Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

And speaking of phono pres all, I have been going crazy in my slowly-developing new soundroom, as in addition to the CJ PV-7 (incredible HUGE midrange) and PV-8 (hugely dynamic, incredible bass and clarity) I also scored an EAR 834P and decided to have a big shootout to see which I will keep. This via the Leak Stereo 20/Technics SB-4s or the Mitsubishi/Technics SB-4s. The speed and agility of the little 12-watt Leak continues to astound, as once again it comes out sounding like the big 100-watt SS amp (powerful and DEEP bass, hyper-speed, mighty dynamics to suit the Mighty Lenco) while the big SS amps come out sounding gentle in comparison. Wait until I get the big Klipsch Cornwalls into the living room, the neighbours are going to LOVE me ;-). The Klipsch, in addition to being hyper-sensitive, also having 15" woofers...and being THE most actually neutral (as opposed to a "dry" dessicated sound masquerading as neutrality) speaker I have ever heard. AND, contrary to popular belief, the Cornwalls sound great with SS too (being actually neutral and all ;-)). BUT, the Technics SB-4s have incredible clarity and speed (AND real neutrality), and incredibly musicality, so that the innocent next-door neighbour, a musician utterly innocent of audiophile concerns, loves just coming over with beer (being a musician) and saying "So, what'll you play now John?" As all truly experienced audiophools know, its the innocents who are the true judge of the musical success of a system, audiophiles in general being far too prejudiced and often unaware of the concept of "musicality" as opposed to sound.

Now I post this for those looking for high-end sound on a budget, in the great Lenco tradition :-)!!Anyway, I used, of course, the giant Lenco as platform, and tried the MAS 282/AKG P8ES (superb, the MAS having been designed by Mr. Ito of Ittok fame, the MAS having impressed me so much I now have an Ittok, though it was fashionable in the early days of the Rega RB-300 to crap on the Ittok); the JMW 10.5/Decca (always incredible, and about as fast as it is possible to be, especially on a big idler-wheel drive) and the JMW/Clearaudio Concerto.

Now, the Concerto is not cheap (but not especially expensive these days in terms of high-end cartridges), but it has a musical magic, repeatable across systems, tonearms, electronics and speakers (the first in my experience consistently so, others only reaching this level of musical magic when the stars are in the right alignment) which makes it, in the context of incredible detail retrieval and so forth, the best cartridge I've ever heard. Because I place musical magic/shivers/hairs rising up on your arms above every other audio experience. Which is also why I champion the Lenco and other big idlers above all other 'tables. But, like the Lenco, the Concerto is not ONLY about magic and musical power (gestalt, PRaT, SLAM, etc.), it is also, being a Clearaudio, excellent at detail, speed, transients, and dynamic shadings. Though the Decca STILL has it for transients and speed, and possibly bass, it cannot match either the AKG P8ES (a close second to the Clearaudio in terms of magic, and perhaps better at retrieving air and resonances, like the Grado, which makes me suspect moving irons are quite simply superior to MC in this respect, just as idlers are quite simply superior to everything else :-)!!) or the Concerto (and perhaps the Denon DL-103 and a few other MMs including Grados) for this indefinable magic. You can see I've been busy ;-).

Anyway, the EAR, in almost every review compared against older CJ preamps, does indeed sound great. I used it as a complete phono preamp (mine has the volume pot), using it directly into my amps. The EAR is completely stock, down to the no-name tubes. It does indeed blow away all stand-alone phono preamps I've tried (nothing too exotic mind), sounding smooth, detailed, lively and with great air and imaging. Something about it is methodical. At first it sounds kind of boring, but as time goes on, this grows on you, as it indeed retrieves quite a lot of information, including dynamics, quite a bit of detail, and imaging information. You get the feeling it is just getting on with the job at hand, and in a civilized manner, at a rather high level (if you recognize yourselves in this description, then this is the phono preamp for you). I find it closer to the CJ PV-7 than to the PV-8, as the EAR's bass simply does not compare with the bass from the PV-8, which is Decca-tight, fast and resolved. The PV-7, on the other hand, has a gentle pillowy bass and an equally pillowy high frequency range. The PV-7, though, has it for the midrange, being better than either the EAR or the PV-8 at resolving information here, and being quite simply HUGE and lush with larger and more spaced images. Perhaps too much so, but rivetting nevertheless. Now the PV-7 IS that classic tube preamp, and with a healthy dose of that hypnotizing musical magic common, I now see, to the vintage CJ preamps, and the late, lamented ARC SP-8. I'm not sure about the PV-7's highs as compared with the EAR's. Is one better than the other? I suspect the EAR is more matter-of-fact neutral here, but I'm not sure, as though the PV-7 sounds rolled off (like the EAR) there actually is quite a lot of delicate high-frequency detail.

The PV-8 is quite simply killer. It is liquid, more detailed than the EAR everywhere, much more dynamic and lively, with higher highs and lower lows. It is exciting, and makes the hairs go up on my arms, as does the PV-7 (which, however, doesn't have the PV-8 dynamics). But, I have to say that so far, the EAR hasn't done it for me, though it's obvious I like excitement and am not interested so much in "the Truth" (which I think is a frumious bandersnatch). Those who want the truth will find it in the EAR. I didn't tube-roll with the EAR, but then again I didn't with either the PV-7 or the PV-8. I might end up experimenting with all three, as in many ways it's a close-run race. The PV-8 has that thunderous excitement, allied to liquidity and extended frequency extremes. The PV-7 has that HUGE midrange, and can be improved with little effort (this is in the works for mine) and, like the PV-8, can raise the hairs on your arms (with both the AKG and the Concerto). I'm hunting around for some tubes to roll into the EAR for now.

I hope those looking for some more vintage fun will benefit from these experiments. More experiments coming up for the long-delayed Rek-o-Kut now my new workshop is rolling, as well as the Ittok and other tonearms and cartridges and turntables (the reappearance of the superb Sony 2250 for one). Have fun all, and Vive la Idler Wheel!!

John, you will never know what the EAR is capable of without modifying it. The PV7 and 8 are what they are - short of tube rolling - but the EAR is capable of far more than what is in the little black box. I meant to sell mine several times but always forgot. Then, after reading some of Romy the Cat's guff one day (his "end of life" - Russian for "best and final" - phono pre is based on the 839P), I decided to try Thorsten's mods - including the air variable caps (actually radio tuning vanes - in this case, the dielectric is air as opposed to teflon or poly). The air caps are usable in this unit because the RIAA cap values are so small.

The best way to describe the outcome is that everything you like about the EAR - DOUBLE IT! Better output caps and an improved power supply with better diodes and bigger caps are the main modifications. You can easily do the mods without the air caps, BTW - they were so over the top I couldn't resist. If this thing was Stereophile Class B before - it is easily Class A now and I still haven't ever gotten around to putting an MC through it.

Thorsten's mods can be found in one post on the Audio Asylum and recently, Romy's own forum shows pics of how he implemented the air caps and his final circuit modifications.

Mike

Hi Mike, don't want to keep you on tenterhooks, I'll be doing some tube-rolling with the EAR and see what happens, but haven't had time yet. But, I have to say, it's a matter of the heart: I LOVE the CJ preamps (both of them, though in some ways they are polar opposites, they both share that ability to make the hairs stand up to attention!), while the EAR is, in comparison, more of an intellectual exercise. But I've got vintage tubes on stand-by to juice up the EAR :-). I'll post more when I get around to it (in the middle of moving, packing and unpacking, arranging and rearanging).

I can dig it - I loved the 500C at first - but then after a while, missed the seeming perfection of single ended. In reality though, if you love listening to something, how can it be wrong?

Nevertheless, many people describe the stock EAR as being tooby and euphonic. I seem to remember the stock EI tibes playing it pretty straight compared to Telefunkens and other NOS tubes. Am I right in assuming that both of the CJ's have old tubes in them and the EAR has the stockers? Could account greatly for the difference. I find that all new production 12AX7's sound pretty lowsy and changing them out for NOS makes a huge amount of difference in the natural sound of hifi or instrument amps.

The modifications described above, take the EAR to a level far above a simple tube change - think natural timbres and all the other audiophile cliches while retaining the tube warmth and utter listenability of the stock unit.

Mike

Hi Mike. I substituted some older 12AX7s (nothing exotic though) for the no-name ones that come with it and indeed did get an improvement. The bass deepened and the detail improved to the point where the EAR was now much closer to the CJ PV-7 which was in the circuit before. But - and there's always a but isn't there? - the magic which makes both vintage CJ preamps SO compelling was still absent, relative to the CJs of course. Don't get me wrong: the EAR IS euphonic, smooth, tube-like in all the best ways but more neutral than the Golden Age tube equipment of yore. The owner of such a unit could sit for hours without listener fatigue. But, all these qualities which give it a leg up on the current competition are heard by most without the context of certain older CJ preamps (PV-5, PV-6, PV-7 PV-8, PV-10) AND ARC preamps (the great star of magic being the rightly famed ARC SP-8, but also the SP-6 and of course SP-10). The EAR is euphonic, yes, but it isn't "magical" as these older preamps are. And the PV-7 also has no-name tubes; while the PV-8 has GE tubes for the line stage but Sovteks in the phono stage (which might explain the brightness, time for more tube-rolling tomorrow!!).

Both CJ preamps have a sense of propulsiveness, the music enhuberant and forceful, lacking in the EAR, and this apart from simple dynamics, which are also superior to the EAR. Allied to this is a sense of cohesiveness, of the music working together in incredible harmony, perfect timing, that together with the propulsiveness makes both CJ preamps very difficult to turn away from, even when there is something else to do. The EAR, on the other hand, lacks this as well, like an artist who is technically trained, but with no feeling. In reading certain high-end rags these days, one would think that these qualities -cohesiveness, propulsiveness, "continuousness" - are just now making their appearance in cost-no-object designs. But methinks certain writer/reviewers need to immerse themselves in some of these superb older units in order to establish context, aural history.

Today an acquaintance dropped by to pick up a spare laser assembly for a Pioneer CD player I sold off (I got myself a tubed Luxman CD player....GASP! I DO have a CD collection!!) and saw my Ultra Giant Lenco sitting high on a shelf, hooked up to the PV-7. I offer to demonstrate it, he agrees, and I played the new Wynton Marsalis/Willie Nelson collaboration on Blue Note (superb music AND recording/pressing!). He's a pure CD guy, but finds himself rooted to the spot, moving only to place himself in the exact centre of the soundfield. He stood there, not even sitting, immobile, through the entire side of the LP, and had it not been for the phone call from his wife (nagging ;-)), he would have made me play the entire four-side disc while simply frozen to the spot. I'm fairly certain that had the EAR been hooked up, he would have been impressed, but would have left after the first song. But maybe he would have loved it as much as the PV-7. But it's telling he reacted exactly the same way I did to the PV-7, as did also the musician next door who loves to come and sit for hours listening to my system. I could hear and identify the magic, he simply found himself mesmerized. He said one word: "Unbelievable".

Now we get into the same problem which faced us and STILL faces us with respect to idler-wheel drives and Lenco: the issue of exactly what is subjective/illusory and what is objective/real, and what is the "truth". Recall the Great Lenco vs SME 30 Debate. I believe in my body's reactions to the music, that it has some objective foundation, and also believe that this is fairly representative of the human race (who react to the same things I do, as did CD guy). I believe digital conversion of music will ALWAYS be audible to the human ear, which is far more sensitive than the scientists and engineers claim/believe, so that no matter how high the resolution they achieve, it will always leave the listener relatively unmoved (which is different from unimpressed, as in impressed by sound). Ah, the Great Sound vs Music debate. And, to throw this in, the human ear is far more sensitive to certain forms of speed imperfections (i.e. belt-drives, DDs) than to others. While idler speed stability may not be perfect (but is damned close, ESPECIALLY the Lenco), the human ear finds its imperfections - which are not related to groove modulations - far less intrusive (and the music thus much more enjoyable) than with systems which do react to groove modulations, or are referenced to intrusive sampling frequencies (i.e. quartz-locking), which are similar to digital chop-chop (but which can be GREATLY mitigated by Direct Coupling to a high tonally neutral mass). The fact that Lencos and other idlers have become SUCH a phenomenon since I started the first thread shows that other people DO hear what I hear, and ARE sensitive to/recognize what I feel, including you, Mike ;-), which shows there IS something objective beneath all this "frisson", "magic", "entrancement", musicality (as in poetic music, "music to soother the savage breast", "music to my ears"), in short, emotional/physical reaction. Anyway, the older CJ stuff (and certain ARC pres) does something the EAR doesn't, however similar in some ways the raw information is. In addition, I just tested all the tubes in my PV-7 and they are all sub-par and in need of replacement!!

So, when I first heard a crappy idler-wheel drive (a humble Garrard SP-25 record changer) I was gobsmacked, the musical POWER and dynamic explosiveness hit me between the eyes, and this energized me to track this particular prey for years, and spurred me finally to trying to start an Idler Wheel Revolution (first attempt a flop, second bull's-eye). THIS was magic, THIS was musical power. And reading the various reviews of Garrards in the audio press, I wasn't the only one to hear this quality (and overall stunning audiophile capabilities of the idler-wheel system). I poured money and time into it. The CJ strikes me similarly, and the buyer of one of my Lencos, a high-end tube amp manufacturer (the same fellow who did my Leak Stereo 20), has offered to turbocharge my CJs at a very good price (with serious premium parts, and basic repairs/adjustments and likely improvements). I'm going to take him up on it, as the caps anyway are likely getting tired. Personally, I'm not moved by the EAR, so I'll sell it on rather than pour time and energy into it, but keep an ear out for someone else's rebuilt/turbocharged unit, and then give it another go. For those wondering if I've abandoned vintage Sony, not at all!! In fact, CD guy also picked up my Sony 2000F preamp and is going to restore it to full functionality for me (it was quite noisy)!! These old Sony units also have that sense of cohesiveness and propulsiveness, though perhaps not to the same degree as the two CJs.

Anyway, the CJ PV-7 can be had for $400-$500 or so, and the PV-8 for about $600-$700. The PV-8 has so much gain it can handle low-output MCs too. Combined the Mighty Lenco (or other Mighty Idler) to a vintage CJ, and prepare to find yourselves melted like overheated wax and conquered.

When I moved out to the country, I had put my computer in mothballs, and my photos along with it. So, I post for the first time a photo of the Ultra Lenco I had planned and delivered to Cyprus for the non-review. And for contrast, a photo of one I had built at the same time: fun with colours!! My new workshop is nearly finished, I'm motivated, time to start having some fun with various 'tables and designs!! Keep us posted as to your new phono pre Mike, beautiful work on your latest plinth! Have fun all!!