YNWaN
27-01-2014, 09:15
REVIEW: Ryan Sound Lab – MusicPower Plug-Ins
The Preamble…
I think, before we go any further the first two issues to address are what exactly is a ‘MusicPower Plug-In’ and who, or what, is Ryan Sound Lab?
Well, Ryan Sound Lab (RSL) has sprung, as if from nowhere, to produce a range of plug in boards to replace and update those that are inside a number of Naim Audios older preamps. Although they can be used in a number of preamps (see RSL’s website for full details) the boards are really intended for the classic Naim Nac32, Nac32.5 and Nac72. These preamps are all very similar and incorporate one very cunning and helpful design element; that is that the internal circuitry is entirely modular and consists of a number of small circuit boards that simply push fit on to connectors that are mounted on the main mother board. As a result, it is exceedingly easy to replace part, or all, of the circuitry in only a few minutes and no soldering or technical skills are required at all. If, for any reason, you want to reverse the changes then that can also be done in just a jiffy. It is these internal circuit boards that constitute the ‘MusicPower Plug-In’ nomenclature. As to Ryan Sound Lab, well J.C. (Kit) Ryan is the owner, designer and maker; in fact he appears to be pretty much the whole company. Originally a highly qualified marine engineer and designer (for the US Navy), he has recently retired and is now applying his skills to his long term hobby of music and audio and these MusicPower boards are the fruits of his labour (a short biography can be found on the RSL website).
The reason for my interest is that I have used Naim amplification for many, many years and, more specifically, I use a Nac72 preamp powered by a Hi-Cap power supply and a pair of Nap135 monoblock power amplifiers. In addition, I’ve been a retailer, a designer, a manufacturer and an enthusiastic user of audio equipment for thirty + years! Now the idea of replacement boards to alter/improve the performance of Naim’s so called ‘shoebox’ (reflecting the shape of the case) pre-amps is not a new one and a number of alternative options are available. Therefore, imagine my surprise when I happened to see a post on one of the Internet audio forums that a new company, Ryan Sound Lab, had released their own version of replacement boards. I was even more surprised to learn that they offered an extremely comprehensive selection of options – much more than any other company has ever offered. At that time I had never heard of Kit Ryan or Ryan Sound Lab, but I had previously experimented with upgrading the internal boards of my Nac72 and so I knew that I wanted to try these new boards; I promptly emailed Kit and managed to persuade him to send some to me.
So, I’ve already alluded to the fact that RSL do a broad range of circuit boards and options. Before I discuss each in detail let us look at what the various boards are and what they do (all boards are in pairs, one for each channel).
1/ At the heart of this range of pre-amps are the NA321 boards. These are the amplification boards and boost the signal. In addition, these are the only boards that cannot be bypassed but, at the same time, the preamp can be configured so that these are the only boards fitted! RSL call their version Z200 boards.
2/ The next boards are the so called ‘Time Alignment’ boards called the NA729s. These are effectively a buffer and filter section (I believe). These can be bypassed if so desired and some believe the preamp sounds better when they are (more on this later). RSL call their versions the Time-Aligned Buffers.
3 & 4/ There are two types of phono input board that can also be fitted depending on whether you are using a moving coil (MC) or moving magnet (MM) cartridge. The MC boards are called NA323 and there are a number of variants identified by a following S, K or E (more on this later too) and the MM boards have the designation NA322. RSL call their MC boards Z100s and the MM ones Z102s.
5 & 6/ You can choose not to fit phono boards at all and that input (though some of these preamps have two sets of phono inputs) can be configured to be a line level input. There are two options for the type of line level input and those are NA326 and NA328 boards. NA326 are simply boards that link the relevant pins together whilst NA328s contain active circuitry to remove high frequency ‘nasties’ and can also be adjusted to reduce the output level. This can be useful when trying to match the relative volume level between phono and line level, or to give greater range of volume adjustment. RSL calls their link boards Z400s and the active boards Z401s.
As you can see, an extensive range of options and very different to most preamps. The other manufacturers who sell replacement boards either sell just NA321 (1) replacements or NA321 (1) and NA729 (2) replacements. One big difference is that Ryan Sound Lab offer replacements for all of those I have listed NA321, NA729, NA 323 (all versions), NA322, NA326 and NA328s. As if that was not enough, they also offer another version of the NA729s that converts the preamp in to one that has remote control of the volume! Now in all my years I have never encountered a retro-fit option that adds remote control to a preamp. Not only does it allow remote adjustment of level, but it requires no drilling, no extra fitting, nothing – the amp looks exactly the same as before. As I wrote earlier, all of these modifications can be fitted in a matter of minutes and can just as easily be reversed – this range of Naim preamps is unique in this regard.
The Technology
These boards are unique amongst their contemporaries in that they make extensive use of surface-mount technology (SMT). A lot of hi-fi equipment still makes use of more traditional through-hole- components where the legs of each component are threaded through a hole in the circuit board and soldered to the board on the other side. SMT components are quite different. The obvious and most striking difference is that they are extremely small, tiny in fact, and they are also soldered to the same side of the board that they are mounted. It is thanks to SMT components that we enjoy the level of complexity and miniaturisation that we have come to expect from our electronic toys and these days, in the electronics world, pretty much all the research and development of components is with regard to SMT. The benefit of SMT is that circuit density can be much higher as the components are so much smaller and the tolerance of components is very tight. In this particular case their use has allowed Kit to use a more complex circuit than would fit into the space available. The disadvantage is that because they are so small they are normally fitted to the board by robots and not by people. Not to be deterred, Kit fits and solders them all himself and a very nice job he does of it too (presumably with a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers)! Not all the components used are of the SMT variety though and, where he feels appropriate, Kit has used, high quality, through-hole Wima and styrene capacitors.
There is a very interesting article, available via the RSL website, that details the reasoning behind many of the decisions that Kit Ryan made when designing his boards and I would encourage you to look this up.
What you get
Enough of the preamble, what do you get? Well, you can get pretty much whatever you want; you can choose pretty much any combination of boards that suit your needs. In this case, kit sent me his NA321 (Z200), NA729 (Time-Aligned Buffers with the remote control option), NA323 (Z100s, I use a MC cartridge in my turntable) and NA328 (Z401) replacements. Delivery from the USA to the UK (where I live) was pretty quick and everything arrived in perfect condition. All the boards were very professionally packaged in clearly marked individual boxes and protected by layers of foam. In addition, there was also a very extensive booklet of instructions explaining everything you might want to know and exactly how to fit everything. This level of detail does seem to typify Kit Ryan’s approach and nobody else supplies instructions with the boards they sell. Finally, not only did I get a remote control but I got two! Both had batteries fitted and spare batteries were also supplied! Oh, I nearly forgot, you even get a small screwdriver for adjusting the small level pots fitted to the Z401 (NA328) boards.
Fitting
The truth is there is nothing much to write about fitting these boards, It genuinely could not be any easier. I suppose someone could do it wrongly but they would have to be making a really concerted effort to mess it up! All you have to do is turn all your amplifiers off (power amp first then, after a minute or so, the preamp). Turn the preamp over and unscrew the four feet, then slide the outer case off over the internal tray, now all the cards are visible. The included instructions explain what goes where and all you have to do is gently pull the old boards out and replace with the new ones (the connector pins only allow for them to be fitted the correct way and they are only a gentle press fit). That’s it, slide the case back over and screw the feet back on, turn on the preamp and then the power amp (about 30 seconds later) – sit back and enjoy. The whole process took me two minutes and everything fitted perfectly, worked perfectly and there were no weird hums, clicks or other odd noises – the whole exercise was entirely drama free!
Listening
I’ve chosen to divide the listening into a number of different sections as befits the modular nature of the preamp and these boards. I am also in the fortunate position, at this point, to be the only person to have heard all the various options of replacement boards available for the Naim preamps and I had most of them to hand when writing this review. In addition, I normally use a set of NA321 and NA729 boards in my amp that have been custom built and the components of which have been carefully chosen after many hours of comparative trialling and listening. I should say that until now my ‘special’ boards have easily seen off all alternative options and, in truth, I was not expecting the MusicPower boards to alter that situation.
I almost exclusively used vinyl as a source during the course of this review, as is normal for me – system details are included at the end of this report.
As the NA321 and NA729 boards are the essential heart of the preamp I started my listening by A/B comparing them to my regular boards and also to the standard Naim boards; this process was made very much easier by the ease by which boards could be swopped over.
The first thing that struck me, quite forcefully, was the ‘hear in to’ quality the RSL boards imparted. I felt like I was listening further into the mix, that the sense of quiet acoustic was more profound. The sound had a remarkable delicacy about it, particularly in the upper reaches and focus, not just in terms of stereo imagery but also in terms of individual instruments, was very strong. The standard boards are not known for their ability to produce stereo depth but with the RSL boards the sense of real instruments playing in a real space (on live recordings at least) was quite remarkable. But what most surprised me was that the RSL boards were more detailed than my custom boards. Now my boards are no slouch in terms of information retrieval so the fact that they were bettered in this regard was not expected at all – a bit of a shock in fact. When I write about detail retrieval I don’t mean that new sounds appeared out of nowhere as such, or that instruments I had never heard materialised, my boards are already very good; what I mean is that note shape seemed more fully formed, quiet and delicate sounds seemed more cleanly delineated and of a specific character and nature – less like a cunningly formed artifice and more like a natural event. Another strong point was the rhythmic integrity of the RSL boards. In this case they really did reveal interplay between instruments that I had not previously appreciated. But the ‘swing’ of these boards wasn’t of a contrived nature, it wasn’t achieved by applying a lift in the mid-bass; indeed, the character of the boards was very natural with each recording sounding very different from one another and the interplay between instruments was delicate and subtle – detail wasn’t being rammed down ones throat as can sometimes feel like the case, particularly if that detail is highlighted through the use of an up tilted treble (as is sometimes done).
Changing back to my regular boards I did feel they had the edge in a couple of respects though. Firstly, I thought that they had a bit more weight, perhaps greater extension and power, more ‘dynamic’. Secondly, listening to male voices I thought my boards were a touch more ‘organic’ in feel. Over the next couple of weeks I continued to swop backward and forward and the sheer clarity of the RSL boards never failed to make an impression. I am fortunate that this loan period has been over the Christmas holiday because not only has it afforded me time to do my comparisons, but it has also meant that I have had the boards for longer than I might normally. A couple of weeks ago Kit wrote the article that I referred to earlier, about the design process that led to the production of theses boards. When I read it I saw that Kit recommended that the boards were ‘run in’. Now I have to say that I am not a believer in ‘run-in’ (or ‘burn-in’ as it is also called) but as I was going to be away visiting family for a few days I plugged the RSL boards in to the pre-amp and left it powered up. When I returned home I was eager to listen to some music and was surprised to find that what I had previously heard as weight and extension in my own boards I now found to be a thickening and bloat that obscured subtle pitch changes and melded similar sounds together rather than letting them speak separately. Perhaps the RSL boards had improved, or perhaps my holiday had just given my auditory expectations a chance to reset themselves. Whatever the reason, I now found my usual ‘super’ cards to sound rather opaque. The clincher was when I listened to the live recording of Dead Can Dance’s recent live tour; the sheer focus, transparency and tonal sophistication of the RSL boards completely captured me and drew me in. Previously I had enjoyed this record but had thought the actual playing to be a bit below their previous live recordings and the whole thing a touch understated – how wrong I was!
Because it can be done, and because some say they prefer it, I did listen with just the NA321 replacement boards fitted and with the NA729s bypassed (I have some high quality silver jumper cables for this purpose). The basic sonic character remained the same, which is what I had expected. Initially, the sense is that the sound is more direct, a touch more etched, but on further listening I found that stereo depth was less pronounced; the soundscape was flatter and there was a less pronounced sense of acoustic. I also felt that in terms of instrumental texture the sound was less sophisticated, almost simplified. Overall it was quite a subtle difference but I thought an important one and I have quite a strong preference for including the NA729 boards (the Time-Aligned Buffers).
There is another advantage to using the RSL 729 replacements and that is the option of adding remote control. The remote is a small lozenge as is used for car alarms (two are supplied). The remote is not infrared as most are, it is a radio transmitter and as such it does not have to be pointed at the pre-amp to work and no receiver ‘eye’ is needed on the amplifier; instead an antenna cable lies inside the case of the amp (tucked out of the way). The remote allows volume to be adjusted in twenty well chosen steps and a precision matched resistor ladder is used to achieve this. As well as offering control of volume there are two other buttons, one mutes the signal and the other reduces the volume by about half. Of course the preamp already has a manual volume control and this remains in circuit. Effectively this means that there are now two volume controls which seems a bit complicated and also a bit compromised. However, in use, neither of these potential criticisms actually manifests themselves. All one does is set the manual volume control to the maximum volume you are likely to want to listen at and then use the remote to adjust the volume within that range. This solution means that the twenty steps available are sufficient whether you want to rock out at high level or listen at very low level late at night – in all it works surprisingly well! As for sonic compromise, well I haven’t yet tried the ‘no remote’ option but the remote certainly didn’t stop me from appreciating the sonic qualities of these replacement boards, so if there is any audible price to pay it is a very slight one. Overall I found the whole remote option to work very well and to be well implemented.
I was starting to feel this review was becoming something of a marathon (sorry, you probably are too) but my attention now moved to the, level adjustable’ NA328 line level replacement boards that Kit offers. The original NA328 boards that Naim offered are widely criticised these days and were Naim’s attempt to make early CD players more palatable. The RSL solution is considerably more sophisticated than Naim’s original. In addition, one can adjust the input level in ten specific steps via a small pot mounted on the boards themselves (to better match the relative volume of line level and phono inputs). This pot has clear indents and is accessible from above, even with the boards fitted to the preamp. As standard the level reduction is set at its minimum which equates to -1dB. As I wrote earlier, these boards can be bypassed either with jumper cables (you would have to make your own) or with the Z400s that RSL now manufacture. However, the Z400s have only just been released and so I used my regular silver jumper cables to A/B against the Z401 replacement boards. When comparing I was careful to adjust the volume to take account of the -1dB (a very small amount) that the Z401s applied compared to jumpers. My findings were that the Z401s, in general, offered a very slightly softer and more rounded sound. With the bypass cables fitted the sound had greater attack and transients hit harder and faster. I rather liked this but experience has taught me that many prefer things less forthright and they may well prefer the more euphonic quality that the Z401s impart. In fact, I rather liked it myself and, in particular, I rather liked the slightly rounded quality the boards lent to vocals. Whilst CD players are much less hard and relentless than was once the case, there are still a lot of digital recordings that can strip the enamel from your teeth at 100 and are completely devoid of emotion. When listening to such recordings I can well imagine that the RSLA 328s would make the listening experience very much more enjoyable!
And finally – the phono option!
The last piece in the puzzle was to audition the RSL MC boards, the Z100s. This was a bit of a task in itself because I had three phono board options available to me (all type K - the optimum loading for my cartridge). These were the RSL Z100 boards (their version of the Naim NA323 board), a very late production pair (series 5 with blue tantalum capacitors) of Naims NA323 boards and a very heavily modified pair of series 3 Naim NA323 boards (these have lots of component changes, bypass capacitors and some grounding changes).
One thing immediately of note is that the Ryan Sound Lab versions are unique in that they offer easy changing of the cartridge loading. Normally, on Naim phono boards, changing the loading is achieved by altering the value of one resistor and one capacitor (on each board), but these are soldered in place. Instead, Kit has built the boards with a small two pin connector where the cartridge loading components fit and a small 'plug-in' attaches (very easy to fit) - so his boards can easily be changed between S and K variant and custom values can also be easily made up. In the picture below the loading 'plug-in' is the long yellow component.
http://ryansoundlab.com/images/Z100-619x518.jpg
I started off my listening by refreshing my memory with regard to what the standard Naim cards sound like. The first thing that struck me was how flat the cards sounded, both in terms of the dimensionality of the sound and, to an extent, tonal variation. On the plus side the bass response had a pleasing snap to it and rhythms were well presented and easy to follow, but it was very different to my modified boards. Changing over to the RSL Z100's the sound immediately had much more atmosphere, a much more pronounced sense of acoustic space. Fine detail was significantly better. Bass had less obvious snap but had significantly more character and shape; it’s not that the sound was less dynamic, it’s more that the dynamic was more layered and sophisticated. There was still bass impact but there was now a more varied quality to the way that the impact was delivered. The biggest surprise, to me anyway, was comparing the RSL cards to my modified versions. I rather expected my 'turbo' cards to at least hold their own but, as it turned out, the RSL cards had better retrieval of fine detail and were at least as good in every other respect!
Conclusion
As I wrote earlier, I have now listened to all the various boards that are sold to update Naim preamps. Very much to my surprise I find that my findings regarding the Ryan Sound Lab MusicPower Plug-In boards are entirely positive and I have grown to significantly prefer them to my previous boards. In fact I like them so much I am, very reluctantly (because a lot of work went in to optimising my current boards), going to have to buy a set because I don’t want to send them back – I cannot give higher praise than that! With regard to the remote option, well, I have lived without remote volume control for so long it doesn’t matter to me and my pre-amp is near to my listening seat. However, for many I know that remote volume is not only desirable but an essential. For them, the RSL remote solution is ideal and does work very well – it may, initially, seem like a bit of an ‘add on’ but it really isn’t. Whatever combination of boards you choose to go for, the RSL MusicPower Plug-Ins will breathe new life in to your Naim preamp. They will remove a layer of upper-mid ‘glaze’ and glare that the standard unit has (particularly when playing very dense and dynamic music) and add a level of clarity and tangibility, across the audio spectrum, that you may not have even realised was missing until you hear the improvement. Bass is tighter and more delineated, vocals are nuanced and full of character, and the top end is delicate, refined and colourful. It is a much touted belief that Naim amplifiers don’t produce stereo or depth – well they do, or at least they can and both aspects are clearly revealed by these simple modifications. Overall, the positive qualities of the Naim sound remain intact and a large injection of detail and sophistication is added!
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DISCLAIMER: Should there be any doubt, let me make it quite clear that I have no involvement of any kind with Kit Ryan or with Ryan Sound Labs; in fact, I have never met or spoken to him and until this review had never heard of either him or his company. Also, I have received no financial recompense and have written the above report entirely at my own volition, as an audio enthusiast and music lover.
System Used
I am not a reviewer and the equipment I used is the same as I use on a daily basis to listen to music.
Turntable: This is a custom design and build. Amongst other features, it makes use of a sophisticated carbon fibre chassis, magnetic bearing and damped suspension.
Arm: The arm fitted to the turntable is a lightly modified Naim Aro unipivot.
Cartridge: The cartridge is a rare ‘black’ Linn Troika. Completely custom rebuilt It now incorporates a ruby cantilever and Fritz Geiger S stylus.
Phonostage: This is a sophisticated moving coil only DIY build. Known as the Paradise it is completely dual mono and housed in four separate cases.
Amplification: All the main amplification is by Naim Audio and consists of a Nac72 preamp, Hi-Cap power supply and a pair of Nap135 monoblocks.
Speakers: The speakers are heavily rebuilt Yamaha NS-1000Ms. These include custom built external crossovers and custom built super-tweeters. In addition, they rest on custom built stands. A modified Rel Stadium subwoofer is also used and is set at a very low level to extend the systems low frequency capabilities.
All the above system is used in a dedicated listening room that is acoustically treated and has a dedicated mains spur.
Records used for evaluation (some of)
Agnes Obel - 'Philharmonics'
Antony and the Johnsons - 'Cut The World'
David Bowie - 'Hunky Dory'
Deac Can Dance - 'In Concert'
Keaton Henson - 'Dear'
Laura Marling - 'Live From York Minster'
Muse - 'The 2nd Law'
Peter Hammil & The K Group - 'The Margin'
Phil Manzanera - 'Phil Manzanera 801 Live'
The Civil Wars - 'The Civil Wars'
The Velvet Underground - 'Loaded'
The XX - 'XX'
Manufacturers Website
http://ryansoundlab.com/
The Preamble…
I think, before we go any further the first two issues to address are what exactly is a ‘MusicPower Plug-In’ and who, or what, is Ryan Sound Lab?
Well, Ryan Sound Lab (RSL) has sprung, as if from nowhere, to produce a range of plug in boards to replace and update those that are inside a number of Naim Audios older preamps. Although they can be used in a number of preamps (see RSL’s website for full details) the boards are really intended for the classic Naim Nac32, Nac32.5 and Nac72. These preamps are all very similar and incorporate one very cunning and helpful design element; that is that the internal circuitry is entirely modular and consists of a number of small circuit boards that simply push fit on to connectors that are mounted on the main mother board. As a result, it is exceedingly easy to replace part, or all, of the circuitry in only a few minutes and no soldering or technical skills are required at all. If, for any reason, you want to reverse the changes then that can also be done in just a jiffy. It is these internal circuit boards that constitute the ‘MusicPower Plug-In’ nomenclature. As to Ryan Sound Lab, well J.C. (Kit) Ryan is the owner, designer and maker; in fact he appears to be pretty much the whole company. Originally a highly qualified marine engineer and designer (for the US Navy), he has recently retired and is now applying his skills to his long term hobby of music and audio and these MusicPower boards are the fruits of his labour (a short biography can be found on the RSL website).
The reason for my interest is that I have used Naim amplification for many, many years and, more specifically, I use a Nac72 preamp powered by a Hi-Cap power supply and a pair of Nap135 monoblock power amplifiers. In addition, I’ve been a retailer, a designer, a manufacturer and an enthusiastic user of audio equipment for thirty + years! Now the idea of replacement boards to alter/improve the performance of Naim’s so called ‘shoebox’ (reflecting the shape of the case) pre-amps is not a new one and a number of alternative options are available. Therefore, imagine my surprise when I happened to see a post on one of the Internet audio forums that a new company, Ryan Sound Lab, had released their own version of replacement boards. I was even more surprised to learn that they offered an extremely comprehensive selection of options – much more than any other company has ever offered. At that time I had never heard of Kit Ryan or Ryan Sound Lab, but I had previously experimented with upgrading the internal boards of my Nac72 and so I knew that I wanted to try these new boards; I promptly emailed Kit and managed to persuade him to send some to me.
So, I’ve already alluded to the fact that RSL do a broad range of circuit boards and options. Before I discuss each in detail let us look at what the various boards are and what they do (all boards are in pairs, one for each channel).
1/ At the heart of this range of pre-amps are the NA321 boards. These are the amplification boards and boost the signal. In addition, these are the only boards that cannot be bypassed but, at the same time, the preamp can be configured so that these are the only boards fitted! RSL call their version Z200 boards.
2/ The next boards are the so called ‘Time Alignment’ boards called the NA729s. These are effectively a buffer and filter section (I believe). These can be bypassed if so desired and some believe the preamp sounds better when they are (more on this later). RSL call their versions the Time-Aligned Buffers.
3 & 4/ There are two types of phono input board that can also be fitted depending on whether you are using a moving coil (MC) or moving magnet (MM) cartridge. The MC boards are called NA323 and there are a number of variants identified by a following S, K or E (more on this later too) and the MM boards have the designation NA322. RSL call their MC boards Z100s and the MM ones Z102s.
5 & 6/ You can choose not to fit phono boards at all and that input (though some of these preamps have two sets of phono inputs) can be configured to be a line level input. There are two options for the type of line level input and those are NA326 and NA328 boards. NA326 are simply boards that link the relevant pins together whilst NA328s contain active circuitry to remove high frequency ‘nasties’ and can also be adjusted to reduce the output level. This can be useful when trying to match the relative volume level between phono and line level, or to give greater range of volume adjustment. RSL calls their link boards Z400s and the active boards Z401s.
As you can see, an extensive range of options and very different to most preamps. The other manufacturers who sell replacement boards either sell just NA321 (1) replacements or NA321 (1) and NA729 (2) replacements. One big difference is that Ryan Sound Lab offer replacements for all of those I have listed NA321, NA729, NA 323 (all versions), NA322, NA326 and NA328s. As if that was not enough, they also offer another version of the NA729s that converts the preamp in to one that has remote control of the volume! Now in all my years I have never encountered a retro-fit option that adds remote control to a preamp. Not only does it allow remote adjustment of level, but it requires no drilling, no extra fitting, nothing – the amp looks exactly the same as before. As I wrote earlier, all of these modifications can be fitted in a matter of minutes and can just as easily be reversed – this range of Naim preamps is unique in this regard.
The Technology
These boards are unique amongst their contemporaries in that they make extensive use of surface-mount technology (SMT). A lot of hi-fi equipment still makes use of more traditional through-hole- components where the legs of each component are threaded through a hole in the circuit board and soldered to the board on the other side. SMT components are quite different. The obvious and most striking difference is that they are extremely small, tiny in fact, and they are also soldered to the same side of the board that they are mounted. It is thanks to SMT components that we enjoy the level of complexity and miniaturisation that we have come to expect from our electronic toys and these days, in the electronics world, pretty much all the research and development of components is with regard to SMT. The benefit of SMT is that circuit density can be much higher as the components are so much smaller and the tolerance of components is very tight. In this particular case their use has allowed Kit to use a more complex circuit than would fit into the space available. The disadvantage is that because they are so small they are normally fitted to the board by robots and not by people. Not to be deterred, Kit fits and solders them all himself and a very nice job he does of it too (presumably with a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers)! Not all the components used are of the SMT variety though and, where he feels appropriate, Kit has used, high quality, through-hole Wima and styrene capacitors.
There is a very interesting article, available via the RSL website, that details the reasoning behind many of the decisions that Kit Ryan made when designing his boards and I would encourage you to look this up.
What you get
Enough of the preamble, what do you get? Well, you can get pretty much whatever you want; you can choose pretty much any combination of boards that suit your needs. In this case, kit sent me his NA321 (Z200), NA729 (Time-Aligned Buffers with the remote control option), NA323 (Z100s, I use a MC cartridge in my turntable) and NA328 (Z401) replacements. Delivery from the USA to the UK (where I live) was pretty quick and everything arrived in perfect condition. All the boards were very professionally packaged in clearly marked individual boxes and protected by layers of foam. In addition, there was also a very extensive booklet of instructions explaining everything you might want to know and exactly how to fit everything. This level of detail does seem to typify Kit Ryan’s approach and nobody else supplies instructions with the boards they sell. Finally, not only did I get a remote control but I got two! Both had batteries fitted and spare batteries were also supplied! Oh, I nearly forgot, you even get a small screwdriver for adjusting the small level pots fitted to the Z401 (NA328) boards.
Fitting
The truth is there is nothing much to write about fitting these boards, It genuinely could not be any easier. I suppose someone could do it wrongly but they would have to be making a really concerted effort to mess it up! All you have to do is turn all your amplifiers off (power amp first then, after a minute or so, the preamp). Turn the preamp over and unscrew the four feet, then slide the outer case off over the internal tray, now all the cards are visible. The included instructions explain what goes where and all you have to do is gently pull the old boards out and replace with the new ones (the connector pins only allow for them to be fitted the correct way and they are only a gentle press fit). That’s it, slide the case back over and screw the feet back on, turn on the preamp and then the power amp (about 30 seconds later) – sit back and enjoy. The whole process took me two minutes and everything fitted perfectly, worked perfectly and there were no weird hums, clicks or other odd noises – the whole exercise was entirely drama free!
Listening
I’ve chosen to divide the listening into a number of different sections as befits the modular nature of the preamp and these boards. I am also in the fortunate position, at this point, to be the only person to have heard all the various options of replacement boards available for the Naim preamps and I had most of them to hand when writing this review. In addition, I normally use a set of NA321 and NA729 boards in my amp that have been custom built and the components of which have been carefully chosen after many hours of comparative trialling and listening. I should say that until now my ‘special’ boards have easily seen off all alternative options and, in truth, I was not expecting the MusicPower boards to alter that situation.
I almost exclusively used vinyl as a source during the course of this review, as is normal for me – system details are included at the end of this report.
As the NA321 and NA729 boards are the essential heart of the preamp I started my listening by A/B comparing them to my regular boards and also to the standard Naim boards; this process was made very much easier by the ease by which boards could be swopped over.
The first thing that struck me, quite forcefully, was the ‘hear in to’ quality the RSL boards imparted. I felt like I was listening further into the mix, that the sense of quiet acoustic was more profound. The sound had a remarkable delicacy about it, particularly in the upper reaches and focus, not just in terms of stereo imagery but also in terms of individual instruments, was very strong. The standard boards are not known for their ability to produce stereo depth but with the RSL boards the sense of real instruments playing in a real space (on live recordings at least) was quite remarkable. But what most surprised me was that the RSL boards were more detailed than my custom boards. Now my boards are no slouch in terms of information retrieval so the fact that they were bettered in this regard was not expected at all – a bit of a shock in fact. When I write about detail retrieval I don’t mean that new sounds appeared out of nowhere as such, or that instruments I had never heard materialised, my boards are already very good; what I mean is that note shape seemed more fully formed, quiet and delicate sounds seemed more cleanly delineated and of a specific character and nature – less like a cunningly formed artifice and more like a natural event. Another strong point was the rhythmic integrity of the RSL boards. In this case they really did reveal interplay between instruments that I had not previously appreciated. But the ‘swing’ of these boards wasn’t of a contrived nature, it wasn’t achieved by applying a lift in the mid-bass; indeed, the character of the boards was very natural with each recording sounding very different from one another and the interplay between instruments was delicate and subtle – detail wasn’t being rammed down ones throat as can sometimes feel like the case, particularly if that detail is highlighted through the use of an up tilted treble (as is sometimes done).
Changing back to my regular boards I did feel they had the edge in a couple of respects though. Firstly, I thought that they had a bit more weight, perhaps greater extension and power, more ‘dynamic’. Secondly, listening to male voices I thought my boards were a touch more ‘organic’ in feel. Over the next couple of weeks I continued to swop backward and forward and the sheer clarity of the RSL boards never failed to make an impression. I am fortunate that this loan period has been over the Christmas holiday because not only has it afforded me time to do my comparisons, but it has also meant that I have had the boards for longer than I might normally. A couple of weeks ago Kit wrote the article that I referred to earlier, about the design process that led to the production of theses boards. When I read it I saw that Kit recommended that the boards were ‘run in’. Now I have to say that I am not a believer in ‘run-in’ (or ‘burn-in’ as it is also called) but as I was going to be away visiting family for a few days I plugged the RSL boards in to the pre-amp and left it powered up. When I returned home I was eager to listen to some music and was surprised to find that what I had previously heard as weight and extension in my own boards I now found to be a thickening and bloat that obscured subtle pitch changes and melded similar sounds together rather than letting them speak separately. Perhaps the RSL boards had improved, or perhaps my holiday had just given my auditory expectations a chance to reset themselves. Whatever the reason, I now found my usual ‘super’ cards to sound rather opaque. The clincher was when I listened to the live recording of Dead Can Dance’s recent live tour; the sheer focus, transparency and tonal sophistication of the RSL boards completely captured me and drew me in. Previously I had enjoyed this record but had thought the actual playing to be a bit below their previous live recordings and the whole thing a touch understated – how wrong I was!
Because it can be done, and because some say they prefer it, I did listen with just the NA321 replacement boards fitted and with the NA729s bypassed (I have some high quality silver jumper cables for this purpose). The basic sonic character remained the same, which is what I had expected. Initially, the sense is that the sound is more direct, a touch more etched, but on further listening I found that stereo depth was less pronounced; the soundscape was flatter and there was a less pronounced sense of acoustic. I also felt that in terms of instrumental texture the sound was less sophisticated, almost simplified. Overall it was quite a subtle difference but I thought an important one and I have quite a strong preference for including the NA729 boards (the Time-Aligned Buffers).
There is another advantage to using the RSL 729 replacements and that is the option of adding remote control. The remote is a small lozenge as is used for car alarms (two are supplied). The remote is not infrared as most are, it is a radio transmitter and as such it does not have to be pointed at the pre-amp to work and no receiver ‘eye’ is needed on the amplifier; instead an antenna cable lies inside the case of the amp (tucked out of the way). The remote allows volume to be adjusted in twenty well chosen steps and a precision matched resistor ladder is used to achieve this. As well as offering control of volume there are two other buttons, one mutes the signal and the other reduces the volume by about half. Of course the preamp already has a manual volume control and this remains in circuit. Effectively this means that there are now two volume controls which seems a bit complicated and also a bit compromised. However, in use, neither of these potential criticisms actually manifests themselves. All one does is set the manual volume control to the maximum volume you are likely to want to listen at and then use the remote to adjust the volume within that range. This solution means that the twenty steps available are sufficient whether you want to rock out at high level or listen at very low level late at night – in all it works surprisingly well! As for sonic compromise, well I haven’t yet tried the ‘no remote’ option but the remote certainly didn’t stop me from appreciating the sonic qualities of these replacement boards, so if there is any audible price to pay it is a very slight one. Overall I found the whole remote option to work very well and to be well implemented.
I was starting to feel this review was becoming something of a marathon (sorry, you probably are too) but my attention now moved to the, level adjustable’ NA328 line level replacement boards that Kit offers. The original NA328 boards that Naim offered are widely criticised these days and were Naim’s attempt to make early CD players more palatable. The RSL solution is considerably more sophisticated than Naim’s original. In addition, one can adjust the input level in ten specific steps via a small pot mounted on the boards themselves (to better match the relative volume of line level and phono inputs). This pot has clear indents and is accessible from above, even with the boards fitted to the preamp. As standard the level reduction is set at its minimum which equates to -1dB. As I wrote earlier, these boards can be bypassed either with jumper cables (you would have to make your own) or with the Z400s that RSL now manufacture. However, the Z400s have only just been released and so I used my regular silver jumper cables to A/B against the Z401 replacement boards. When comparing I was careful to adjust the volume to take account of the -1dB (a very small amount) that the Z401s applied compared to jumpers. My findings were that the Z401s, in general, offered a very slightly softer and more rounded sound. With the bypass cables fitted the sound had greater attack and transients hit harder and faster. I rather liked this but experience has taught me that many prefer things less forthright and they may well prefer the more euphonic quality that the Z401s impart. In fact, I rather liked it myself and, in particular, I rather liked the slightly rounded quality the boards lent to vocals. Whilst CD players are much less hard and relentless than was once the case, there are still a lot of digital recordings that can strip the enamel from your teeth at 100 and are completely devoid of emotion. When listening to such recordings I can well imagine that the RSLA 328s would make the listening experience very much more enjoyable!
And finally – the phono option!
The last piece in the puzzle was to audition the RSL MC boards, the Z100s. This was a bit of a task in itself because I had three phono board options available to me (all type K - the optimum loading for my cartridge). These were the RSL Z100 boards (their version of the Naim NA323 board), a very late production pair (series 5 with blue tantalum capacitors) of Naims NA323 boards and a very heavily modified pair of series 3 Naim NA323 boards (these have lots of component changes, bypass capacitors and some grounding changes).
One thing immediately of note is that the Ryan Sound Lab versions are unique in that they offer easy changing of the cartridge loading. Normally, on Naim phono boards, changing the loading is achieved by altering the value of one resistor and one capacitor (on each board), but these are soldered in place. Instead, Kit has built the boards with a small two pin connector where the cartridge loading components fit and a small 'plug-in' attaches (very easy to fit) - so his boards can easily be changed between S and K variant and custom values can also be easily made up. In the picture below the loading 'plug-in' is the long yellow component.
http://ryansoundlab.com/images/Z100-619x518.jpg
I started off my listening by refreshing my memory with regard to what the standard Naim cards sound like. The first thing that struck me was how flat the cards sounded, both in terms of the dimensionality of the sound and, to an extent, tonal variation. On the plus side the bass response had a pleasing snap to it and rhythms were well presented and easy to follow, but it was very different to my modified boards. Changing over to the RSL Z100's the sound immediately had much more atmosphere, a much more pronounced sense of acoustic space. Fine detail was significantly better. Bass had less obvious snap but had significantly more character and shape; it’s not that the sound was less dynamic, it’s more that the dynamic was more layered and sophisticated. There was still bass impact but there was now a more varied quality to the way that the impact was delivered. The biggest surprise, to me anyway, was comparing the RSL cards to my modified versions. I rather expected my 'turbo' cards to at least hold their own but, as it turned out, the RSL cards had better retrieval of fine detail and were at least as good in every other respect!
Conclusion
As I wrote earlier, I have now listened to all the various boards that are sold to update Naim preamps. Very much to my surprise I find that my findings regarding the Ryan Sound Lab MusicPower Plug-In boards are entirely positive and I have grown to significantly prefer them to my previous boards. In fact I like them so much I am, very reluctantly (because a lot of work went in to optimising my current boards), going to have to buy a set because I don’t want to send them back – I cannot give higher praise than that! With regard to the remote option, well, I have lived without remote volume control for so long it doesn’t matter to me and my pre-amp is near to my listening seat. However, for many I know that remote volume is not only desirable but an essential. For them, the RSL remote solution is ideal and does work very well – it may, initially, seem like a bit of an ‘add on’ but it really isn’t. Whatever combination of boards you choose to go for, the RSL MusicPower Plug-Ins will breathe new life in to your Naim preamp. They will remove a layer of upper-mid ‘glaze’ and glare that the standard unit has (particularly when playing very dense and dynamic music) and add a level of clarity and tangibility, across the audio spectrum, that you may not have even realised was missing until you hear the improvement. Bass is tighter and more delineated, vocals are nuanced and full of character, and the top end is delicate, refined and colourful. It is a much touted belief that Naim amplifiers don’t produce stereo or depth – well they do, or at least they can and both aspects are clearly revealed by these simple modifications. Overall, the positive qualities of the Naim sound remain intact and a large injection of detail and sophistication is added!
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DISCLAIMER: Should there be any doubt, let me make it quite clear that I have no involvement of any kind with Kit Ryan or with Ryan Sound Labs; in fact, I have never met or spoken to him and until this review had never heard of either him or his company. Also, I have received no financial recompense and have written the above report entirely at my own volition, as an audio enthusiast and music lover.
System Used
I am not a reviewer and the equipment I used is the same as I use on a daily basis to listen to music.
Turntable: This is a custom design and build. Amongst other features, it makes use of a sophisticated carbon fibre chassis, magnetic bearing and damped suspension.
Arm: The arm fitted to the turntable is a lightly modified Naim Aro unipivot.
Cartridge: The cartridge is a rare ‘black’ Linn Troika. Completely custom rebuilt It now incorporates a ruby cantilever and Fritz Geiger S stylus.
Phonostage: This is a sophisticated moving coil only DIY build. Known as the Paradise it is completely dual mono and housed in four separate cases.
Amplification: All the main amplification is by Naim Audio and consists of a Nac72 preamp, Hi-Cap power supply and a pair of Nap135 monoblocks.
Speakers: The speakers are heavily rebuilt Yamaha NS-1000Ms. These include custom built external crossovers and custom built super-tweeters. In addition, they rest on custom built stands. A modified Rel Stadium subwoofer is also used and is set at a very low level to extend the systems low frequency capabilities.
All the above system is used in a dedicated listening room that is acoustically treated and has a dedicated mains spur.
Records used for evaluation (some of)
Agnes Obel - 'Philharmonics'
Antony and the Johnsons - 'Cut The World'
David Bowie - 'Hunky Dory'
Deac Can Dance - 'In Concert'
Keaton Henson - 'Dear'
Laura Marling - 'Live From York Minster'
Muse - 'The 2nd Law'
Peter Hammil & The K Group - 'The Margin'
Phil Manzanera - 'Phil Manzanera 801 Live'
The Civil Wars - 'The Civil Wars'
The Velvet Underground - 'Loaded'
The XX - 'XX'
Manufacturers Website
http://ryansoundlab.com/