Ali Tait
02-03-2014, 15:59
First off, a couple of caveats – firstly I had a loan of a Yannis cable, kindly lent to me by Bernie, however this was returned before comparisons could be made due to his impending emigration back to Oz. Having heard how much better this sounds then the Jelco cable I am using now, this had to be taken into account when judging SQ. Thanks for the loan Bernie, much appreciated.
Secondly, I have only recently gotten back into vinyl after being digital for 25+ years, so haven’t heard that many stages to compare.
I did have to hand – phono stage built in to my Forte model 2 pre (Nelson Pass design), a Yaqin MS-22B MM stage, a Mayware T-24 SUT and the Firebottle MM/MC valve/JFET stage. I also had on loan one of Nick’s LDA phono stages, but unfortunately it went down in one channel shortly after I received it, no doubt down to rough handling in the post. Turned out just to be a solder joint needed redoing, but it wasn’t in use for these comparisons sadly. I have also had the Jez Arkless head amp for a test drive.
Source used was my Garrard 401 in twin tier slate plinth, Jelco SA-250 arm with 103r MC cart.
The built in stage in my pre and the Yaqin were decent enough, but outclassed easily by the Firebottle stage and Jez’s head amp (and Nick’s for that matter), so I’ll concentrate on the FB stage with and without the Mayware, and Jez’s head amp. There was a decent improvement in the Yaqin gained by swapping in some NOS Mullard ECC83 though.
I got about 10 minutes of comparison between Nick’s stage and the FB before I lost a channel, and the first impression was that there were more similarities than differences, not surprising given some similarities in the respective designs, but I didn’t get enough time to make concrete judgements, so I’ll leave any critical comparisons of the LDA stage out of this.
Jez’s head amp was very impressive indeed from the off. It’s very different to anything else I’ve tried, giving tremendous drive and an up front and subjectively detailed sound (in a good way). It’s like moving to the front row at a gig compared to being halfway back. It also had a HUGE bass response, giving by far the deepest bass response of anything else I’ve tried so far. Music was laid down with authority, and I found it a hugely entertaining listen. Just from a personal point of view, I’m not 100% sure I could live with it constantly long term, though I’d certainly like to have one to use when the mood strikes. It’s a great bit of kit, and I could see a lot of people loving one of these.
Next was the FB stage, which I tried on both MC and MM using the Mayware SUT. MM with SUT had some similarities to Jez’s head amp, being more upfront than MC direct, but it did not have the bass impact, and the treble was not quite of the same quality or as extended. Mids were very good though.
The Firebottle using MC direct sounded better to me. This was a slightly more relaxed sound, very musical and giving good flow to the sound to my ears. Soundstaging is very good (a priority for me), if better left to right than front to back, but certainly better than anything else I’ve tried so far, excepting the LDA. As said before, there were many similarities to the LDA stage, which is praise indeed, as I’ve heard this many times and I’ve a fair handle on how good it is.
The MC direct on the FB stage I can listen to all day quite happily, however I managed to trash the cantilever of the 103r, so had to swap to a spare cart, and Acutex M312 MM. This has been a real surprise given the low cost of the NOS ones being sold on ebay. I’ve found there’s a lot of love for this cart online, and I can understand why. Perhaps not quite the air and space at the top end of the 103r, but as good or better everywhere else IMHO.
So, that’s been my listening for the last few weeks, the Acutex into the Firebottle. I’ve found this very enjoyable, great bass (if not quite up to the Arkless head amp depths), great soundstaging, and a good drive to the music. In fact, I’ve enjoyed this stage so much, I’ve asked Alan to build me an all out two box MM/MC, with balanced as well as single ended in and outputs.
And no, I’m not getting it cheap in exchange for a favourable review..
I did have the Scottish Mafia round whilst some of this was occurring, perhaps they might like to comment.
So, much as I’d like to hang on to it till mine is ready, the stage is up for grabs to whomever wishes to demo it next. Just PM me and I’ll get it sent off to you.
Lastly, apologies to Alan for the lateness of this post, I'd meant to have this done and the stage off to the next demo weeks ago, but a combination of various circumstances prevented this, not least of which was my other half ending up in hospital with meningitis, so thanks for your patience Alan. I look forward to getting my two box version.
Secondly, I have only recently gotten back into vinyl after being digital for 25+ years, so haven’t heard that many stages to compare.
I did have to hand – phono stage built in to my Forte model 2 pre (Nelson Pass design), a Yaqin MS-22B MM stage, a Mayware T-24 SUT and the Firebottle MM/MC valve/JFET stage. I also had on loan one of Nick’s LDA phono stages, but unfortunately it went down in one channel shortly after I received it, no doubt down to rough handling in the post. Turned out just to be a solder joint needed redoing, but it wasn’t in use for these comparisons sadly. I have also had the Jez Arkless head amp for a test drive.
Source used was my Garrard 401 in twin tier slate plinth, Jelco SA-250 arm with 103r MC cart.
The built in stage in my pre and the Yaqin were decent enough, but outclassed easily by the Firebottle stage and Jez’s head amp (and Nick’s for that matter), so I’ll concentrate on the FB stage with and without the Mayware, and Jez’s head amp. There was a decent improvement in the Yaqin gained by swapping in some NOS Mullard ECC83 though.
I got about 10 minutes of comparison between Nick’s stage and the FB before I lost a channel, and the first impression was that there were more similarities than differences, not surprising given some similarities in the respective designs, but I didn’t get enough time to make concrete judgements, so I’ll leave any critical comparisons of the LDA stage out of this.
Jez’s head amp was very impressive indeed from the off. It’s very different to anything else I’ve tried, giving tremendous drive and an up front and subjectively detailed sound (in a good way). It’s like moving to the front row at a gig compared to being halfway back. It also had a HUGE bass response, giving by far the deepest bass response of anything else I’ve tried so far. Music was laid down with authority, and I found it a hugely entertaining listen. Just from a personal point of view, I’m not 100% sure I could live with it constantly long term, though I’d certainly like to have one to use when the mood strikes. It’s a great bit of kit, and I could see a lot of people loving one of these.
Next was the FB stage, which I tried on both MC and MM using the Mayware SUT. MM with SUT had some similarities to Jez’s head amp, being more upfront than MC direct, but it did not have the bass impact, and the treble was not quite of the same quality or as extended. Mids were very good though.
The Firebottle using MC direct sounded better to me. This was a slightly more relaxed sound, very musical and giving good flow to the sound to my ears. Soundstaging is very good (a priority for me), if better left to right than front to back, but certainly better than anything else I’ve tried so far, excepting the LDA. As said before, there were many similarities to the LDA stage, which is praise indeed, as I’ve heard this many times and I’ve a fair handle on how good it is.
The MC direct on the FB stage I can listen to all day quite happily, however I managed to trash the cantilever of the 103r, so had to swap to a spare cart, and Acutex M312 MM. This has been a real surprise given the low cost of the NOS ones being sold on ebay. I’ve found there’s a lot of love for this cart online, and I can understand why. Perhaps not quite the air and space at the top end of the 103r, but as good or better everywhere else IMHO.
So, that’s been my listening for the last few weeks, the Acutex into the Firebottle. I’ve found this very enjoyable, great bass (if not quite up to the Arkless head amp depths), great soundstaging, and a good drive to the music. In fact, I’ve enjoyed this stage so much, I’ve asked Alan to build me an all out two box MM/MC, with balanced as well as single ended in and outputs.
And no, I’m not getting it cheap in exchange for a favourable review..
I did have the Scottish Mafia round whilst some of this was occurring, perhaps they might like to comment.
So, much as I’d like to hang on to it till mine is ready, the stage is up for grabs to whomever wishes to demo it next. Just PM me and I’ll get it sent off to you.
Lastly, apologies to Alan for the lateness of this post, I'd meant to have this done and the stage off to the next demo weeks ago, but a combination of various circumstances prevented this, not least of which was my other half ending up in hospital with meningitis, so thanks for your patience Alan. I look forward to getting my two box version.