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In the Forum: Analog Playback
In the Thread: The K&K SE hybrid phono stage: a report
Post Subject: On a clear day...Posted by Paul S on: 6/2/2007
Great listening session today.  Nothing too demanding, but some seminal jazz performances were included.

Since the Telefunken tubes I was trying are well-used, I stuck in some 60s Amperex SQs, just to check for any possible changes.  Everything else was "the same".

It might be harder than I thought to pin down this phono stage.  Today, either the new NOS tubes or clean power from the grid made for amazingly quiet backgrounds, great clarity and excellent dynamics.  I think musicians might like the K&K because it seems to home in on "musicianship", including ensemble play. You can feel as well as hear not only subtle sounds but as it were the soul being poured into/emerging through the music.

I also played some of the music at reduced volume, just to experiment.  Oddly, the sonic balance does not change as much with volume changes as I am used to, and lowering the volume did not detract from the performances, so this remains an option.

But you want to have your arm/cartridge dialed in, including VTA, VTF, azimuth, anti-skate and damping because ALL these adjustments are quite audible, and they affect the resultant playback much more than with my previous phono stage. I have also had to re-position my speakers, mostly to cope with more bass, but also to deal with more ambient and harmonic enrgy.  Sorry, but that's how it is.

I am not willing to say just yet that the K&K is super-sensitive to power fluctuations, but there have been some indications that this may the case, as I have said in previous posts.

Anyway, when it's good, it's very, very good...

Best regards,
Paul S

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