Analog Corner #212: Analog Comparisons, New Phono Products from Zesto & Miyajima
How was last fall for you? Mine was crazy. I traveled much of October: the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest one weekend, emceeing Chad Kassem's Blues Masters at the Crossroads Blues Festival the next, and the week after that, appearing at two Audio Advice stores, in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. From there I traveled to Los Angeles to attend a 30th-anniversary celebration for Tron at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Analog Corner #215: B.M.C. Phono MCCI phono preamplifier
In July 2008 I reviewed the intriguing Phono 2Ci moving-magnet/moving-coil phono preamplifier from Aqvox Audio Devices. Though it then cost only $1400, the Phono 2Ci's current-input circuitry represented a high-tech departure from the typical voltage-gain circuits used by almost everyone else. Although keeping its retail price so low resulted in some sonic compromises, it sounded remarkable, and tough to beat at the price.
Analog Corner #216: The Power of Vinyl and the NVO SPA-II phono preamplifier
I was in Seattle last February to take part in one of the popular "Music Matters" events promoted by retailer Definitive Audio. Definitive's Mark Ormiston and Craig Abplanalp and their crew really know how to produce a memorable evening for both their customers and the manufacturers who fly in to demonstrate their gear. I was there to talk about . . . guess what?
Analog Corner #217: Sutherland Engineering Insight phono preamplifier
Veteran phono-preamplifier designer Ron Sutherland has been partial, of late, to battery power. Getting off the grid can produce superb results, as demonstrated by his Hubble phono preamp ($3800), powered by 16 alkaline batteries.
I favorably reviewed the Hubble in the February 2010 issue, and remember loving most everything about itparticularly its drop-dead-quiet backdrops, its solid, weighty bottom end, and its fully fleshed-out instrumental textures. I was less enthused by its somewhat soft, muted high-frequency transients, though of course tastes and associated gear will differ. I need more grit, particularly for rock; you may not.
Analog Corner #219: DSA Phono II preamplifier, Stein Music and Miyajima phono cartridges
Shortly after the July 2013 issue of Stereophile hit the newsstands, I received an e-mail from audio restoration expert Doug Pomeroy, who specializes in the digital preservation of disc pressing metal parts, acetates, and 78s . . . His and my opinions about digital sound couldn't be more divergent.
Analog Corner #221: Trinity Electronic Design & Thrax Phono Preamplifiers
The quest for vinyl quiet seems, at best, quixotic. By "vinyl quiet" I don't mean "quiet vinyl," which we now reliably get from pressing plants like QRP, RTI, Pallas, and a few others. I'm referring to makes of phono preamplifiers who set as a primary design goal electronic "quiet," ie, an absence or minimum of electronic noise. A stylus coursing through the groove of even the quietest LP still produces a considerable amount of noise.
Analog Corner #223: Acoustical Systems SMARTractor & Hagerman Trumpet Reference Phono Preamp
On analogplanet.com you'll find coverage of my visit in November 2013 to the 10th annual Manila Hi-Fi Show, which took place the weekend of the devastating typhoon Haiyan (Filipinos call it Yolanda). Because the people I met there are such big Stereophile fans, I wanted to be sure to give them a shout-out in this column, too.
Despite the weather, which prevented audiophiles living on other islands of the archipelago from flying in for the event, at least 2000 managed to attend. These are passionate, enthusiastic audiophilesand the high proportion of young people, particularly among the vinyl buyers, was encouraging.
The greeting I received throughout the show was beyond my most vivid egomaniacal daydreams. I was treated so well that I don't know how to express my gratitude, other than to just say "Thanks"and get back to work.
Analog Corner #229: Three Expensive Phono Preamplifiers, Phasemation, PBN, Qualia
Other than being well built and high priced ($15,000, $22,000, $60,000), these three phono preamps have very little in common, in design or in sound. One has vacuum tubes, including a direct-heated 5U4G rectifier tube (the Phasemation). Two are solid-state (the PBN and Qualia). Two feature separate chassis for the left and right channels (the Qualia and Phasemation). All three have outboard power supplies. Two come from Japan (the Qualia and Phasemation), one is made in the US (PBN). All three are elegantly built, inside and out. Two are physically attractive, one is lab-grade butt ugly. One has a host of convenience features, including various equalization curves and three inputs (Phasemation). One offers no adjustability whatsoever (Qualia). One has two gain settings and multiple loading options (PBN). Two are designed to be used only with moving-coil cartridges, while the third (Phasemation) can also accommodate moving-magnets. One is fully balanced and dual- differential (PBN), two are not.
Analog Corner #232: HiFiction Simplicity II tonearm, Miyajima Labs Madake phono cartridge, Rogers High Fidelity PA-1A phono preamplifier
In my January 2014 column, I reviewed HiFiction's Thales TTT-Compact turntable and Simplicity tangential-tracking pivoted tonearm, an intriguing combo from Micha Huber, a talented Swiss watchmaker turned turntable designer.
The TTT-Compact's particulars, including its battery-powered motor and exceptional ease of setup, are described in detail in that review, which includes a link to a useful animation that shows how the design, as Huber says, "reduces the perfectly tangential tracking to pivot points, while the pick-up cartridge is taken and aligned on the Thales' Circle."
Suffice it to say that while the HiFiction tonearm is named Simplicity, its design is anything but.
Analog Corner #235: Kiseki & Lamm
At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, Herman van den Dungen handed me a surprise: a brand new Kiseki Blue cartridge manufactured from new-old-stock parts. It wasn't mine to take homeonly to look at, to prove it was real.
Herman van den Dungen may not be a household name even for audiophiles, but his products are: his PrimaLuna electronics are exported from the Netherlands to the US and distributed by tube connoisseur and collector Kevin Deal for PrimaLuna USA.
In the 1980s, Kiseki was legendary among audiophiles, even if their cartridges' prices were beyond the reach of most. But the brand's history is less well knownand younger analog devotees may not have heard of Kiseki at all.