Will this long lead time also apply to Power Plants ordered during the promo (ordered a P12 on the 31st)?
Wait time for the P12 shouldn’t be quite as long. Probably still a few weeks out though. Thanks for the order!
Not sure but I think this review is new…
http://v2.stereotimes.com/post/ps-audio-stellar-phono-preamplifier-by-greg-voth/
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Nice review
I just often wonder which recordings some reviewers use to evaluate gear.
I don’t have the record, but the redbook file of e.g. Terje Rypdal‘s „To be continued“ album he used. I love Rypdal‘s music, but if you listen to this recording you’ll hear, that in terms of sound quality there’s nothing outstanding to be used to identify strengths or weaknesses. Nice sounding good music yes (I play it now), but if I had to compare two phonostages I’d never use it as I’d just hear nice music from both…but explicit meaningful differences?
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Almost all the reviewers I read cite the recordings they use in evaluating the equipment, often to the point of describing specific things they’re listening for in playback. The only ones who don’t do that, in my experience, tend to be bloggers.
I ordered one (black) on 3/30 and received it yesterday (4/22)
Best,
-JP
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Yes, it’s just, independent if they describe what they care for…if you listen to those recordings, you partly hear a quite conventional recording quality where I’d expect a really exceptional recording for judging differences.
On the other hand most reviewers (like possibly this one) meanwhile seem to just listen to the one reviewed component with their favorite recordings (rather regarding music than especially sound quality). They don’t compare to any competing product or just from vague memory. Not very helpful imo.
I got my Stellar phono yesterday, anyone else have issues wit persistent hum? I hooked it up right where I had my Modwright PH9.0 which was quiet in the same location. I get the hum on both tonearms. I know you have to play with location I tried moving it to the left side of my racks also same problem. I did disconnect the phono cable from my turntable and it is better but I still get alot of hiss even on low gain. I hate messing with grounding issues, I did take a wire and held it to the ground and to the turntable, BHK pre did not help. I will try to move it to the lower shelves tonight. I am not sure if it is recommended to use a ground cheater adaptor on the power cable with this model or not.
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A recording used for evaluation need not be exceptional. What matters is if the reviewer using a recording as a reference knows intimately how a given recording should sound.
This truth came to me while reading a review a good while ago in which the reviewer relied on rock and other pop studio recordings. Such recordings have no real world equivalent - for example, what is the true actual sound of an electric guitar? A synth? Only what the instrument happened to sound like on that day as recorded and processed. Not much of a real world reference.
Yet, a reviewer can easily discern good from bad equipment using such recordings as references, including teasing out fine distinctions. Many here use such recordings in their evaluations as well. It works because they know the recordings. The same is true for using less than pristine “audiophile approved” recordings.
Did you try moving your SBooster away from the SPP . It’s beast to keep all your power supplies away from any phono pre.
Yes moved up above the table to the left and to the right, I know I have to keep trying things. I also noticed that the transformer might be loose on the case when I lifted it out of the box I could feel something moving I will open it up late and check it. I used to be an electronic tech so I know what I am doing.
Just went and checked my setup and it’s very quiet, I can only hear some wide band noise at maximum volume with my ear right next to the speaker. I have my Stellar hooked to a VPI Prime/Hana ML/Bob’s Sky transformer. I have a ground wire running from both the VPI to the Bob’s and the Bob’s to the Stellar. The ground/lift switch on the Bob’s is set to lift. The Stellar is sitting on the middle shelf of a Pangea rack with the VPI on a butcher block on the top shelf and an Audio by Van Alstine FET Valve 600R below.
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I agree with you ELK regarding rough, bigger differences. Then a well known conventional recording is enough to evaluate. Someone who knows how a piano should sound on that recording will immediately recognize tonal or other inaccuracies of a component.
I just don’t see how one will find out about top end extension and openness or bass extension and control or fine dynamic performance differences between two components (especially if they are small), if the recording is ordinary and neither has the affordable performance at frequency ends, nor in terms of fine dynamic structures or similar criteria’s which differentiate equipment, otherwise being on a high level already.
Yes I used to have a Bobs should not of sold it. Trying to get enough gain for a ,2mv cartridge is tough. I bought a inexpensive SUT and it is just to noisy also plus trying to keep thinks simple by not using a SUT. I have a Sutherland Little Loco coming so if that is noisy also I might just have to sell the cartridge which is a bummer because it is the best one I have heard and I have had a lot
Interesting, nothing should be moving inside your phono preamp when I received my P 20 the transformer was flopping around inside the unit.I also was going to just tighten it up but the unit had multiple malfunctions.I sent it back and they addressed it with no problem that was a pleasant experience, except for the weight of the unit and having to ship it back however something like that should never have left and gone out to a customer.
Shippers can be hard on equipment I have experienced multiple times
I tried the Stellar and Hana without the Bob’s but found that I preferred the sound with the Bob’s in the path. I ran a ground wire going directly from the VPI to the Stellar and tried a number of different loads and all three gain settings. Although I didn’t specifically check at high volume settings, at my normal listening levels I didn’t notice any noise.
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If it were true a superb system only sounded better on extraordinary recordings there would be little reason to assemble such a system. Why bother if it only sounded better on a few audiophile recordings?
But this is not true. Superb systems make even poor recordings sound better. And one can hear differences on various excellent top of the line systems listening to less than perfect recordings.
What matters is the knowledge the listener has of the recording. Are the highs a little recessed? Do they sound this way on the system as they should or does the system emphasize the highs? Etc.
Of course there is a point where a recording is so bad one cannot tell much of anything.
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Just wired my SPP in; nothing loose inside the chassis, no hum, I have a ground between TT and SPP and removed the ground and still no hum
There is some “surface noise” (to borrow from a previous poster) on hi gain setting but very subtle on med gain, my preferred setting (very easy to determine with gain setting/cartridge loading on the remote…awesome feature!
More thoughts as it blends in with my system. First disc played: Zappa/Mother’s- Roxy & Elsewhere (it was in front)
Best,
-JP
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