Emotiva TA-100 DAC/AMP for just $399!

Well this is definitely value for money in my books.

what you get: AD1955A based dac, 50W(rms) watt into 8ohms

https://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/pres-and-pros/ta-100


$299 without the 50w amplifer:
https://emotiva.com/products/pres-and-pros/pt-100

 

I must say Emotiva are one of the few that really set the value bar.

 

It'll be interesting to see what Schiit is cooking up to compete with the likes of this.

 

Anyone heard the 100 yet? I assume the HP amp is nothing special, but it would be nice to read about impressions.

 

Wait, isn't a "STEREO PREAMP/DAC/TUNER WITH INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER" called a receiver by anyone else?

 

Wait, radio still exists?

 

Receivers generally process video too, don't they?

 

Only "AV Receivers". Stereo receivers generally do not.

 

The term "receiver" refers to the ability to "receive radio". In home audio, the term "receiver" has generally referred to a integrated amp/tuner/preamp

 

I don't know why this one gets to me. I think I finally feel kind of old when it has become necessary for an explanation to audio guys of "what is a receiver".

 

An actual conversation I had with a guy as I was setting up a PA system for his yoga studio...

dude: oh my god this thing is so heavy, what is it?
me: it's an amplifier
dude: I don't know what that is
me: uh, it's the thing that makes a signal louder so it can power your speakers
dude: ... okay... what does that mean?
me: um, I mean you plug your ipod into the amp, and the amp in turn powers the speakers
dude: you mean I can't just plug my ipod into the speakers?
me: no, the ipod doesn't have enough power
dude: why not?

Yeah, I was not working with the brightest bulb there.

 

Ha, nostalgia! Tuners with a knob that actually moves a needle along a scale on the front panel. Oh yeah!

I never managed to add one to my system, which, in those pre-digital (for me at least) days stopped at turntable and cassette. But sometimes, I'd take the mono headphone out from my 1-inch-speaker alarm radio (with analogue clock) and feed it through the amp. Not worth listening to? A damn-site more worth listening to than trying to get orchestra out of a 1980 radio/alarm.

Err... Emotiva. right....

 

I guess to the young folk a "receiver" is what us old farts (I'm over 50) would call an AV Receiver. The "traditional" stereo receiver just isn't that popular anymore. I just found it odd how Emotiva chose to call their devices what they did rather than a Stereo Receiver. It's funny that young folk wouldn't know what that means, but calling it a "Stereo Preamp/DAC/Tuner with integrated amplifier" makes sense. <shakes head>

As for am/fm radio, I agree. I don't use it anymore.

 

I think perhaps the word "receiver" just feels like an anti-audiophile-buzzword.

 

It did to me back in the 1970s.

When I was able to upgrade from my Penncrest receiver I wanted a pre-amp & power amp. I compromised on an integrated amp (Marantz 1060) for budgetary reasons. I added a matching Marantz 110 tuner as soon as I could.

I could have had a receiver that sounded as good as my integrated amp/tuner but that was not what I wanted because receivers didn't seem cool to me.

Now I see that vintage receivers are making a niche comeback in popularity. Check ebay for the prices on the more popular ones. On the Steve Hoffman forum there are some threads where people are basing their systems on vintage receivers. They seem pretty cool to me now, although I am not going down that road myself.

 

So has anyone bought this dac/amp/receiver/desktop control centre yet?

This should be compared to the Jothun.

 

I cannot imagine it would compete with the Jot.

 

It does look more "mini system" than anything, so you're probably right. It's a very different and less focused feature set. That said, it's a bit of an unfair comparison, the Jot sounds weirdly lovely for its price, it's a classic Schiit pro-consumer dickmove to sell it for that little, they could easily have charged a lot more and it would still have seemed like a decent deal.

(Not that there's anything wrong with a mini system, I have a tiny Marantz that handles audio for streaming TV and actual FM radio, which does just fine with some standmount speakers and a powered sub- it sounds really decent, but it's not intended for critical listening, either.)

 

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I'm very curious about this unit. Does anyone have any experience with the TA-100?

Thanks