TONEAudio MAGAZINE The Concierge of High End Audio

By Jeff Dorgay

If you’ve been reading TONEAudio for the last couple of years, you know I’m a big fan of the battery-powered gear from Red Wine Audio, built by Vinnie Rossi and his team. I’ve used their Signature 30.2 power amplifiers and their Isabella tube preamplifier with excellent results. The key to a large part of these components success is the fact that they are powered “off-the-grid” from high-current, sealed lead-acid (SLA) batteries, and Red Wine Audio has made the them effortless to use thanks to their SMART charging system.

The great thing about SLA batteries is that they have very low impedance (very high output current capability) and relatively flat discharge characteristics. The benefit to you is that the sound does not change as the batteries begin to discharge, and dynamics are maximized. I’ve used a number of battery-powered components, and the ones that rely on normal alkaline batteries (the Sutherland PH3D and Chord preamps come to mind) change their sound dramatically over the charge period and don’t have the low output impedance. The result is a sound you can’t really get used to.

SLA batteries are much better in this application, but they do require a certain amount of care to keep them performing at their peak, but who’s got time for that? What Red Wine Audio has done with their new SMART (SLA battery Monitoring and Auto Recharge circuit) board is to make the battery process a “no fuss, no muss” affair. Everything works in the background, so you only need to concentrate on the music. When the battery voltage discharges down to a set level (which is continuously monitored via the SMART board), the SMART circuit automatically turns OFF the unit and begins the recharge process for you. In addition to being very convenient, it maximizes battery life by avoiding accidentally deep-discharging the SLA batteries.

There are three other very important features worth mentioning about the Black Lightning: First, when you are using battery operation, the charging circuit is completely disengaged from the batteries, so there is no chance of noise leaking into the power supply. The battery charger itself is a separate unit that plugs into the Black Lighting for total isolation.

Second, the Black Lightning has 0.5 second in-rush current limiting avoid the high current in-rush that you don’t typically see with conventional AC power adapters because they cannot supply nearly the same level of output current. According to Vinnie, it’s actually better to leave your component switched on all the time and use the power switch on the Black Lightning as your power switch, thus always allowing “soft starts” of your audio component – which prolongs the life of their internal components.

Third, and possibly most important, I have to believe that while a good portion of the Black Lightning’s improvement comes from removing your audio component from the grid, it also eliminates one or more switching power supplies from proximity to your system. Anything in your HiFi system that uses a “wall wart” power supply is a noise bandit, dumping a healthy amount of RFI back into your power line and associated components. Even with world-class power line conditioning, I noticed a slight decrease in background noise with my other components, having eliminated the two switching power supplies from my system.

Red Wine brings this technology to the rest of us

As cool as the idea of getting off the grid is, for most power amplifiers, it’s not practical because of the high voltage requirements. But for preamplifiers, phonostages, dacs, and other low-level components that accept DC input voltages from AC wall adapters, Black Lightning will elevate the performance of your components to a whole new level. The minute you leave the grid, you’re leaving any AC-related noise and distortion components behind completely.

Earlier this summer, Vinnie and I were discussing exactly this and I asked him if he could build an upgraded 12Vdc power supply for my Nagra VPS phono preamplifier. I’d like to think I had a small hand in the process and in November, the Black Lightning was born. There are two models to choose from, the Series 10 and the Series 12. The main differences between them are the available output voltages and their current capacity (measured in Amp-Hours), which translates into the ability to power a component that draws more current for a longer period of time.

You can read the full list of configurable options here:

http://www.redwineaudio.com/products/black-lightning

The Series 10 starts at $625 and the Series 12 starts at $825. When you think about it, that’s just about what a good power cord would set you back. Hmmm. My review centers around three components that I felt would respond very well to being removed from the grid and that accepted a 12Vdc input (which I had Red Wine Audio configure a Series 10 unit for me); the Nagra VPS phono stage, the Nagra LB portable digital recorder and the Wadia 170i iPod dock.

Across the board gains

The $9,000 Nagra VPS/VFS phono stage has been my reference for over a year now and is a hybrid tube/solid state design. I’ve been very satisfied with the VPS/VFS, but it’s always had the slightest bit of background noise and hum that I’ve just chalked up to life with tubes.

Immediately after plugging the Black Lightning in, all of the noise was gone, even when sticking my ear right up to the tweeter. The Black Lightning redefines the term “inky black background.” The big surprise was when I set the stylus down on the first record, Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall. (200g. Classic Records version) We gave this record one of our product of the year awards in the audiophile recordings category. If you have this record, you know how big the soundstage is, but adding the Black Lightning just blew the boundaries out of my room. The Nagra’s already excellent dynamics went up a few solid notches. It just wasn’t the same preamplifier anymore. Everything I loved remained, but now it was super sized!

I am a big believer in clean power, and the validity of good power cords, but I’ve never had this much improvement from any power cord or line conditioner. I currently use the Running Springs Dmitri line conditioner on the front end of my system (and a Running Springs Maxim on a separate 20 amp line for my power amplifier) and I feel this product is the top of the mountain in power line conditioning products. I would compare the difference plugging the Nagra into the Black Lightning to be an equivalent jump in performance I experienced when I plugged the rest of my system into the Dmitri from the wall. Background noise decreased dramatically, dynamics increased substantially and the upper registers got smoother, yet more defined.

The more records I played with the new “upgraded” Nagra, the more impressed I was with the contribution of the Black Lightning supply. The effect was all positive and not the least bit negative. The bass drive had increased substantially, as if I had added a subwoofer to the system!

As much fun as the additional bass grunt was, this already detailed phono preamplifier was considerably better with microdynamics than before. No matter what kind of music I was listening to, I was always able to hear further into the recordings than I could before, thanks to the lower noise floor. This also gave my system the added benefit of sounding “louder” even at low volumes because the effective dynamic range was increased.

I’d also like to mention that when Vinnie and I were discussing playback times as he was developing the Black Lightning, I was expecting about 4 hours worth of playback time with the Nagra VPS (based on its power consumption rating) and I’m getting about 8 hours consistently. Very impressive!

Benefits with other devices as well

I had similar results with the Wadia iTransport dock, and this was very easy to discern using the Wadia 781i as my DAC. Everything was decidedly “less digital” sounding and the gap between .wav files on my iPod and the CD played on the Wadia closed further.

When using the Black Lightning with my Nagra LB digital recorder that is already battery powered by AA batteries, the main difference when using the Black Lightning SLA battery supply was slightly increased dynamics, better resolution during lower level passages and much longer record time. The LB will eat up eight AA cells in pretty short order, and with the Black Lightning I was able to record all day long without stopping to recharge. Again, the added benefit here with a Black Lightning is that you aren’t tossing a pile of Duracell’s (that contain mercury) in to the wastebasket on a regular basis. Better sound and better for the environment.

A product that truly exceeds expectations

In the world of high-end audio, there are a lot of snake oil vendors and precious little science and engineering, with every new widget promising nirvana where none previously existed. Red Wine Audio’s Black Lightning power supply is well-built, with solid engineering behind it and does a fantastic job at its designated task. You can’t ask any more from a component!

If you have something in your system that uses a switched mode/wall wart power supply and feeds a DC output voltage to your component, the sonic benefits you will receive from the Black Lightning will be instantly apparent. It has certainly made a welcome addition to my reference system. Give Vinnie a call to see if he has one that will suit your needs.

The Red Wine Audio Black Lightning, $650 – (approx.) $1,000 depending on size and configuration.

www.redwineaudio.com

While CNN and Fox News are both presenting their own version of the economic collapse, the Christmas shopping season is alive and well here in Portland, Oregon at the world’s first exclusive headphone boutique, 32 Ohm Audio. I know nothing warms my heart like seeing people out in force, buying audio gear!

Shop owner Ken Ball said the store had been packed all day and by the time I arrived on the scene at 8p.m. the party was still hopping. In addition to the helpful store staff they had drinks, munchies and had enlisted the help of local DJ Lady Adie who was spinning analog and digital tunes.

In addition to the festive atmosphere, thanks to their vendors, quite a few prizes were given away. Headphones from Monster and Ultrasone, along with a wireless iPod dock from Ultimate Audio had the fans jumping when I was there. One person in the crowd said, “These are some pretty impressive prizes, not like most places that give away drink holders!”

But in the end the winning formula is customer service and a wide product range. Ball said, “Buying headphones is such a personal thing, you really need to hear them before you purchase. We’ve got a wider selection than anyone and the atmosphere here is very chill. We want people to have fun when they come here.”

I think that says it all. When you are in Portland, stop down and see the crew at 32 Ohm Audio, you’ll be glad you did.

www.32ohmaudio.com

Julian Lennon and James Scott Cook are releasing a four song EP on December 15 entitled Lucy to honor Cook’s grandmother, Lucy Cook who has lived with lupus for years and Lucy Vodden, a childhood friend of Julian Lennon’s. They will donate a percentage of the EP’s proceeds to the Lupus Foundation of America. The EP will be on sale at major retailers and the Apple iTunes store.

Vodden recently passed away at 46 after a lifelong battle with lupus and Beatle fans may remember her as the woman who was the subject of a drawing that inspired his father John Lennon to write “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.”

We’ll be chatting with Lennon on Thursday to get some more information and will have a review of the EP in the Dec 23 issue of TONEAudio in the music section.

Features

Holiday Gift Guide

The 2009 Exceptional Value Awards

The 2009 Product of the Year Awards

The 2009 Publisher’s Choice Awards

2009’s Best Rock & Pop Albums
By Bob Gendron

Recordings of the Year
By Jeff Dorgay

Reviews

The Gamut S-7 Speakers
By Jeff Dorgay

The QSonix Music Server
By Hood McTiernan and Jeff Dorgay

The Loiminchay Kandinsky Speakers
By Jeff Dorgay

As a long time owner of Running Springs power conditioning products, I was very anxious to hear the effect of their newest power conditioner, the Maxim on my system. Unlike a number of other power product manufacturers at the recent Rocky Mountain Audio Fest that made outrageous claims for their power products (two of which have already been returned to their companies already), RSA designer Dan Babineau simply told me, “If you like your Dmitri, the Maxim uses the advancements I made going from the Haley/Jaco/Danielle series of our products to the Dmitri, but with additional filtering. It’s been optimized for high power/high current amplifiers.”

The new Maxim has an MSRP of $4,500 and the optional HZ power cord is another $1,495. The standard Mongoose power cord is $695.

In six years the RSA line conditioners have been the only ones I’ve been able to use in my system, that I could plug a power amplifier into without negative results; mainly the squashing of dynamics at modest to high volume. Every other power conditioner I’ve tried has fallen down when I’ve plugged my CJ Premier 350 or Burmester 911 mk.3 amplifier in. I’ve heard a couple do a respectable job at cleaning up the power (however, not as good as the RSA), but the minute you plug a big amplifier, the magic is gone.

In my reference system, most of my line level components (preamplifier, phono preamplifier, turntables and DAC) are plugged into the Dmitri on its own dedicated 20-amp circuit. My Naim CD555 has it’s own dedicated 20 amp line with a Running Springs Haley and the power amplifier on another 20 amp line with a Jaco.

How much further can it go?

I was particularly interested in torture testing the Maxim because I was working on a few high power amplifier reviews for our December issue. We’ve got the SimAudio Moon W-7 monoblocks at 500 watts per channel, the Burmester 911 mk. 3 at 350 per channel and the McIntosh MC1.2kw monoblocks at a staggering 1200 watts per channel as part of the lineup. And there’s a JL Audio Gotham hanging around with the ability to put out about 4000 watts in short bursts, so I couldn’t think of a better trial for the Maxim.

The Maxim took me by surprise because I was already content with the Jaco in my system, paired with the HZ power cord. Though I approached this with some skepticism, the result of swapping the Jaco for the Maxim was not subtle.

Immediately, I noticed a lower noise floor overall. This is instantly perceived as an increase in volume, because what your ear interprets as an increase in volume is actually the difference between loud and quiet. So if you want your system to sound louder, you can get more juice by making it quieter. Everything appears louder for the same given SPL.

Even more exiting was the increase in soundstage width and depth. With the Jaco in place, it seemed like the soundstage went about a foot beyond the speaker boundaries of the Gamut S-7’s that I used as the benchmark for all of my amplifier tests, but with the Maxim in place on the same music, the soundstage went about four feet beyond the speaker boundaries.

Keep in mind, with both power conditioners, the tonality of acoustic instruments stayed consistent and I could still wind out a big power amplifier without the leading or trailing transients getting shaved off, but in every case, the sound was bigger and slightly louder with the Maxim in the system. This effect also remained consistent, whether I was using the big Macs or my CJ LP70S, which is only 70 watts per channel.

The serious torture test was playing music at moderate to high levels with the big power amplifiers I had at my disposal. When those big blue meters on the MC1.2kw’s start swinging up past 600 watts per channel, you need current and that’s what the Maxim delivers. If you take a glance on just about any HiFi forum, you’ll see any number of posts where people throw their arms up and mention that their system always sounds more dynamic and lifelike when they just plug back in the wall. With the Maxim it’s just the opposite. Whether you are blasting Shostakovich or Snow Patrol, your system will exhibit a level of dynamics you didn’t think possible.

Is it real or is it Memorex?

Of course the human ear is fairly adaptive and it’s very easy to get used to the sound of one component over another after a while. After about a month of continuous listening with the Maxim, I plugged my Jaco back in the system to see if I really “needed” a Maxim. Everything shrunk down by a substantial amount and the system got slightly quieter, even at low volumes.

Keep in mind a power conditioner should not affect the tonality of your system at all. You shouldn’t get deeper bass or a more extended high end. Properly implemented, a good power line conditioner and associated power cords should merely deliver 100% of what your components are capable of delivering. No matter where you live, your power is moderately lousy to really lousy, because there are a lot of distortion components present in the line when power is generated. In short, things should get quieter and bigger. That is precisely what the Maxim does.

So, do I need one? You bet I do! If you have a modest system, it doesn’t make sense to buy a $6,000 power conditioner and power cord. Grab a Haley and enjoy the benefits. But if you’ve got a state of the art system and you’re already at 11, thinking there’s no where else to go, rest assured; there’s one more click on the dial with a Maxim.

The Running Springs Maxim Power Conditioner

MSRP: $4,500 (alone) HZ power cord, $1,495, Standard Mongoose power cord, $695

www.runningspringsaudio.com

Peripherals

Analog Source Spiral Groove SG-2 w/Triplanar arm and Lyra Skala cartridge

Digital Source Naim CD555

Preamplifier Conrad Johnson ACT2/series 2, Burmester 011

Power Amplifier Burmester 911 mk.3, CJ Premier 350, CJ LP70S, McIntosh MC1.2KW monoblocks, SimAudio Moon W-7 monoblocks

Speakers YG Acoustics Anat II Studio, Verity Audio Sarastro II, GamuT S-7

Interconnects Shunyata Aurora

Speaker Cables Shunyata Stratos SP

Power Running Springs Dmitri and Haley, RSA Mongoose power cords, Shunyata Python CX power cords

I just got my hands on one of Vinnie Rossi’s new Black Lightning power supplies and it’s fantastic.

Based on the same SLA battery technology he uses in all of his other products, this is now available as an external power supply that can be used with just about anything that relies on an external, switching mode power supply. Wall warts are very dirty and give off a lot of RFI as well as dumping noise back into the power line for your gear to pick up and ultimately cloud the presentation of your system.

We’ve got a full review in the works, but the short version is buy one of these. I’m using the review sample with my Nagra VPS phono stage and the result is stunning. The RWA supply redefines “black backgrounds.”

I’ll keep you posted, but this one’s a winner.

In the last few years, MartinLogan has received a lot of praise for their hybrid electrostatic designs, mating their legendary electrostatic panel to a dynamic woofer. In the case of the Purity, it’s a pair of 6.5-inch woofers in a very compact package that will only take a 10 x 15 inch patch of your living area.

What makes the Purity special though, is the fact that these are powered speakers, so you only need a source component and a pair of fairly long interconnects to build a complete system! These speakers feature a 200-watt, high resolution, switching amplifier built in, so if you want high quality HiFi, but don’t want a rack full of gear to go along with it, the Purity is for you. You can even run them with an iPod or Squeezebox and have the ultimate minimalist system. The Purity can be customized for different color options, at a base price of $3,295.

Small sources

That’s exactly where I started my journey with the Purity. In my small (11 x 17 foot) living room with my iPod full of Apple Lossless files and a pair of 8 foot Radio Shack interconnects. Worth noting when you set the Purity up for the first time, there is a hard plastic base on the bottom of the speakers that will tilt the speakers’ electrostatic panel back somewhat or keep it straight up.

Pay careful attention to this adjustment, because tilting them back gives the speaker a better overall tonal balance if you are going to be listening to the speakers primarily walking around the room or mostly standing. If you are going to be more of a traditional audiophile, listening in your chair, stand them straight up. Note, that with either of these positions, you will lose some of the high frequency and focus when you are not in the optimum listening position.

Tech info

If you’ve got a high quality source, you will be floored at how good the Purity sounds and how much music comes out of these relatively small speakers. I’m guessing you will be in one of two camps: A legacy MartinLogan owner that needs another pair for a different room in your home or office or someone new to the MartinLogan way of doing things.

If you are new to the electrostatic speaker experience, you’ll be surprised at how open and airy these speakers sound compared to a lot of box speakers, and that’s MartinLogan’s trademark. The diaphragm inside the panel assembly weighs close to nothing, so it can accelerate instantly. Thanks to the crossover frequency being so low (450hz) this panel handles most of the critical musical information and the two small woofers give you the same amount of bass you would get with a larger woofer, but in a smaller space. Those two small woofers also move faster, to keep up with the panel, adding to the overall transparency of the sound.

If you’re already a MartinLogan owner, you know all this stuff and you probably want to know how the Purity compares to the larger speakers you already own. The actual panel in the Purity uses the same materials and construction as the rest of the MartinLogan line (all the way up to the flagship CLX, which is one of my reference speakers), featuring their 2nd generation electrostat panel technology.

Wow!

Even using my iPod as a source, I was very impressed with the sound of the Purity. Think of the Purity as a bite-sized serving of what the CLX has to offer. When sitting in the sweet spot, it’s easy to be fooled at first listen that you aren’t hearing something much more expensive than the Purity and that’s it’s best attribute.

Granted, a switching amplifier has some limitations and because of the two 6.5 inch woofers, these speakers will reproduce solid bass down to about 40hz, where MartinLogans’ larger speakers will go all the way down to the mid 20’s, the overall balance is excellent.

As a MartinLogan owner, I was excited at just how much sound I could coax out of these speakers. After quite a bit of iPod listening, my next task was to investigate the limits of performance these speakers were capable of, so my next task was to drag out some better interconnects, power cords and source components to find out if this was a serious HiFi speaker after all.

Upping the ante

Again, the Purity passed with flying colors. Now, my “budget” system consisted of the Audio Research SP-17 preamplifier that we had in for review along with the Marantz K-A1 Pearl CD/SACD player. Both of these components cost almost as much as the Purity, and I did upgrade from Radio Shack interconnects to two pair of ED422 interconnects from Empirical Design, valued at about $500 each. I swapped the stock power cords from the Purities for a pair of Shunyata Venom cables ($125 each) and plugged the whole system into a Running Springs Haley power conditioner.

Bottom line, the Purity is up to the task of being the cornerstone of a real “audiophile” system too, so even if you start out just using the Purity with an iPod, you can rest assured that if the upgrade bug bites, you can grow with these speakers.

The Sound

The sound is pure MartinLogan. Open, airy highs, walk through midrange and tight punchy bass. I kept going back and forth between my dedicated listening room where the CLX’s make up a six-figure system and the Purity in my living room with the ARC/Marantz combination, playing the same CD’s on each.

The Purity did a fantastic job with everything I played. My favorite rock records had plenty of body and of course, vocal records really let these speakers shine. At times, you could definitely hear the limitations of the switching amplifiers present in the Purity, but that was only when comparing the system to my reference system. I think MartinLogan has done a great job with integrating the amp and speakers.

When playing musical selections that did not possess huge dynamic swings or subterranean bass notes, it was easy to be fooled when going between rooms. I was surprised at how good the speakers’ bass response was, considering the printed spec lists the LF response at 41hz. Yep, the driving bass line in “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” came through loud and clear. Speaking of loud, these babies did a great job with my favorite Mastodon, Tool and Metallica cuts, so they should be able to play anything else that interests you after this torture test.

While the Purity does not have the full scale of dynamic range that the more expensive Vantage or Spire possess, it does one thing better than most of the speakers in the MartinLogan line; top to bottom coherency. Those small woofers are fast and articulate. So much so, that you might be fooled into thinking this is a full range electrostat!

The only real limitation to the Purity is that the sweet spot for critical listening is small. If you have them angled back, the sound is very good all over the room, but the best sound will only be in one spot. Same thing if you have them optimized for your chair; that will be the only place you get all of the magic. Keep in mind you would have the same limitations with a small pair of mini monitors in this kind of space too, so I don’t see this as a limitation.

I also made it a point to run some fairly long interconnects to these speakers, as they only have RCA line-levelinputs. While I didn’t have any trouble with 20 foot interconnects, it might be a good idea for the next version of these to have balanced XLR inputs as well. Those with a budget source only possessing speaker level outputs can connect via the speaker level inputs as well.

In the end, convenience

Thanks to the internal power of the MartinLogan Purity, they make a great place to put a high quality sound system, where you might not have in the past. In five minutes you can have them set up and playing music and that’s what it’s all about. Though some of you might get grumpy that a powered speaker doesn’t give you the flexibility to choose amplifiers, speakers, etc., you’re missing the point; the Purity is the perfect speaker for someone who doesn’t want to bother with all of that! Plug em in and enjoy.

Because the Purity offers this level of performance, style and simplicity in one package at such a great price, we are awarding it one of our Publishers’ Choice awards for 2009.

The MartinLogan Purity
MSRP: $3,295
www.martinlogan.com

Peripherals

Sources: iPod Touch, Audio Research SP-17 preamplifier, Marantz K1 Pearl SACD player

Cable: Empirical Design ED 422 interconnects, Shunyata Venom Power Cables

Accessories: Running Springs Haley power conditioner

Ed. Note: This review was published in late 2008, but we somehow failed to upload it this spring when the site was overhauled. Our apologies!

Rega has had a string of great products lately, including the improved P3-24 turntable and the stellar Ios phono preamplifier. While I might be accused of being biased toward Roy Gandy and company, it’s pretty hard not to like them when everything they’ve sent our way has been such a home run. Actually, I’m getting more and more biased towards having a great integrated amplifier in your system.

Integrated amplifiers in general have been making a comeback for a while and we’ve had quite a few of them in our paws this year that have been spectacular. The Sim Audio Moon i-7 at $7,000 is one of my favorites and features a beefy 150-watt per channel power amplifier section. The Naim SuperNait at $5,000 is less powerful but has a versatile DAC built in along with a fantastic headphone amplifier stage.

Perhaps you don’t require a built in DAC or a headphone amplifier and you would like to spin some LP’s without having to purchase an outboard phono stage? Enter the Rega Elicit. For $3,000 without a phono stage or $3,200 with your choice of MM or MC card installed, the Elicit could be the amplifier for you. My review sample came with an MM board, as Rega did not yet have the MC boards in stock, so we will do a follow up on the MC board as soon as we receive one.

The Elicit has more than enough inputs to be the center of your HiFi system. If you order yours with the phono board installed, there are five more high level inputs; four on the input selector as well as a tape monitor input. There are three outputs as well; a variable level output marked “preamp output” that you can use with a powered subwoofer or perhaps an additional power amplifier in a biamped setup, a fixed level output marked “record output” for a tape recorder, CD recorder, etc., and an additional fixed output marked “record output link” which is functionally equivalent to the record output. Rega says that the phono preamp is a plug in card and mentions “future options.”

The Elicit is rated at 82 watts per channel and while we don’t measure our amplifiers output on a bench, I can say that it played just as loud with the same speakers as the Naim SuperNait (rated at 80 watts per channel), so as long as your speakers have a sensitivity of at least 86db the Elicit will have enough power for your application. I do find the subwoofer output critical for an amplifier at this level, I’ve auditioned too many pricey integrateds that ignore this feature.

This amplifier is continuing in the path that Rega has started down with the Ios phono stage as part of their premium line of components. “This is the best integrated we are capable of making” Roy Gandy told me in a recent phone conversation. “The circuit has actually been around for a while and we’ve been refining it.” If you aren’t familiar with Rega as a company, they do not rush to market with anything, always waiting until a product is built exactly the way they want it. Their website says at the bottom of the page “they are the last major HiFi manufacturer to produce a CD player.”

Peeking inside the Elicit shows the attention to detail, with premium parts everywhere and I’d like to emphasize that there are no Class-D modules or op amps anywhere; the Elicit’s circuitry is all discrete.

Music in five minutes

Even with a turntable, CD player and subwoofer, I was rocking out in no time with the Elicit. The instruction manual is straightforward, as is the remote. As you are lifting the Elicit out of the box, you will notice how beefy it is – there’s a major power supply lurking under the casework. With a similar form factor to the rest of the Rega components, the Elicit will look right at home with a P9 and PSU power supply, an Ios phono stage, or a Rega CD player. The big difference is the openings cut in the left and right sides, revealing some massive heat sinks for the output stages.

The volume control is somewhat recessed in the front panel and is microprocessor controlled, changing volume in +/- 1db steps. Rega claims better than .2db channel balance, which I had no reason to doubt. I liked the row of LED’s that light up around the volume control as you increase the level, as an alternative to a large LED panel with numbers. And yes, those of you that get grumpy about glowing LED’s can dim them from the remote.

Top quality sound

You’ll forget all the specs the minute you fire up the Elicit; this is something special indeed. While I liked what I heard immediately, after a couple of days of continuous play the Elicit opened up even further.

Because I see the Elicit as the core of a very high performance system, I made it a point to use it with quite a few different speakers, including the MartinLogan Spires in for review as well as the 53 thousand dollar Loiminchay Chagalls. Even with the mega Loiminchay’s, which are known for their exceptional resolution of fine detail, the Elicit held it’s own.

The good news is that the Elicit has enough current drive to power the Logans just fine and every other speaker I was able to throw at it. So unless you need concert hall levels or just have tremendously inefficient speakers, the Elicit should be able to drive most speakers with ease. I ended up settling in on the system mentioned in the sidebar, with a pair of Harbeth Compact 7ES-3’s, a Rega Saturn CD player and a Rega P3 turntable with Clearaudio cartridge.

I’m fortunate enough to have a very high performance system to listen to every day and while this system I’ve assembled does not eclipse my six figure reference setup, it does nail the fundamentals so well, that it’s easy to forget that you aren’t listening to a much more expensive system. Listening to music that isn’t terribly demanding on the frequency extremes, like the new James Taylor album, Covers, or perhaps some chamber music will easily fool you into thinking you are listening to something a lot more expensive.

What fools you into thinking that you are listening to much more expensive gear is the tonality that this amplifier provides. While you won’t confuse the Elicit for a tube amplifier, it does have a drop of warmth to the presentation, sounding closer to the Luxman 590 (All class-A) than say the Moon i-7 or the SuperNait. Listening to my favorite classical discs was very pleasant indeed, with the Elicit having an unmistakable ”rightness” about it.

I briefly added the Luxman D-7 combination player that we have in for review, so that I could listen to the new Analogue Productions SACD release of Sonny Rollins Saxophone Colossus and it was awesome, showing off the dynamic capabilities of this amplifier. When Sonny blasts away, the Elicit did a fantastic job at capturing the transient attack. I had equally good luck with some of my favorite Mahler and Shostakovich discs. At moderate to loud levels, I always felt like there was enough headroom to enjoy the music without strain.

The Elicit’s performance under torture is also worth mentioning. I spent a few hours working outside the studio and had a good playlist full of Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and Snow Patrol playing, running the Elicit at full volume for about four hours straight. The heatsinks got a little warm, but not hot to the touch, indicating robust build quality.

At the risk of sounding vague, the Elicit is very musical. While some solid-state amplification, especially at this price point can sound somewhat harsh and fatiguing, this was never the case with the Rega. Towards the end of the review period, I moved it to my desktop system with a pair of Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a’s and MartinLogan Grotto i subwoofer. This system has incredible midrange detail and a very smooth high end along with an uncanny amount of resolution listening nearfield. Anything that is the least bit fatiguing will become torture during 10-hour Photoshop editing sessions.

Having spent the last two weeks of producing the August issue, listening to this combination nonstop, it was always enjoyable, even after 12-hour shifts, playing a very wide variety of music. I’m sure the parts quality and all discrete circuitry had a lot to do with this.

The hidden jewel

I was not prepared for the surprise that I had when I plugged my P3-24 into the Elicit. I have reviewed a number of integrated amplifiers and preamplifiers that charge $500-700 dollars for a plug in phono board that aren’t nearly as well executed as this one is. While I used Rega’s P3-24 with the Clearaudio Maestro Wood at first, I was so impressed with what I heard, I even upped the game, going to my P9 and Grado Statement combination. While this was pushing things beyond the resolution of the onboard phono stage, it still sounded great.

The internal phono board more than held it’s own when comparing it to a few of the $700 external phono stages I’ve had the opportunity to sample, so for many vinyl lovers, this will be a great place to start. Being solid state, it is extremely quiet with good dynamics and an amazingly open top end for an under $200 upgrade.

Granted the internal phono stage will pale in comparison to Regas Ios (which costs as much as the Elicit), but it’s a great place to start. That being said, using the P9 with the Ios and the Rega Apheta MC cartridge was very impressive indeed. Not a bad way to go for a compact, all analog system!

A great alternative to separates

With integrateds gaining momentum all the time, if you haven’t investigated them in a few years, you will be taken back by just how much performance is now available. The Elicit is the perfect amplifier for someone who wants a high performance music system, regardless of configuration. The fact that you need fewer cords and cables is a big bonus.

Remember, what you get for $3,200 is a preamplifier, a darn good phono preamplifier and a power amplifier all on one chassis. Even buying modest interconnects in an all separates system would be another few hundred dollars and you would require a lot more rack space to get the job done.

It’s also very important to point out that while some of you in the audience might not quite grasp the significance of this $3000 British integrated, Rega has never made an integrated at this price point. They’ve built an amazing reputation on their Brio at $695 and the Mira at $1195, so this is big bucks for Rega. The Elicit offers so much at this price point because Rega builds their products in quantity and everything shares similar casework and packing materials. Unlike some boutique products that penalize the owner for building in small numbers, Rega reaps the rewards for running a tight ship and passes those savings on to their customers.

I defy anyone to put together more performance with a separate power amplifier, preamplifier and phono preamplifier at this price point. I’m happy to say that we are purchasing the review sample to become part of the permanent collection here at TONEAudio.

The Rega Elicit
MSRP: $2,995
www.soundorg.com

Peripherals:

Analog sources Rega P3-24, Rega P9, Rega IOS phono stage

Digital sources Rega Saturn, Luxman D-7i
Speakers Harbeth Compact 7ES -3, MartinLogan Spire, Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a

Cable Furutech Reference III (speaker and interconnect)

Accessories Running Springs Haley with Mongoose power cords, Finite Elemente Pagode Signature Rack

If you love the sound of a great SET but want more than a few watts, so you can really rock, Win Analog is the place to get it.

I saw their new 833 based monoblocks at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and almost didn’t go in the room fearing that they were $300 thousand a pair, like WAVAC.

The good news is that they are $75 thousand a pair, and while that’s not exactly grocery money, it puts these 130 watt per channel SET monoblocks in the reach of the most demanding listeners.

I’ve spent the day at Win Analog listening today, and came away highly impressed. These beautiful amplfiers deliver the goods!

For more information, go to their website:

www.winanalog.com

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