By Juan C. Ayllon As winter approaches, there are changes afoot at Prairie Audio! With a new job teaching English Language Learners this fall, ACCESS tests (standardized tests on ELL students' abilities in listening, reading, speaking, and writing) two weeks away, and a small collection of reviews winding down, I'm happily busy. I recently relocated my VPI Prime Scout turntable to the entertainment armoire at the rear wall of the room, where it can remain set up safe from the tiny hands of visiting grandchildren. Previously, I used to tuck it inside the BDI Corridor media console up front when not in use, which was quite often. Unfortunately, doing this was problematic, as the tonearm weight settings could easily be knocked off with the odd bump or two in moving it around. For the most part, this wasn't an issue, as I preferred the convenience of digital playback. However, in conversations with Jam Somasundram, the designer of the Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amplifier that I was reviewing, I found myself drawn back to vinyl. It turns out that Jam is a huge proponent of vinyl and turntables, and he uses them exclusively to voice his products. Now the president of Quadratic Audio, he makes a step-up transformer dubbed the MC-1 that received glowing praise from Tone Audio and a few other audio outlets, and has been slowly gaining traction in the industry. He claimed that with all the inherent limitations and faults of vinyl, it's still superior to digital playback (which, he says, has numerous problematic issues that are swept under the rug), and with a vinyl system costing in the tens of thousands, you could easily trump the performance of a digital one running in the hundreds of thousands! That intrigued me. Then, I recalled having some long lengths of silver AudioQuest RCA cabling in storage that I'd picked up from an audio store closing back in the 90s. Pulling that out, I relocated the VPI to the armoire, and ran the cable from the Pass Labs XP-17 phono stage, up the front wall, across the ceiling, and down the rear side wall, linking the two together. It worked well, albeit with a little 60-cycle hum emerging when the volume was up past 70 on the Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier. With the turntable engaged, that's getting a bit loud, so I figured that I could live with that. When I recently had friends over to hear the Usher Audio UA-50 loudspeakers I'm reviewing, I played a few cuts from a live Bruce Springsteen LP. I was about to switch back to digital playback, but one guest asked that I keep the vinyl going, as it was "a delightful treat!" Coming from someone with a very impressive system who mostly listens to digital playback, that gave me pause. Afterward, I began dusting off records and listening to them more. But still, that issue of hum irritated me. It wasn't really noticeable at normal listening levels, but sometimes I like to crank it up. So, naturally, that bugged me -- especially since I was committed to reviewing the Quadratic Audio MC-1 in the near future. Working with long stretches of balanced XLR cables in our church system as a soundboard volunteer, it occurred to me that I could relocate the XP-17 to the armoire and run a pair of balanced cables to the preamp upfront. In theory, that should greatly reduce the hum, if not eliminate it. Why not? Well, there's the expense of it. However, after exploring various options, Mogami stepped up and agreed to sponsor the project in return for a writeup of the experience using their top shelf Platinum cables. I had heard great things about Mogami being used in top recording studios, so I was delighted! They get the exposure, and I get excellent product. That's a win-win! Jam wasn't as thrilled with that configuration; he said that the phonostage should be located close together with the preamp, and that I should run XLR to the amplifier instead. However, my dedicated 15 and 20 amp A/V circuits are located upfront, so I nixed that idea! Crap. Thankfully, when I reached out to Pass Labs and spoke with their operations man, Kent English, he offered that they had done something similar at an audio show when they were forced to keep keep their phono preamp separate from the preamplifier. "It wasn't the XP-17," he said, but an earlier model. "We used a hundred foot pair of XLR cables, and it worked fine," he assured. Boo-ya! Flipping a Table In our conversations, Jam encouraged me to explore reviewing tonearms. The problem with my current setup, though, is that by using a VPI turntable like my Prime Scout, I was limited to using their tonearms. Hence, I began looking affordable turntable options. Jam recommended the Dr. Feikert Woodpecker as an excellent reference turntable (he keeps one to evaluate tonearms), however, even with a possible industry accommodation, that was out of the question. That's when he suggested the Micro Seiki BL-91. He enjoys a superb $10,000 model of theirs, but the Unisound Grace Company had this more modest used BL listed on eBay. So, I listed my VPI Prime Scout, which is in pristine shape, for sale and purchased the BL-91. The BL-91 recently arrived and, to my delight, Belle loves it! In fact, she actually lowered the needle on a couple albums. "This isn't the first time I've used a record player!" she snapped when I advised her on handling and playing records. Oh, she's a feisty one! It turns out that I will have to purchase a step down transformer, as the BL-91 is rated at 100 volts, not 120, another arm board to accommodate tonearms in for review, and a head shell. These are all ordered now. More Power to Ya Not too long ago, an audiophile acquaintance came by to listen to my system, and he suggested that I wasn't getting the most out of my Usher Audio ML-802 loudspeakers -- that some component in the signal chain was holding them back. I thought about it and realized that perhaps my Panamax M-5300 power conditioner might be at fault. I called Straight Wire, Inc.'s sales director, Jerry Willsie, an A/V expert whose opinion I greatly respect, and asked his thoughts. Immediately, he recommended the Richard Gray Power Company's products. Turns out, he actually uses one in his home system! I reached out to its owner, Alex Gianaras, who agreed to sponsor Prairie Audio Man Cave, and shortly thereafter, I met him at his North Shore home to save him shipping, and I had their RGPC 1200 Custom power conditioner, with its large inductor, in my listening space. Wow. The differences were subtle, but noticeable. It conjured the introduction of Jupiter Copper Foil capacitors into my former Lampizator Lite 7 DAC years ago, sweetening the presentation. When running traditional surge protection and conditioning products, you can limit available current, resulting in less dynamics, but apparently with parallel power stored in magnetic reservoir, that's not an issue. A review will be coming out soon. Heady Company The impressive Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amplifier will be taking over review reference duties in my system. I have been very impressed with its performance, and it brings me great pleasure to have it stay on after the review period expired (you can find the review by Googling Juan C. Ayllon and Pass Labs HPA-1). A Leg Up
As I will be comparing my Hsu Research ULS-15 Mk2 subwoofer to a Bag End Infra Sub 18" powered subwoofer that's in for review, I have placed my Pass Labs X150.8 amplifier (which was resting on the Hsu) up on a spare Sound Anchors stand. Although Belle's not as thrilled at its appearance, I kind of like that look, so we'll see if it remains atop the Sound Anchor after the Bag End review terminates. Oh, and by the way, the Bag End seriously kicks ass! More on that later... There's more going on, but I need to eat and get some work done. Cheers!
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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
March 2024
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