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About Dussun:  designed and built in China, they are known for high value stuff.  Check out this review of the DS99.   Many Chinese components have lavish industrial designs, but are hit and miss for sound quality.  Dussun goes the other way -- simple, attractive boxes with excellent sonics.  Sound comes first.   They go the other way on amplification as well.   Whereas the majority of Chinese amps are tubed, Dussun is exclusively and proudly a solid state house.  This is a company that charts its own course.­  They make a range integrated amps from the T2i to the $1800, 250 watts/channel V8i that looks to be a monster value.  Filling out the line is a phono preamp and power regenerator.  A reference preamp, power amp, and integrated are coming at the end of 2009 – given what I’ve heard of Dussun, I’m interested. AAA Audio is the sole authorized U.S. distributor.  The 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee means no worries buying Dussun.

SOUND

The T2i is spec'd for Windows, but worked fine with my MacBook feeding it Apple Lossless files.  It had no problem driving my moderately efficient Guru QM10s.  As per distributor Ping Gong’s recommendation, I ran the T2i for a couple of days before evaluation.

My limited experience of Chinese designed equipment is that it sounds lush, romantic, and can border on mush.   Such was my preconception going into the review of the T2i.  Nothing like generalizing about a nation of 1.3 billion.

First up was Hans Theessink’s ‘Slow Train’ – an uncompressed recording that is as punchy and transparent as you’ll find.  Any softening of transients would be easy to discern and suck some of the life out of the track.  I hit ‘play’, or in this case the space bar and, uh …  nothing like generalizing about a nation of 1.3 billion.  The T2i is a different beast entirely from what I expected.  Ballsy, sweet on top, precise but with good musical flow –  it’s the sound I associate with good Class A amps. 

The T2i rocked with whatever I threw at it.  The sturm and drang of PJ Harvey’s ‘Down by the Water’, the menace of Marconi Union’s ‘Inter’.  It preserved the dynamic tension in these tracks, while also relaying the ambience and  intimacy of mellower stuff like the Cowboy Junkies ‘Working on a Building’ and Feist’s ‘Mushaboom’.   

Weaknesses?  The T2i didn’t have the grip and extension down low of some more expensive amps I had on hand, nor the transparency.  The same forty or so watts from my $1675 Primaluna Prologue 2 integrated sound more powerful, faster and cleaner.  The T2i couldn’t punch with it, and the comparison illuminated a slight haze to the otherwise smooth highs of the Dussun.  Note though that comparing the T2i to an amp over twice as expensive and with less functionality serves more to contextualize the Dussun than criticize it. 

A more level comparison is the aforementioned $799 Peachtree Decco.  It has a softer sound that some might prefer.  Me, I’ll take the T2i.  It’s 42 watts/channel sounded punchier and more powerful than the Decco’s 50 watts/channel, but it is by no means hard sounding. The Dussun has the snap of my old Nuforce IA-7 integrated, but with truer highs.

To test the T2i’s DAC section, I hooked a Squeezebox 3 to one of its analog inputs.  Cost-wise, the DAC section in an $800 integrated is likely similar to that in a $299 digital streamer.  Using the same tracks on my MacBook and Squeezebox, started at the same time, I flopped back and forth between the two by punching the appropriate input button on the T2i.  Result?  The two paths into the amp section sounded virtually identical.  I could not tell them apart with any certainty – the difference was insignificant.  This is my typical finding with competent, low cost DACs. 

The positive spin is that one of my gripes about the T2i – the lack of a digital input to accommodate a music streamer – is moot.  Using the analog outs of a decent DAC such as that in the Squeezebox still allows you to enjoy the T2i’s excellent amp section. It may also indicate that the T2i’s preamp section is on par with the amp.  I suspect that the DAC, while perfectly decent for the money, is the weak link in the T2i. I didn’t have anything suitable cost-wise on hand, but reckon that high value, under $500 digital products like the Cambridge DAC Magic or NAD C-545BEE CD player would elevate performance using their analog outs.

Lastly, I plugged in my Shure 530s and Grado SR80s into the headphone amp.  Wow – they sounded more clean and powerful than I’ve ever heard them.  As a very occasional can user, I haven’t heard enough headphone amps to make meaningful comparisons.  I can say, however, that the headphone amp on the T2i is not a feature added for features sake – it’s the real deal with major league drive and grip.

CONCLUSION

Hybrid, lifestyle products like the T2i are not where the industry is going, they’re where it’s at.  Unusually, my gripes about the T2i concern features rather than performance.   Its conception as the foundation for a great desktop computer-based system is too narrow given its value in other settings.

The lack of a S/PDIF input is largely obviated by the quality of the analog inputs. However, it seems a strategic oversight given the likely cost of adding the input versus the functionality gained.  Coaxial or toslink capability would give the many thousands of streamer users out there a choice of inputs.  Just looking at the spec sheet, these users might, mistakenly, pass on the T2i simply because it lacks the capability.   Further, no remote is a non-issue sitting at your computer, but an omission for a product whose small form factor and attractive looks make it a natural to drive smaller systems around the house.

Okay, so I have to get up to change the volume.  I do so with my Primaluna; the sound quality is worth the supreme effort of lifting my ass off the chair.  Such too, is the case of the T2i.  This is a killer integrated for $800, my favorite in its price class.  I suspect too that the preamp and amp sections are good enough to reveal a better quality DAC – this is a component that can grow with you.   Add something like the Cambridge, and at $1275 you’ve got untouchable value in a very compact, room-friendly package.  Highly recommended.