Audible Illusions Modulus 3 Audio Research SP-11

Fun thread :^)

09-26-14: Newbee
CtO517, On the SP11 does the hotrod mode apply to all inputs or just the phono input. In my SP 10 it only worked with the phono section. And, wow, did it work!

Hi Newbee - its all inputs on the SP11 MKII.

Page 5 of my Audio Research SP11 MKII Preamp Manual (noted price in the upper right side corner of the first page) $5.00
lol - u gotta love it. This is for a hand bound typed out manual from the looks of it. I dug it out to look for you.

Bypass Switch - In "Bypass" position, directly connects the Gain (volume) control to the output of either the RIAA compensated phono amplification circuitry or a selected line-level source (such as CD). The Balance and Mode controls, as well as the "Monitor" Switch are removed from the active circuit path when this Switch is in operation. The Bypass switch is provided for use with audiophile-quality program material or whenever maximum fidelity to the input signal is desired.

I cannot confirm the above for the SP11 MKI so I fired off an email to Kalvin at ARC to let me know.

Note: I misspelled "Bryston" in my previous post. Inexcusable for a Canadian. :^(

Happy listening

To clear things up, the "Hotrod" mode uses the
bypass switch AND the DIRECT outputs to be fully hotrodded
:-)

The SP11 has four different RCA outputs: Main 1, Main 2,
Direct and Invert.

So to be fully hotrodded, the unit needs to have the bypass
switch engaged and use the Direct outputs. You can use the
bypass switch with any of the RCA outputs, but again to be
in full hotrod mode you need both.

yes I use direct output + bypass = stealth fully hot
rodded mode :^)

The one downside of the SP11 to me; is it all sounds
sterile and cold until at least one hour in; then it just
keeps getting better and better. So I do a minimum hour
warm up. For a serious evening session it gets turned on
early in the day. The warm up period is also clearly
spelled out in the manual. It does however make me wonder how many have heard only a cold SP11.
the AI on the other hand to me seems to sound good from
the get go with just a short warm up.

Cheers

Hi guys) i read this thread and want tp final answer do I need to connect my power amplifier to direct rca connectors and use a bypass switch all time? I use my laptop with dac. And also what a the best rca input to connect my dac ? any of them?

I had a chance to compare both after hours ( more than 6) of warming up time and my hearing says to go with the Modulus 3!
Reason: The Sp-11 has an airy delacy on the top end, but the Modulus 3 is more spacious and liquid and certainly a little more transparent. I assume this is also due to the use of stpped attnuators instead of Alps potentiometers.

So, hope you all are well out there!