@lewm Fair point that even as a dealer I may not fully understand what is happening scientifically to address the sonic impact from the Tranquility Base Carbon, but I will say this. It is an ACTIVE platform, not a vibration isolation platform. It is not hooked up to the signal path, and when enabled, makes a very audible sonic difference in the qualities I mentioned above. It is very easy to A/B, and anyone I’ve demoed it for in the last two months who has their eyes closed has been able to tell when it is on or not. It’s that obvious. If it is not combating EMI, I’m not sure what it’s doing, but I would believe it has something to do with electromagnetism.
Solid State Phono Stages
I used to be an all-tube guy, but I’ve now ventured into the realm of high-end solid state with T+A and no longer have any itch to go back heavily into tubes. Now, the only tubes I have left in my system are in my Modwright PH9.0X phono, and from what I’ve demoed against it, it seems to be a giant killer. I do love it, but I’m curious to try a higher end solid state phono stage to see what more noise and more music might sound like. Unfortunately T+A does not have a standalone phono stage, so I’m looking at other manufacturers and open to other opinions.
I currently have a Clearaudio Innovation Wood table and Air Tight PC-1s cartridge. i listen to a wide range of music, from Zeppelin to Vivaldi to Beck to Coltrane to Yello. The stage would ideally have between 65-74db of gain, maybe adjustable to 60db at minimum, and have variable impedance values. A balanced output stage would be ideal. I don’t ever really plan to have a second arm, but most stages that retail over $7K tend to have multiple inputs anyways.
My budget would be at tops ~$8K for a used unit. The unit that is sticking out to me from what I’m reading about is the Simaudio Moon 810LP. Another high on the list is the Esoteric E-02. I’ve also come across the Pass XP-27, the Gold Note PH-1000.
I’m looking for a stage with some personality in its character, not one that is overly refined. I’d love for it to be dynamic and bold when it should be, and also gentle and refined when it should be.
The only solid state stages I’ve ever owned and tried were the Pass Labs Xono, which was clean sounding but a little noisy and brittle sounding compared to a PS Audio Stellar Phono. I’ve liked all my tube phono stages better than both of those units.
I’ve also considered going further up the tube stage route, looking at Doshi 3.0, Aesthetix IO Eclipse, but I’m hesitant unless I can hear those in place.
What solid stage phono stages have you loved, and what have you compared them to?
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A friend who has produced a range of electronic designs for audio usage, that have at the debut demo's been thoroughly impressive, makes it known if the extremely expensive EMI protection material they have access to as off cuts in used in the circuit to protect choice components. I would like to think their own build experiences has shown just how valuable a local EMI protection being utilised is beneficial to the end sonic. All members of the local HiFi group have been gifted sample pieces of this EMI Protection material to find their own ideal place for it, if they choose to do so. |
@gwgjr31 What I think is sad is that people take this tone with a brand when often they have no experience with it. The fact that I found value in an accessory that made a significantly positive improvement on my phono stage of choice is nothing but a positive thing. The fact that others try to negate it without having experienced it is what is sad. If anything, people should be happy about learning about the finding, considering that the BMC with one of the Tranquility Base Carbons still outperforms the Simaudio Moon 810LP, a very highly regarded phono stage, at half the retail price. Of course, my outcome won’t work for everyone as the BMC phono stage’s performance will depend on the synergy of the phono cartridge that is used (low-impedance MC cartridges are required), but I am absolutely ecstatic with the level of performance I am getting. In fact I just purchased a second BMC MCCI Signature ULN for a second turntable (that I am custom-building).
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That’s not quite a fair summation of my comment. I only pointed out that the stated mechanism of the base is at best questionable, because there are many reasons why it cannot possibly block or absorb EMI from the component. I then did acknowledge that it may nevertheless be beneficial in some way, but not by blocking or absorbing EMI. I am not a physicist, so if there is a flaw in my reasoning, I am happy to learn and would admit to an error, if I made one. Likewise, SR make some other questionable claims regarding some of their tweak-y products, like the PHT, which is referred to by SR as a "transducer". That word has a specific meaning, and although I have never seen a straightforward explanation of how the PHT works, I don’t see how it can be called a transducer, at least in common audiophile parlance where a transducer either converts mechanical energy into electrical energy (cartridge) or vice-versa (speaker). In the early years of SR, there were other problematic claims regarding their ICs. None of this is to say or prove that the products don’t sound good or improve SQ. |
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