After all, you're listening to the power supply.

I heard or read the statement above not too long ago and basically dismissed it as just curious, but life has a way of being serendipitous, ironic, cosmic and displays odd forms of synchronicity. To wit…

I have reached high-satisfaction with my DAC, amp, cables and speakers, but was still unsure of the land between source and amp in a system that had eliminated phono.  Did anything really need to be pre-amplified? Didn’t you just need a really good attenuator? This has been argued ad nauseam on these forums, so I offer my experience as a rather innocent ear-witness. I suppose my starting belief was that linestages tailored the sound, tube linestages mellowed it out, and $10k linestages were a chuckle.

Since my DAC and Amp are balanced, my starting point was balanced DAC to balanced tube Amp using DAC volume control. Everything I tried between them was also fully balanced. I first purchased a used ARC tube linestage that had been all the rage not too long ago. Not only was it too big for the cabinet, but it just seemed to add clutter, and I found I preferred the transparency of DAC to Amp. Next, I tried a very good passive with top-shelf resistor ladders. This was exceedingly clear on well-recorded acoustic, but seemed a little wooden on more dynamic sources. I found myself using rationality to keep it, which was the reason I returned it. I still had my initial investment in the ARC in the checking account, so I might as well continue my trials for another round or two. I was going to try an Aesthetix Calypso, but it was too big for the shelf.  Then I saw a used ModWright 36.5. I learned it had good reviews and it fit, so I bought it.

Here’s where it gets weird. I asked the seller why they were selling, and they said they were upgrading to the same linestage but with a very fancy external tube power supply. They also said they hadn’t noticed much change in swapping signal path tubes, but if I put in a vintage NOS Mullard GZ34 in the power supply, it would take it to the next level. I called Andy at Vintage Tube Services who had one he recommended.

I found the 36.5 to be an improvement over other options, but as I waited for the Mullard to arrive, I grew uneasy with the high frequencies through the ribbon tweets, and a sense that I was needing to play it loud to be satisfying. But even loud, I kept squirming in my chair and growing discontent. I had also had lunch at a friend’s house where she played a jazz album through her Sony receiver to Pioneer HPM-40 speakers which sounded wonderful. I was going into audiophile nervosa.

The Mullard arrived, and to put all cards on the table, I also reduced the output of the DAC 20 db to get more range in the volume control knob, which changed the DAC’s balanced output impedance from 60 to 135. When I turned the ModWright 36.5 on, there was silence. I spent a whole day swapping tubes and fuses, thinking “Great, now I have repair the linestage because of this blankety-blank Mullard and then resell it.” Finally I saw the HT toggle that had muted the output. So I put the NOS Mullard GZ34 back in for a final trial.

The entire system changed. It relaxed and yet had more energy, which seemed to push the soundstage out in 3D. Voices hung in space. It was spooky how many lyrics I had missed that were now just naturally there in the air. Voices were nuanced, etc, etc. The sound was what I had been chasing for years and I’m enraptured by what I hear on every track. It’s amazingly right.

I’m a believer. I do not sense a processed or tailored sound, but rather an illuminated, energized presentation with inner life that is engaging and in the room.  I’m also aware that tubes allowed me to hunt for the magic in a way that solid state or passive would not. They are what they are, but tube equipment can evolve, become, and transcend. To come full circle to the post title, this was one very old tube placed in the power supply that made the sound gel and delivered me to audio heaven. I was listening to a transformed power supply. Praise be. We all tend to like what we have, but kudo’s to ModWright on an extraordinary instrument. Highly recommended for power supply listening.

And yes, I know "Heard NOS Mullard in Power Supply" could be replaced with "Saw UFO" if I was an eyewitness.