Perhaps for different reasons, I also hear a very authoritative sound, "resolving every bit of musical detail in an easygoing way", in my system, which is quite different from the system in the Merlin/Joule Electra room.
Best,
iSanchez
|
FYI, I posted my impressions of the Joule Electra Marianne Electra Memorial Edition preamplifier here. Best, iSanchez |
Hi Rafael,
I'm glad you also got this preamp and that your experience with it is similar to mine. Please let us know more of your impressions later.
Best,
iSanchez
|
Hi All, There is a little report of the Merlin/Joule Electra room here. I'm not sure if this room was using the new LA-300ME preamp. Best, iSanchez |
Hello Rafael,
Congrats on the new preamp. I totally agree with you regarding the bass. It is so powerful, fast and clean that it really renders large orchestras with an uncanny level or realism.
Please keep us posted as you discover more.
Best,
iSanchez
|
Hello Rafael,
You assessments are stop on. It doesn't cease to amaze me how a single component takes a whole system and ... puff! ... the whole system disappears and only the music is left.
Best,
iSanchez
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I meant to say spot on!
Best,
iSanchez
|
Hello Psag,
Congratulations on your new preamp! Real music is what it's all about. Like Signaturesound said it: "it is going to re-define what really good preamp can do".
I had a little incident (in a good way) with this preamp. The other day, I was playing "Sunday at the Savoy" (from "88 Basie Street") louder than usual and some of the bass notes really charged the room to the point that everything started shaking and one of the crystals from the dining room chandelier fell down and hit the dinning table. That's how powerful, and yet controlled, music is after I added this preamp to my system.
For the record, I don't have a subwoofer connected to my stereo system and my Maggies 3.6 can only go down to 34hz.
Best,
iSanchez
|
01-19-09: Psag
iSanchez, Its interesting how this preamp can enhance what we call "slam", something I previously attributed mainly to the amplification stage. Fortunately this preamp is able to balance it with natural yet detailed sound. No doubt the internal Elrod wiring is important in balancing these qualities. I was wondering the same thing. The fact that David Elrod developed the wiring just for this preamp says to what extent Jud Barber wanted this preamp to be very, very special. |
Hello Rafael,
I have to admit that this kind of sound is very addictive.
BTW, I have an Elrod Statement Silver power cord arriving in the next few weeks. It is supposed to be a great match to this preamp. I'll post my impression once I get it.
Best,
iSanchez
|
Hello Nrubado,
Congrats on your new 300ME. You should expect the 300ME to get even better with time. It'll become more dynamic, more transparent and it'll play music as if it has an unlimited energy reserve.
Best, |
Hello Rafael,
Thanks for the insight.
Hello Lightminer,
I don't have a Supratek, but I've had the Joule Electra Marianne Memorial Edition preamp for a few months now. This is a fantastic preamp by any measure and I have already written about it in these forums and in the reviews section here in Audiogon.
Your question made me curious about what my system would sound like without the preamp. I connected the Benchmark DAC1 straight to the mono-blocks and listened. Unfortunately, I had to get up and leave within 20 seconds. That's how much I could stand listening to my system without this preamp. It was as if the life was sucked out of the music. The sound became very dry. Soundstage organization was all over the map. Voices sounded congested, as if singing with a sore throat. Bass impact and definition was gone. I could not feel the bass in the next room as is the case with the Joule Electra preamp.
I then plugged the Joule Electra preamp again and life came back to the music. What I learned with this ephemeral experiment was that it is very easy to live with the Joule Electra's presentation of the music, and that it is very difficult to listen to anything else but live music.
I can see that you also have the Maggies 3.6. At least in my system, this preamp brought a lot of depth, slam, texture and definition to the bass. What is interesting is that this is something that is more associated with amps, not preamps. I have a Velodyne HGS 15 subwoofer that I just use as a side table. I connected this sub a few days after I got this preamp and, at least with Jazz and Classical, there was just a bit more bass, but this came at the expense of pitch definition. So the sub went back to be what it's being doing for a while: being a nice, glossy side table.
Best,
iSanchez
|
Hello Rafael,
"Are you suggesting that the sonic improvment you observed and described are due more from Jouole-Electra LA-300ME preamp or your Spectron Musician III Mk2 amplifiers?"
That is correct. This kind of bass depth, weight, pitch, definition etc., was not there until the Joule Electra preamp was inserted in my system.
A friend out ours, who plays in a quartet, heard his own recording in my system and his jaw literally dropped. He said he's never heard such a clean, articulate and pitch-correct sound from an audio system. This is from a musician who has a few recordings already and who travels to many countries performing. Most of what he said is also because of the Joule Electra preamp.
Best,
iSanchez
|
"This implies that the Joule Electra Marianne Memorial Edition preamp might be performing something like equalization. Perhaps you simply prefer this equalization to a more truthful presentation."
There is no question that adding any component to a particular system will change the sound, so that will be the case for any audio system. One can also ask these questions: Are the new speakers equalizing or simply passing through the signal? Does the signal need to be corrected, re-timed perhaps? I don't know.
Also, there have been many others who connect a DAC or phono preamp directly to amplifiers and they report that the straight connection to the amps lacks life, etc.
I'm very familiar with equalizers. I'm also very familiar with recording studios. I also know very well what live music sounds like. This preamp simply sounds like live music, which in my opinion is the truthful presentation. BTW, I'm not the only one hearing live music with this preamp. So maybe this preamp is de-equalizing?
I've heard systems costing 100K - 150K that don't sound like live music, but they sound great in the hi-fi sense. Some may just prefer this to live music and they are very happy with it.
Best,
iSanchez
|
Hello Rafael,
So far, everybody (mostly classical professional musicians) who has listen to my system says the same thing: it's like the musicians are here!!!
Best,
iSanchez
|
Hello Rafael,
I had the LA-300ME to full spec now. I only have about 20 hours on it, but from the first moment the improvements were quite obvious. The bass is deeper and tighter, the highs are silkier and more "luxurious" if you will. More detail surfaces from the music overall. There is even more effortlessness from the sound, which IMO is quite an achievement since this characteristic was already one of the strongest points of this preamp.
What really impressed me the most is the mid-range. Voices are rendered with such a level of realism that even I find it eerie now. There is simply more "life" in the voices and much more air. Voices are one of the sounds we're most familiar with and when they sound so real from reproduced music, it is one of the most surreal experiences one can go through as an audiophile.
I'll post a follow up once I get more time with the LA-300ME.
Best,
iSanchez
|
Hello Rafael,
I haven't gotten to it yet due to time constraints during the last few weeks. I hope to post it in a couple of weeks.
Best,
iSanchez
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