2. analog
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pro-ject tube box 2, vincent pho-8, jasmine LP2mk2

Just plugged in my new Salience / Jasmine LP2mkII. Very impressed with what I am hearing out of the box. Everything is more refined and detailed in the soundstage than my pro-ject tube box II with upgraded electro-harmonix gold 12AX7 tubes. Both create a big soundstage, which I like. I think the Salience's is bigger. I am hearing new things on records that the pro-ject could not bring out. The Salience also sounds a little warmer and relaxed yet still very defined. Bass is less boomy and cymbals sound much more accurate.

I also tried a Vincent PHO-8 about a month ago but sent it back. Did not like that one. Maybe something was wrong with the unit since it sounded smallish and boxed in soundstage-wise out of the box and had a ground loop hum from the start. The Salience is a 2 box design like the Vincent. No ground loop hum with the Salience.

It is very nice that we have some nice phono preamp options in the $500 range. I will keep the Salience if it continues to impress plus. I like the multiple MC settings.

A couple of questions about the Salience:

1. It says Salience instead of Jasmine on both front panels. Why is this? I plan on covering them or taping over the blue lights since they are quite bright. I purchased from h_salience from eBay.
2. Some people have talked about upgrading the xlr-4 power cable but this one seems quite nicely made out of the box. Did they start making nicer ones with the 2.0 version?
3. The owners manual is photo copied. Should I be concerned?
sbrownnw
redglobe
223 posts
 
Hi Sbrownnw, I received you email and thought it useful enough to post the steps that I took to upgrade the Jasmine LP output capacitors. I copied this from my comments on the Amazon site under Salience/Jasmine.

I am going from memory here.

Use a soldering iron with a very fine tip. Use very fine braided de-soldering braid for wicking away the molten solder. Do NOT overheat the connections!

Identifying the output capacitors in the Jasmine: They lay on their side, and have one wire that extends out of each end and read 1 uf. They are larger than all the other capacitors in the unit. Also, the other capacitors stand upright.

Unplug the unit before disassembling it. Take good closeup photographs for reference. You need to unsolder the power supply and ground wire and RCAs. Make a drawing of all of the connections. It is a good idea to tag and number the wires. Remove the cover plate over the circuit board.

Unscrew the circuit board from the chassis. De-solder the existing capacitors. The new caps are much larger than the original caps. There are soldering points that facilitate the longer caps. Nevertheless, you will need to bend the terminal wires of the cap to fit into the slots. USE long nose pliers. Resolder the new caps and trim the excess wire from the underside. NOTE: The caps are not polarized so it does not matter the direction that they are installed.

Reassemble and enjoy. Watch a YouTube video on desoldering. I did and it helped a great deal.
sbrownnw OP
707 posts
 
Has anyone put the pro-ject RS phono box against the Jasmine?
sbrownnw OP
707 posts
 
Lots of good reviews for the Pro-ject RS phono. Found a few people that sold theirs. Is it really that good? Might have to try one myself...
kombiguy
4 posts
 
Hi You'll, I've just purchased a Salience 2.5mkII. Just wondering what your thoughts are now that you have been using the phono stage for a while. Has it improved over time, or have you found the upgrade path to be satisfying or indeed successful?

redglobe
223 posts
 
Hi Kombiguy,  I have had my modified Jasmine for over 5 years.  I am completely content with it.  I use a Denon SLS1 LOMC.  The Jasmine has a flat response and reproduces the music with great clarity across the whole sound spectrum.

I don't know if your Jasmine has the upgraded capacitors.  If they do not, consider upgrading to Jantzen Superior Z-caps or their Silver version.  See my other threads on the subject.
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