RobbieGong and Andy (Smangus/Electronumpty) at Gong Towers
Aug 23, 2021 21:25:43 GMT
antonio, electronumpty, and 2 more like this
Post by robbiegong on Aug 23, 2021 21:25:43 GMT
And so, after declaring myself to be an offboard / standalone phonostage virgin, Andy Smangus, our very own Electronumpty kindly offered to pop over with his 'spare' Firebottle OTP phonostage and of course I didn't hesitate to take him up on.
He came by on Saturday lunchtime, big grin and it was great to see the fella - It didn't take us long or any hassle at all to get the OTP connected and plugged in.
I think he loaded it at 100ohm, (he can confirm - not that I fully understand all that ) and we were off.
Now to be totally honest, my immediate and initial thought was that the sound I was hearing, with the OTP in place wasn't really that different to what I was used to, through my Integrated Sansui AU a707DR's on board phonostage. Either way, we'd only just started and I knew it made sense to give things time, get the OTP warmed up and get through some more tunes and evaluation.
Anyway as time went on we were rocking and I started to become aware of a few things now.
1 . The music was flowing and presenting in a way that I didn't dislike, which was my fear before we started, that any difference would be one I didn't like / wouldn't warm to, but no, the sound wasn't too far from what I was used to and in fact there were moments when I commented on the emotion expressed on some of the vocals from Gregory Isaacs which really hit in a way that touched me and hit in a very tangible way - I really liked that, a lot, one of the more obvious things that happened and was very apparent to me - differences overall, were generally subtle, not night and day.
When the time came that Andy had to leave, he said he'd leave the OTP with me for a month or so which pleased me - a very good sign as I was enjoying what the OTP was doing, subtle as it was, it was welcome and I was glad to have it remain in my system. A very good and positive thing/sign as if I didn't like what I was hearing, regardless of make, rep, cost whatever, I'd have told him to take it with him.
Anyway, I wanted to play some more, once Andy had departed but didn't have the opportunity - domestic, home stuf to tend to.
The next day though I was fortunate enough to get some more system n tunes time and evaluate.
And now I could really hear what the OTP was doing in comparison to the Sansui's onboard stage.
Again, whilst the differences are subtle they are there and very welcome, I jotted down what I was hearing and here goes:
- The OPT offers better clarity and spatiality around vocals in particular
- Sound is better projected from / out of the speakers, more transparent, more defined
- Resolves even more detail and unravels vocal and instrumental lines / detail better, revealing nuances that were smeared before - now this coming from a system that is detailed already, courtesy of the Cadenza Black - FGS, so to find that there's actually even more, inside those all too familiar tunes / grooves has been an eye opener in terms of what a phonostage can bring out / do.
- More depth to the presentation, gets deeper into the mix, offering up even more vocal and instrumental textural info.
- Bass I'd say is more tuneful not necessarily deeper.
- Vocal and instrumental cues better defined
It is clear to me that this is happening because the OTP is designed well and is doing it's job well and that the only reason why the differences I hear are subtle rather than very obvious is because we are comparing the phonostage within a very good integrated amplifier against a modest but well designed standalone phonostage.
If there is one thing I've learned from this experience is that a standalone phonostage is a vital support platform for the cartridge to showcase it's capabilities and not the other way round.
Also, that it is very likely that as you go up the ladder, an 'exotic' phonostage with choice quality components and very carefully thought out and executed design implementation, coupled with an equally capable cartridge, will bring transparency, resolution and musical information unravelled in a way that can / will transform and elevate the all important sq of a system.
We've probably read and/or heard it said that in this game, everything going on is a chain, and you know what they say about chains. In my case- SP10 MK2, coupled with one of Technics's best tonearms, Cadenza Black-FGS cartridge, The excellent Spendor D7. It's clear that as good as the Sansui AU a707DR Integrated is, its inbuilt phonostage is good but not great and can definitely be improved on. The Cadenza Black is in great company BUT deserves a better stage to truly shine and show what it really is capable of.
Olster get that Avalon sorted !
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He came by on Saturday lunchtime, big grin and it was great to see the fella - It didn't take us long or any hassle at all to get the OTP connected and plugged in.
I think he loaded it at 100ohm, (he can confirm - not that I fully understand all that ) and we were off.
Now to be totally honest, my immediate and initial thought was that the sound I was hearing, with the OTP in place wasn't really that different to what I was used to, through my Integrated Sansui AU a707DR's on board phonostage. Either way, we'd only just started and I knew it made sense to give things time, get the OTP warmed up and get through some more tunes and evaluation.
Anyway as time went on we were rocking and I started to become aware of a few things now.
1 . The music was flowing and presenting in a way that I didn't dislike, which was my fear before we started, that any difference would be one I didn't like / wouldn't warm to, but no, the sound wasn't too far from what I was used to and in fact there were moments when I commented on the emotion expressed on some of the vocals from Gregory Isaacs which really hit in a way that touched me and hit in a very tangible way - I really liked that, a lot, one of the more obvious things that happened and was very apparent to me - differences overall, were generally subtle, not night and day.
When the time came that Andy had to leave, he said he'd leave the OTP with me for a month or so which pleased me - a very good sign as I was enjoying what the OTP was doing, subtle as it was, it was welcome and I was glad to have it remain in my system. A very good and positive thing/sign as if I didn't like what I was hearing, regardless of make, rep, cost whatever, I'd have told him to take it with him.
Anyway, I wanted to play some more, once Andy had departed but didn't have the opportunity - domestic, home stuf to tend to.
The next day though I was fortunate enough to get some more system n tunes time and evaluate.
And now I could really hear what the OTP was doing in comparison to the Sansui's onboard stage.
Again, whilst the differences are subtle they are there and very welcome, I jotted down what I was hearing and here goes:
- The OPT offers better clarity and spatiality around vocals in particular
- Sound is better projected from / out of the speakers, more transparent, more defined
- Resolves even more detail and unravels vocal and instrumental lines / detail better, revealing nuances that were smeared before - now this coming from a system that is detailed already, courtesy of the Cadenza Black - FGS, so to find that there's actually even more, inside those all too familiar tunes / grooves has been an eye opener in terms of what a phonostage can bring out / do.
- More depth to the presentation, gets deeper into the mix, offering up even more vocal and instrumental textural info.
- Bass I'd say is more tuneful not necessarily deeper.
- Vocal and instrumental cues better defined
It is clear to me that this is happening because the OTP is designed well and is doing it's job well and that the only reason why the differences I hear are subtle rather than very obvious is because we are comparing the phonostage within a very good integrated amplifier against a modest but well designed standalone phonostage.
If there is one thing I've learned from this experience is that a standalone phonostage is a vital support platform for the cartridge to showcase it's capabilities and not the other way round.
Also, that it is very likely that as you go up the ladder, an 'exotic' phonostage with choice quality components and very carefully thought out and executed design implementation, coupled with an equally capable cartridge, will bring transparency, resolution and musical information unravelled in a way that can / will transform and elevate the all important sq of a system.
We've probably read and/or heard it said that in this game, everything going on is a chain, and you know what they say about chains. In my case- SP10 MK2, coupled with one of Technics's best tonearms, Cadenza Black-FGS cartridge, The excellent Spendor D7. It's clear that as good as the Sansui AU a707DR Integrated is, its inbuilt phonostage is good but not great and can definitely be improved on. The Cadenza Black is in great company BUT deserves a better stage to truly shine and show what it really is capable of.
Olster get that Avalon sorted !
206 by 205 by 207 by 
