Here are my first impressions after two listening sessions:
Short version - you can have your cake and eat it too!
Longer version:
It’s always a crap shoot when you bring a new piece of equipment into a system you’ve had a long time and are generally very happy with. Of course what’s good to me may not be good to someone else. For me, a good system is one that makes you grin, often makes you say “wow that’s sounds fantastic” (especially when you have been away and forgotten just how it sounds) and let’s you enjoy almost everything you throw at it. That last bit is really important to me. Having a super-revealing system that accentuates every flaw in a recording and only sounds its best on a few audiophile recordings is a non-starter. Also, one that only sounds great on a particular genre is not good either (e.g., the Harbeth P3ESR just does not do rock, even though it can sounds amazing on a classic Blue Note jazz album).
So, with that said, how did the Stellar Phono fit in? It took the place of a Jolida JD9 - a tube-based preamp certainly has a warmth that can make even records with a lot of surface noise enjoyable. The SP however, showed very quickly that that has come at the cost of high frequency extension. From the first needle drop it was clear the beryllium tweeters in my NS1000Ms were capable of far more than I was asking of them previously: the guitars on Quicksand (Bowie/Hunky Dory) jumped out immediately. This was confirmed later when listening to the Jasmine Tree (MJQ/More from the Last Concert) - Milt Jackson’s vibes sparkled and were never harsh. That lack of harshness and thank goodness no excessive emphasis on sibilant sounds really shone on This Bitter Earth (Dinah Washington/Unforgettable). My mono album is a thrift store find that has seen better days but the abundant surface noise did not detract from Dinah’s amazing voice and the emotion of the song.
Back to MJQ - those vibes also seemed more precise with the notes starting and stopping on a dime. That pace had me reaching for the Minutemen: The Red and the Black off 3-Way Tie (For Last) just jumped out of the speakers - such pace! And I had no idea that this track was so well recorded, each instrument clearly operating in it’s own space but coming together at you like a freight train. The Stellar amp can certainly deliver slam. A few tracks later the heartfelt track Stories sounded the best I have heard it with a ton of ambience and notes that just decayed forever (this time on purpose). Note to self - must dig out the Trinity Sessions.
Did I mention soundstage yet? On a few tracks that I A/B’d, it seemed as though the Stellar preamp added a few feet to the width of my listening room. Take for example the Hunting Bears and Like Spinning Plates off Radiohead’s Amnesiac; the soundstage was massive and the walls to my listening room just seemed to disappear. As with all good systems you feel transported to another place.
Of course over the two sessions so far, I have dug out many more LPs - but was too absorbed to take notes. In summary, I’d say the addition of this new preamp has really elevated my system and so far I see no downsides. I have not found a record yet that I think, “nope just can’t listen to that.” In fact, the opposite is true - I feel like I have a new record collection waiting to be discovered.
Bonus: you get a light show😁