Tarandus for Tundra Mono is getting closer.

I've been doing listening tests all day and will rig the next set of comparisons tonight.

Good news. Is it a major upgrade? Is the necessary work comparable to the Sagatun Tarandus upgrade, or completely different?

The Tarandus upgrade for Tundra Mono consists of replacing four components and adding a fifth, all of which have been measured and selected to a sub 0.1% tolerance. Choosing which combination of the selected components to use is the tricky part - there are many alternatives. I've now narrowed it down to one final comparison, which I will do tomorrow. Installation wise the amount of work is similar to Tarandus for Sagatun Mono, maybe a little less.

The effect of this upgrade is mainly a more solid and distinct low bass. But as anyone who's fine tuned a subwoofer will know: When you improve the low bass, other parts of the frequency spectrum seem to improve as well. So my main impression of Tarandus for Tundra Mono is that the top end is cleaner, more in time and "rings out" better. Musically it's simply tighter than before.

Unlike Tarandus for Sagatun Mono, it's possible that this upgrade in some systems could benefit from a readjustment of the loudspeaker positions. In mine I found the optimal position to be the same, but the effect it has on the low bass tells me it might happen.

Technically, the filtering of the power lines feeding all circuits except the output stage is lowered from 5 Hz to 0.9 Hz. Interestingly, these two are sharp "peaks" in the musical performance. All values in between 5 and 0.9 are worse. Above 5 is increasingly worse and going lower than 0.9 Hz brings other problems; increased noise or instability. So Tarandus for Tundra Mono is about applying this new "peak" that was found when Boazu was designed.

Thanks for the insight Fredrik!
Very inspiring.
Good luck with the upcoming final work.

lejonklou wrote:The Tarandus upgrade for Tundra Mono consists of replacing four components and adding a fifth, all of which have been measured and selected to a sub 0.1% tolerance. Choosing which combination of the selected components to use is the tricky part - there are many alternatives. I've now narrowed it down to one final comparison, which I will do tomorrow. Installation wise the amount of work is similar to Tarandus for Sagatun Mono, maybe a little less.

Did you find another thing to improve during your comparison sessions? Or not completely happy with the results yet?
Maybe Boazu was just too good, and now it gets harder and harder to improve previous products to a superior level :)

ChrBea wrote:Did you find another thing to improve during your comparison sessions? Or not completely happy with the results yet?

Tarandus for Tundra Mono is ready!

It was finalized on Friday, but I let my test pair play over the weekend because there is a noticeable period of burn in with this upgrade. At first it's quite bass heavy, but after a few days it settles. This morning (Monday, three days after the final values were determined and then soldered to the board) I compared with a pair of Tundra Mono 2A, non Tarandus. It took me 5 seconds to know that this upgrade is now completed. But I got stuck and listened to the whole album (ELO, Time, 1981 - haven't played it since I brought it to RMAF).

ChrBea wrote:Maybe Boazu was just too good, and now it gets harder and harder to improve previous products to a superior level :)

You know, I think that all of the time. As soon as a new level has been reached, I can't imagine it getting any better. And if it somehow gets any better, it must be very marginal. The law of diminishing results, right? Strangely, it rather seems like the opposite is true. When things get bad, there is a limit to how bad it can get. Even when absolutely terrible, you still recognise Hotel California. But when things get better, when you reach that next even higher peak of performance, it's like seeing the sun again after three months of winter darkness in Longyearbyen. It's fantastic! And once again, I think "It doesn't get any better than this".

lejonklou wrote:

ChrBea wrote:Maybe Boazu was just too good, and now it gets harder and harder to improve previous products to a superior level :)

You know, I think that all of the time. As soon as a new level has been reached, I can't imagine it getting any better. And if it somehow gets any better, it must be very marginal. The law of diminishing results, right? Strangely, it rather seems like the opposite is true.

I have same experience.
This also applies during tuning of a HIFI-system. Example speaker placements. Long way off the optimum, big placement adjustments can be difficult to distinguish between. The closer you get to the optimum placement the bigger differences get. And them when you are on the 1-2mm tuning distances it suddenly BANG!!
WOW... incredible good - from nowhere.

Also, the better system, the easier to determine small differences between tweaks, cables, ripping etc.

lejonklou wrote: It took me 5 seconds to know that this upgrade is now completed. But I got stuck and listened to the whole album

Grinning!
This sound as a good upgrade, looking forward comparing them :)
Any news on the price for the upgrade for a pair?

great news. Looking forward to listen to them.
I always wonder how you achieve all this. Musical magician, magical musician or simply genius :)

Simply genius! But remember, genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

I agree about differences being clearer when you are close to the right value. The other day I was working on an LP12 SE installing a Kandid. Set it first with the built in gauge and was having a difficult time getting the right tunefulness. Checked with my digital gauge and found the arm was at 1.87 grams instead of 1.75. Set it properly and one hundredth off was audible. Zeroed in on it right away!

Good news Fredrik. Great to hear another improvement is on the way. Just got my personal Sagatun Mono Tarandus upgrades done and the full system back up. It sounds great. No comparisons yet as some things have to burn in but will do a comparison in a couple of weeks. For know I can just say it sounds superb. There will be a lengthy, and I hope informative, update in the My System section coming along before too long.

Music Lover wrote:

lejonklou wrote: It took me 5 seconds to know that this upgrade is now completed. But I got stuck and listened to the whole album

Grinning!
This sound as a good upgrade, looking forward comparing them :)
Any news on the price for the upgrade for a pair?

The upgrade price per unit has been set to SEK3900, €425, £355 or USD475 plus shipping.
This is simply the price of parts and labour.

The price for a new Tundra Mono is the same as before.

ChrBea wrote:great news. Looking forward to listen to them.
I always wonder how you achieve all this. Musical magician, magical musician or simply genius :)

As Thomas wrote (quoting Edison, I believe?), it's mainly perspiration.

Step one is the idea.
Step two is building it and testing that it works.
Step three to ten is altering and fine tuning it.

Usually it's musically disappointing at step two. Sometimes it becomes really good at step ten. But most ideas I abandon because they don't show any promise.


EDIT: Prices increased slightly in January 2017, which has been edited above.
All TARANDUS upgrades are now priced the same.

Yep, that was from Edison. He also said "We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything." Next time some engineer tells you that there can't be an audible deference between different cables or different cable directions you might quote him that.

Aye, but just because he said it, doesn't make it right!

Ozzzy189 wrote:Aye, but just because he said it, doesn't make it right!

Indeed always worth remembering.

lejonklou wrote:Tarandus for Tundra Mono is ready!

Any indication on whether this is a .1, .2, or .3 upgrade?

If I understood Fredrik correctly it's .2
So it's like this:
Tundra Mono 2.0 --> 2.2 with Tarandus upgrade.
Tundra Mono 2.0A --> 2.2A with Tarandus.

Correct!

You can find it on the Tundra Mono page, at the bottom below version history:

http://www.lejonklou.com/products/tundra-mono/

I met Marco today. Unfortunately I could only stop briefly at home, connect the amps, and had to leave again.
They're playing music now at home and nobody can listen to them. What a pity ;)
First (short) impression: I definitely have to move my speakers this weekend. The bass was too dominant so they clearly are not in the best spot. They used to be rather close to the wall, which was not perfect, but now this weakness can be heard even better.
I will return with a more detailed report, once they are burned in, and the speakers have been replaced. Can't await to come back home tonight :)

ChrBea wrote:First (short) impression: I definitely have to move my speakers this weekend. The bass was too dominant so they clearly are not in the best spot. They used to be rather close to the wall, which was not perfect, but now this weakness can be heard even better.

My Sagatuns (also Tarandus) were bassy the first few days so it's not impossible that Tundras are too.

Have you moved the speakers while the Tundra were in Uppsala for the upgrade?
If not...just let them play music 24/7 so they settle down. I'm sure it's going to be ok!

How exciting ChrBea!

I'm very much looking forward to your impressions.

Music Lover: I think ChrBea changed from a Tundra 1.2 to these new Tarandus Tundra Mono's.

That's correct, ChrBea went from Tundra stereo 1.2 to Tundra Tarandus mono 2.2 - I think he might be the very first one with the newly built TTM so likewise I am too curious to hear more about your first impressions.
Readjusting and optimising your speaker positioning is necessary and often neglected in these component upgrades.

It was very nice meeting you Christian, and while it was only brief, I'm looking forward to spent some more time on the next occasion, so I can hear your system too.

You have made quite some improvements in a short period of time so now it is time to sit back and enjoy!

mrco99 wrote:That's correct, ChrBea went from Tundra stereo 1.2 to Tundra Tarandus mono 2.2

Got it. Big upgrade, yes moving the speakers are needed.

Music Lover wrote:Got it. Big upgrade, yes moving the speakers are needed.

Not necessarily needed, but certainly worth testing.

In my living room, for instance, Klångedang T1 have always ended up at 180 mm from the back wall and 1558 mm apart, regardless of amps used.

First update: I wasn't that much at home this weekend yet, so I had no time to move the speakers. They are exactly at the same place as before, but the bass seems more in tune already (which does not mean that I won't move the speakers later today).
Music is currently playing 24h/24h. Yesterday late evening when I came home, it all sounded perfect to me. My system has never been more engaging. This morning some of this is gone again, but I am sure it will come back. At least I hope it does ;)
It is definitely a huge upgrade from Stereo 1.2 to Monos 2.2.
More updates to come later this week.
But first of all I would like to thank Fredrik for his amazing products and Marco for distributing and delivering them. Do not forget to give me a call, next time you are in the region.

Thank you ChrBea!

Have you adjusted the Trim at the rear? 20.0 mV was optimal on your pair (written on the back of the supplied instrument).

The best way is to let the music play for a good while (as you already do), plug into the Trim port, then temporarily mute the volume and make the adjustment.

Unless you physically move the Tundra Mono's to a different position, you don't need to check the adjustment again for many months.