Phonostage Bake-Off - 08/07/18 - Penkridge *NOW CONFIRMED*

[struth]

glad u all enjoyed it. just as well i didnt come with mine

[Primalsea]

Glad to hear that the day went well and a great summary of the day Oli.

[Firebottle]

A brilliant day. I was expecting a larger turn out but 14 were in attendance, with plenty of kit.
Ali Tait sent apologies for not being able to make it which was a shame as I was looking forward to hearing a Modwright phono stage.

Many thanks to Martin for the power amp and speaker loan and to Oli for the front end. The kit line up was:

SP10 TT >Kontrapunkt B cart > PHONO on test > Firebottle KIN as line preamp > Krell KSA50S power amp > JMlabs 926 speakers.

It was quite a big hall but the Krell had no problem giving volume a plenty.

The vibe was extremely relaxed and friendly, with a palpable excitement from some at least for what was to come.
The bake off proper was conducted on a knock out approach as there were a lot to get through.
Oli has listed correctly with 5 SS stages and 7 valve stages, the valve category included hybrid stages.
Cartridge loading was scrupulously followed at 100 ohms for every stage, via switches or loading plugs.

Voting results.
A vote was cast when a preference was felt, so the nuber of votes per showdown vary.

Clones PA1 v Russel Technologies Unanimous vote to Russel Technologies.

Trilogy 907 v Russel Technologies 12 votes to Russel Technologies.

Aqvox 2Ci v Russel Technologies 7 votes to Aqvox 2Ci

Trichord Dino v Aqvox 2Ci 1 vote to the Trichord Dino.
__________

Ear 834 v Wizard DIY (hybrid) 10 votes to the Wizard.

Digna by Mr Nixie (hybrid) v Wizard 2 votes to Digna, 8 votes to Wizard.

Vincent PHO-700ps (hybrid) v Wizard 5 votes to Vincent, 7 votes to Wizard.

Firebottle Vivant (hybrid) v Wizard 5 votes to Vivant, 2 votes to Wizard.

Croft 25R (K&K SUT) v Vivant 4 votes each.

Croft 25R (K&K SUT) v VAS (K&K SUT) 2 votes to the Croft, 11 votes to the VAS.


A little later with dwindled numbers of attendees:

Vivant v Wizard No votes cast, too close to call.


The testing was performed with a common track - Paul Simon 'Under African Skies' from Graceland, followed by an owners choice of track. The volume level did seem to creep up on some of the owners choices, but all to good effect.
I agree that the voting was probably swayed a little by choice of track, also there was a little bit of phono stage symmetry with choice of track.
__________________

Later combinations tried but without any voting included:

Vincent 700ps with the Audio Innovations series 1000 SUT. This was exceedingly good given the cost of the Vincent.

VAS with Denon HA500 head amp.

VAS with AI series 1000 SUT.

A change of amplification and speakers was then undertaken thanks to kit brought along by Nial (ff1d1l).

Same TT > 3 phonos as below > ff1d1l home brew preamp > Luxman Z504 power > Urei 809 speakers.

Phonos tested were Vivant, Russel technologies and Aqvox 2Ci.

To round off kit swapping my GL75 TT fitted with a Lyra Clavis cart was plumbed in, followed finally by substituting my little 6W OTL power amp, to very good responses.


A big thank you to Nial from me for lugging his kit along and to everyone else for attending.

Personal feelings were the Croft and Trichord were a bit heavy sounding, almost certainly due to differences in EQ that isn't to my choice. I think Oli has also quoted the Croft price somewhat low.

My best in show? The Russel technologies was very impressive with the Aqvox nudging it into 2nd. I'm convinced the Aqvox using its balanced current input would be superb.
Valves: I am completely biased but the detail and spacious image of my Vivant came out top for me.
The VAS was really really good, with premium parts included to make it that way, however I feel the use of ECC83 valves (in any stage) robs some of the drive to the music. I much prefer more current flow in stages.

Conclusions.
What a great crowd!

There is some seriously good kit out there, with some bargains to be had if you watch and wait.

You have to have a valve in the stage ...............

[STD305M]

Hi Alan

Having been given the chance to listen to SS and Valve together i would definitely agree that having Valve in the stage is a must!!!!

Not sure how Ill do that just yet but I'm sure you will guide me in the right direction. Plus 1 For VALVE

Steve...

[pankon]

Please, allow me to provide the following information with respect to Croft's phono stages. There are three individual models, namely:

1) Croft RIAA --> 500£
2) Croft RIAA R (with regulated power supply) --> 1000£
3) Croft RIAA RS (with regulated power supply in an external box and better components) --> 2000£

It would be great if someone could clarify whether the Croft phono stage, that participated in the bake-off, was the RIAA or RIAA R.

Cheers,
Panos

[Firebottle]

Thanks Panos, it was the 25R.

[pankon]

Thanks Panos, it was the 25R.

Alan,

Sorry to come back on this issue, but was it the Croft Micro 25R (i.e. pre-amp with built-in phono stage) or the RIAA R (i.e. standalone phono stage)?

Thanks
Panos

[Firebottle]

25R preamp, but output from the line out not the main output.

[Bigman80]

Jimbo said the phonostage in his Croft was the same as the standard RIAA that Glenn sells for £500.

Alan,

Sorry to come back on this issue, but was it the Croft Micro 25R (i.e. pre-amp with built-in phono stage) or the RIAA R (i.e. standalone phono stage)?

Thanks
Panos

[pankon]

25R preamp, but output from the line out not the main output.

Perhaps you are aware, but Croft components are phase-inverting, which means that ideally you should switch the line-out cables (red --> black and black -->red) as inputs to the power amp (in case that is not a Croft power amp, or not a phase-inverting as well). It does not change the sound dramatically, but it may give you deeper and more defined bass. Just my two cents.

Cheers,
Panos