Tron Convergence MC Phonostage auditioned
Today I spent a very pleasant few hours at my friend Mick's house listening to the Tron Convergence phonostage. This was the moving coil version although a moving magnet one is available for about £100 less (the MC compatibility is achieved by placing a couple of step-up transformers ahead of the MM circuit - quite a common technique in valve designs).
So in terms of what you get this is a very nicely made, but quite simple, design. It's quite a chunky single box, a set of input and output sockets on the back (good quality gold plated) and on the front is an illuminated on/off button - simple and stylish. Mains comes in via a fused IEC socket - the quality of fit and finish is excellent. As far as I can see there is no way of adjusting cartridge loading though I may be wrong (there is certainly no external adjustment). I didn't look inside Mick's unit but pictures of the internals available on the Internet show this to be of typical Tron standard - that's to say it is very professionally built with strong attention to detail. This is a full valve design (rather than a hybrid) and the three valves seem to cover both the input and output stages. The first thing that struck me was how little excess noise this stage produced - certainly for a valve design it has very low hiss and hum and produced no weird pops or buzzes (as some stages can). As for sound, well I was very pleasantly surprised and found it very well balanced. As one would expect, the midrange was particularly expressive but it was also much more balanced across the frequency spectrum than I have found with some other stages. For £1000.00 this is a very good stage indeed and could easily fit into a great many systems, valve or transistor based.
Tron Convergence MC Phonostage auditioned
Actually, I thought the specific focus and 3D image aspect was one of its weaker qualities.
Tron Convergence MC Phonostage auditioned
Quote:
Originally Posted by
REXTON
I was just about to ask about the difference you found between the paradise and the Tron. So I take it the paradise is still your reference.
Yes, the Paradise was actually quite different and remains my reference. However, to directly compare the two isn't really fair as the Paradise isn't a commercial design (as such) and to build one costs as much, if not more, than the Convergence when sold through a retailer (all beautifully boxed and badged). The Paradise had much better focus - instruments were more clearly defined in space and existed more clearly in their own acoustic. The stereo image was also quite a bit wider and deeper. The overall dynamic range was greater and the whole character of the frequency spectrum was more linear - particularly in the bass and low bass.