Text and photos by Juan C. Ayllon CHICAGO, February 11, 2020 -- If you’ve in the Illinois vicinity and have been itching to hear a sleek pair of Usher speakers first hand, look no further than Saturday Audio Exchange on the North Side of Chicago, where they’re auditioning my Usher Mini Dancer 2 DMDs until February 21st, as they are considering carrying some of their line. As Usher USA’s Fred Kat didn’t have any broken-in pairs at his warehouse, he asked if I would lend my pair. Hearsay Heresy In the meanwhile, I am borrowing an older pair of vintage Klipsch Heresy speakers from a friend to tide me over. I have heard that Klipsches play best when matched with a tube amplifier, but to my pleasant surprise, these sound wonderful with my solid state Odyssey Khartago amp, in conjunction with my tube-based Lampizator Big 7 DAC and PrimaLuna Prologue 3 preamplifier. As the Klipsches are sealed speakers, I am augmenting the lower end with my Hsu Research ULS-15 Mk2 subwoofer. The Lite Gets Big Back in college, I got skinny sweating in hot truck trailers as a UPS unloader in Southern California, but gained back the weight and more a month after I quit in ‘85, prompting a friend to say, “Boy, you got really big!” The same can be said of my Lampizator Lite 7 DAC when I recently upgraded it to a Big 7 Mk 1. For the uninitiated, Lampizator has a cult-like following for its external Digital to Analog Converters that use tube output stages to help create their robust and shimmery signature. The Lite 7 that I have owned since 2014 was a stripped down version of the Big 7, using a solid state rectifier instead of tube rectification. Doing a little research, I added in the Leszek Ogonowski chokes, and Jupiter copper foil and wax output capacitors that the B-7 uses, significantly stepping up its performance (you can read about some of my modifications here and here), but when I sent it away this past month to the Lampizator factory in Warsaw, Poland for the official upgrade, the tube rectification and other modifications they made really sweetened its presentation. It arrived home with a Soviet 5U4G rectifier tube, which sounded richer, more refined, and analog. Rolling On Up
Now, I had heard that the vintage NOS (New Old Stock) RCA 5U4G rectifier tube was outstanding, but I wasn’t prepared for the sweet boost in performance I’d get by plugging one in. Having purchased the RCA rectifier tube for a botched preamplifier deal last year, I failed to unload it when I listed it for sale online. Turns out, that was fortuitous. I am blown away as I’m listening to my Big 7 with that RCA 5U4G in play. The heightened warmth, luscious organic detail, vivid nuance and transparency in Diana Krall’s voice and the upright acoustic bass on “Popsicle Toes” (Diana Krall. When I Look in Your Eyes. DSD64. Verve Records, 1999.) are intoxicating. Overall, the rich tone and presentation just made this old pair of Klipsch Heresies sing. I can hardly wait to hear it with the Ushers when they return! Coincidentally, swapping out vacuum tubes to listen for differences (or rolling tubes) is one of the indulgent pleasures that Lampizator -- and particularly Big 7 -- owners seem to enjoy (you can read my experiences swapping out 300B tubes in my Lite 7 here). Looking Ahead I am anticipating reviewing several new sets of speakers in the coming months. After I get the final word, I will let you know. Until then, happy listening!
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
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