PDF - Absolute Sounds

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Richard
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CIASSIFIEDS
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Anniversary
AudioResearch
ooo)
e (t24,:
EdrtionReferenc
hasraisedthe
AudioResearch
5 preamplifier,
Wowingthe worldwith the Reference
be evenbetter?
EditionReference
barfor its4Othbirthday- canthe Anniveisary
,.
KenKesslerLab:PaulMiller
Review:
reachedthe '
n intriguingmissive
wor ld' saud i op re s si n e a rl y2 0 1 0 .
Itsopeningread:'TheAudio
teamthoughtlongand
Research
hard about how to commemorateand
continuethis track record on the occasion
of its 40th anniversary.lt would have to
be a product so specialin its design,so
groundbreakingin its performance,as
to be regardedapPropriatelyas a true
'AnniversaryEdition".' The pressrelease
should have come with.an tttPgtlte
providinga fanfare,for it heraldedthe
ier.
AnniversaryEditionReferencePreamplif
Whew. Hadn't ARCjust releasedthe
Reference5, a preamp so terrifyingly good
that this writer followed a number of his
reviewercolleaguesin buying one? How
on earth could this thing be improved?The
Ref 5 was alreadya costlyenough device
to representa flagshipby any measure,
not leastfinancial.But a killerveirsionof
it costing double?Justifyingthat would
requirepeerlessperformance.lt would
have to be a Ref 5 without restraint.
To that end, Audio Researchaddressed
the few solutionsnot availablein the
Ref 5. As is clearfrom
single-chassis
the photos,the Anniversaryis a twochassisdesign, its valve-heavypower
supply relegated to a box of its own. An
immediatecaveatwas made known,
necessaryin light of publicityphotos
showing the two sectionsstacked:don'f.
That'sstrictlyfor photographypulposes,
and the two rnust be separated,either
or on shelveswith at least 6in
side-by-side,
above each unit for cooling.
Evolvinginto a true dual-monolayout
is another departure between '5 and
right down to two fat umbilical
Anniversary,
cords connectingthe chassis.Theseare
RIGHT: Built onto a singlePCBasa duaFmono
layout, the hand-wired Anniversaryfeaturcs
no feurerthan four 6H3OPdoubletriodes per
channel.And look at those decouplingcaps!
20 I www.hifinews.co.ukI APRIL2011
including
multiplestagesof regulation,
for eachchannel
separate
valveregulation
viatwo 6550Candtwo 6H30tubes.
isan all-valve,
In the preampchassis
pureClass-A
circuit
zerofeedback,
POINT TO POINT
four 6H30triodesperchannel,
claimsthat the Anniversary employing
AudioResearch
Thosewho loveto gaze
againdual-mono.
enjoys'twicethe power,{upplyenergy
with a perforated,
unit
comes
previous
inside
the
Reference
with
storagecompared
'see-through'
top panel- will find it hard
preamps',
whichmaygo someway
of
the sheermassiveness
gainsin
to comorehend
the shocking
towardsexplaining
quietness,
headroom
andspeedof thisunit the four customTefloncouplingcapacitors
mountedon the bottomof the mainboard,
sibling.Thecompany
overits single-box
eachweighingarounda kilo.Eachvalveis
topology
the two-chassis
alsoattributes
dampingring;the
fittedwith a now-familiar
becausethe moveto 'truly
to necessity,
maincircuitryisfittedto a largemother
signalpathsfor eachchannel'
separate
board;daughterboardsdealwith the front
on real-estate
the demands
increased
and- asif to charm
thismeansa dual-mono panelandthe socketry,
within.In practice,
- there'splentyof good
olderaudiophiles
powersupplywith separate
low andhigh
wiring.
old point-to-point
for eachchanneland
voltagetransformers
multi-pinaffairswith industrialtwist-tolock connectors,and usersare advisedto
connect them before attachingthe mains.
...AND COUNTING
lf you'veplayedwith ARCpreampsin
the pastdecade,the Anniversary
will be
instantlyrecognisable.
Withoneexception:
whenyou switchit on,the vacuumfluorescent
displayreadsAnniversary
'l970-1971'
EditionReference
Preamplifier
andit thencountsup,yearby year,untilit
re a d s'1 970- 2010'
lt '.sa n i c ed i v e rs i oans
the Anniversary
warmsup.Oncethe count
finishes,
the displayswitches
to normal
mode,showingvolume,source,choiceof
balanced
or single-ended
input,andmute.
Thefasciacontainsknobsfor volume
andinputon eithersideof the display
while,below,aresixaluminium
buttons
for Power,Processor,
Mono,lnvert
BAL/SE,
and Mute.Aesthetically,
bothchassis
come
fittedwith sifuerhandles.
whileblackunits
areavailable.
Thetop coversarein smoked
acrylic,
ARCsuggesting
that they'reused
for'optimalsonics'as
wellasaeSthetic
appeal,but blackmetalis an optionfor
thoseof a moreconservative
mien.
Functionally,
thereareno cautionsnor
surprises,
asidefrom makingsurethat
youseparate
the chassis
and hookup
everything
beforethe mains.Thedisplay
canbe dimmedor turnedoff completely,
with ninesmallpixelsremaininq
to indicate
Audio Researchwas born in 1970 with a preampbasedon Dynaco'sPAS,
hot-roddedby Bill Johnsonto match his equally-tweakedamp basedon Dynaco's
Stereo70. The companyproduceda steadyrun of complete preamplifierswith
phono sections,succumbingto the (presumedfdecline in phono inputs in 1989
preamp,the LS1.Since1982, though,
with the launchof its first line-level-only
ARChastreated us to a run of sensationaltwo-box preamplifiersbeginningwith
the all-valveSPlO(regardedby some as one of ARC'Sgreatest-evermodels),the
hybridtube/ FETSPl1 (1985)and the SPI5 (1988).Intriguingly,the Anniversary
ReferenceEdition is not only the first'REF'model with an outboard power
supply,it's alsotheir first-everline-stageto fill two chassis.The juicy closure?
lohnson'shot-roddedDynacoof'70 featured an... outboard power supply.
ABOVE:Frontpanellaidout asRef5, but with
TheAnniversary
legend
sleeknewpushbuttons.
countsupfrom 1970fromwvitchonto warmonly
up!NB:stackingisfor photopurposes
that the unit ison; a tiny lightalsoglows
frontpanel.At
on the powersupply's
I will laudfromthe
the back- a Dractice
rooftops- all inputsandoutputsare
XLRor singleofferedin both balanced
endedform:sixlineinputs,a unity-gain
pass-through
input,two pairsof main
outputsanda recordoutput.Theunitalso
lRremoteand
comeswith a full-function
12Vtriggerfor remoteswitch-on.
Forthe review,I usedthe Anniversary
with both balanced
andsingle-ended
preferring
components,
the formerwhen
ableto try both,aswith the Mclntosh
MC 2102pow erampandthe Mar ant z
Forsi ngl e-ended
use ,I
C D 12/D A 12.
enjoyedthe Quadll-eightymonoblocks
andQuad99 CDPll CDplayer.
Also
V
employed
werethe SME20/3with Series
armfitted with Koetsuand Lyracartridges,
andW i l sonS ophi a
3s.
Asthe Anniversary
allowsthe user
to displaythe hourson the valves,.I'm
guessing
that the reviewsamplestillhad
O
manyto go beforecompleteburn-in.
APR|L2011i wrryw.hifinews.co.uk
I 21
Onlya mere85 hoursor so reglstered
Butdid thisnear-virgin
on the display.
mean
equivalent,
state,likeits biological
or innocence?
or indecision
uncertainty
thispreampin
lf what I heardrepresents
itsfirstflushof youth,I can'twait to hear
onethat'sway pastslattern.
@ rurnnc oN BANGLEs
- talkaboutfirstimpressions
Mygoodness
Whateverit wasthat led
beinglasting.
I haveno idea.Hadn't
rneto TheBangles,
playedtheirmusicin ages.Butbrashand
powerpop,
femalevocals,
amassed
brassy
tight and janglyguitars,
slickproduction,
crunchydrumming- | figuredthat sorting
with so muchgoing
out theserecordings,
on all at once,wouldbe a trialworthyof
sucha component.
coversof 'Live'and
Theirimmaculate
'WhereWereYouWhenI NeededYou'were
likea perfectlemonmeringuepie:softon
the top, squidgyin the middle,with a crisp
recordings
TheBangles'
crust.Additionally,
stereoimaging,
enjoyedratherremarkable
'EternalFlame'
not leastthe exquisite
irritating'WalkLike
andthe perennially
lt isthe 'dancemix'of the
An Egyptian'.
latterthat's punctuatedwith a syntheticslamdeadcentre
soundingpercussive
wavesto the
that sendsoff shimmering
l
.
somehow
outeredges.TheAnniversary
the artifice,with the decayof
ameliorated
fluidity.
the CDnearinganalogue
Sibilance,
oftenenoughto marthe bliss
systems,
throughlesser
of TheBangles
the
a silkiness
that rendered
acouired
seductive.
merelytolerablepositively
Cymbalcrashes,
the stringson 'Eternal
Flame'...
nothingjarred,nothingreplicated
the onsetof tinnitusor the edgeof a
compressed
source.Fora laugh,I subjected
to the sametrackon last
the Anniversary
year'siPodnanoviathe Purei-10dock.lt
was'not badat all'.
DaveGordon,MD of Salesat Audio
Research,
isn't coy about describing
the Anniversaryas 'a Reference5
taken to the max.Obviously,the
major differenceis the all-tube,
externalpower supply,but other
componentshavebeen upgradedas
well, includingfour customTeflon
eachweighing
couplingcapacitors,
more than two pounds.Another
major improvementis dual-mono
constructionthroughout'.
ADIFFERENT HAT
stuff,
Backto theserious
t hough. M o n o H o l l i e s
on vinyl was tonally too
s im ilart o T h e B a n g l e st o
presentany challenge,so
they merely reaffirmed
;
22 | www.hifinews.co.uk! APRIL201 1
the
chassis,
in a separate
ABOVE:Housed
PSUemploysa
Anniversary
chokeregulated
pairof 6550Cand6H30Ptubesperchannel.
isaround200W
Theidlepowerconsumption
preamplifier
championwho
anysolid-state
thinksthat tubesare'soft'.
to the '5, the Anniversary
Alsocompared
effect
offereda slightlydeepersoundstage
making
on the monoHolliesrecordings,
them seembigger,fuller.I knowthisis
to thosewho refuseto believe
anathema
haveanyspatial
that monorecordings
valuebeyondthat of a
point,but the effectis
- and
easilydiscernible
But,out
disconcerting.
of respectto sceptics,
I will applycomments
aboutthe spatialonlyto
lest
stereorecordings,
youthinkI'm attributing
virtuesto a singlechannel.
imaginary
finest
oneof thiscountry's
PaulCarrack,
it la Ferry,
vocalists,hasjust released,
that
Stewart,et al, an albumof standards
by thoseof
I fearwill be overshadowed
A gentleaffair,A Different
hiscolleagues.
in
the RoyalPhilharmonic
Haffeatures
feel.lf
lushform,with a true analogue-era
you might
you didn'tknowit wasCarrick,
mistakehimfor anyof a dozenor so stellarG'
A squigymiddle
andcrisp crusttheperfectlemon
menngue ple
hasa deft waywith
that the Anniversary
abundanttreble.Althoughmoreprecise
for arresting
thanthe Ref5, especially
abrupttransientstopson electricguitar,
neverseemedaggressive
the Anniversary
thanthe '5. lt wasmorean
nor harsher
thanquality,like
exampleof presentation
a lensa merehalf'stopin either
adjusting
does,in
Whatthe Anniversary
direction.
thisrespect,isthrow downthe gauntletto
z
ARC REFERENCEANNMRSARY (f 24k)
Thisis,by any measure,a crackingtube preamp.lf there's
an issuethen it's one of channelsymmetrybecause,on
our samDle.the left channelexceededits ratedspec.more
convincingly
than did the right.The 6H30Pdualtriodes
themselves
are preciselymatched,offeringa total + 12.2d8
(left)and + 12.1dB (right)gain via its balancedin/outputsand
with a supremelywide 96.9d8A-wtdS/Nratio (re.0dBV).The
channelresponses
are identicaltoo, evenif the -0.6dB/20kHz
tq -6.9d8/1ookHzultrasonictailoring[seeCraph1, below]
the
differsfrom AudioResearch's
-3dB/200kHzspec.Frankly,
tailoredresponseis the moresensiblewhen interfacingwith
sourcesso perhapsARChasseenfit to
modernwide-bandwidth
the 28Oohm
adjustits performancein production.Interestingly,
balancedoutput impedance(risingto 440ohm at 25Hz)is also
lowerthan the suggested600ohm,and no bad thing too.
Thedistinctionbetweenchannelsis seenin distortion,for
though both left and right are lowerthan ARC's0.006%limit,
our samplehad ratherless2nd harmonicon the left - 0,0008%
versus0.004%.Thistrend is broadlyconsistentwith frequency
lsee6raph 2, below]and with output above125mV right up to
it's
Nevertheless,
the maximum3OVrmsavailablefrom its XLRS.
the consistencv
of 'harmoniccolour',mainlv2nd with a hint of
3rd/4th,with both frequencyand levelthati most impressive
and most likelyto exert a positivesubjectiveimpact.Thereare
preampsthat could learna thing
morethan a few solid-state
are invitedto view a
Readers
or two from thisAnniversary,..
QC Suitetest reportfor the ARc Reference
- comprehensive
Anniversarypreamp by navigatingto vrww.hifinews.comand
button. PM
clickingonto the red 'Dovr.mload'
ABOVE: Rearis also rcminiscent of Ref 5 bnt with addition of socketsto accept {.
umbilicalcablesfrom power supply;singleendedand balancedfor all inputs/outputs
Italian-American
crooners
from 50
yearsago.Andwhileinstrumental
dramais keptin check,the sound
spreadis breathtaking.
'MoonRiver'is so laidback
that
in
it'salmosta textbookexercise
subtlety,
showinghow silences
information
are
and low-level
aslmportantasvivid,in-yourfacespectacle.
TheAnniversary's
graceandcomposure
inimitable
allowthe performance
to slipout,
embraceyou lightlyandvanish
beforeyou knowit. With 'Don't Let
TheSunCatchYouCrying',
though,
Carrack
rampsup the emotion,
the orchestra
the soundswells,
shimmers.
Theantithesis
of the
orchestral
bombastfrom,say,
cinemasoundtracks
suchas6/ory
or StarWars,it showsthat 'restraint'
is not the sameas'constraint'.
lf anything,it'slikeGoldilocks'
just right.
preferred
porridge:
HAPPTTOGETHER
Whatkeptme fromswitchingoff
the Anniversary
evenwhendinner
beckoned,
wasthe mannerin which
it presented
vocals.Carrack's
voice
fallsjustshortof 'fully-textured',
like
2O%of MelTorm6or RodStewart.
thoughneitheris it vergingon
the WayneNewton.Justasthe
preserved
Anniversary
the clarity
andtinglein Susannah
Hoffs'epic
momentwith 'EternalFlame'.
so did
it leavethe nuances
of Carrack's
24 I www.hifinews.co.uk
i nprulzott
voicein perfectproportion.
(Thisis not to portrayCarrack's
thoughit rsless
asanonymous,
than Mel'sor Rod's.)
distinctive
Following
Carrack
with Torm6's
crazyinterpretationof TheTurtles'
(yes,he did
'HappyTogether'
coverit, a 180oreversal
on rockers
coveringcrooners),
the Anniversary
dug deeperinto itsvocalspalette,
capturingthe'VelvetFog'in all
Mark
its Balkan
Sobranie/Maker's
Recalling
hisstancefrom
smokiness.
TVshowsseenin my youth,I could
picturethe plumpcomposer
of 'The
Christmas
Song'caressing
each
n o te ,w h i l es m il i ngat l i nesl i ke' l f I
s h o u l dc a l ly o uu p,i nvesta di me...'
Happy,indeed.()
ldBl
E
s
E
v
Frequency>>
r"r*nr" oE
,"r"ra u*"r"ABoVE:
Balanced
isflatto -0.8d8/1Hz
Bassresponse
1V/60kohm.
E
Frequncy >>
Owninga Ref5 won't prepare
you for this:the Anniversary
is
quieter,offerswider dynamics,
tighter bassandfastertransients.
It soundslikea '5 on steroids.
improvedin everyarea.Which
doesn'tmeanthat the Ref5 is
anylessa masterpiece.
lt'sjust
that this isto its siblingwhat a
Porsche
91 1 GT2is to the Carrera
S,or what Massetois to Ornellaia:
simplybetter.No, makethat
simplythe bestof its kind.Ever.
Sound
0uatity:
89%
ffiffiffiffiffiffi€ffii#:ffi*
rrom5HzT
Distortion
ABoVE:
""-rr;;:":cy
andright(red)
Left(black)
40kHz(1Vrms/6okohm).
Maximum output (<1%THD)
A-wtd s/N ratio (re.0dBV)
+0.O dBto - 6.9d8 (+ 6 d Bg a i n )
Distortion vs. freq. {11R,20Hz-20kHz)
Dist. vs. outPut [L/R,100mv-20v)