Aria phono preamp - Mike Elliot blog

Hi Bob, yes this is great news. I am trying to enjoy the WV as much as I can the first few nights. I have read many comments that tube preamps can sound very good right out of the box and then they quickly sound horrible and then great again after 100-200 hours or so. So far, the WV is outstanding so I have not hit that "bad" period with 20 hours of play time and 20+ hours of standby time.

What is so cool about this preamp, line stage in particular, is its ability to support a huge library of tube types. The phono stage and line stage are typically suited for the 6DJ8/6922 tube family, but with a switch inside, so many others are supported. I have quite a stash of tubes from owning the Aesthetix Io/Callisto as well as several ARC, BAT and Counterpoint products since the mid 80s. But I also have tried out a few tube types I never owned before but purchased the last couple months while waiting for the WV to arrive. It is amazing how cheap some of these "oddball" tubes are on ebay. And one type tonight at $20 for five, really impressed me here. It displaced one of my favorite mid-priced 6DJ8 tubes by quite a margin.

The WV shows the sonic differences between the tube types to be the same characteristics as what I heard with the Aesthetix gear. However, these sonic differences between tube types are more significant now. I suspect it's due to the WV's greater resolving power. Some tubes are quite mellow with a most distant presentation and others give big and bold projection. So far the only tube that sounds horrible here is the 6H30...a quad that I had when I owned the BAT 31SE for 2 years. The stage was flat and objects were distant and muffled.

I own one coveted tube pair that is absolutely stunning in the CAT amps and the Aesthetix gear as well.....but their magic was most greatly achieved in the amps. And their stellar performance carries on in both stages of the WV. I lucked out and found another pair and will get those soon for the phono stage. And then all I have to do is repeat the process for one final pair.....for the line stage...once I get passed the "bad" period if it ever happens. But this cheapo tube that I got on ebay might just be the ticket for quite some time. Sure beats paying $200-400 for a pair of tubes!

It sounds like a complicated process but really it is only for 2 pairs of audio tubes. Mike Elliot loaded up the power supply with premium tubes that he hand selects for Counterpoint updated gear. I might play a little with one of the tubes but once I get the 2 pairs in the audio stages optimized, the lid goes back on and I can continue the WV's evaluation against other components in house.

John

Like Jafox, I received my Aria WV5 XL on April 14th. I have used the break in procedure Mike Elliott described in the user's manual on the Aria website. Mr. Elliott advises users to unplug the Aria WV5 from the power amps and then to plug the owner's CD player into the moving magnet input of the phono section. This all works just fine unless and until you forget and connect to your amps again. Could be a big noise. Anyway, this method seems to be working. I have about 80 hours on the unit and it seems to be coming along, getting fuller and richer than it was when first arriving, though it sounded pretty good at first, then sounded just a little less so just a few hours later.

Mr. Elliott's online user's manual is extremely useful. When I first got my WV5, I had no instructions for the remote control. I called Mike, he went onto the website and had something for all owners within a half hour. (Simple stuff: the remote only operates the volume control, the rest is useless ornamentation.) Other manufacturers should consider using online manuals. As a very small company, Aria is running way ahead of some much larger competitors with this innovation.

The 71 pound crate in which I received the WV5 was a brute to carry home but fully protected the preamp. Sure, you don't listen to the shipping crate but companies' packaging often speaks to the care they take in designing and manufacturing the product. If evaluated from the outside in, the crate speaks well of the product. Likewise, the appearance and finish of the product appear excellent.

The WBT 0210Ag connectors are somewhat large in diameter and a tight fit for my Cardas Golden Reference interconnects. I understand that these RCA jacks are the best available for sound but subject to quick wear on the plating. While these may sound great, they may penalize those inclined to compulsive A/B comparisons by exhibiting plating wear quickly.

As for the sound, it is too early for me to tell all that much. I will set the WV5 XL against my Aesthetix Io with two power supplies and Nagra PL-P to see which fits my listening priorities and system. While I hope to post some impressions here, I will give you early notice that my preferences are entirely my own and often not shared with those who listen to my rig. I do what pleases me and involves me in the music. These preferences make the "your mileage may vary" into "your mileage WILL vary." Of course, this does not stop me from bloviating on the website. It is, after all, the political season.

I leave the more exhaustive, highly valuable and more generally applicable evaluations to Jafox, who has been very helpful to all of us on Audiogon. Once he has a chance to break in and thoroughly check out some alternatives, I trust that he will share with us and we will all benefit.

Casaross, what's the word? I'm dying over here.

Hi Kub.....Michael Elliot has contacted his customers that he has provided a newsgroup page for WV users to share their findings with various tubes in the line and phono stages and power supply. This is a great great idea.

Michael Elliot wrote to me that the Voltage Regulator tube has a significant impact on the sound; and I confirmed this over the weekend. But I ultimately had to change two P.S. tubes to make the performance improvement workable.

I hope to finalize on the phono stage tubes and be done with this tube listening process for awhile. Once I have it all nailed down, I will post my tube findings in the Aria newsgroup as well as look to share the overall WV experience here on A'gon.

John

I have been burning in my Aria WV5XL using the method prescribed by Mike Elliott. So far, I don't have anything definitive to report; it's still too soon to tell. I need to try different power cords and tubes to really get a fix.