@bimmerlover thanks for the Allnic recommendation. I was not aware of that one. It looks very fussy with manual tube biasing. If tube, then I prefer auto biasing like in my PrimaLuna Evo 300 pre. I already have a Zesto variable SUT with my EAT eglow petite, so the built-in SUT in the Allnic is of questionable value. I could sell/trade the Zesto SUT or put in my office system, of course. And I don't need fine adjustments of the RIAA curves, I listen exclusively to records after 1980, so very much standardized RIAA curve. And I only need one phono in (or two if MM/MC are separate).
Vienna show report
Just been to the HighEnd Vienna show. Here are some impressions.
TLDNR: Fun 3 hours to spend, ok as I was there for other things as well, otherwise underwhelming.
Long Version:
The show was advertised as lasting four days, Th-Sun, so I booked flights and hotels to catch the beginning Th-Sat, as Sunday folks will be exhausted anyway. Turns out, Th-Fr is reserved for dealers/industry, and only Sat-Sun is open to public. Really irritating poor communication on part of show organizers.
There is an app for the show. Nice touch. However, loading was glacially slow. Additionally, the functionality was at best limited. Try to find all the vinyl vendors? You get a list, but then have to check every single vendor (remember glacially slow loading) to see where they are. There is no overview where all the vinyl vendors are. etc.
The venue was easy to find, 10AM line was taking about 5-10 minutes to get in. OK. Venue was spacious, lots of seating in the hallways, and plenty of refreshment stalls.
As seems to be the norm, rooms in general were WAY TOOOOO LOUD! Muddy low mid and bass did not help those "presentations" either. Got a good chuckle out of the mega amps such as Gryphon, D'Agostino and Pathos. All those rooms sounded dreadful. The rooms sounding good were by Focal and Audiovector (never heard of). All the rest were at best mid to bad, including big names. Interesting to hear omnidirectional speakers. Sound was indeed coming from everywhere. However, it killed any stereo imaging, essentially a mono-presentation. Earopening experience.
My main reason for going was getting some inspiration about phono stages for my Rega Naia rig. Had some nice chats with Thales/EMT and Lehmann, but otherwise not much to see. Rega was not there at all, strange for a European manufacturer at a European show. Three attempts to chat with someone from E.A.T. were fruitless as nobody could be found. Maybe that is a sign. Previously they did not respond to email either.
Vinyl records (and CDs) were rather thin. There was one multivendor booth, but it was so crammed, and such a bland selection, I just flipped through about 4 crates before leaving. The one isle was so narrow that one person could barely walk. What were they thinking? At T.H.E. show, there was WAY more and interesting vinyl, nicely spaced, and made a bunch of cool finds.
There were some podium discussions. Noticed one of the speakers, the only one in suit and tie, LOL!, recognized him as Mr. 1-arc-second-is-audilble-Fremer, so moved on. No need to listen to him pontificate nonsense.
Had great breakfasts at our usual hotel Sans-Souci in Vienna, enjoyed Walter König bookstore in MQ as always, bought some tea from one of my favorite tea-shops, visited the natural history museum for once as a tourist (not behind the scenes as we have done a few times before), had various coffee/tea/matcha cake in various cafes, some nice dinners at our favorite joints, and had 3 hours of fun at the convention center.
If you are in Vienna anyway, or have some other reason to go to Europe, enjoy the show. However, it is not worth a dedicated trip. my 2c.
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@oberoniaomnia there’s no manual bias on the H-3000V, at least not from a practical standpoint. The two (pretty) meters at the front of the unit simply show the per-channel bias relative to their desired range. I have had the phono stage for 2+ years, and it has never strayed outside of the range. If it does, it’s likely because the tube(s) need replacement, as all tubes eventually do, but they should last 3-4,000 hours. It’s not like a power amp, where biasing of output tubes is a critically important, recurring thing. The biasing of signal tubes is an entirely different thing and requires a very light, if any, touch. If you don't need different correction curves beyond RIAA, look at the H-3000 (no "V" at the end) model. I don't need different correction curves either, but I happened to come across a used "V" version in great condition. The fact that it offers correction options is simply an upside you (nor I) don't care about, and, to my knowledge, this is the only aspect that sets the H-3000 apart from the H-3000V. |
@bimmerlover Thanks for the additional info. I read the "deviation from desired range" and can't figure out what that means. How do you know what the "desired range is"? If a manual cannot clearly explain things, I get skeptical. Same with Sutherlands "transimpendence". Looked also at several Stereophile articles, but no luck. The old "you only know it, if you can explain it" comes to mind, including its inverse corollary. So far the Zesto Andros deluxe II is the front runner. The only downside are the knobs on the back of the unit. Made less than an hour by car from where I live is another point in its favor. |
@oberoniaomnia "deviation from desired range": "Desired range" refers to looking at the two meters on the front of the unit, where the desired range is indicated on the dial by two lines, and you want to see that the meters' needles are within that range. A 0.5 sec glance verifies that all is good. |
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