This Acoustat TNT120 was fully rebuilt by Roy Esposito in Florida who was a principal EE at Acoustat.
He now runs his own shop dedicated to the preservation of Acoustat amplifiers and The MK series interfaces.
Hardware was upgraded from the nickel-plated RCA's and typical speaker connections to high quality gold connectors and gold heavy duty speaker output terminals. The original flat power cord was upgraded to a heavier SJT 14ga. as well as a new neon pilot lamp, new power switch, and new fuses. Nichicon Audio Series capacitors replaced all the electrolytic capacitors in the circuits and driver FETs were also included, in addition to other updates. Furthermore, Acoustat had three official factory performance updates to the TNT amplifiers that had never been incorporated in this 120, but Mr. Esposito recognized this and added them to this amplifier.
This amp also includes 1/4 inch TRS jacks for fully balanced operation. Cost for the rebuild and TRS jacks was $600.00
The TNT120 was designed with one purpose in mind; to control the difficult behavior of their electrostatic speakers and provide the best possible sound doing so.
I am rating this amp a 7 mainly because of it's age. The front panel is in very good shape. The lettering is in tact. The green power indicator works as it should. There are a few scuff marks on the top cover piece. Below is an exerpt that describes the impetus behind the coming about of Acoustat amplifiers. Lived in S. Florida during the time Acoustat was in business and knew many of the principals there. Talk about a bunch of fanatics dedicated to high end audio would be a gross understatement. The folks at Acoustat lived, breathed, slept and played as hard as anyone in audio. It was truly their whole reason for being. The products they brought out were astounding and have truly stood the test of time. One such product was their first power amp, the Acoustat Trans Nova Twin 200, also known as the TNT 200. For several years they auditioned practically every amp out there. Knowing full well that the amp would have to be exceptional in order to properly drive their range of electrostatic speakers with their unwieldy varying ohm load. Frustration after frustration ensued with each amp they auditioned. Those that could drive them just did not have the sonic signature the speakers needed. Consequently those that did have the signature they were seeking just did not have the current to do the job. Faced with this dilemma, the only recourse was to build their own amp. Armed with the things learned while auditioning the other amps, they now had a focus on what to do. The Acoustat TNT 200 was to be a fully MOSFET amplifier from input stage to output stage. Probably the first to use this type of topology. No one knew their speakers better than they did, so the amp was built knowing it would drive the Acoustat line of speakers.
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