700 to be honest , surprisingly I was very impressive. Lots of details in the music, Brightness disappeared, bass got tighter and cleaner, midrange silky smooth ,it now sounded more like a tube amp. I compared it with my Matrix M-Stage HPA-2 USB and immediately I could hear the differences. Especially when listening to classical music ( violin and piano music) the TA-03 definitely has this warmness in the music compared to the Matrix.
 
Overall xDuoo did a great job on their top end model tube amp. Price is reasonable and well built. For the price paid I don't really complaints.  

 

[CriticalTodd]

I picked up the TA-01 through the Massdrop deal and just today lugged it to my office cube to power my JVC HA-S680s (Brainwavz replacement pads). I also swapped out the stock tube with a Tung-Sol. I haven't messed with the gain jumpers. I find, for my uneducated ears, that I like the sound so far. I haven't burned them in much yet nor done any A/B testing but, at first blush, I'm happy with them. I'll try to remember to post an update once I've put a few days listening through them.

 

[czcsfb]

My TA-03's getting REALLY hot after 15 mins listening, by meaning hot I meant the whole body of my TA-03, not only the tubes (I know they are getting hot in all tube amp cases). Anybody has same issue? Is mine in right condition? Does this high temperature hurt the amp? Thanks in advance.

 

[spykez]

Going to bump this thread, my parents, especially my pops LOVES music and they just got done listening to my Little Dot MKIII and they LOVED the sound. So I'm planning on getting them some ampage going for their office.
 
I'm kind of looking for an amp/dac in one, at some point I want to connect another amp that can power passive speakers.
 
I'm confused with this TA-03. On the back it shows "Line In" on the RCA ports, but yet on their website, it shows at the bottom it can connect to other devices using the line out...check box 3 for details.
 
http://www.xduoo.com/xduoo/EnProductShow.asp?ID=41
 

 
So..do those ports actually do both input and output or what's the deal with this?

 

[czcsfb]

Good to know, I used my TA-03 as a pure amp and didn't expect my TA-03 could line out like the picture suggests. Anyway, I just tested it as a DAC connecting to my laptop and it did line out through the same ports successfully, so the result is positive, you are right the ports do input when used as a pure amp and output when used as a DAC like xDuoo suggested. Though I prefer the sound when it works as a amp pairing with my other DACs. Really like my TA-03. 
 
If you like the sound of Little Dot's, then you won't be disappointed with TA-03. The only problem I can say is that my TA-03 has got overheated on surface and sides (not only the tubes) after 20-30 mins listening, I still couldn't find if it's my unit‘s issue or a common phenomenon for all xDuoo products. BTW, there is no functional problems on my unit, just got too hot to touch on its surface during listening. 

 

[kablecorner]

Yes,when USB socket is used, the line in socket can be as output to an amp .

 

[spykez]

haha thanks guys, the site was down with some error so I asked xDuoo myself. I've NEVER gotten an answer back from ANY company so quick. It was like, within 20 minutes of sending the email they got back to me!
 
@czcsfb
 
Could always get one of these
http://www.walmart.com/ip/4-Mini-Personal-Fan-Silver/34136727
 
I got one for my mom as a joke, it's been running for years and actually pushes a lot of air haha. She keeps it on her desk. Out of stock online but there's always a shelf full at the stores.

 

[czcsfb]

Haha, I got ur idea. Well, I will keep using my TA-03 more to see how things going. Plus, ur feedback from xDuoo really seems help, Im gonna ask them directly If mine is safe. Anyway, thank u for all the information provided here.

 

[spykez]

here the email. Their site can be a bit weird
 
service@xduoo.com

 

[rseminario]

I'm planing to buy a ta-03, but dont seem to find many reviews, can you you guys help me with this? How does it compare to darkvoice 336, a bottlehead crack, woo audio (apart from the fact that it has a dac).

 

[spykez]

I can tell you now woo audio is in a different league, and a lot pricier

 

[cleg]

Made small video about TA-02

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BvEY6wwk6M[/VIDEO]

 

[BCHIFI]

Hi.. I'm looking for a tube amp, I don't need a DAC.. so, which would be better the xduoo TA-02 or TA-03?

 

[nmatheis]

Saw the TA-01 is up on MassDrop for $135 shipped. Thinking about using it mostly as an amp (Fiio X5 -> TA-01 -> AKG K553, HiFiMan HE400, and SoundMagic HP200). Good fit? Good deal?