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Experience with Raul's Essential 3150

Here are my comments on the listening session I had with Raul and his Essential 3150 Full Function Preamplifier.

Firstly, I would like to thank Raul. He is a very knowledgeable and kind gentleman. He has years and years of experience in music and analog systems. My respect for him is in another league after his visit. Some times his post opinions may seem controversial, but I think he knows what he’s talking about. Remember. Respect your elders…they have more experience.

Raul and Jose’s preamp is a seriously built unit!!! It has a separate power supply and the total weight of the two units is close to 50lbs. Very heavy, well shielded frame. Raul opened up the preamp and pointed out the level and quality of the parts. Vishay resistors, V-Caps, etc. This preamp is completely solid state and made with the finest parts and the inside does not look garage shop at all. It is impressive looking. His design is fully balanced from input to output. It included 2 SE line inputs, 2 balanced line inputs and 2 sets of phono inputs, both SE and balanced. It has a separate left and right volume control as well. The preamp is 12 years in the making and uses some interesting proprietary techniques. According to Raul, the distortion and frequency linearity is orders of magnitude better than just about all the other equipment out there.

We compared the music we were hearing using either his preamp or my CAT Ultimate MkII preamp. Since I had to create space in my rack, I removed my CD player. Therefore, we only listened to my analog system. I wish this were not the case because it would also have been good to compare line stages.

We listened to a few records: Miles Davis-Kind of Blue, Sade-Stronger than Pride, Steve Miller-Fly Like an Eagle, Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon, and various classical selections. The most clear and obvious differences were bass response, transparency/detail and sound staging.

Music with the Essential had INCREDIBLE bass and midbass. Much, much better than listening through the CAT. It is extended, articulate and not attenuated the least bit. This improved the fullness and impact of the presentation greatly. It is quite amazing that my Analog system has bass potential that I was not even getting close to with the CAT. This alone has me seriously considering buying his unit.

As you would expect from fine solid state, the music had fine detail and transparency was at a higher level than you would expect with tubes. In this regard it was better than the CAT. Due to the transparency, the soundstage depth and width was very apparent. Dynamics were also very good.

In the mids to highs, music through the CAT had a richer and more immediate quality. Brass sounded brassier with the CAT than through the Essential. In comparison, music through the Essential had a detailed but lean, soft and relaxed presentation compared to the CAT. It comes down to which is more correct, which has a coloration and what does one prefer. Also, the Essential has some trim pots that allow extension or attenuation of frequencies above 20KHz. Raul believes that this observation would have been ameliorated by extending the frequencies.

Through both preamps, we heard slightly tipped up high frequencies in my system that Raul believes is not a function of either preamp. The most likely culprit is the frequency balance of the speakers or room acoustics. Therefore, I may need to address this problem first. Nonetheless, you can’t go wrong with the Essential 3150. It really is like a tool.

The other thing I will try is replacing the tubes in the preamp. They are about two years old and have been used extensively. Ken Stevens from CAT believes that this will improve the level of the bass, articulation and transparency across the entire frequency range. It will be interesting to rehear some of the tracks we played after this. I also would like the chance to try the Essential for a week instead of the 5-6 hours we took as well as compare the line stage performance.

Overall, the Essential 3150 is a seriously good preamp and is probably better than most commercial solid state and tube units. If you have a chance, give it a try. In my case, I’ll first try addressing the speakers, seeing if the new tubes make a difference and hopefully spending more time with the unit.

Andrew
aoliviero
dgob
848 posts
 
Hi Piedpiper, I am a proud owner of the Essential 3150 and have had a chance to compare it with my various former preamp's and phonostages. These include an EAR 324, Audio Research LS25 MKII, Conrad Johnson PS16, Croft classic, and an Atma-sphere MP-3 (among a few other valve and ss models).

I think Groovey's point is valid and that the Essential does not impart any detectable signature of its own. What it does above other models is provide an optimum platform for the recorded source to flow through with an unbelievable degree of accuracy. This includes accuracy in timbre, pace, pitch, soundstage (width and depth), frequency extremes (top and bottom), midrange, dynamics and all against an unplumbably low soundfloor.

It might even seem to be an anti-hifi piece of equipment to the extent that it removes the numerous colourations that are inherent to much hifi and leaves only the musicians and their performances before the listener. This meant that it took me more time to get used to - with me having been unknowingly led by the industry and its champion's to an appreciation of the sound of different pieces of hardware.

Although I do not think it unacceptable that the more coloured and traditional approaches to performance can satisfy and provide a pleasurable listening experience, the Essential is indubitably something else. I believe (and he might strongly resent my assumptions) that this form of musical portrayal is what underpins Raul's many comments on valve amp's and his preferences for specific cartridges (Allaerts MC2), cables (Anaylsis Plus Silver), etc. It also underpins (IMHO) his emphasis on live performances as the true reference for hifi.

As I say, I think it has no signature or colourations and is only limited by the quality of the equipment that you select to accompany it. In this sense, it might be difficult to compare it to other pieces of equipment but I hope that my personal account is of some use and that more people have a chance to give the Essential a go: it really seems a phenomenal piece of equipment to me.

Kindest
piedpiper
753 posts
 
Thanks Dgob; all the more reason to hear more specific comparisons to known references so I can know what you mean. Of course, trying the piece out, alongside others, in my own system would trump all words. In lieu of that...
gregadd
574 posts
 
vanishingly low distortion,noise,low coloration and ruler flat frequency response has never been a problem for solid state. It's inability to sound like music is its' problem.

If Raul has solved that problem, then he has truly a special preamp.
dgob
848 posts
 
Hi Gregadd, he has and so I suppose you really should try to hear it. Having said that, I would not necessarily endorse your view of ss electronics! For example, the EAR 324 can be contrasted with the EAR 834P Signature to appreciate the potential limitations of the view that you express here. One reputable manufacturer using both ss and valve technologies.

The former (ie, the 324) is just so much closer to the actual recording and/or performance on any of the acquired criteria (lower sound floor, better dynamics, frequency extention, timbre, imaging etc) that I cannot believe anyone doing an objective A/B test could doubt this: despite the latter's popularity in certain hifi circles and publications!?

I feel that the issues concerning inherited expectations and colourations is significant here. Whilst this does not preclude preferences for more coloured items, it definately opens the question about the relationship between being "accurate" and being what people might percieve as "musical". My view is that the Essential is a rare object in being extremely accurate and, thereby, very musical. This of might of course throw into question certain adopted views of what indeed constitutes musicality in hifi. And we go back to the issue of live performances as a point d'appui, as it were... But the proof of the pudding remains in the eating!
gregadd
574 posts
 
I never suggested that ss can't be musical. Just that I have been disappointed so many times before. And as much as I admire Raul he has all the rhetoric of the proponents of ss. His disdain for tubes and affinity for spec's. Words like accuracy and neutrality have led me down the primrose path before only to leave me cold. I hope Raul has led us to the path of musicality. If he has, it will indeed be a "road less traveled."
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