Jimbos Audio ramblings

[Macca]

Synergy is your friend. Measurements are bollocks. It's what you hear and how it make you feel that really counts.

well personally I find them useful to narrow down the field into what I might or might not like.

When I bought my current speakers I compared their measurements to those of speakers I had already heard and liked. Consequently I'm happy with them and have no intention of changing them for something else - job done.

[Jimbo]

If I had only considered measurements as a prerequisite for purchasing a piece of kit I would never have considered buying my Croft. A few years back measurements were never really considered that much by folk in the audio fraternity but with the internet and certain sites that specialise in this area they have bought about a new rational for buying hifi that is so powerful some manufacturers have taken notice and built some of their gear in order that it measures well even though they feel that some of it sounds better when it doesn't measure as well.

[Jimbo]

well personally I find them useful to narrow down the field into what I might or might not like.

When I bought my current speakers I compared their measurements to those of speakers I had already heard and liked. Consequently I'm happy with them and have no intention of changing them for something else - job done.

Now Martin I know you like audio psychology. Are you sure you are not just buying gear that measures well and then telling yourself because it measure well it must sound good!

I fell into this trap when I first heard and bought into CD. It measured very well indeed compared to vinyl but sounded utter crap.

[Macca]

Now Martin I know you like audio psychology. Are you sure you are not just buying gear that measures well and then telling yourself because it measure well it must sound good!

I fell into this trap when I first heard and bought into CD. It measured very well indeed compared to vinyl but sounded utter crap.

Like everyone else I have a listen and if I like it I keep it. I don't overthink it, what's the point? If something about the sound irritates me, then it goes. If not, then it's fine.

I'm not into all this 'Is the soundstage a bit wider?' sort of subjective comparisons. I've done that in the past and concluded it just doesn't matter to me.

I had the same experience as you in the early days of CD, I thought it sounded crap.

If and when you come over I will see if I can get my Marantz CD54 playing for you - you'll know then it was not the early CD players - or the medium - that was the problem

Those Croft power amps you use measure fine, I had one for a while but it kept blowing fuses when used with Celestion A2. Couldn't handle the low impedance.

[Jimbo]

Like everyone else I have a listen and if I like it I keep it. I don't overthink it, what's the point? If something about the sound irritates me, then it goes. If not, then it's fine.

I'm not into all this 'Is the soundstage a bit wider?' sort of subjective comparisons. I've done that in the past and concluded it just doesn't matter to me.

I had the same experience as you in the early days of CD, I thought it sounded crap.

If and when you come over I will see if I can get my Marantz CD54 playing for you - you'll know then it was not the early CD players - or the medium - that was the problem

Those Croft power amps you use measure fine, I had one for a while but it kept blowing fuses when used with Celestion A2. Couldn't handle the low impedance.

Yes must sort a date out to pop up. I will PM you with some dates soon.

[Jimbo]

After a trip round the mulberry bush regarding measurements yesterday I did some more extensive listening with the ifi phono stage and these are the conclusions I came to

1. It was very very quiet on hook up. I used a linear PSU rather than SMPS so maybe this also helped. ( I missed the slight sound of tube rush��)

2. The very low noise floor made for a super quiet background. Inky black and allowed the recording to be heard very clearly.

3. Soundstage and transparency were very good with clear imaging and great detail.

4. Presentation was almost laid back and I would say neutral, balanced and very clean but not as engaging as I am used too.


Comparison with Croft phono stage

The ifi phono sounded less three dimensional than the Croft and the sound stage was a tad smaller both in width and depth. The Croft sounded faster and more incisive, the sound stage was deeper and wider and more 3D. There was more space around the instruments and performers with the valve phono stage.

But the biggest difference was the vivid, natural and live sound the Croft rendered to recordings. They were more dynamic, powerful and you felt a much better engaged and a closer connection to the music,The IFI phono was more detached and opaque where as the Croft felt closer to the music. It rendered the music with a much greater sense of the performer being in the room with you.

I think the ifi phono can be found for £150 or so and at that price it is an absolute bargain. It certainly has a lot of great attributes and sounds superb even with MM. I am looking forward to hearing what it can do with a good MC in the near future.

3F0DCB3C-E7E9-425D-9186-D439BB7BE3DC_1_201_a by , on Flickr
As you can see from the photo this thing is tiny!

[brian2957]

Morning James, great review again. I was reading about the Ifi phono stage in Hifi Choice last month and the reviewer said more or less the the same things as you. In his conclusion he said the Ifi phono stage was 'curiously reluctant to boogie'. Again more or less what you have said above.
IMO just shows what a great designer Glenn Croft was

[CageyH]

James, I think you need try a decent MM stage for a fair comparison.
Sure, the price will not be the same as the iFi (that is almost pronounced Iffy in France ) but it will show you what a good stage is capable of. There are some very good stages out there, and some companies run loan schemes without obligations to putprchase.

I still use my BB3, as in my eyes, there is no better phono stage on the planet, because I built mine.
There is strictly no bias at all in that statement. No, honestly .

[struth]

i was quite impressed with my pro ject phono box ds3.. it was dearer when i bought but its still over 500. perhaps not at the highest end but its ability to connect to a pc and record, plus adjustable from front was a big selling point at time. it sounded pretty good too. still got it somewhere as i thought at some stage i might get back to a system

[Macca]

James, I think you need try a decent MM stage for a fair comparison.
Sure, the price will not be the same as the iFi (that is almost pronounced Iffy in France ) but it will show you what a good stage is capable of. There are some very good stages out there, and some companies run loan schemes without obligations to putprchase.

I still use my BB3, as in my eyes, there is no better phono stage on the planet, because I built mine.
There is strictly no bias at all in that statement. No, honestly .

At the phono stage bake off we did the Croft MM stage (with a SUT since we were using an MC cartridge) was my second-favourite of all those tested (which was a lot).