And speaking of phono pres all, I have been going crazy in my slowly-developing new soundroom, as in addition to the CJ PV-7 (incredible HUGE midrange) and PV-8 (hugely dynamic, incredible bass and clarity) I also scored an EAR 834P and decided to have a big shootout to see which I will keep. This via the Leak Stereo 20/Technics SB-4s or the Mitsubishi/Technics SB-4s. The speed and agility of the little 12-watt Leak continues to astound, as once again it comes out sounding like the big 100-watt SS amp (powerful and DEEP bass, hyper-speed, mighty dynamics to suit the Mighty Lenco) while the big SS amps come out sounding gentle in comparison. Wait until I get the big Klipsch Cornwalls into the living room, the neighbours are going to LOVE me ;-). The Klipsch, in addition to being hyper-sensitive, also having 15" woofers...and being THE most actually neutral (as opposed to a "dry" dessicated sound masquerading as neutrality) speaker I have ever heard. AND, contrary to popular belief, the Cornwalls sound great with SS too (being actually neutral and all ;-)). BUT, the Technics SB-4s have incredible clarity and speed (AND real neutrality), and incredibly musicality, so that the innocent next-door neighbour, a musician utterly innocent of audiophile concerns, loves just coming over with beer (being a musician) and saying "So, what'll you play now John?" As all truly experienced audiophools know, its the innocents who are the true judge of the musical success of a system, audiophiles in general being far too prejudiced and often unaware of the concept of "musicality" as opposed to sound.
Now I post this for those looking for high-end sound on a budget, in the great Lenco tradition :-)!!Anyway, I used, of course, the giant Lenco as platform, and tried the MAS 282/AKG P8ES (superb, the MAS having been designed by Mr. Ito of Ittok fame, the MAS having impressed me so much I now have an Ittok, though it was fashionable in the early days of the Rega RB-300 to crap on the Ittok); the JMW 10.5/Decca (always incredible, and about as fast as it is possible to be, especially on a big idler-wheel drive) and the JMW/Clearaudio Concerto.
Now, the Concerto is not cheap (but not especially expensive these days in terms of high-end cartridges), but it has a musical magic, repeatable across systems, tonearms, electronics and speakers (the first in my experience consistently so, others only reaching this level of musical magic when the stars are in the right alignment) which makes it, in the context of incredible detail retrieval and so forth, the best cartridge I've ever heard. Because I place musical magic/shivers/hairs rising up on your arms above every other audio experience. Which is also why I champion the Lenco and other big idlers above all other 'tables. But, like the Lenco, the Concerto is not ONLY about magic and musical power (gestalt, PRaT, SLAM, etc.), it is also, being a Clearaudio, excellent at detail, speed, transients, and dynamic shadings. Though the Decca STILL has it for transients and speed, and possibly bass, it cannot match either the AKG P8ES (a close second to the Clearaudio in terms of magic, and perhaps better at retrieving air and resonances, like the Grado, which makes me suspect moving irons are quite simply superior to MC in this respect, just as idlers are quite simply superior to everything else :-)!!) or the Concerto (and perhaps the Denon DL-103 and a few other MMs including Grados) for this indefinable magic. You can see I've been busy ;-).
Anyway, the EAR, in almost every review compared against older CJ preamps, does indeed sound great. I used it as a complete phono preamp (mine has the volume pot), using it directly into my amps. The EAR is completely stock, down to the no-name tubes. It does indeed blow away all stand-alone phono preamps I've tried (nothing too exotic mind), sounding smooth, detailed, lively and with great air and imaging. Something about it is methodical. At first it sounds kind of boring, but as time goes on, this grows on you, as it indeed retrieves quite a lot of information, including dynamics, quite a bit of detail, and imaging information. You get the feeling it is just getting on with the job at hand, and in a civilized manner, at a rather high level (if you recognize yourselves in this description, then this is the phono preamp for you). I find it closer to the CJ PV-7 than to the PV-8, as the EAR's bass simply does not compare with the bass from the PV-8, which is Decca-tight, fast and resolved. The PV-7, on the other hand, has a gentle pillowy bass and an equally pillowy high frequency range. The PV-7, though, has it for the midrange, being better than either the EAR or the PV-8 at resolving information here, and being quite simply HUGE and lush with larger and more spaced images. Perhaps too much so, but rivetting nevertheless. Now the PV-7 IS that classic tube preamp, and with a healthy dose of that hypnotizing musical magic common, I now see, to the vintage CJ preamps, and the late, lamented ARC SP-8. I'm not sure about the PV-7's highs as compared with the EAR's. Is one better than the other? I suspect the EAR is more matter-of-fact neutral here, but I'm not sure, as though the PV-7 sounds rolled off (like the EAR) there actually is quite a lot of delicate high-frequency detail.
The PV-8 is quite simply killer. It is liquid, more detailed than the EAR everywhere, much more dynamic and lively, with higher highs and lower lows. It is exciting, and makes the hairs go up on my arms, as does the PV-7 (which, however, doesn't have the PV-8 dynamics). But, I have to say that so far, the EAR hasn't done it for me, though it's obvious I like excitement and am not interested so much in "the Truth" (which I think is a frumious bandersnatch). Those who want the truth will find it in the EAR. I didn't tube-roll with the EAR, but then again I didn't with either the PV-7 or the PV-8. I might end up experimenting with all three, as in many ways it's a close-run race. The PV-8 has that thunderous excitement, allied to liquidity and extended frequency extremes. The PV-7 has that HUGE midrange, and can be improved with little effort (this is in the works for mine) and, like the PV-8, can raise the hairs on your arms (with both the AKG and the Concerto). I'm hunting around for some tubes to roll into the EAR for now.
I hope those looking for some more vintage fun will benefit from these experiments. More experiments coming up for the long-delayed Rek-o-Kut now my new workshop is rolling, as well as the Ittok and other tonearms and cartridges and turntables (the reappearance of the superb Sony 2250 for one). Have fun all, and Vive la Idler Wheel!!
