VK Music - Elekit & Triode Japan Forum: THIS IS THE MAGIC OF TU-8600 by vkung

Hi Victor:

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to audition the Elekit TU8600 SE 300B amp.

I was going to write to you to some time ago to try and describe what I hear when I listen to the amp, so I must apologize for having taken so long to do so. The main reason for the delay is that I find it difficult to characterize the sound of the TU8600 using hifi terminology. I sit down with paper and pen in hand and cue up my list of favourite tunes ... and then, before I know it, I find an hour has gone by ... I haven't written a single analytical phrase down on my notepad ... I have a silly grin on my face and feel that I have never previously heard the songs I've just played sound quite so beguiling, so natural and so enticing ... and all I want to do is just continue listening some more.

For me, this amp is not about "bass extension", "mellifluous midrange" or "sparkling treble". The usual audiophile language used to describe reproduced sound seems to me to be largely irrelevant with the TU8600. What I notice the most, and what is unique in my personal home listening experience is how, with this amp in the chain I am so easily drawn, not just into the music, but into the performance itself; how easy it is to engage emotionally with the artists and how believable and convincing the overall presentation is. I find listening to the TU8600 more akin to how I experience a live performance than listening to "hifi". When I listen to live music, I don't mentally break down what I'm hearing into audiophile terms; I'm usually appreciating the skill and artistry of the performers, the interplay between the musicians, how they're communicating with each other and with the audience and, most of all, the feelings and moods the music elicits in me as a listener. Similarly, with the TU8600, I find myself relaxing and easing into the music, experiencing the performance, rather than the qualities of the sound. Unlike with most other amps, when listening with the TU8600 I don't often find my mind wandering away from the musical message, I don't get bored and want to do something else. Instead I'm engaged with what I'm hearing and want to listen longer. I can't articulate what it is about the sound of this particular amp that has this effect. In the end, this doesn't matter to me because recorded music reproduced by the TU8600 is such a joy to listen to.

I look forward to getting my own TU8600 shortly.

Thanks again, Victor.

All the best,