Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well!
I just got the latest email update on the Pacific Audio Fest for 2024, and here's the scoop:
A Month Away! Pacific Audio Fest - Sept. 6-8, 2024.
This is the last week to book discounted sleeping rooms at the Hilton Sea-Tac so Book Now for a great weekend of music.
Be aware of SCAMS and book your rooms only via the PAF website!
Staying at the hotel makes it easier to enjoy everything that PAF has to offer. Three days of great audio showrooms, seminars, marketplace vendors along with top notch live music on Friday and Saturday nights in our private penthouse concert/nightclub!
Purchase your PAF 2024 Tickets on-line and you will be entered into the raffle where 10 lucky winners will get free tickets to next year's show!
Saturday is “Family Day” so bring your children who are under 18 and the whole family gets in FREE!
Contact Information:
Lou Hinkley, [email protected], 360-410-2833
Audio Note (UK) M6 RIAA phono preamplifier
The combination of the Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 SET integrated amplifier and M3 RIAA phono stage totally blew me away, to the extent that I had to reconsider how I think about audio performance - words failed me. (Review HERE)
Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 SET integrated amp 7 M3 RIAA phono stage.
Peter Qvortrup surprised me by sending the Level 4 M6 RIAA phono preamplifier to listen to, and to compare to the Level 3 M3 RIAA phono preamplifier.
Tomei 211 SET amp (left), M6 RIAA (center), M3 RIAA (right).
The Tomei 211 SET integrated amplifier is a Level 4 integrated amplifier in the Audio Note (UK) performance hierarchy, so the idea was to pair the Tomei up with the Level 4 M6 RIAA phono preamp, and hear what a full Level 4 amplification combination is capable of.
I might add that the silver wound AN-S4 SUT is also a Level 4 component, so the signal coming of the Audio Note (UK) Io I MC phono cartridge is getting the deluxe treatment!
Audio Note (UK) Io I MC phono cartridge.
If you take a look at the M6 RIAA Owner's Manual, you'll notice it has the same lengthy 100 hour bedding-in time as the M3 RIAA:
"The M6 RIAA phono stage requires around 100 hours of initial use (called “bedding in”) before the circuitry becomes stable and optimum performance is realized. As the device “beds in” the sound will become increasingly more smooth, detailed and open. A warm up time of approximately 30 minutes is required each time the device is switched on before optimum sonic performance is reached."
I'm pretty close to 100 hours of 'power on' time for the M6 RIAA, but probably only a third of that is actually playing LPs.
To do the bedding-in, I've been playing records in "comparison by contrast" fashion, where I started at "A" in my jazz record collection, and just started working through some good ol' jazz records, from low-fidelity to high-fidelity records, and everything in between.
At first, with not bedding-in time on it, the M6 RIAA sounded a little brash and forward. Now after getting some record playing time in, the sound has smoothed out, is more detailed, and open, just like the Owner's Manual said it would.
As I am writing this, I'm listening to the Chet Baker Quartet on Barclay that was recorded in 1955.
Chet and the boys sound absolutely gorgeous through the M6 RIAA, and if you don't have this record, you should get a copy ASAP before they're gone for good. I just checked and Chad still has some in stock HERE.
I don't know that the M6 RIAA is fully bedded-in yet, but it already sounds incredible. Freaky good. Superb. I'm already drooling over what I'm hearing.
I'm just getting started with the M6 RIAA, so I've got a lot more coming about it.
I'll pop the tops on the M3 RIAA & M6 RIAA and do a little 'walk through' of the circuit, and point out the differences between them.
If you haven't read my Today's Fresh Catch article about the M6 RIAA yet, I encourage you to give it a read, there's lots of useful information about the M6 RIAA.
I've been enjoying hi-fi and music games for more than a few decades now, and I'm telling you that we are smack in the middle of a new Golden Age for audio. It's something to rejoice about!
The audio kit I've had the privilege to write about for you here at Jeff's Place and Positive Feedback over the last so many years has been truly impressive, precedent setting even, and I've been learning a lot of new things about audio performance as a result.
Much more to come about the M6 RIAA!
Yazaki-san's iPhone Adventure!
I've been in the crossfire of email exchanges between the guys participating in Yazaki-san's iPhone Adventure, and I'll tell you this: everyone is pretty amazed that such a humble audio device like the Douk Audio U4 Bluetooth streaming DAC can play music so well, and that group includes cutting edge audio designers, advanced DIY guys, and just regular blokes like me. We're all impressed!
I started my listening to Yazaki-san's 'Improved Douk Audio U4' in my vintage Altec A5 Voice the Theatre loudspeakers based audio-visual system, which is using tinned-copper Duelund DCA16GA speaker cables, Belden 8402 tinned-copper microphone cable RCA interconnects, and powered by the SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier (designed by Yazaki-san).
Streaming YouTube and Jazz 24 from my iPhone SE through Yazaki-san's 'Improved Douk Audio U4' on this system was impressive.
The sound was big, spacious, natural, information rich, and imminently musical.
I moved the Douk U4 into my primary music system with my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers (with custom Duelund CAST crossovers), the full stack of Audio Note (UK) components (gasp!), and my trusty CTC Garrard 301 turntable.
I was really curious if the Douk U4 could sound as good streaming Jazz 24 in this system as it could in my Yazaki-san inspired AV system.
The big, spacious, natural, information rich, and imminently musical sound quality that I heard in my AV system was there in all its glory, although I noticed something a little unusual that I haven't quite figured out yet.
When streaming from Jazz24 I didn't notice as much distinction in the fidelity of recordings like I do with vinyl or CDs in this system.
With vinyl and CDs I can hear every little difference between the fidelity of the software, while still maintaining a musical presentation that makes me feel like I'm hearing the very best of whatever album I'm listening to is capable of.
When streaming Jazz24 all the albums sound fairly similar in overall fidelity, and in fact they all sound like they're put through some sort of processor that makes them sound similar, particularly at the very bottom of the noise floor, and it seems like I'm not hearing into the deepest depths of the noise floor, which seems like it has been truncated before you get to its bottom.
So there's a couple of possibilities to explain this: The first is that Jazz24 is processing the albums in such a way that some of the information is missing so that you can't hear the bottom of the noise floor, the second is that perhaps other streaming DACs I've listened to Jazz24 with weren't resolving enough to notice this, or third, maybe the Douk U4 is putting its own signature on the sound.
I've got to experiment with some more music streaming sources, which I think will answer the question.
Either way, Yazaki-san's 'Improved Douk Audio U4' is impressing me with its big, spacious, natural, information rich, and imminently musical sound quality, and I don't think anyone would ever complain about its performance as a streaming source. Particularly given Yazaki-sans very affordable price for modded Douk U4s.
More to come about Yazaki-san's iPhone Adventure!
Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x CD player
I'm still freaking out at how incredibly good the Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x CD player is. It's better than most vinyl front ends. It's expensive. It's worth it.
I had an itch to listen to some Miles Davis on the Prestige label, and as I was going through my CD collection I came across the New Miles Davis Quintet on Prestige, 1955, remastered for CD by Steve Hoffman for the DCC label, and issued as a gold CD. Truly exceptional.
This is a monaural album, of course, but it is such ridiculously good music, and Steve did such a fantastic job on the remaster that you'll wonder why we ever went away from recording in monaural.
This CD has been out of production for ages, but if you happen to come across one in the wild, grab it, you won't be sorry!
Recent Posts
If you haven't had a chance to read them yet, I've added a number of posts recently that I think will broaden your audio and musical horizons:
In The Listening Games I give you all kinds of ideas for having more fun with your audio system and music.
Listening: When words fail ... beyond high-fidelity! is a paean of sorts to the combination of the Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 integrated amplifier and M3 RIAA phono preamplifier that so shocked my listening sensibilities that I couldn't find adequate words to describe their performance.
Tomei 211 integrated amp (left), M6 RIAA (center), M3 RIAA (right)
I've already mentioned the Today's Fresh Catch article about the M6 RIAA (HERE), and if you haven't read it yet, it is an excellent introduction to this exquisite phono stage.
Acoustic Revive RHR-21 room tuning devices end views.
I think you all know I'm a huge fan of Acoustic Revive products. They're ultra high quality, innovative, and deliver the goods. The Acoustic Revive Chronicles, Chapter 15, is now live at Positive Feedback HERE. Yes, this is my fifteenth article about Acoustic Revive audio accessories, and the wizard behind them, Ken-san.
Ok, that's all for now, and as always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
