Sunfire TGP-5 Preamp/Processor and TGA-5400 Put to the Test

Sunfire's Bob Carver has always taken a unique approach to the design of his products. The TGP-5 preamplifier/processor and TGA-5400 five-channel amplifier are good examples of Carver's ingenuity.

Not too long ago, I was given the opportunity to try both the TGP-5 and TGA-5400 products for an extended period of time. During my time with the gear, I tried the products out together and also with various combinations of electronics from brands such as Cary Audio, Denon, Cambridge Audio and Halcro, as well as speakers from BG Corp. and Sunfire.

I found the gear performed well in all circumstances.

Setting up the gear wasn't a problem, despite how busy it may look on the back panels of both products. Component connections involved balanced interconnects from the amp to preamp, coax digital from the DVD player into the preamp and single-ended interconnects for the CD player and 12AWG speaker cables.

From a cabling perspective, I would recommend small spades or banana plugs for the amp because of the amp's voltage source and current source terminal options.

These provisions allow installers to choose a low impedance, tight solid-state sound option or a warmer, higher impedance sound option. With all these binding posts in the back of the units, however, space is limited.

On the preamp, I also found real estate to be at a premium, but it is laid out well enough that I didn't have any problems identifying connections and hooking up the cables.

As for what makes the Sunfire products unique -- it's the technology under the hood. In the case of the TGP-5, it features the company's Sonic Holography, which is designed to provide a more inclusive listening experience.

The TGA-5400 utilizes Carver's Tracking Downcoverter technology, which eliminates the inefficiencies of traditional amplifier designs to deliver high current on demand down to low impedance levels.

The end result of all these features is a smooth and clean listening experience that I found with both multichannel recordings, such as AIX Records' "A High Resolution Audio Experience" and two-channel recordings from musicians like Steve Morse and Brian Setzer.

I preferred the sound of the current source terminals with the Sonic Holography in the off position, but what's cool about the Sunfire components is that you get a choice and it doesn't cost anything more than a little bit of time.

In addition, with all of the latest home theater processing technologies, 400 watts of power per channel and the ability to bi-wire through the combination of both the voltage source and current source binding posts, the system is quite capable of doing anything a user and installer will require of it.

MSRP for the Theater Grand Processor-5 (TGP-5) is $3,499
MSRP for the Theater Grand Amplifier (TGA-5400) is $3,899