Listening
After looking inside, I connected the DLS Ultimate TA2 amplifier to my reference system and sat down for some serious listening. I prefer to do my listening evaluations in my lab's sound room, with speakers and acoustics that I'm familiar with. It also gives me the opportunity to sit in a quiet environment to best evaluate the amplifier's character. I didn't wait the suggested 30 minutes. I simply turned it on, carefully set the gains and began listening. Immediately I was rewarded with a terrific listening experience. I played Don Dorsey's masterful rendition of Bach's Toccata in D minor to check out the dynamics of the amp and give it a good track to "warm up" on. The synthesizer had great size and depth, and sounded very much like a full-on pipe organ. With an abundance of power, headroom for the track's awesome dynamics was never an issue. Excellent! For a change of pace, I played some female vocals, including some favorites from Rebecca Pidgeon, Jennifer Warnes and Sarah McLachlan. Highs were smooth and detailed without any harshness or edginess and the vocals sounded warm and natural. The Cowboy Junkies' "Trinity Sessions" sounded like you were in the church where the recording was made. Stereo imaging was excellent, with good depth and a sense of space. Bottom-end authority was evident as well, from the very lowest registers. Thomas Dolby's "Aliens Ate My Buick" sounded tight and controlled with great round and fat bass bottom, and amazing detail on the plucks. Same with Rickie Lee Jones' "Danny's All Star Joint" - the bass line was up front and very detailed. This is one of those amps that lets you tell Fender Precision from a Jazz bass.
Louder you say? No problem, the TA2 drove my system as loud as I would care to listen to it without any sign of stress or distortion. While listening, I repeated several tracks and specifically paid attention to any changes as the amp got warmer, but I didn't notice anything significant. Rock, country, classical, hip-hop - whatever you like, the TA2 will bring it.
Conclusion
Whatever your taste in music, the DLS Ultimate TA2 will not disappoint. Obviously it's designed with sonic performance being the primary consideration and the result is an amp that is distinguished from the rest in looks and performance. This is a very natural, transparent-sounding amplifier. The music was reproduced without any added character. It simply sounded the way the recording engineer intended. I rated the sound quality of this amp right up there with some of the best amps for your home or car. If you have the budget and care more about sonic excellence than fancy features, you won't be disappointed with this amp. But if you believe that all amps sound the same, it will be hard to justify the price.