Fire 4, sorry that both my Tidal and EmT preamps are not having XLR inputs....need to think of an alternative....
Voy,
EMT is somewhere in the middle between DV and Tidal on the phono section...on one hand, it possesses the muiscal passion of DV so that when I am listening to it, I seem to care more about the next movement and forthcoming evolvement of the music being performed. Compared with Wavac PRT1, EMT exhibits more calmness like Tidal...on this front, it is like an educated gentlemen in a suit. Wavac is more like an athelet in comparison. Tidal is clean and extremely neutral to allow total dictation of the muiscal picture from the source but for EMT and perhaps DV and Wavac, mating it with different tonearm/cartridge would yield quite different but colorful results. I have three sources feeding into EMT at the moment: Thales arm+EMT Gold 6, DV arm+cartridge+Tidal phono and Bergman +MC Winfield...I am still x-playing these sources in order to get a thorough understanding of this phono preamp. At thismoment, I think Thales and EmT Gold6 has an edge over the other two in that it matches perferctly with the phono. I put it on the Phono 1 position in the JPA66 as recommended by the designer which I think they have specifically set the impedance to match with their cartridge. Extremely dynamic and sometimes full of explosions when the music demands it.
Vinyl playback is at its height for my system although I believe I have not yet explored the full potential of this jewel.
On CD playback...it amuses me as a preamp. I read the commentary by Stereo sound (Chinese edition) when details a review of JPA66. According to the article, they said it has to match with a power amp, using a solid state with a high gain won't be good. I totally agree, EMT has a high gain and I have to adjust the input sensitivity of my 805 as mentioned about. But one thing I do not agree with the commentary is that they believe (or I perceived they believe) the phono session is more impressive than the line stage. On listening CD with JPA66, I think it is already top top notch rivalling a lot of the vinyl systems out there.
It seems the website works much smoother than yesterday. I just went to Marvel's place. His system sounds much smoother than last time after he adjusted the output gain of the JPA66's line section.
Voy,
JPA66 is both a fantastic phono and a preamp..initially I thought it would be a state of the art phono and had not imagined that its linestage is also very top notch. I used it for more than a month now...sound is extremely organic and full of energy....It works very well with 805Mk2 pumping out rich textures and ambience with much ease. DSo visited me last night and according to him, the upgrade on the crossover in his Cessaro by Ralph was instrumental in making the sound less tense. I am longing for an opportunity to pay a visit to him.
Still a lot to explore on JPA66 but I am more indulged on the music it delivers!!
I have listened to Tidal Preos working in a suite with Impact on Tidal speakers in both PT and Alecy's system. I have no doubt that the system matching is faultless with everything done just perfectly right. As a mix and match freak, if I have to compare JPA66 with Tidal Preos in the context of phono+preamp working with 805 and Cessaro, EMT is clean and clear in the same German camp with Tidal but Tidal does it better. EMT delivers a more vivid 'atmosphere' of a live recording while Preos tends to have a clearer demarcation between the soundstage and the audience. I need to stress again this is in the context of 805 and Cessaro as I don't want to create a wrong impression that Preos is lay back and doesn't 'reach out'. In a suite, quite the contrary though but it has to be a suite for people like me to realise the difference and the entry ticket is not cheap!!
Without any power amp to match with, I must cast EMT JPA66 the best standalone phono preamp matching with my system todate. Tron Syren comes next together with Preos.
Thanks for your opinion. What is the sonic difference between Syren and EMT JPA66? The latter comes with full house options but the former seems to be extremely simple. Not easy to compare them. What abt a default-to-default comparison?
Was the Tidal/Sunray experience conclusive in your high end journey? If yes, why? PT's reticence on the subject is intriguing. I'd like to see him deliver more of his opinion.
If the sole objective is music appreciation with the least coloration, I dare say the Tidal Sunray/Preos/Impact is conclusive unless one is not experienced enough to tell the difference or heavily indulged in certain camp of sound. I stress the latter is not a problem at all as colorations, if done skillfully, also deliver musical pleasure. But the musical pleasure of getting real close to the artist is beyond verbal description.
My room acoustics are imperfect. I believe PT invests a lot more of his time and energy to bring Sunray up to the standard of "one listening session kills them all". His silence is lethal.
The EMT JPA66 is no doubt a serious holy machine as VR had just commented. I suspect most is buying the EMT school of sound which is clean and yet masculine in energy delivery. This is another great phono stage. The "holy" part of it depends on the users' experience in utilizing all the functions that come with it. If you don't know how to utilize these functions, it is not so "holy" in my opinion.
Can the JPA66 play DGG recording without distortion? What about EMI? What about those old Beatles mono recording made in the 50s? If I were to test the JPA66 with these recordings, my impression could be quite bad if I hear distorted sound unless the user knows how to adjust the curve.
The holy part is not that holy unless one has the experience. It is a case of "ownership pride" to most audiophiles.
Marvel, if your interested i'll post my thoughts I will plug in the Continuum + Copper head + Olympus and a Osiris 12" + Apollo on my own 100k built TT that has a Mercury Bearing good for testing not for sale because of the Mercury. Triangle Art Ultimate to set up and test in September.
Comments
Voy,
EMT is somewhere in the middle between DV and Tidal on the phono section...on one hand, it possesses the muiscal passion of DV so that when I am listening to it, I seem to care more about the next movement and forthcoming evolvement of the music being performed. Compared with Wavac PRT1, EMT exhibits more calmness like Tidal...on this front, it is like an educated gentlemen in a suit. Wavac is more like an athelet in comparison. Tidal is clean and extremely neutral to allow total dictation of the muiscal picture from the source but for EMT and perhaps DV and Wavac, mating it with different tonearm/cartridge would yield quite different but colorful results. I have three sources feeding into EMT at the moment: Thales arm+EMT Gold 6, DV arm+cartridge+Tidal phono and Bergman +MC Winfield...I am still x-playing these sources in order to get a thorough understanding of this phono preamp. At thismoment, I think Thales and EmT Gold6 has an edge over the other two in that it matches perferctly with the phono. I put it on the Phono 1 position in the JPA66 as recommended by the designer which I think they have specifically set the impedance to match with their cartridge. Extremely dynamic and sometimes full of explosions when the music demands it.
Vinyl playback is at its height for my system although I believe I have not yet explored the full potential of this jewel.
On CD playback...it amuses me as a preamp. I read the commentary by Stereo sound (Chinese edition) when details a review of JPA66. According to the article, they said it has to match with a power amp, using a solid state with a high gain won't be good. I totally agree, EMT has a high gain and I have to adjust the input sensitivity of my 805 as mentioned about. But one thing I do not agree with the commentary is that they believe (or I perceived they believe) the phono session is more impressive than the line stage. On listening CD with JPA66, I think it is already top top notch rivalling a lot of the vinyl systems out there.
More to come but excitment on this unit lasts....
My fingers are crossing for Yamada san's groundbreaking phono.
JPA66 is both a fantastic phono and a preamp..initially I thought it would be a state of the art phono and had not imagined that its linestage is also very top notch. I used it for more than a month now...sound is extremely organic and full of energy....It works very well with 805Mk2 pumping out rich textures and ambience with much ease. DSo visited me last night and according to him, the upgrade on the crossover in his Cessaro by Ralph was instrumental in making the sound less tense. I am longing for an opportunity to pay a visit to him.
Still a lot to explore on JPA66 but I am more indulged on the music it delivers!!
Marvel
I have listened to Tidal Preos working in a suite with Impact on Tidal speakers in both PT and Alecy's system. I have no doubt that the system matching is faultless with everything done just perfectly right. As a mix and match freak, if I have to compare JPA66 with Tidal Preos in the context of phono+preamp working with 805 and Cessaro, EMT is clean and clear in the same German camp with Tidal but Tidal does it better. EMT delivers a more vivid 'atmosphere' of a live recording while Preos tends to have a clearer demarcation between the soundstage and the audience. I need to stress again this is in the context of 805 and Cessaro as I don't want to create a wrong impression that Preos is lay back and doesn't 'reach out'. In a suite, quite the contrary though but it has to be a suite for people like me to realise the difference and the entry ticket is not cheap!!
Without any power amp to match with, I must cast EMT JPA66 the best standalone phono preamp matching with my system todate. Tron Syren comes next together with Preos.
Marvel
My room acoustics are imperfect. I believe PT invests a lot more of his time and energy to bring Sunray up to the standard of "one listening session kills them all". His silence is lethal.
The EMT JPA66 is no doubt a serious holy machine as VR had just commented. I suspect most is buying the EMT school of sound which is clean and yet masculine in energy delivery. This is another great phono stage. The "holy" part of it depends on the users' experience in utilizing all the functions that come with it. If you don't know how to utilize these functions, it is not so "holy" in my opinion.
Can the JPA66 play DGG recording without distortion? What about EMI? What about those old Beatles mono recording made in the 50s? If I were to test the JPA66 with these recordings, my impression could be quite bad if I hear distorted sound unless the user knows how to adjust the curve.
The holy part is not that holy unless one has the experience. It is a case of "ownership pride" to most audiophiles.