Tube Preamps...I'm sold

I had an ARC LS5 which I traded for a 30SE after hearing the 31SE at HiFiSound in Mpls. The 30SE to 31SE upgrade was very affordable and I was convinced I would do this upgrade. But I wanted to give the MP3 a shot before I sent my 30SE for the upgrade. As I think more, this was closer to 5 or so years ago. I was thinking it was only a couple years but time flies when you're having fun. 8-)

I went to Audio Perfection to borrow the MP3 demo unit. It was fair to assume it was in good working order, all original tubes, etc.,.....at least I would think so if a dealer is using this to sell such a product. I was not able to hear it there that day but they let me play for the weekend.

I took the MP3 to HiFiSound where Bill (salesman) hooked it up in the very back room with B&W N802 speakers. The amps were Classe mono blocks. As much as Bill and I had such high expectations on the MP3 from all the praise on the Atma amps, to say that we were both disappointed on the MP3's performance would be an understatement. I remember the look we both had when the bottom and top octaves were gone ..... not lacking .... but GONE. A return to the 31SE and we could again here the string bass player going up and down the register. And there was so much detail, decays and ambiance with the 31SE. Music was Miles Davis, "Kind of Blue". Even the ARC LS5 that I had taken there a week before was not so severely destroyed by the 31SE as was the MP3.

Almost forgot - I was able to borrow the 31SE and take it home to compare to the MP3 and my 30SE .... and the results were the same. Ultimately, the MP3 was not my cup of tea.

I have since moved onto the Aesthetix Io and Callisto, and am waiting for the Michael Elliot WV preamp. Perhaps one of these days I will try out the MP1.

John

Hey John,

Are you currently in the Aria WV Founders Club? When is Michael finally planning on shipping these out? He's been talking about this Whole Vinyl preamp for almost 4 years now. Development can't take that long, can it?

Cheers,
John

Yes, a member indeed......I got on board just as the ship was to sail. I've had some recent correspondence with 2 people who got to play with the WV prototype this summer. I understand that there will be official news before the holiday season.

Development can't take that long, can it?

Well, I guess with this being a one-man show, in the context of development anyway (other than software development for the volume control), I can see how it takes this long. Clearly the power supply design is first rate, the perfectionist approach to the volume control and line stage, the attention to support various source levels and amplifier input sensitivities AND the ultra quiet phono-stage as reported by the people who got to play with the prototype ..... well, I can not imagine this all happening in less than a couple years. Then if you add up all the time to listen to several passive components (e.g., look at his capacitor writeup), step-up transformers, evaluate wiring harnesses from PS to audio chassis, etc., you can easily understand why it's well into year 3. I much prefer this approach than simply going with a capacitor or any other part that may work well now and then have the view that this can later be replaced when all remaining components are evaluated ... and then cause a "MK II" update that ends up costing the customer $500-1000 more and the hassle and risk of shipping the unit back and forth. No thanks! There will always be improved components but I applaud the designer to make every effort to audition all the components available to him before the product is delivered.

My only uncertainty is how the step-up transformers will perform. One of the two people wrote to me that the phono performance in his setup was a step above his line and phono stages....and he uses the Io Signature as well; this is encouraging information. But I also have a highly modified ARC MCP-33 on the shelf to use as a step-up device to compare with the WV's Sowter-based MC input. Of course the MCP-33 will require another IC pair (Jade Hybrids are not cheap) and another Stealth Dream or Dream State PC which are not cheap. Clearly the MCP-33 solution quickly gets expensive but I can "borrow" these cables from the digital setup to try it all out before I buy more cables.

The cool thing about the WV is that you can get it with 2 MM inputs, two Sowter-based MC inputs or one of each. I will likely do the latter which allows me to compare the Sowters to the MCP-33. I suspect that both will have their pros/cons based on the music type, recording quality, etc. I like the flexibility. And of course I can run the Io Sig into a line input to compare to these two options and also compare vs. the Callisto Sig line stage. Lots of evaluations to do once the WV arrives in a few months. It should be very cool, especially based on the high praise of the two people that got to play with the WV this summer.

I have gone crazy trying so many many tubes in the Aesthetix and CAT gear to a point where JD teases me about this regularly. But it has paid off. I just hope I do not get too obsessed with this on the WV and MCP-33. 8-)

John

Thanks John. Knowing Michael's work I bet it will sound great, though the longer it takes the more people will expect I would think. It doesn't sound like it's for me though, with no remote. Sorry, I just can't go that route. I would like to get everything into one chassis, but on the other hand, I'd hate to be burning expensive NOS phono tubes if I am listening to cd's or gasp...HT. That is one advantage of seperates. I considered that Aesthetix Janus for about 2 minutes, until I realized I'd have 8 phono tubes burning all the time, whether I was spinning vinyl or not. Call me cheap, but some of those NOS tubes are going for more than $200 a pop now. Multiply that by 8 and you're getting into some serious cash flow.

Anyway, I really am enjoying my Ref 3, and have no further plans to upgrade. I hope that you give me the full write up on the WV when it comes out.

Cheers,
John

Thanks Jafox, for the explanation. The last I had heard, BAT was being handled by an outfit called Great Plains Audio, but googling them got a place in Oklahoma.

I've not had anyone describe the MP-3 as rolled off; I am guessing that something was up, but being that this was 5 years or more ago, hard to say what. Needless to say (although here I am saying it :) having a direct-coupled output on a tube preamp allows for some serious speed. At any rate there was some legal unpleasentness that happened a few years back; once I got that settled I was able to make some overdue improvements in the lineup. Its safe to say that any impressions made of our gear that long ago are not current, regardless of the impression.

BTW we are hoping to show a remote system for the MP-1 at either RMAF or CES...