Returning from CES, I thought about some of the trends I'd noticed. With the ca $150k Boulder system, the pricey Burmester electronics, and the slew of new X-series components from Pass Labs, there are suddenly a number of no-holds-barred solid-state super rack systems available.…
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One room at the 1999 CES in Las Vegas that knocked me for a loop was the Avalon/Classé installation mentioned in my April show report. Classé had just debuted the Omega preamp, the companion piece to the Omega amplifier I reviewed in March. It proved a very suave, musical, and high-performance marriage.
Using high-quality, gold-plated WBT connectors, inputs and outputs are ranged across the slimline rear panel of the control chassis in balanced XLR (pin 2 hot) and single-ended RCA configurations. There are three inputs and a tape loop for each connector format, along with two pairs of output connectors, also in both formats. Front-panel adjustments include Volume, Mute, Input selection, Power, and Standby. The handsome, weighty remote controls volume, input selection, tape, display characteristics, and mute. You can also turn the Omega power amplifier on and off with the remote when the IR…
For best sound, I slightly prefer and recommend the dCS Elgar D/A converter wide open at 0dB for maximum digital resolution, and run balanced into an active preamp rather than direct from its own analog outputs.
Reaching for Omega
While it does have an identifiable character, the Omega preamplifier doesn't have much voice of its own. That's exactly as it should be. Open, fast, transparent, and extended, it always controlled the associated amp with a linear, full-range signal. In that way it proved a perfect match for the sweep and romance of the suave, richly powerful Omega power…
Regarding the bass: Try Loop Guru's Loop Bites Dog (World Domination WDM 10066-2). The astoundingly deep, powerful bass line had the meters of the Accuphase M-2000 monoblocks flailing around like mad, while the Omega amp got radar-range toasty. Notes: "The dynamics are huge and encompassing, very solid, very BIG. The preamp conveys incredible heft, authority, and weight in the bottommost octaves. It's rich, but taut and textured, in the mid- and upper midbass."
Now that was interesting. Until then, the absolute best upper bass I'd heard through the Utopias was with the YBA Passion…
SIDEBAR 1: Specifications
Description: Line-level preamplifier. Inputs: 3 line-level, XLR and RCA. Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, ±0.00dB. Input impedance: 33k ohms. Output impedance: 50 ohms. Maximum voltage gain: 12dB. Maximum output: 27V peak-peak. Sensitivity: 120mV. S/N ratio: 95dB, A-weighted. THD+N: 0.0006%. Power consumption: 25W.
Dimensions: 19" W by 2.5" H by 10.25" D. Weight: 35 lbs.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 0240004.
Price: $10,000. Approximate number of dealers: 90.
Manufacturer: Classé Audio, 5070 Francois-Cusson, Lachine, Quebec H8T 1B3, Canada. Tel: (…
SIDEBAR 2: Associated Equipment
I compared the Omega preamplifier mostly to the similarly priced Nagra PL-P, with short bursts on the hugely more expensive Burmester 808 Mk.V and YBA Signature 6 Chassis. Power amplifiers tethered to our JMlab Utopia loudspeakers included the big stereo Omega, a pair of AudioPrism Mana Reference 6L6-powered tube monoblocks, and a pair of cute but entirely brawny Accuphase M-2000 solid-state monoblocks. I ran both sides of the dual-mono Omega and the monoblocks using the balanced-power-from-two-phases-of-positive trick I noted (and highly recommend) in June…
SIDEBAR 3: Measurements
Unless otherwise noted, the measurements presented are for balanced operation, and were taken with the level control at maximum.
The output impedance of the Omega at its line output measured 96.7 ohms (47.9 ohms unbalanced) in the left channel, maximum gain, with negligible differences between channels and at various level-control settings. The line-level input impedance measured 25.1k ohms in the left channel and 24.3k ohms in the right (21.2k ohms unbalanced, left channel). This dropped to 13.7k ohms at unity gain (36.0 on the level control), and 11.3k…
Referenced to these same input levels, the plot of THD+noise vs frequency is shown in fig.3—a very good result. The rise in the readings at higher frequencies reflects the high input voltage used (as above) to minimize the impact of noise on the result. (The input voltages were 2.15V balanced and 820mV unbalanced.) Fig.4 shows the THD+noise vs output voltage at 1kHz. The minimum points in the curves, just before the distortion starts to increase, are the output values used for the measurements plotted in figs.2 and 3.
Fig.3 Classé Omega, THD+noise (%) vs frequency at 2.15V (…
"A guy's gotta carry a cow across a river. He's not strong enough, of course, so the only way he can do it is to cut the cow into pieces, carry them across a few at a time, and re-assemble the beast on the other side. When he's finished, he's got a cow on the other side of the river, but it's not exactly the same cow."
I forget who told me that parable at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show, but the context was the analog vs digital debate, which in the audiophile community often takes on the tone of holy war. However, as big an analog devotee as I am, when it comes to audio, I…
The main virtue of solid-state is usually a well-damped bass. When properly executed, such bass has a punchy weight with enough textural subtlety to not sound "one-notey" and monotonous. Few tube amplifiers in my experience can match a good solid-state design's weight and control in the bass. Then again, few solid-state amps can match tubes' textural and harmonic performance in the same region. The best amps of each technology narrow the gap between the two, but still fall short of the other side's special strength. So partisans of solid-state and tubes stand their respective grounds, each…