In a followup to my own review of this unit I have given this unit a substantial amount of playtime and got the opportunity to compare it to a vintage preamp. Still using the Philco 5Y3 and GE 12AX7s I have given it a good solid burn in and it sounds exceptionally good. It seems to warm up a bit as it burns in. I recently obtained an Electrohome VA-100 MK2 preamp from the 50s or 60s and tossed in the best possible tube compliment I could come up with for it, a pair of RCA 12AX7s and a TungSol 6X4WA rectifier. I initially tried this with a Fisher RS-1058 stereo receiver but recently obtained what may have been the biggest Fisher receiver out of the 1970s, the RS-1060 which tips the scales at a whopping 57lbs. Again like the MCS 3125 I use with the Audio Experience the RS-1060 is a clean sounding powerful reciever, using bipolar outputs instead of the triple darlington outputs of the MCS 3125. The Electrohome sounded smooth as silk with the tube setup I have installed, it has a compelling characteristic that makes you want to listen more. I compared this to the MK3 as it initially sounded (Ei 12AX7s and the Sovtek 5Y3) and would have taken the Electrohome in that scenario. With the NOS tube compliment in place the Audio Experience MK3 was equally smooth and warm yet substantially cleaner, powerful and dynamic. Let this be a further note to all to experiment with different tubes in this unit. It may not seem like it could make much difference but as I previously had noted replacing the 5Y3 Sovtek with the Philco was like listening to two entirely different preamps.
Audio Experience tube preamp
First of all let me state that I'm not an expert on tube equipment. In fact I've never had any before. I was one of the ones that was happy as can be that transistors had come to the front. I grew up with tubes and learned to hate them. TV sets were always screwing up and in constant need of repair. To make a long story short, I ran into an ad by YS Audio in Hong Kong for a deal on a line level preamp that was listed as a promotion for $300 instead of the regular $700. I know that to some of you that this is too low to even consider, but it seemed like a good way to find out what this tube stuff is all about.
I got the unit today and hooked it up to my Creek {5350}integrated amp, by yanking out the "u" bars on the back. I was in no way prepard for what I heard. I know that the superlatives get thrown around a lot on this site, but it was and is outstanding. It seemed like the music just opened up. Especially the dynamic range on all types of music. I have no idea if the numbers support this or not. I frankly could not care less what the numbers and stats say, because I hear a huge difference. It's kind of ironic because that's what people say about all kinds of things like DAC's and cables, and I have been completely underwhemed by these. Straining for hours to see if a certain cable improved "presence" or "soundstage" or "definition" This was a real improvement, and the thing's not even broken in yet. The manual says 100 hours to "bed in" {the writing is a hoot} Anyone else ever dealt with this outfit?
I got the unit today and hooked it up to my Creek {5350}integrated amp, by yanking out the "u" bars on the back. I was in no way prepard for what I heard. I know that the superlatives get thrown around a lot on this site, but it was and is outstanding. It seemed like the music just opened up. Especially the dynamic range on all types of music. I have no idea if the numbers support this or not. I frankly could not care less what the numbers and stats say, because I hear a huge difference. It's kind of ironic because that's what people say about all kinds of things like DAC's and cables, and I have been completely underwhemed by these. Straining for hours to see if a certain cable improved "presence" or "soundstage" or "definition" This was a real improvement, and the thing's not even broken in yet. The manual says 100 hours to "bed in" {the writing is a hoot} Anyone else ever dealt with this outfit?