3's The Charm? Rega RP 3 Turn Table, Elys 2 Cartridge & Fono Phono Stage Combo.

The aren't many hifi products as long lived as the Linn Sondek LP12 turn table and perhaps the various evolutions of Rega Planar 3 series?   I remembered clearly that I've always lusted for a Rega P 3 turn table during  my student days, so when I actually chanced upon a P 25 Anniversary Edition with an RB700 arm, a few years back, my school boy's dream finally came through, somewhat 20 years belated! Well, as they say better late then never.

My hifi dreams are insatiable, and I've since moved on, but Rega hasn't stood still either. They have continuously refined the Rega P 3 concept and take the basic design further as we past the a decade on in to the new millennium. The RP 3 is the latest evolution of the concept. I never got a chance to try out the previous version of the Rega P 3-24 series. So my basis for comparison would strictly be based on my experience with the recent RP 1 and my fond old memories of the P 25.

The new Rega RP 3 shown here in cool gray.

The Rega RP 3 looks little different from their previous incarnations at first glance, but spy harder and you'd find a new one piece construction Rega RB 303 tone arm, the new phenolic resin laminated plinth as per the RP 1, and a pair of spindle to tone arm mounting metal braces(called Double Brace Technology), clamping both points on the top and bottom of the plinth. I believe this pair of metal braces, for increased rigidity of the plinth, which allows the tone arm to track record surfaces on the platter more efficiently and quietly. The review sample is a cool gray coloured plinth unit, which makes photograph taking rather un-exciting.

However, setting up is pretty simple. For the sake of simplicity, to quicken plug and play effect, I requested the Asia Sound Equipment guys to supply me a unit pre-fitted with a Rega Elys 2 MM cartridge, accompanied by the Fono MM phono stage. This review conclusion is formed out of this trio of Rega combo, for the beginner just starting his/her journey in to the dark side!

I un-boxed the turn table on my hifi rack, loop the drive belt over the motor stub and sub platter, then top the glass platter and felt mat over. I check the tracking force of the Elys 2 cartridge and confirm that it's tracking at 1.75 grams. Since the Rega tone arm and cartridge uses a 3 point fixing system on it's head shell, no further cartridge geometry adjustment is required. Only setting the magnetic anti skating of the tone arm is required. I then proceeded to wire up the RCA connections and power cords and the Rega was spinning music 25 minutes after un-boxing.

Note the thin metal(DB Tech) brace running running from center of bearing to the tone arm mounting bracket. There are 3 rubber feet below the plinth as before. 

I was shocked by the total silence and a general lack of surface noise, which is very un-Rega like, from the moment the stylus dropped! This level of noise free turn table performance is just un-heard of at this price point just a few years ago, until the Clearaudio Concept came along that is! The totally silent back ground seemed to have wiped away most of that grayish back drop that was a Rega turn table signature, purifying the overall tonal balance of the RP 3. As a result, the highs seemed more extended and clean, while the mid range rendered more open yet still retaining that signature British mid range magic. The bass was clear, articulated and seem to extend lower than before, and driving the musical foundations with more authority. With the grayish back ground muck reduced to a trace, I hear more bandwidth and wider dynamic range. Overall instrument separation within the sound stage was more distinct too. Many used to accuse the older Rega P 3s to run just a little faster than 33 1/3 rpm, as if the turn table is in a hurry to finish the music. That hurried feeling is no more, as today's 24V motors are more tightly regulated than before. In other words, I did not audibly detect any wow and flutter or pitching issues with the RP 3.

Of all the sonic changes described above, one thing remained constant, Rega's signature rhythm and pace in keeping music's sense of timing is never off. I found the RP 3's tune easy to follow and gets my feet tapping infectiously. The RP 3, Elys 2 and Fono combo never let my musical play list down, as it plays every piece of vinyl, what ever the music genre to it's best ability.

At this entry/mid level pricing, some thing's gotta give, like if I could make a few more wishes. I'd wish for better detail retrieval, a smoother and more refined mid range, and increased dynamic contrast. But fret not, the Rega RP 3 is pretty up grade able, as I had once experience with my own P 25. When one craves for more audiophile attributes, just up grade the cartridge to any mid price MC offering from Benz Micro(the Glider works very well in my experience), Clearaudio, Dynavector or ZYX, and your vinyl enjoyment will be further heighten by no small margins! Couple that to the plenty of after market tweaks available for the Rega, your upgrade quest may never really come to an end, and the Rega RP 3 may end up as a prospect for potential life time ownership. Believe me, if any hifi equipment is going to last a life time, with some gentle TLC, this Rega is it, going by the thousands sold in the last 30 odd years or so and still in healthy service.

The Rega Fono MM is offers very quiet performance and is an excellent match to the Elys 2 cartridge. There is only a pair of RCA input and output behind. A red LED indicator power ON/OFF switch in the front panel. No loading or gain adjustments of any kind are offered.

The following are the retail price of the above review combo in Malaysian Ringgit:

1) Rega RP 3 turn table $2,500.00
2) Rega Fono MM phono stage $895.00
3) Rega Elys 2 MM cartridge $626.00

When Rega launched the RP 1 turn table, they proclaimed it's performance so good, even the more expensive, but older P 2 model was superseded. What I heard with the RP 3, I thought it's performance so good, it probably rendered the P 5 model obsolete(based on my fond memories with the P 25, predecessor of the P 5). My hunch was correct as I checked the Rega website today, the P 5 model is no more, seemingly replaced by a new, higher spec P 6 model!

The Rega RP 3 offers a toast to hifi equipment, whom one never needs to break the piggy bank to buy!

Rega is sold by Asia Sound Equipment, contact Eddie Tan at 03-79552091.

No Glases Required! Sutherland 20/20 MM/MC Phono Stage.

How times changed. I remembered that not too long ago, one would have to pay more than RM$10k for a very decent sounding phono stage. Those who craved for high end vinyl sound without the accompanying cost like me, can only look at the pre-owned classifieds. The arrival of the Ayre P-5xe and the recently voted best phono stage for 2010 here in Hifi-Unlimited, Parasound JC3 had proven beyond doubt, the vinyl revival and it's trickle down effect changed all that.

Today, we have another contender, the Sutherland 20/20 MM/MC phono stage, supplied on courtesy of The Audio Store, who had just opened their doors two months back. Retailing for RM$7,200.00, the Sutherland 20/20 is clearly in the budget of high end gears. Can it really deliver the sonic goods like the Parasound or the Ayre?


The Sutherland 20/20 MM/MC phono stage with it's top open for setting up, my Linn LP12 spinning in the back ground. 


For the price, there are bound to be areas of compromise, namely a lack of balance signal input or output. Gain is limited to 64db max for MC cartridges. There are other lower gain settings available. There are only 5 loading option for MC cartridges, at 100 Ohms, 200 Ohms, 475 Ohms, 1k Ohms and lastly the wide open 47.5k Ohms. What you do get for the money is a well built, dual mono design(right down to the wall wart power supply modules) phono stage. the circuit boards are of high quality and looks well laid out with decent enough quality parts. One area I am extremely fond of is the earth terminal knob. It's just the right sized, and comfortably knurled texture to be grabbed by the thumb and index finger, resulting in assuring grip and feel. Perhaps some may think I am making too much out of this, but my resident Pass Labs X-Ono, came with a slippery, cheap, feeling plastic earth terminal, which made me curse each time I had to use it!

I set up the Sutherland to mate with my low output Benz Micro LP cartridge of 0.34V, with maximum gain of 64db, and loaded at 475 Ohms. I proceeded to hook up the two(one for each mono chanel) wall wart power supply, closed the top casing, and was ready to play in 15 minutes or so.


A closer look at one chanel of the audio board. Note the 11 smoothing/storage power supply e-caps taking up most of the internal real estate. The audio section only takes up a small portion of board in the rear for most direct signal routing between input and output. 


The other area that Sutherland did not compromise is the sound quality. From the very first LP playback, it was apparent that the 20/20 had a neutral tonality, with a naturally warm enough quality. There was no harshness or graininess in the highs and mids are as naturally weighty and "honeyed"(remember that Strepsills advertisement with the cartoon guy and a chain saw gear in his throat, and the post Strepsills treatment?)  as they come, and the bass is articulate, bouncy and once hard hitting if the music demands so. I played Nat King Cole's recently re-issued on 4 side 45rpm LP, Love is The Thing, featuring the opening track, When I Fall In Love, I heard sweet soaring violins in the backing orchestra and Nat's flexing vocal cord, breathing techniques all golden honeyed yet retained his voice's complex texture, transferring all his emotions, in to song. It felt like as if good ol' Nat pop a honey lemon flavoured Strepsills lozenges before he started crooning! Another area that impressed me the most is the dead silent back ground and LP surface noise. My older Pass Labs sounds whitish in the back ground accompanied by LP surface noise a plenty. See/hear how much has technology come along in the past decade or so?

The 20/20 is transparent enough but not in an apparent way, much unlike the Parasound JC3 was. In terms of macro dynamics, the Parasound with it's balance analogue outputs has the clear advantage, but the 20/20 makes up for it in the transient response department. One more area the more expensive Parasound has an advantage is bandwidth. Just like it's name 20/20 suggest, the Sutherland offers a generous see thru wall to wall sound stage with excellent stereo separation qualities. Creating a perfect vision of sound staging without the aid of visceral sonic glasses, indeed, must be the true dual mono circuit design at work here!

The Sutherland however, is not about technical prowess, but natural musicality. Despite it's slightly short coming in the above mentioned two areas, I think many listeners will find it to sound more right musically without an A/B comparison against any of the more expensive competitors. In the end I guess a lot of it depends on the music genre being played, with the Sutherland sounding more excellent with intimate jazz, vocal, chamber and most acoustically powered music. That doesn't mean the Sutherland don't do rock or symphonies well either, it's just that the Parasound is the more balanced musical all rounder here, but lacking the natural warmth of the Sutherland, which I am sure many will find comfort with. It's tough being an audiophile because there are always choices and preferences to factor when shopping for upgrades.

Note the dual mono power supply wall warts(the two black plastic boxes) for the Sutherland 20/20 phono stage.

I think the Sutherland is the perfect fit for those who are just knocking at the door step of high end vinyl dom, but does not necessarily want to chase the up grade merry go round further. The Parasound on the other hand, is perfect for those more ambitious souls, who may wish to go further with their turn table and cartridge up grades in the near future. Then again, Sutherland has the more expensive, battery powered Hubble for that very kind of people. In the mean time, I know it's early days, yet I believe the Sutherland 20/20 is a strong contender for Best of 2012!

Sutherland is sold by The Audio Store, contact Mr Aw or Antiq Low at 03-78872233

Best Analogue Gear 2011.

Let us start with some analogue gears! Despite my conversion to CAS as my daily fuss free music source, the black vinyl curse still wears it's spell on me, especially when I am in the mood for some seriously audiophile numbing music, mostly jazz from 50's till the 60's.

Though we did not review much analogue stuff this year, making this three candidates appear by default, they are by no means turd sounding. Not at all. In the vinyl world, this three entries are considered real world enough for the aspiring audiophile and most of all that Rega RP-1 turn table set is likely going to be some newbie's entry point in to the black arts, and still not be ashamed about it's sonic potential, well at least with a cartridge up grade!


VPI Aries 3 & Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua MC cartridge, musically dynamic, with slam dunking bass response.

VPI Aries 3 & Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua Combo.

The VPI Aries 3 is the big brother to the successful Scout model we liked last year. When partnered with the Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua MC cartridge, sonically this mighty combo has what it takes to give the more up market tables from Clearaudio and Oracle a tough run for their money. The sound is highly transparent, with a hint of top end sweetness and slam dunking bass. It is also highly refined and ticks all the right audiophile boxes, performance wise. I have only two reservations about this table, first of which is the lack of an electronic speed change/control box(which is an extra cost option!). Second is the table's oversize plinth, which is great for stability, but will find it hard to fit on to standard sized racks. In my case, I had to review it, by setting it up on the floor. Not ideal, but ............


Parasound JC-3 is the our current RM$10k phono stage choice!

Parasound JC-3.

I was much impressed by the well rounded sonic performance of the Parasound JC-3. It does nothing wrong and everything well. It's strictly neutral tonal balance will allow the table, arm and cartridge's combo up stream to truly shine. The JC-3 is not particularly sensitive to cartridge loading, yet it's gain is high enough for use even with the lowest output of MC cartridges. It is noise free and is one of the quietest phono stage that I've tested, even with full gain setting. This Parasound is made to be partnered with turn table, arm and cartridge combo's a few rungs up it's own price! It's an over achiever and giant killer phono stage all rolled in to one!



Rega RP-1, a vinyl newbie's entry point.

Rega RP-1.

The sub RM$1k priced Rega RP-1 is possibly the cheapest and most cheerful bargain in the vinyl and perhaps the hifi world! It offers people a chance to experience the wonders of vinyl, without having to sell their mother or child! Sound wise, it's truly Rega centric, with it's exciting rhythm and pace, if a little grayish in the back ground. It's band width limited but still offers very decent musical dynamics. Best of all it's mid range is still unsullied yet offers enough body to be image rather convincingly. Which ever way one looks at it, it's still proudly made in England with pride and simplicity of engineering at it's best.

Next, we rate the best digital sources in 2011!

Paranormal! Parasound JC 3 Phono Stage.

Would you believe me if I told you this review took nearly half the year in the making? It's a long story, as you shall see. One of my buddies took delivery of his unit(one of the very first to reach Malaysian shores) sometime in March 2011. He instantly alerted me that this Parasound is something out of the ordinary, and that I should let the word out to our dear readers. I began arranging for a review unit instantly with the kind folks Center Circle Audio. Unfortunately, I was called away for an assignment, and when I returned, I found out that another reviewer from a local daily had beaten me to it. Like my buddy, the said reviewer was so... impressed with this Parasound JC 3 that he decided to keep the review sample! By then stock had run out and I had to wait for the next batch that came in last month.



A look at the innards of the Parasound JC3 will make almost any vinyl/hifi lover and DIY-ers knees weak. John Curl's attention to detail and production execution is first rate and will certainly put some of the more expensive rivals to shame! 


Post KLIAV, the review sample is in my man cave waiting to slot in to my LP playback chain. It replaced my 2 box Pass Labs X-Ono and here's what I found! But first, I must take the opportunity to admire the sumptuous build quality of the JC(designed by the same John Curl, of previously Mark Levinson JC series phono stage fame) 3. It's solid battle cruiser like build quality is re-assuring for reliability. Parasound's www proudly displays the very thoughtfully designed innards of the JC 3. A few touches stand out, like the huge AC input power factor filter cap on the right side of the casing, feeding clean power to a C-core transformer for low flux leakage. The power supply/regulator board and the C-core transformer is isolated from the AC input and both the dual mono audio signal boxes to further shield the venerable low level audio signal from the cartridge. Like most sub RM$10k phono stages, the Parasound JC 3 does not offer much flexibility when it comes to signal gain and cartridge loading choices.It's either MM @ 47db gain with default 47k ohm loading or MC @ 68db gain with 100 ohm loading. One may leave the MC loading option wide open at 47k ohm too, however I did not need to try. The Parasound, like my Pass Labs, offers RCA only input, with a choice of RCA or XLR output, which I used for the course of this review. My resident Linn Sondek LP 12 turn table mounted with Benz Micro LP low output(0.34mv) cartridge rounds up the partnering ancillaries.


The front panel of the Parasound JC3 only has two buttons. The one on the left is an ON/OFF switch, and the one on the right is a MUTE switch. The Parasound logo in the middle glows a healthy red when powered.


The Pass Labs X-Ono had ruled supreme the phono stage world within it's price range for almost a full decade, and the Parasound JC 3 show us just how far that world has progressed sound wise. I noted that even though the Parasound only had 68db of gain, it sounded as loud as my Pass on maximum 76db gain. I was also surprised that my cartridge sonically mated well with the Parasound on 100ohms of loading only. I was immediately impressed by the dynamics, and sense of urgency that this Parasound projects, it's very nearly equal to that of the X-Ono. Tonal quality aspect, the Parasound very much follows today's trend of absolute neutrality, as compared to my warmer sounding Pass. However, that absolute neutrality does not necessarily mean boring either! The highs are open and highly extended, never failing to convey a sense of top octave energy, if not as overall liquid as the Pass in presentation as I witness when playing Charlie Antolini's Crash LP. The mids are solid, but never beguiling like the Ayre P-5xe phono stage which plays the violin instrument like no other I've heard. The bass is fast, articulated and never short on impact. If anything, I found the musical presentation with the JC 3 when playing the Crash LP more up front and energetic compared to the warmer, more laid back X-Ono. 

The Parasound JC 3 is also impressively transparent with ultra low noise floor to boot(an area which the Pass X-Ono lost out). The Pass at maximum gain had some white hash in the quiet back musical grounds compare to the dead silent Parasound. Despite the up front musical presentation, I never felt fatigue or any ill effects of jarring highs. In fact, there's a real sense of musicality on offer here, which makes me look forward to every vinyl listening session during it's two weeks in my system. I think I spun nothing but vinyl during that whole two weeks!

The rear panel only has one RCA input and a choice between RCA or XLR output. The toggle switch selects cartridge loading.

There are few credible contenders in the phono stage market for less than RM$10k today. In fact, I counted three, from established high end marques.
1) PS Audio GCPH
2) Ayre P-5xe
3) Parasound JC 3
From the list, PS Audio sits right at the most affordable end, but still puts up a set of impressive hifi performance. Both the Arye and the Parasound offers more high end performance for a reasonable top up, the difference being the Ayre has lower gain for MC cartridges, and that makes it rather selective for partnering cartridges. While the Ayre's sound is definitely smooth with mid centric beguiling, it's slightly weak dynamics and lack of drive will works against it, unless partnered with a suitable medium output MC cartridge like the Clearaudio Concerto V2. The Parasound is the best sonic and musical all rounder, that balances speed, transparency and accuracy with musicality, that makes it a great partner for medium to low output MC cartridges like the Dynavector Karat D3(also sold by Center Circle Audio) or any of the higher range Benz Micros, like my LP. However, all three phono stages on the list does trade off adjust ablity for sound quality. I guess one has to pay more when looking for phono stages with higher flexibility but not necessarily better sound either. Do note that the Ayre P-5xe was never formally reviewed here either, but I had the opportunity to play with it in my system for a few days, sometime ago.

Should one wish, the other phono stages available at RM$10k or less are the various versions of FV Euroaudio's Pipit phono stages by Frank Acoustics(or simply Frankie, if you know tha man!) and the various versions AIME's from Audio Image, all locally made with pride!


Charlie Antolini's Crash LP is a very dynamic drum recording. It was know as a speaker buster back then in the 80's! This cover art represents the original pressing. My LP copy is a recent JETON re-issue, which looks slightly different on the cover art.


That more or less sums up my impression of the Parasound JC3 phono stage, priced at a very reasonable amount of RM$9,200.00 only.  Due to the very successful product sales world wide, Center Circle Audio tells me there is currently a waiting list for the Parasound JC3. If one dabbles in to the black arts, one should really check this Parasound out!

Parasound is sold by Center Cricle Audio, contact Sky, or Nelson at 03-77282686.

Entry Point to the Vinyl World – Rega RP1 Turntable and Rega Fono Mini Phono Stage

Rega RP1 Turntable

What was an LP system doing in my all-the-while-digital-fronted system? Well, my hifi buddies, Big E included, have been subtly or overtly attempting to get me to embrace the glories of the analogue sound. If I get a Ringgit every time one of them asked “so when are you going to listen to LP since your new room is ready?” I’d be able to buy a pretty high end turntable by now.

Big E not only talks, but he walks the talk. He brought to my place the spanking new entry level LP system from Rega. For the beginners, Rega has thoughtfully designed a complete LP package, the RP1 system consisted of the new turntable, an also-brand-new RB101 tonearm and an Ortofon OM5e MM cartridge. Add a budget phono stage like the Rega Fono Mini and some records, you will be well on your way to analogue bliss.

Ortofon OM5e Cartridge

How much do you expect to pay for all this? How about RM1,100 for the RP1 turntable, the RB101 arm and the Ortofon cartridge, and another RM250 for the Fono Mini?

The Rega system is pretty much plug-and-play. Big E took the turntable and phono stage out of their boxes, hook up all the cables, install the cartridge counter weitght at the end of the tone arm and we were good to go. For the rest of its stay at my place, I did not have to do any adjustment. That sure took a lot of anxiety away from an LP novice like me.

Rega RB101 Tonearm

I am not exactly new to LP playing, I can still recall fondly the time I spent spinning my dad’s turntable in my pre-teen years. He was trusting enough to let me handle his turntable and system. Those were the more innocent days where we were not so hung-up with all the ‘audiophile’ matters. Music enjoyment was at the forefront, I remembered the songs and the occasional classical music records that we enjoyed so much. Alas, with the advent of the audio cassette, the turntable stayed silent for a long time, and one day, it was gone.

After such a long lapse, I found that I need to be reminded on the ‘ritual’ of LP playing – of such good practices as handling the record only by its edge and centre; run a brush over the record before play to clean the dust; mute the pre-amp when you lower the stylus etc.. Sigh, this sure is more convoluted than playing CD.

(Let’s not complain too much about this though, I am sure the computer audio guys could also tease the CD guys with “What? You have to leave your seat to load the music?”)

Rega Fono Mini

The more important point is “How is the sound?” Let me put this upfront –the Rega system has all the sonic footprints that are the hallmarks of an LP system. Despite its low cost, it flies the vinyl flag high!

The most obvious quality this system had was the continuity of the sound, its swell and ebb, and the transition from one note to another was continuous and smooth. There was also a natural roundness to the sound. These would be what people term as analogue sounding. To get such a thing on a CD player, I believe you have to pay big bucks, yet this Rega did it so easily.

This Rega majored on a relaxed musical flow, rather than being big on dynamics and speed. It has a sound that was easy to listen to, always musical and was never jagged or grating. The music was also portrayed with good body.


If you were a beginner who is on a budget, I can’t think of a better introduction to the world of vinyl. Do check this Rega out.

Rega is carried by Asia Sound Equipment, contact Eddie Tan at 03-79552091

Best Analog Gear 2010.

Here's my first instalment(Odiosleuth has listed his own personal favorites) for the best hifi gears of 2010 that came our way. The main criteria for selection is that we must have reviewed them from the period of Jan-Dec 2010. However, we'd have to make an exception for speakers as we don't get enough to play with, due to room accommodation size and logistics factor. Finally, where possible, sound vs price performance factor will always be a consideration for us, unless a superior product totally sweeps us off our feet, regardless of price. Music and hifi is after all, are matters of emotion that concerns the heart more than our left brain cells!

Agree with me or not, we have to admit that 2010 is the year the analog revival goes full steam in Malaysia. Admittedly, the market for turn tables and vinyl as a music format is still relatively small but growing at a rapid rate. I see much vinyl newbies going for the highly affordable Rega P-1(now RP-1, which we are currently spinning), and surprising enough, an industry veteran tells me that there's been a few ladies picking up on vinyl and turn tables too!(I've yet to meet one personally)

Here goes our list of top analog gear for the year 2010.

Congratulations to Clearaudio for making the superb Concept turn table package at near budget pricing. There's a lot of clever thinking and advance design technology in the Concept, and the sound is just totally reflective of the effort, this time!

It was a hard choice between the Clearaudio Concept package or the VPI Scout II. Both are stupendously good sounding, but with their own personalities, and targeted at different market segments. However, I chose the Clearaudio Concept for the best, based on it's completeness in design technology and execution of functionality, rarely seen on this near entry level price range of just a little over RM$6k. The exacting factory setting is an absolute bonus for newbies too! The sound is smooth, highly transparent and utterly musical. Best of all, it may be one's first, or last turn table purchase, depending if one is a newbie or just coming off the up grade go round.
The VPI Scout II may be entry level in the VPI turn table range. The sound is anything but entry level! Spend a bit more for the VPI Classic? You bet!

Coming in a close runner up is the VPI Scout II, a turntable of traditional design but exceptionally well executed by Harry Westfield. This turn table is for intermediate level enthusiast and would most likely find a home in mid range systems. The imaging and sound stage are first rate, and the best part is the bass, which strike a happy balance between quality and volume. I only have a small problem for this more than RM$8k turn table, add another RM$3k more and one can get the superb and latest VPI Classic, which I've yet to spin, but I know more than a few who have already given it their thumbs up!
The PS Audio GCPH phono stage is highly versatile, with XLR balanced out puts too, if one likes that, and sound very respectable. Can't go wrong with this!

Now that you've got any one of the two great turn tables above and have selected your cartridge to mate(if VPI Scout II is your choice), than you'll need a good phono stage to partner. For RM$6k or so, I can't think of another better example than this PS Audio CGPH phono stage. It's got all the right buttons like mono and phase invert(both are important for fussy analog audiophiles, I am told) and best of all it will match most(except very low out put) cartridges, plus all the gain and loading adjustments are easily done on the back panel. The icing on the cake is that the PS Audio GCPH actually sounds very respectable too!

A special mention must go to the Dynavector DV-20XL cartridge, which retails for just a little below RM$2k. I've not experienced a better sounding and all round well balanced cartridge at this price range before, nuff said!

We've got more Best Of 2010 to come, stay tuned.

When Performance Matters. PS Audio GCPH Phono Stage.

PS Audio GCPH sitting on my audio rack.

The PS Audio company's first product back in the 70's was a humble phono stage, which was economically priced, yet sounded no less good than the more expensive competitor products. In recent years, PS Audio has made waves with their line of power re generators and cable range, but their amplifiers remain very much their core product line.
That's PS Audio's motto, clearly printed on the packaging.

What better way to get re-acquainted with PS Audio, than to re-kindle their first product, the phono stage? The modern GCPH phono stage belongs to the range of economically priced Trio Series Audio Product, yet boast a couple of technical features unique to PS Audio, like the Gain Cell amplification module, over sized power supplies and regulation circuits. For those following this blog, or my earlier contributions to another audio related blog, will know, that this PS Audio GCPH phono stage was one of my targeted up grades!(my recent pre-owned Pass Labs X-Ono purchase banished those thoughts)
The front panel in detail.

The PS Audio GCPH phono stage is shoe box size designed, with very short signal paths, high gain and flexible loading switches on the back panel for easy accessibility. The front panel has a fine gain tuning control knob, phase invert(very important switch to some as they switch from disc to disc), and mono switch(most important if you have mono recordings and cartridge), for easy fine tuning of tolerances, which can vary from disc to disc(we are talking about the vinyl disc here, just in case you're wondering!). There's also a blue LED "ON" indicator in the cetner of the front panel. The front panel controls can be remote controlled, but the hand held unit was not supplied with the review sample, so I can't test it's effectiveness in practical use.
The busy rear panel, note the gain and cartridge loading settings, no need to open up the box to do so, which is very convenient.

Build quality is sturdy, yet elegant. No complains from me here. I used the GCPH phono stage as a direct replacement to my resident Pass Labs X-Ono, as all the wiring is the same. A power cord, single ended RCA input and a choice of RCA or XLR out put, of which I used the latter. I then proceeded to set the gain to 66db, which is the same setting as the Pass Labs, and continue to set the cartridge loading to 100 ohms as per the Benz Micro Glider's recommended setting. I found the PS Audio phono stage very easy to set up and get good sonic results. I have one small quibble though, switching on the PS Audio again after the last listening session will see all the front panel switches and fine gain tuning knob go back to default, or zero setting.
The proprietary PS Audio Gain Cell amplification module.

From the first impression, I was pretty dumb founded! I found the PS Audio to sound so very similar to my Pass Labs, which was, not too long ago, considered a reference grade design! However, after spinning a few more disc, it slowly became clear, that while tonal quality is virtually the same, on the warmish side of neutral, there are some small but perceptible differences between the two phono stages. I slowly begin to recall hearing just a little bit more resolution from the Pass Labs. I also heard slightly better transient and macro dynamics. I also thought I heard slightly wider band width response on both the highs and the low ends of the frequency spectrum. Taken as a whole, I would say that the PS Audio can give the Pass Labs a very tiring run for the money, considering the Pass Labs X-Ono was costing at least twice as much, when it was last being sold, at the end of 2008! Just one more to note, setting the front gain fine tuning knob of the PS Audio to maximum, can sometimes lead to rather splashy highs and some uncontrolled sibilance in the music. Reducing the front gain fine tuning knob level to about 3 o'clock(7 o'clock being the zero out put and 5 o'clock being full out put) gave the best results.
The insides, note the over sized power supply transformer, the small audio board for short signal path and for nearest power supply regulation possible, and a pair of Gain Cell modules for stereo 2 chanel. Pretty simple but highly effective lay out, certainly less is more here.

Further listening also brought up a better side of the PS Audio. Over the longer term, I did find the PS Audio to be supremely musical, as it never failed to get my feet tapping through out my listening sessions. There's also a certain sweet, lushness to the mids, which makes vocal shine realistically with engaging emotion(with very little audio porn for good measure). Listening to Ella And Louis, a recently re-issued classic vinyl by Speaker's Corner, is a joy. I found Ella to sound so...... very seductive(but looking at the album art cover would surely banish all those thoughts!, no disrespect to the great diva meant of course) and Louis Armstrong so cuddly hug able. The GCPH phono stage brought out all those warm, fuzzy feelings of those classic vocal Jazz repertoire to the fore. I felt like wearing my homey pyjamas and warm socks in to my listening sessions, just to soak it all up. I also found the PS Audio GCPH to be very quiet in use, even in high gain mode, it's noise free, almost none existent back ground hum or hiss, when no music is playing, and pre amp volume wide open at normal listening levels!
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong duets album. Excellent for those who like classic vocal Jazz performance.

To summarize things, the PS Audio GCPH would offer almost 80% of the Pass Labs X-Ono's technical performance, but with it's very own twist of sweet lushness on the mid range, a quality that makes it that bit more special and a joy to listen to. When mated to a mid range MC cartridge(like the Benz Micro Glider) and turn table of similar price range, one can achieve a very respectable, not to mention, special sounding package of an LP play back system(if set up properly).
The recycle able packaging, with high quality printing.

Priced at RM$6,125.00 the PS Audio GCPH offers excellent value to sound performance ratio. Which is seldom the case in the hifi high end dom. Didn't PS Audio just said, "When Performance Matters"?

PS Audio is sold by A&L Audio Station, contact Yap(Wah Chai), tel:03-79582884

My Vinyl Revival! Pass Labs X-Ono Phono Stage.

Pass Labs X-Ono. An example of the more commonly found Rev.2 version.

With my CD player's recovery health status in limbo, with minimum chances of ever fully operational again, in it's original form, I indulged with my other source, the humble LP.

With one of my hifi buddy's recent phono stage upgrade, I was offered a prospect of owner ship to his pre-owned Pass Labs X-Ono phono stage. I know, this is not the latest XP series model and that I would offer no new perspective on what is an out dated product. However, this blog also serves to document both mine and Odiosleuth's hifi journey too, so I think I'll make a quick mention of it here.
My actual unit which is the Rev.1 version, or the one of the first batches of X-Ono's ever made. Note the shoe box sized power supply box.

The unit is a Rev.1 version, in which while the audio circuit is the same as the more common Rev.2 version available here, the main difference is in the power supply casing. The Rev.1 version power supply box is plain black shoe boxed sized, whilst the Rev.2 version power supply box is full sized, same as the main audio box. The Rev.1 also makes do with 2U steel casing while the Rev.2 version gets CNC-ed thick aluminium panels all round, just as per the front panel. Both Rev.1 and Rev.2 connects to their power supply boxes via 24 pin terminated custom cable.
The back panel of the audio box. RCA input, XLR output. Note the Telos Gold RCA caps for better noise rejection and slightly improved sound staging and imaging focus. I hope to get a pair of Telos Platinum caps to try later.

Now, the sound. I must first stress that in the process of auditioning audio gear for sound quality, if a particular equipment gives you goose bump moments when playing music, it is worth investing your $$$ buying and your time listening to it! The Pass Lab X-Ono did just that within 20 minutes in to the home trial session! Never mind if the cartridge loading and gain setting was not even finalised. It's that good! I took a further 2 weeks of continued listening to finally confirm the both the earlier mentioned settings. Mated to my Benz Micro Glider L cartridge, I ended up using 76 ohms loading and 66 db gain settings.

With the setting finalised, I sat down and listened to some music. Compared to my home brewed Pass Lab Ono DIY-ed effort, I found the real Mc Coy Pass Lab X-Ono to have much, much lower noise floor, better dynamic range & frequency extensions at both extremes plus, it's a whole lot more transparent to boot! Couple that to rather refined and textured high, smooth(but not the smoothest yet!) mids and iron gripped bass slam, I felt my LP reproduction performance levels taken up a few notches. I think the Pass Lab X-Ono is a great musical all rounder, as if you can remember, I am musically genre blind. My playback gear must do all musical genre equally well, and be compassionate to most the poorly recorded 70's and 80's rock music in my LP collection.
The Rega P25 and the Pass Labs X-Ono. Interesting but goose bumps inducing musical experience.

However, all that transparency is also a double edged sword. Along with all the sonic improvements points I heard, the sonic limitations of my Rega P25 turn table are also laid bare for nit pick. I heard what can be described as, a slight greyness in the back ground noise, LP surface noise is starting to get notice able and some wow and flutter problems when playing piano tracks. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I no longer love my Rega P25 turn table, it's a great value for money product, high in musical satisfaction and gets most of the hifi fundamentals right. However, I'll have to admit that there are better turn tables out there, like the Rega P9 or Linn Soundek LP 12 for instance.

Needless to say, after much deliberation, I bought the Pass Lab X-Ono phono stage, to spear head my vinyl revival.