Placette RVC review in Stereophile

Rcrump...We have very good concert halls in our area, four of which I visit at least 3 times a year. This is total of 12 live, unamplified concerts. My wife and I also go to Baker's Keyboard Lounge 5-6 times a year and a number of other small clubs in town for jazz and other stuff. Unfortunately, 95% of these are amplified by inexpensive SS equipment, P.A. speakers, etc. and sound like it. YOU are fooling yourself if you think electric performances in any size club have anything approaching the dynamics of unamplified music in a good hall (like Orchestra Hall).

We eat at a number of restaurants with musicians and/or small bands but of course most of these are amplified. The most recent real music we heard was at a restaurant in Ann Arbor with a voilinist and pianist. The room acoustics weren't that good but then, not too bad and we were quite close. My wife commented on how much the two women sounded like my stereo, I had to agree. I have no idea where this crap about restricted dynamics comes from, but I've had pre-amps from BAT, Krell, C-J, AirTight, and Classe (from $3,500.00 through $8,500.00 in cost) in my system, and the major problem was THEY restricted dynamics relative to the Placette. Every pre-amp sounded like someone stretched varying thicknesses of membrane across the music. I had to go back to passive to bring the music back in my room. With every pre-amp I had to keep turning the volume up to hear properly - not so the Placette as the music "popped" right there in my room. I think it may be that actives cause people to keep increasing the volume to where they think the wall of noise is some sort of increase in dynamics. Remember when people thought Bose 901s actually had bass? Same psycho-acoustic phenom: Play it loud enough and neopohytes think lower midrange is bass.

I untimately judge a component by how excited I am to get to my stereo every night. The Placette makes me itch to get there, the BAT came close but nothing drew me in like the Placette.

Last performance I heard was John Renbourn in a club here in Houston that could seat 75 and was just over half full.......That was about three weeks ago...Going to Bluesfest in Maryland this weekend after a rib infestation in Pennsylvania at Muskmike's and expect the sound will only be fair.....Glad you like the Placette as that is an inexpensive solution. I have directly compared an active preamp with the Placette passive at Mike Lavigne's and it wasn't even close as respects focus, venue information or dynamics......Love to stay and chat, but off to Pennsylvania at daybreak.......

Bob Crump
TG Audio/CTC Builders

"...inexpensive solution." Aye, there's the rub! It only costs $1,500.00 so it must not be "...even close..." to an active pre-amp. I tried an $8,200.00 C-J, a $3,500.00 Classe, $6,500.00 BAT, and a used Krell (think around $5,000.00 new). The Placette put the music in my room with the most authority and seduction, period. Maybe I just have a magic match between amp, CD player, and Placette. I don't know as I've only used it with one amp. I get excited by music with the Placette and have substantially increased listening time (and music expenditures).

By the way...John Renbourn! I haven't thought of him in 25-30 years. Thanks for the tip and I'll spend some time at my favorite record store (Dearborn Music in Michigan) and at Amazon.com to pick up some things I had back in the early 70s. Last performance I saw was Brahms Symphony, hall was about 2/3 full, music was actually very well done -sound was excellent. Made me want to go back for more, just like my stereo.

Tom, from your posts I assume you are in the Detroit area. John Renbourn's spring tour of the US is mostly over, but there's always next year. His website (john-renbourn.com) lists concerts in mid September in southern Ontario, in London and Guelph, in case you are interested. I saw him here in Chicago and also in Milwaukee where he and Jacqui McShee performed - a must see duet.

If you venture to Chicago occasionally please feel free to let me know, you're most welcome to come by for a listen...my system is described here.

Brian

I think you missed the spirit in which advice was given as I have no problem with your liking the Placette as it is a very good commercial unit. To make something that sounds better costs like Hell and normally isn't very commercial or convenient to use. I build gear for a living and the CTC preamp ate the passive Placette as respects focus, venue and dynamics. It wasn't close and think you can get a taste for it by reading Mike's earlier posts as we did this in Mike's system last Fall. If you like the passive Placette I imagine you would love the active one even better was my point.

Regarding Renbourn, he puts on a great show and prefers the small venues as spoke to him backstage for a while at the break. He was travelling with Jacqui McShee and together they were just awesome. Jacqui currently has a group called Jacqui McShee's Pentangle......This weekend I will hear Mighty Sam McClain at Bluesfest in Maryland, but expect the PA will be overpowering......

You make a good point in system matching as my amps (Parasound JC-1s) prefer an active stage before them to do their best as do most amps. My business partner called earlier tonight and I explained what was going on with this thread and he got a hoot out of it as he was pretty much at a loss to explain why the Blowtorch is so dynamic compared to most any other unit other than the topology is a complimentary differential folded cascode with no loop feedback. He used to use some 26 turn pots which had beaten up a unit he had designed in 1980, the Dennesen JC-80, and then the Blowtorch came in and destroyed the wire wound pots. Bottom line is there is more dynamic information with the CTC than there is with most anything out there. Curl made a joke and said it must be the atomic dynamicizer he designed into the circuit :-) Open loop bandwidth of 350K doesn't hurt either :-)