Living with the Tundra

[donuk]

Living with the Tundra is not as cold and challenging at geography students might maintain.

I bought my Tundra 2 a couple of months ago, and to be honest it has changed my whole perspective on listening to recorded music. A friend who owns a posh valve system said it sounds like valves. Another who has a first rate Naim system said it sounds as if the singer is in the room. I could go on, by my commission is very small :-)

The Tundra 2 has replaced both my Linn Majik Kontrol and my 2200 amplifier. I now use the internal volume control on my ADS/1. Yes, I know the debates, but it is better that way. Whether it would be even better for me to have a Sagatun as well, I will leave for Ozzzy to say. (Actually, Davaar 32 sounds good with the internal volume control IMHO).

I am mounting this thread because I would like some views on living with the Tundra on a day to day basis.
Firstly, let me say, it took a good week to burn in - I have never had such a burn-in dependent piece of kit. It nearly went back on day two.

Having said that, after a couple of weeks it has stabilised and not shifted since.

According to the specifications, the Tundra does take quite a lot of quiescent current. In other words, it costs you and the environment to be switched on. Which is why I switch it off at night and when I am out for the day.

I am surprised to find that I have not noticed any warm up time on switch on. This is really good news.

What I do find is that the Tundra 2 is noticeably dependent upon what it sits on. Personally I can find no logical explanation of why this might be. If you tap the circuit board of a semiconductor amplifier it will not show itself to be microphonic, unlike valve amplification. However, the fact is that it does matter.

It works well enough on the top shelf of my Isoblue rack. If I place sheets of plywood or perspex on studs between the shelf and the amplifier, it sounds a bit different. A friend gave me an old Sound Organisation suspended platform, mean originally for LP12s I think. It is just a steel frame with a point suspended piece of plywood inside. This seems to give the best results.

I would be interested to hear others on living with the Tundra.

Donuk, sunny downtown York.

[lejonklou]

Don,

thank you for your update. I am happy you like your Tundra!

If you tap the circuit board of a semiconductor amplifier it will not show itself to be microphonic, unlike valve amplification.

Oh yes, there is actually quite a bit of microphonic effect on circuit boards with semiconductors. You just need to turn the volume up higher in order to hear it.

Still, I agree with you it's a bit of a mystery that the positioning is has such obvious effects. Not just my amplifiers, but all of them. The better it sounds, the easier this is to hear, don't you think?

[Ozzzy189]

I'm really pleased that you're enjoying your music and hifi considerably more since you bought a Lejonklou tundra stereo 2.0. The detail and musicality is unmatched at the price point in my opinion and I'd really struggle to go back to any other manufacturer now. I've made some changes myself and am staggered by the improvements that sagatun monos bring, and I can't wait to pop over with them so you can judge for yourself.

[lejonklou]

Do you have Sagatun Mono's in your system now, Ozzzy? Cool... Can you tell us what they do to your music?

I recently went the other way, from a pair of Sagatun Mono's to a Sagatun stereo. Interesting stuff; how everything's still there but not presented in that light and effortless way.

[Ozzzy189]

Hi Fredrik, Yes I will but currently running in a pair of rega rx1, they're very good and quite different from the embers I had in their presentation.