A: These amps have been designed to function as integrated amps with a passive pre-amp section (POT). The POT in these units are not expensive but very high quality. When using the amplifier in conjunction with a pre-amp, please consider setting the volume at 3/4 rather than all the way, and increasing the volume of the pre-amp instead. The amp was not designed to be run at 100% all the time and at full power, RMS, you may notice a slight buzzing. Results will vary depending on your equipment.

Q: Do your amplifiers work with UK 240v mains electricity supplies?

A: We are using universal power supply units that should work in the UK, Europe, and elsewhere. We do not provide international plugs so you will probably need to buy your own locally. The 24v and ultra-premium 30v supplies use IEC connectors. The 30v/90w supply usines a "figure 8" type connector.

Q: When the amp arrived the heavy volume knob was not attached and it sometimes falls off. What shall I do?

A: Until we have the proper packaging to support the knob, we cannot take the risk that it will bend the volume control shaft during shipping. As a result, we ship it separately. You can fasten it more tightly when it arrives using a few wraps of plumbers tape or super glue on the POT shaft.

Q: Why is there a turn-on "thump" in my subwoofer?

A: In fact, there is a 1.5v "thump" into the buffered subwoofer output upon turn-on. This will produce a very audible noise of about the same volume as a good bass "thwack," but no louder and it will not damage your speaker. We're working on reducing this thump for the next version of the amp. This kind of behavior is quite common in the industry; not good, but common.

Q: I noticed a red glow behind the volume knob on turn-on and shut-down. Is this normal?

A: You're seeing the error condition indicator which will come on during turn-on and shut-down. This is normal. If it comes on during play, the amp is probably clipping or worse.

Q: Can I connect this amp directly to my computer?

A: You can absolutely hook up the amplifier to the stereo mini-jack or RCA jacks from your sound card. No USB input is supported (through an internal DAC), for now. However, you may be pleasantly surprised with the output from your sound card. Technology has advanced significantly and many are using Soundblaster (or equivalent) chips inside, with pretty good performance from the headphone jack. Alternatively, upgrading the the sound card is easy and cheap.

There's one more important point to make here and Roger doesn't agree because he can hear radar and the beating wings of butterflies on the other side of the planet. The headphone jack in the latest iPods is a formidable device. We were listening to uncompressed MP3s on an iPod Nano, in our room at RMAF, and the sound was awesome. There's a bunch of data on the web that suggests that you really don't need an iPod dock although the recharge function is hard to beat. Rest assured, all audiophiles succumb to self-inflicted upgrade torture, but we think you ought to first try our amps with the system you have now. You will see it go at least "one higher"... maybe even to twelve.

Q: Can I start with the standard power supply and upgrade it later?

A: Absolutely, no problem. Just make sure you don’t go over 30v on the Virtue ONE. We will be selling a higher voltage PSU for the Virtue.TWO which will plug into the Virtue ONE and destroy it.

Q: What is the difference between the 30v/90w power supply and the 30v/130w unit?

A: The 130w unit is dimensionally larger (196mm x 88mm x 50mm) and is used at higher voltage on the Sensation M901. While expensive, it is sonically superior. We were reluctant to offer such an expensive option but for many of our customers, the Virtue ONE/TWO are actually quite inexpensive so overall, the upgrade is still affordable. If you are considering buying 2 amplifiers to use as monoblocks, we suggest trying the 130w power supply first. It puts these amps "over the top."

Q: How long are your power cords?

A: We ship with 1 meter AC power cords from wall to block and 1 meter DC from block to unit. If you have special requirements for longer cords, we may be able to accomodate your request.

Q: Why don't you offer a battery option?

A: Roger prefers switching regulated supplies to batteries. If you want a battery-powered unit today, we highly recommend checking out Red Wine Audio. Vinnie uses top-notch components throughout and his products are very well reviewed. If you still think our amps will sound better on batteries, go ahead and prove us wrong! The amp will play with any voltage between 16v and 30v.

Q: I've heard that switching power supplies are "nasty"? Explain.

A: Traditional criticisms with switching supplies fall into two broad categories: line noise and EMI interference. The supplies we use are built to high tolerances with regard to line noise: you won't hear it, ever. With regard to interference with other switching powered devices, it rarely happens. If you suspect that your amplifier is interfering with another device, try it in another room or moving the devices away from one another physically. In a worst case, we will help upgrade your supply to another model which switches at a different frequency. This is rare problem that we deal with like everyone else in the CE industry: block and tackle on a case-by-case basis. By contrast, the draw-backs of using small, transformer-based supplies in a power amplifier are important sonically, which is why we use regulated switching supplies. Listen for yourself.

Q: I've heard that some Tripath amps interfere with FM radio station reception. Will I be able to use an FM tuner with this product?

A: We had challenges with RFI initially and are actually replacing units sent out in November, 2008. The new models seem to have good RFI/HF performance. Our initial testing shows that so long as your FM radio station is more than 18" from the unit, interference will be negligible.

Q: How do I restrict bass to my small satellite speakers if I am using the full range sub out to drive a powered sub?

A. Unfortunately this requires an internal component change. The input coupling caps need to be greatly reduced in value from full range as they are now.

For 80Hz they need to be .1uf
For 100Hz they need to be .082uf
For 120Hz they need to be .068uf
For 160Hz they need to be .05uf

We recommend 5% 200V Auricaps from Audience for this. Change one at a time and the black lead goes to the volume control.

After changing the caps set the sub control to the same frequency and adjust the bass level using several different disks as the bass level varies a lot between disks.

The Sensation amp already has an 80 Hz high pass built in and is jumper selected.

Q: Why are there (+) and (-) labels on the inputs?

A. We screwed up. The input labels should read (L) an (R) and it's too late to fix this. Please just connect them up by color. Red out of your source, red into the amp, and so with black.

Q: Do the units have a bridged mode?

A: The units are already bridged. Each channel on the ONE supports 100 watts, and on the TWO, more than 150 watts. Choose L or R and you'll get a bridged "mono" unit that uses all the power you can throw at it. Warning: outputs are not ground and the units outputs cannot be connected together in any way.

Q: Can I use the amps for bi-amping?

A: You can certainly use the amps for bi-amping. If you use one amp per channel, you can use both each of the buffered sub outputs to drive powered stereo subs.

Q: Is the 30 day money back offer applicable to international customers?

A: We will refund your money within 30 days of delivery if the unit is in resalable condition or broken due to a fault of ours. If the unit is found to be defective and you want a replacement, we will send you a new one at no charge (including shipping) and a gift certificate for your inconvenience.

Q: I heard such great things about the amp but it just doesn't have the bottom end of my $10,000 amplifier. What's wrong?

A: With the 130w power supply, we haven't yet received an inquiry like this.

Q: My speakers are 99db sensitive. Will the amp work well?

A: We have many satisfied customers driving VERY sensitive and wonderful speakers including superb, hand-made units by Robin Wyatt and Ed Schilling. If you put your ear right up to the speaker, you may notice a slight hiss, but compared to other amplifiers, you will find these units very quiet. There is one issue and that is you will find the subwoofer gain quite low compared to speaker output in such situations. You will need to turn your subwoofer way up. We have a solution to this problem for our next generation.