Dan, good to hear you’re still really enjoying it. I’m excited to hear what your buddies think about it next week. They’re probably decently familiar with the sound in your system.
Thanks for the feedback! I’ll get with the engineering team and see if there is anything we can do to save the settings when unplugged.
+1 on retaining settings if possible.
I am very familiar with this setup and thus particularly interested in your review of the new unit.
Getting back to the question of how this thing actually sounds . . .
Now with several weeks listening under my belt, here is an update to my previous posts on the SPP (#'s 132, 156, and 172)
From, say, 100 - 150 hours, the SPP opened up a bit in terms of sound stage and separation of voices. It also developed a bit of “warmth” in the midbass and midrange. The upper bass and lower midrange registers became noticeably more “punchy” in their delivery of bass lines and kick drums. The differences were not huge, but definitely noticeable. Overall, I continue to observe fewer “burn-in effects” with the SPP than my experiences with pre and power amps and DACs.
The differences I’m hearing between it and my reference Pass XP-15 remain more or less the same, but I’ve been able to refine my descriptions. The differences in sound stage “depth” have more to do with the perceived shape of the rearward sound stage. At the plane of my speakers, the sound stage width is nearly the same. However, the width seems to vary with depth. Center stage, there is little difference. However, the SPP in my setup has more of a “V” or “U” shaped front-to-back sound stage. The Pass has more of a “C,” or semi-circle shape, with more width towards the right and left as you move farther back.
The XP-15 has also thus far maintained the advantage in detail retrieval farther back in the sound stage. This, plus the difference in soundstage shape adds a greater “holographic” effect to the “in the room with you” aspect of these two phonostages. It seems like the SPP adds just a touch of grain or opacity that obscures low-level detail.
That said, the SPP’s upper and mid-bass punch is a welcome addition to older pressings that compressed the bass to reduce groove excursion in order to pack more music on the disc. The Pass extracts more detail and nuance from the bass lines, but at the same time the overall presentation is a bit more “polite,” which can be less involving depending on the recording, your mood, and the volume setting.
In fact I’ll hazard an opinion that, to the extent that the PSS deviates from “neutral,” those deviations favor and enhance what is likely to be retrieved from the run-of-the-mill discs found in most collections, while at the same time only just barely diminishing what’s on audiophile pressings. While formulating my thoughts, I stumbled across this observation by a blogger who was writing, of all things, about collecting vinyl as an investment. In an attempt to explain the resurgence in vinyl, he stated:
" Why the big comeback? Simply put — nostalgia, and a more desirable sound. The sound isn’t necessarily “better” per se, but it has a richness and fullness that fans say CDs just couldn’t duplicate."
So, OK, this guy obviously isn’t an audiophile, but he is onto something. I’m coming to believe that the SPP slightly deviates from neutral with precisely a touch of “richness and fullness” that complements vinyl reproduction perfectly.
Can’t wait to see what you think. The lights we’re referring to are internal and can only be seen through the side vents and only if you look. I don’t think you’re going to have a problem with them.
Ummm, if you turn the lights down in your listening room / environment for evening sessions, the unit will produce a glowing aura thru said vents. Especially if there are other items placed nearby to catch and reflect the glow. Pretty cool and not distracting, IMHO, but perhaps not to everyone’s liking.
I dislike visual noise and thus would prefer no such visible light, but this is mere preference.
Will get some other ears to listen and get feedback. Love my current setup but couldn’t resist trying the Stellar.
I just realized how petty my light “concern” is. Definitely a .1 world “issue”. I am blessed to get the opportunity to try the Stellar. Be grateful PS audiophile family!!
Not at all petty; we all have our preferences.
I would like one I can run with my Hue light app, and pick a color to suit my mood ; )
To throw some light on the subject (rimshot):
With subdued lighting in the listening room:
In a darkened listening room:
How much of the light you’ll see will depend on how the unit is shelved or racked. It does get warm to the touch, so I would NOT be stacking stuff on top of the SPP.
Hi all, I am just starting the testing process for the phono preamp. My initial impressions are a deeper, more accurate bass, better clarity, and a more dynamic listening experience. I use a BHK preamp with the BHK 250 amp, and a Rega P8 with the Apheta 2. I will be breaking it in over the next week, so I will report back after that is finished.
Thanks for the first impressions Aserio! Very helpful and interesting that fresh out of the box, it doesn’t seem to be needing much break-in. Very curious to see how it progresses in your system though.
Awesome. Can’t wait to read what you find out. Thanks for posting.
Nice, I’m curious on the P8 Apheta pair compared to my P6 Ania. Which preamp are you using before the SPP?
I actually had the P6 Ania combo, loved it. The P8/Apheta2 gives you more of everything. Guitars sound more like guitars, etc. The Apheta 2 will hit more bumps in the road or more detail from the records. You may or may not like that, i do. I’ve been using a Sutherland 20/20. Its been great, very happy with it. My initial impression with the Stellar Phono has been positive. Just looking for more dynamics, maybe some more impact. Iwill keep you updated.
Looking forward to your impressions on the SPP vs Sutherland 20/20. This is a fair comparison, I only have the Rega Fono MC, so a bit of a mismatch.
For many years I have owned Mark Levinson preamps (most recently the No. 32) with built-in phono preamps and have been very satisfied. However I wanted the BHK preamp to go along with my BHK stereo amp which meant I had to find an outboard phono preamp.
Since the BHK phono preamp seemed to be a long time coming, I opted for the NuWave phono converter. It sounded OK but not up to the Levinson.
Since I was growing impatient waiting for the BHK phono preamp I was pleased to hear about this new Stellar phono preamp. I’ve had it in my system now for about a week and I’m very impressed. Right out of the box it had an openness and brilliance that I had been missing. I use a VPI HR-X turntable with a Miyabi 47k cartridge and it’s never sounded better than with the new Stellar. I’ll post more after I’ve given it more time to break in and I can pull out some of my favorite vinyl (old and new) to listen to and get to know better. So far this is an excellent product.
Congrats on those speakers! My first pair I have since 1977, never ever a problem and sounding better than ever with my current electronics… my second pair I got very, very cheap in the late 90’s when a friend of mine, who was working at a HiFi shop at that time, found them in their basement and asked me, if he should negotiate a good price for me with his boss. Value for money over so many years: unbeatable. Do you have any modifications done to yours?