Anyone using the Transistor Research LabsM 225's

Clio, I have not heard the M225's or the D225 (could the "D" simply stand for digital and the M for mono blocks?).

Make no mistake. I am not disparaging Class D. I have often wondered whether I should sideline my Berning and try a Bel Canto, Spectron or Rowland. I love the purity of Class D. I had a PS Audio HCA2 which I modded with upgraded caps, solid silver wiring, etc. This was early Class D and probably far from current state of the art, but I enjoyed the amp after modding it.

My only question here is whether TRL would avoid disclosing the design of the amp if asked? I know that TRL is famous for hiding what they consider to be proprietary work inside their products by pouring epoxy all over many of the parts. There is also a very unflattering thread on Audio Circles about TRL and the very poor quality of their work (alleged in the thread).

I personally know nothing of TRL, but the rave reviews of the M225's have piqued my interest, but so has the negative thread on Audio Circles.

The "D" in D-225 stood for Dual Mono. Another unique design feature of TRL amps/preamps is the use of a high quality breaker switch in lieu of fuses. When powering on my D-225 you could hear the dual power supplies engage.

In addition to Grannyring's comments about the new power supply I would add that Paul Weitzel has always eschewed negative feedback. Many transistor designs utilize some amount of negative feedback, but not the TRL designs. Paul has also addressed the issue of ground noise in his designs. Another reason these amps are dead quiet.

The Audio Circle thing has been beaten to death. You just have to make your own personal call on that. As evidenced by people like Grannyring and Interlochen who have purchased these amps and whose other components past and present speak for themselves, sometimes you just have to take a chance on things. In this case neither has been disappointed from what I can tell.

Fiddler
Could you provide a link reference to the Audio Circle thread in question? I search there and found only positive comments
Thanks
Joe

12-21-08: Grannyring
Tvad, you had mentioned you did not care for the Nuforce
amps...

Where did I mention this about the Ref9 SE
V2?

In fact, I thought the NuForce Ref9SE V2 were the best sounding digital amps
I have heard in my system. I almost bought them, except they did not quite
handle the bass frequencies of my loudspeakers to my satisfaction due to the
amps not doubling power as load impedance is halved. As a result the
tonality was a bit unbalanced.

Overall, I thought the NuForce were refined and musical.

Tvad, my mistake. I am remembering some past comments or impressions you had on the Nuforce amps.

Gammajo, my experience with Paul & Brian at TRL has been wonderful. That's all I can say - wonderful. I would start a dialog with Paul and get your own impressions over time.