Layout & ergonomics
The main rotary switch selects Off, Phono, and three line-level inputs marked A through C. There's a red stripe behind the Off position to remind the user when the power is on; it's all very Euro. The phono stage powers down during line-level operation, and the PL-P auto-mutes when switching between sources. There's a further 15-second delay when selecting Phono. When the PL-P is switched off, no power is supplied to the audio stages, but the rechargeable power-cell management system remains active. During the test period I left the PL-P's line-stage powered up,…
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Sound
The words that bubble to the top are "clarity" and "articulation." The sense of precision and accuracy—both phono and line-stage—was overwhelming and undeniable. I don't think I've ever heard such a pristine signal from a tubed preamp before. The clear and quick gestalt was tightly woven into a rather forward-placed soundstage, on many occasions enhancing the sense that I was hearing what the mikes heard. In fact, especially on small-ensemble classical and jazz recordings, I felt that I was listening from the edge of the stage, my back to the empty orchestra seats behind. I had…
The words that bubble to the top are "clarity" and "articulation." The sense of precision and accuracy—both phono and line-stage—was overwhelming and undeniable. I don't think I've ever heard such a pristine signal from a tubed preamp before. The clear and quick gestalt was tightly woven into a rather forward-placed soundstage, on many occasions enhancing the sense that I was hearing what the mikes heard. In fact, especially on small-ensemble classical and jazz recordings, I felt that I was listening from the edge of the stage, my back to the empty orchestra seats behind. I had…
Phono stage
Time for analog, the PL-P's raison d'être. Let's consider A Mozart Soirée, from a January 1976 concert featuring Yehudi Menuhin given at the Salle Pleyel in Paris (EMI ASD 3329, a desirable series). I began with the Oboe Quartet in F, K.370. The joyous first-movement Allegro is sure to lift your spirits no matter how overcast they might be. The Nagra perspective asserted itself: I was seated onstage, the musicians arrayed before me. Notes: "The airy acoustic is transparent and natural beyond words. There's an exactitude that the Nagra brings to the re-creation of the…
Time for analog, the PL-P's raison d'être. Let's consider A Mozart Soirée, from a January 1976 concert featuring Yehudi Menuhin given at the Salle Pleyel in Paris (EMI ASD 3329, a desirable series). I began with the Oboe Quartet in F, K.370. The joyous first-movement Allegro is sure to lift your spirits no matter how overcast they might be. The Nagra perspective asserted itself: I was seated onstage, the musicians arrayed before me. Notes: "The airy acoustic is transparent and natural beyond words. There's an exactitude that the Nagra brings to the re-creation of the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Full-function, battery-powered tube preamplifier with transformer-coupled MC phono stage and headphone outputs. Tube complements: phono stage, one 12AT7/ECC81, one 12AX7/ECC83; line-stage, two 12AT7, four 12AX7. Power source: 8 D-size Nickel-Cadmium power cells, rechargeable via PLP-CCC3 AC power-supply unit. Input impedance: >100k ohms (line stage); 100 ohms to 47k ohms (phono stage). Output impedance: 60 ohms. A full manufacturer's test and measurement report is included with each PL-P, including colored Audio Precision graphs.
Dimensions:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Source components were mainly the Ensemble Dichrono digital front-end, and the Symphonic Line RG-8 on the Forsell Air Force One. TARA Labs The One was draped to the left and right of the Nagra, and out to the Forsell Statement or the YBA Passion monoblocks, the YBAs in use for most of the evaluation period. The One speaker cable was also used between the YBAs and the JMlab Utopia loudspeakers. Power cords were Synergistic Reference AC Master Couplers.
The Nagra PL-P is a small aluminum box with a particular resonant frequency. "Decouple it as much…
Sidebar 3: Update (from April 1999, Vol.22 No.4)
Some time after my review of the Nagra PL-P was published in the January 1998 Stereophile, Nagra importer Steve Lee called.
"So, are you using the tape outs yet?"
"Uhhhhh, no." Just call me Butt-head.
It's true, the PL-P is the perfect candidate for hot-rodding. You bypass two tubes, some circuitry, and a few switches this way, and volume control is handled by the two input potentiometers! The Modulometer becomes largely superfluous using the tape outs, and there's a bit more background hiss, but the sound is…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
Except as noted, these measurements were taken with the Nagra PL-P's input-level controls at 0dB, and the output level at maximum. Line gain in this configuration measured 6.2dB. The line input impedance measured 72.6k ohms in the left channel, 68.2k ohms in the right. The output impedance measured 37 ohms. Neither input nor output impedance was significantly affected by changes in the output-level setting. The source impedance of the tape output was 5 ohms regardless of the source component's output impedance, indicating buffered tape outputs (not surprising from…
The line and phono THD+noise vs frequency results are shown in fig.4. Both are good results, and also reveal good in-band noise performance. The input voltages used for both the crosstalk and THD+noise figures were 2.45V (line) and 1mV (phono). These are the values that resulted in the lowest THD figures shown in fig.5—the THD+noise vs output results—and therefore minimized the effect of noise on the readings.
Fig.4 Nagra PL-P, THD+noise vs frequency at 2.45V input (line, bottom), and 1mV input (MC phono, top) (right channel dashed).
Fig.5 Nagra PL-P, distortion…
By the time you read this, I will have been fortunate enough to have attended a banquet put on by Harry Pearson in celebration of The Abso!ute Sound's 20th anniversary. Stereophile and TAS may have had their disagreements from time to time, but I take this opportunity to congratulate Harry and his staff on 20 years of excellent high-end publishing. I believe it's not excessively immodest to report that high-end manufacturers frequently remind me of their gratitude for the healthy and vibrant high-end publishing community which exists in the United States—and does not in most other countries…
For audiophiles who love multichannel music, the center-channel speaker is a problem second only, perhaps, to that of bass management. In many ways, the rerouting of bass to a subwoofer or to the front left and right main speakers is dictated by room acoustics or the bass limitations of the other speakers. On the other hand, most of us had no real need for a discrete center-channel to fill in the middles of our traditional stereo systems. In fact, one of the glories of really good stereo is the simulation of a convincing central image, such that there's a seamless soundstage from beyond one…