How Soon Do You Realize You Don't Like a Piece of Gear?
I've been running all Allnic H3000 for a bit and love it. I decided to try a solid state transimpedance phono, The Grail by Van Den Hul and am coming out unconvinced of the change. The VDH has only been powered on for 24 hours and not fully broken in yet, which is estimated to be around 50-100 "listening hours".
I don't hate the VDH, but am curious if it's going to grow on me or not. It has the detail, silence and linearity in spades, but my Allnic has the gravity, lushness, depth and ethereal timber I've grown to absolutely love. How soon until I should cut my losses and move back the Allnic and what are your thoughts on break-in time and waiting it out?
@lewm this is along the lines of what I was thinking. Give it around 3-4 days to fully stabilize, being left on as recommend by VDH. Then moving on if it doesn’t suffice.
I was in all honesty expecting to be moving on from a tube phono, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. I had expected much bigger things as I read reviews of the old giant killer rhetoric. |
@lak I'm starting to believe this. I was expecting a lot more depth and lushness, but it just can't compete with tubes to be honest. The detail is great, but instruments and voices don't sound as real or natural versus the tubes. |
@tablejockey I wish it was a lateral move to be honest. More of a downgrade in terms of emotion and connection. Greater detail, but not cohesive and engaging to be honest. I can see why people use these types of descriptors now. Gear really does unlock a different understanding of sound and connection.
Also, I've done a ton of upgrades since those pictures. P10 is gone and Shunyata Denali now. Primaluna pre has been upgraded to Allnic L7000. Primaluna Power amp has been dumped for Atma-sphere Class D. Bass traps floor to ceiling now. Vast improvements. |
