A Superb NEW Audio Horizons TP 2.2 Preamplifier with Remote Option
After several years of refining his justly praised Audio Horizons tube preamplifier (see elsewhere in the Audio Horizons web pages), Joseph Chow has now introduced the Audio Horizons TP 2.2. The TP 2.2 exceeds in audio and musical performance by a wide margin any preamplifier Joseph Chow has heretofore produced. It comes in the same handsome slim line chassis only with darker, richer coloring contrast, with more features, with superior component parts, and with clearly better performance and the same excellent value. Like the prior preamps, it comes in either a line stage or integrated MM or MC phono version.

When we say this is the finest tube preamplifier Joseph Chow has ever produced, that’s saying a lot. And we are not simply referring to the new top of the line version. Every version constitutes an upgrade to the TP 2.1. To hear what owners of earlier Audio Horizons preamplifiers, the TP 2.0 and TP 2.1, have had to say about them in their 1100 frank, unsolicited, and unremunerated posts, visit the Audiogon Discussion Forum and search “Audio Horizons TP 2.0.”

We do not have extensive feedback on the TP 2.2 because it is so new, but let me quote from, SciFi, one of our first customers:

“As far as performance goes... this is of course based upon about 4 hours of time turned on, the bass [on the TP 2.2cvB] is significantly more solid and sounds deeper and more substantial [than on my TP 2.1nB]. The whole sonic effect is much smoother, fuller with more cohesiveness. You predicted these things would happen and they indeed have...

“The unit is dead quiet. I can not hear any tube rush on the right channel and just barely on the left...

“There is a superior microdetail but not overly so. I also do note a more balanced frequency response across the audio spectrum as the vocals which often stand out to the detriment of the whole sonic picture are now more blended and naturally placed within the complete musical performance...

“One more thing, I much prefer the 2.2 to my [Aethetix] Calypso even in its break in state. The 2.2 is fuller sounding with more warmth. Sounds more like real music. I always felt that the Calypso was a bit artificial sounding even though it has gotten many kudo's in various publications.”

The Audio Horizons TP 2.2 builds on the excellent circuit designs found in the Audio Horizons TP 2.1 that won for it unreserved praise from Audio Horizons owners. But component parts quality has been improved on the TP 2.2n and TP 2.2cv, and in the TP 2.2cvg, a new premium pot, power supply tweak and two additional premium transformers are an even greater level of sonic realism.

New features:

• The TP 2.2n includes a new power supply with a new, low noise premium power transformer. As a result, the bass is tighter, deeper and cleaner, with superor harmonic texture in the low end, distinctly noticeable when playing string bass and/or cello. Power reserves are greater so that dynamic response is less compressed and more explosive when called upon to deliver a sudden crescendo.
• A Furutech gold plated IEC produces a smoother, more relaxed presentation.
• A Hi Fi Tuning Fuse produces a softer, smoother, more refined and airy presentation.
• The introduction of the TP 2.2cv, a new higher end version of the Audio Horizons tube preamplifier. The TP 2.2cv includes capacitors of a higher quality than ever before used, the Clarity MR capacitor, and for the first time all the key resistors in the signal path are upgraded to premium Vishay resistors. The result is an unmatched level of relaxed smoothness, effortless balance, and musical transparency.
• The TP 2.2nB or 2.2cvB now come with two balanced outputs and one single ended output instead one and one.
• The 2.2cv and 2.2cvB come with a speaker gain matching feature that permits owners to operate the volume pot at that point which will deliver the widest soundstage.
• The 2.2cvg adds a premium pot with superior separation, a power supply voltage tweak, and two additional transformers for increased mircrodetail retrieval, a wider and deeper sound stage, and layered imaging.
• The following are available as an option with the TP 2.2cv and 2.2cvB:

  A premium, stepped volume control for a smoother feeling pot, discrete steps, and even less variation between channel output than before.

  Gain modification for those with extremely high gain amps or extremely efficient speakers.

The TP 2.2 delivers even better specifications than the already superb specifications in the TP 2.1, only now translated into musical reproduction with an even higher level of sweet, smooth fidelity. The TP 2.2’s specifications are listed first in bold with the TP 2.1 specs right below in parenthesis. If no model is designated the specs apply to all models:

*(Because the testing limit of Joseph Chow’s test equipment is -123 dB at 1 volt, expressed as dBv, this -125 dBv figure was arrived at by taking the S/N for the 2.2n and 2.2cv and adding -10 dBv to it, the known benefit to be derived by adding the line balancing transformers.)

This improved S/N translates into improved quietness in a preamp already known for being very, very quiet. The result: a more coherent, resolved and musically textured presentation.

The TP 2.2 is available in three versions (each in single ended or balanced mode)—the 2.2n, 2.2cv and 2.2cvg versions, and with or without a volume remote control. A tape loop for audio-video or some other use is available upon request at no charge.

The cosmetics have been changed to identify the new model. While preserving the Audio Horizons window, and slim line profile, the TP 2.2 now sports deeper and richer contrasting colors.

As with the TP 2.1, the TP 2.2 comes with a free home audition.

Free Home Audition
We are so persuaded of the superb performance and superior value of the Audio Horizons TP 2.2 that we want you to listen to it in your own home over your own sound system. If you qualify for a free home audition, we’ll even pay the freight to you: In the USA, we will pay the full freight cost. In Canada and abroad, we will cover the first $50 of the freight. If you are not persuaded that this is one of the finest preamplifiers you’ve ever hears, return it within ten days. That’s it. Or if you’d like more time to evaluate it, buy it under our thirty day money back guarantee program and we’ll pay the full freight both here in the USA and abroad. You can then take 30 days to make up your mind.

To encourage people to take advantage of this offer, we will even absorb the PayPal fees. We’re that confident you too will be impressed by its superior performance.

To qualify for a free audition, you must have an Audiogon Positive score of 30 or better and no Negatives

To learn more about what makes the TP 2.2 such a superb performing preamplifier, read on or visit www.audio-horizons.com.

Tubes versus Solid State
One of the oldest debates in high end audio is between the proponents of tube equipment and those committed to solid state designs.  There are arguments to support each position.

Solid state equipment is hassle-free—there's no need to replace tubes at periodic intervals; warm up time until reasonable performance is briefer than it is for tubes; and the component can be left on for long periods of time (and oddly, this will improve performance) without exhausting the finite life expectancy of tubes.  More significant in terms of performance, solid state equipment has better S/N figures than can usually be achieved by tube equipment, in part because of the inherent residual noise level of tubes.  Solid state equipment produces crisper edges, and thus sharper transients, because solid state IC's and transistors have a faster decay time than tubes.  Finally, far lower Harmonic Distortion figures can be reached with solid state equipment than can be reached by tube equipment, again in part because of the residual higher distortion levels of tubes.  There are other areas, such as Dynamic Range   where solid state equipment again usually excels over tube equipment, but the first three produce the greatest challenge for tube designers.

At first glance, this is an impressive list of advantages, whose sonic effects would weigh in favor of solid state designs.  But there are certain advantages that tube designs have over solid state designs that make the choice more complex.  

Tubes produce a rounder, fuller sound than do solid state components.  For many this adds a pleasing warmth and body to the music not easily achievable with solid state equipment.  In addition, tubes are better able to capture those higher order harmonics that distinguish the reedy quality of an oboe from that of a clarinet, the resinous quality of a string bass from that of a drum bass, and the sound of a soprano's breathy vocal chords better than solid state equipment.  For tube aficionados, this too is a big plus.  Finally, tubes, because of their inherently slower decay times, are better able to capture the musical rise and fall and ebb and flow of live music, which does not turn on and off the way solid state component parts do but instead flows imperceptibly from one rising or falling phrase into another. For many listeners, this slower decay time of tubes enhances the listener's experience of the music—that is, the music sounds more musical and involving when played over tube equipment.

Must one choose between these two opposing excellences?  The answer is no.  If the designer is insightful and creative enough, he can minimize the shortcomings of tube equipment while still preserving their excellences.  In effect, he can narrow and almost eliminate the advantages unique to solid state equipment. 

Since Signal-to-Noise is among the two or three most critical parameters of sonic excellence—one can't hear any micro-detail below the noise floor--a tube designer must first attempt to bridge the gap between solid state designs and tube designs in this critical area.  Many tube designers achieve this narrowing by elaborate feedback circuits.  While the use of feedback does lower the noise floor, the elaborate circuits required to do so complicate the signal path and thus introduce signal compression.  Thus while they gain in reducing S/N, they lose in sonic openness and transparency.  Joseph Chow avoids feedback entirely. But by virtue of his deep insight into materials and circuits he is able with his tube designs to achieve S/N levels that would do many solid state designers proud.  For example the S/N for the Audio Horizons TP 2.2n and 2.2cv is -115dBv, for the TP 2.2nB and 2.2cvB, it is -125 dBv.

As further illustration of Joseph's ability to virtually eliminate this key sonic advantage of solid state designs, one need only compare the S/N figures of the Audio Horizons solid state DAC, the DAC 2a (-105 dBv) with these of the TD 3.0.   These differences are superb for a tube DAC when one realizes that a well known tube DAC with separate power supply costing over $12,000 is only -108 dbv.  Frequently, the S/N levels are reported using higher than 1 volt output ratings (usually signaled by the abbreviation dBv), say 2 volts or 3 volts, but the S/N at 3 volts, for example, will be about -10 dB better than at 1 volt.  Thus by using 3 volts output, the manufacturer is able to use a -10 dB lower S/N figure than he would if he used the generally agreed upon 1 volt standard.  Some manufacturers call this marketing.  In addition, sometimes the S/N figures on tube equipment are so poor they are not indicated in the website spec sheet.

By virtue of avoiding feedback and using a philosophy of classic design, Joseph is able to achieve the clear edges and fine transients characteristic of solid state designs.  And by designing balanced geometry interconnects with carefully designed capacitance, whether using RCA or XLR jacks, Joseph  is able to create tube designs that have clean but soft edges, that in a word, preserve all the excellences of tube design while achieving those common to solid state designs.

Finally, while Joseph can not overcome the residual higher distortion common to tubes, at 0.05 % THD he has achieved superb specs, where only the most rarified ear can hear the difference.  The same is true for his specs for Dynamic Range (better than 105 dB) and crosstalk or channel separation (98 dB @ 20-20kHz).  These are outstanding specs for a tube component and approach or exceed the specs of excellent high end solid state designs.

In essence, Joseph has created a tube DAC that weds the virtues of solid state design to those of tube design to create a superbly transparent sounding DAC.  

Introduction
The Audio Horizons TP 2.2 Stereo Preamplifier is a high end tube preamplifier boasting specifications found only in preamplifiers costing two to five times as much, such as razor straight linear frequency from 10Hz to 50kHz +1/-2 dB, THD guaranteed not to exceed 0.05% from 20Hz to 20kHz, dynamic range of  90 dB, signal to noise guaranteed to be in excess of 110 dBv, A weighted, and channel separation (crosstalk) better than  90 dB at 1kHz.   Individual TP 2.2 specifications come with each unit, and units typically exceed these specifications.

We invite you to compare these confirmed specifications with those published by other manufacturers of high end tube preamplifiers.  Then we invite you to audition the TP 2.2.

Design Features
A number of impressive design features in the Audio Horizons TP 2.2 contribute to its superb performance.  They include:

• The power supply uses a 10 times larger VA than needed in order to insure a stable soundstage.
• A capacitor bank comprising 12,000 uf on the DC filament.
• Independent channels each with a pure DC filament supply to reduce crosstalk between channels.
• Thirteen stages of regulation on high voltage provide better ripple regulation, which results in quieter noise levels.
• The use of a low ESR capacitor bank, with an extremely high 2,860 uf of storage in the HV section, to provide extra reserves when sudden instant sonic demands are made.
• In addition, the use of a cascode section increases the system's dynamic range, linearity, and responsiveness, thereby producing a punchier sound.
• The low output of the line out transformer design permits the use of long interconnects with minimal sonic degradation.
• All inner wiring uses Teflon silver coated wiring to provide optimum performance for many years, and to protect those who live in environments with high humidity. 
• RF shielded balance/XLR connectors eliminate contact impedance, insuring the lowest possible noise floor.
• A gold plated Furutech IEC and all gold plated Teflon RCA jacks insure low connector loss and insure high signal transfer.

But while this extensive list describes some of the features that contribute to the TP 2.1's superb performance, they do not fully explain it.  Too truly understand how Joseph Chow has managed to achieve spectacular performance at a relatively modest cost, we have to spend a moment explaining how Joseph Chow's classic design philosophy differs from typical audio design philosophy.

Most of us are aware of the well-known division among audiophile designers between those who prefer solid state designs and those who prefer tube designs, but few are aware of other deep divisions.  The most important of these is between two audio electronic design philosophies--between those who seek to prune away as severely as possible the materials and circuitry used (who, for example, when designing a preamplifier have as their ideal, “a straight line with gain”).

Opposed to these minimalist designers are those who seek to overcome the inherent limitations of the materials used by elaborating circuits and feedback.  These designers seem wed to complex circuitries.  For purposes of this discussion, we will call designs of severe simplicity, the school of simple design.  The second group, which attempts to perfect designs via circuit complexity, we will call the school of exotic design.  Most designers fall somewhere in between, but within the parameters of one or the other of these ruling philosophies.

Joseph Chow has chosen a third way of design, one neither simple nor exotic, but one which seeks instead to look deeply into the circuit function, the materials used in it, and the sonic goals to be achieved.  By analyzing these, especially the inherent sonic characteristics of the materials and components at every stage, Joseph Chow seeks neither to eliminate components, as those in the simple design school do, nor to compensate for them, as those in the exotic design school do.  Instead, he seeks to harmonize the inherent characteristics of materials with the circuit design itself.  This search for harmony between the materials used and their function within the overall architecture is what defines and distinguishes Audio Horizon design.  The focus is always on the sound characteristics inherent in the materials themselves and, given their characteristics, to achieve at an affordable price the highest quality sound possible.   

The Audio Horizons designer looks as deeply as possible into the circuit path, and into the sound characteristics of the materials and components used, and he does this at the smallest level possible.  His search for distortion and noise at the minutest circuit and material level begins, first, with a desire to eliminate all spurious noise and, second, with a respect for the importance of Q [defined as the “quality factor of an inductor or capacitor.  It is the ratio of a component's reactance ... to its effective series resistance” Dictionary of Electronics].”  

We seek to lower noise because only by lowering noise are the sonic characteristics of individual components revealed.   No designer, no matter how fine his ear, can improve a design below the noise level, for at that level he cannot hear the difference between one component make or value and another, one circuit modification and another.  Low noise permits the designer to hear more clearly the very fine sonic differences small component changes and slight circuit modifications make.

Typical of Audio Horizon's attention to the smallest detail, the designer has specified that the input jacks be Teflon insulated because the Teflon reduces signal loss, and because it has a high Q.

In addition to a focus on high Q, Audio Horizons' classic design leads it to eliminate all spurious, little used features, ones that may add glamorous complexity and the appearance of quality to the product, but yield no sonic improvement and in fact present design problems of their own.  This is in keeping with Audio Horizons' desire to keep distortion, the noise level, and costs as low as possible at every stage.  Thus, as part of his desire for a classic line, at every stage the Audio Horizons designer seeks to keep the signal as clean as possible with the minimum number of parts.  If three parts, however, will yield a cleaner signal than one part, without altering or degrading the signal, then three parts is both theoretically and sonically the minimum number of parts required. 

Throughout the circuit, noise and distortion are reduced by providing clean, high Q signal paths that make the signal timing more accurate and lifelike.

But that’s enough about design theory and about why the TP 2.2 specifications and performance are so outstanding. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the tasting. Listen to the TP 2.2. When you listen, the first thing that strikes you is how the sound emerges from out of the very blackest silence. Then you are struck by the harmonics, by how well you can hear the reedy overtones of a clarinet and the resinous string quality of a cello. Soon you realize there are no hard edges, that the spurious warm edges lent to music by distortion are gone. Little by little, you begin to realize how wide the soundstage is, how sharp the imaging, how airy the high end is and how rich and tight the bass is. And on and on your appreciation for this marvelous instrument and this brilliant designer grows. But don’t take our word for it. Listen to it with your own ears. Better yet, listen to it over your own system. You will clearly recognize its superior performance.

UPGRADE VERSIONS
The TP 2.2nB, 2.2cvB, and 2.2cvgB add premium line balancing output and input transformers before the output XLR jacks and before a pair of input XLR jacks.

The TP 2.2R versions add a volume remote control function to the various versions.

Options can be combined: For example, a TP 2.2RnB would be a remote control version of the TP 2.2n with the line input and output transformers added.