Proper Analog Front-End Resource Allocation — A Cautionary Tale.

Saw the following review, and it immediately grabbed me in a ‘read between the lines’ way. This guy was really blowing it, and had been for decades:

The Dr. Feickert Volare Turntable Review. Analog Dreams. |

Excerpt:

That matching and synergy thing is important as in the past when I would spend say $5k on a table, then $1k on a cartridge and then $150 on a pre amp, I would have buyers remorse as it just never could match the level of sound quality that my digital front end would produce.

You don’t say? Gee, wonder what the prob could be?

Whats worse— remember the definition of insanity?:

In the past I have owned tables [over a 15-year span] from VPI (nice), Clearaudio (also nice), Technics, Michell, Nottingham, McIntosh (the green glowing platter) and so many more. I have tried tables that cost $160 and tables that cost upwards of $5500. None of them made me FULLY happy and many were sold 6-8 weeks after purchase, which is when I always vowed to never again get back into vinyl.

And, even when he finally gets serious about his cart, and has a nice new Feickert ‘table, guess what else is still happening?:

I was using a basic but REALLY GOOD $299 MoFi Studio [preamp/phono]. See my review HERE. Since that review I have also heard one pre amp that bested the MoFi for less. THIS ONE is cheaper [$189] and quite better, plays with the bigger boys in the pre amp realm.

Sigh. Holy crap.

But then, as if by some miracle, his 15+ year quest finally comes to fruition. Gosh, wonder how? :

I later added a Pass Labs XP-15 Phono Preamp (on review loan from Pass Labs) and some new cables (Cardas Clear Reflection) and this is where things changed dramatically…

…Getting back to the sound of this table with the Koetsu Black Goldine cartridge…it is sublime. Once I added in the Pass Labs XP-15 Phono Pre amp the sound just became very open and dimensional with phenomenal bass performance. There was depth like I have not heard with my previous setups. There was everything I heard with my digital, but now it was with the analog warmth and body we alway hear about with vinyl…

… Get this. I now prefer the sound of my albums to my [$7K] digital front end. So much so I may move my Klipsch LaScala AL5’s into THIS ROOM as I know that they will sound even better than ever over here with more space.

For the first time since I was a teenager I am enjoying vinyl more than digital. I am pulling out all of my old records and remembering when I bought them. Where I was in life, what I was doing…

Well, whew. Glad he figured out that hyper-intricate Sherlockian mystery. Layers within layers within layers, yes?

What I want to know… why the hell didn’t a dealer or audiophile friend explain the obvious to this guy at some point over the preceding 15 years? Did they all hate him or something? Or did they, and he just did not listen? Ever?

And yes, the Koetsu Black obviously helped, but, c’mon. Who says to themselves, “Okay, phonostage allocation on this analog front-end… 2 or 3% of front-end budget. Yeah, that looks good.”

And then it takes 15 years to figure it out.

 

Clever way to sell cables, CR!

 

Don’t be that guy.
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Phono preamp is important. No doubt about it.

 

And yet, this remains a deeply-shrouded mystery to many, apparently.


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You'd think Steve would have used his spirit box to talk some hifi pioneers from the dead about the importance of a quality phono pre?

 

Damb… he may not understand preamps, but he sure does get around.
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I always like how they showel cables into drastic hardware changes..
Sounds like
When I switched from my Toyota Tercel to BMW M5 and started to use Chevron instead of Circle-K my ride improved dramatically.

 

Well better late then never......

 

And he writes reviews of gear? What a clusterf@ck....

 

“Does not lend confidence” is the classic business term, I think.

I’m happy for him that it worked out in the end, but geez… it was all so very avoidable.
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I saw that review after he first put it out a few years ago. And I came to the same conclusion as yourself.

 

Okay, not to pile on, but how does someone seemingly competent enough and smart enough to make the kind of money needed to afford that level of equipment not figure out the blatantly obvious flaw in their approach? You'd think after the third or forth turntable you might wonder if there's possibly another issue....?

 

The ability to make money doesn’t necessarily imply intelligence. You’d think after the third or fourth example of a wealthy person doing something stupid, that would be obvious to anyone.

 

Yup. It actually kinda bothers me.


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If his clickbait garbage and capitalizing on dead celebrities did not persuade others that he's a nutcase or a sick grifter, then I don't know what will.

 

Humorous. Glad the doors opened for him with the loan from Pass Labs and Cardas. A no s#!t sherlock moment for sure.

 

This all goes back to the late 70s/early '80s articles in the British press about the prioritisation of resources in a vinyl system. Pushed by Ivor Tiefenbrun of the Linn corporation.


The word back then in those articles amounted to: If you have a limited budget, allocate your resources to buy a Linn Sondek/Linn arm/Linn cartridge. Get by with lesser amp and speakers until you can afford an upgrade.

I am a great believer in the Source component being the foundation of the system sound. That is true. BUT. There is a but. One will never realise the superiority of a state of the art Source component with barely adquate amps or speakers. In order to actually hear a superior Source component display its superiority, one needs a balance of capability across the entire system chain.

That reviewer never had a chance to hear any Source component at its best with a mediocre amp and speakers. That makes his review conclusions unreliable, his conclusions debateable and his conclusions about components likely misleading. Not what we want from a reviewer,

 

I'm with you Cyclone. Using a Koetsu Black Goldine and multiple nice tables over the course of years with a sub $300 phono amps seems like such an obvious mismatch, but again... he friggin thinks he talks to dead people. All bets are off then.

 

I've tried to preach the importance of a good phono stage to no avail.
I think most folks have never heard what a good phono stage can do, and most think their on board stage is fine or great.
The myth that there are 'giant' killers out there like the Zen or Mani don't do much to help. Yes they are probably better than an onboard stage but just barely.
Sad to think how many with a great front end spend years listening to vinyl in mediocrity, especially if they have a great back end.

Personally if I had $3k to spend on vinyl half might go to the phono stage.

 

Now you know who's audio reviews not to read at least.

 

Worst review I’ve ever read… about anything.

 

When it comes to phono preamps, spending more does tend to yield more but there are exceptions. I recently “downgraded” from a $1700 phono preamp to a $499 preamp and the latter is actually better. I’ve had similar experiences with line-level preamps. The best I’ve used retails for ≈ 1/10th of the the most expensive I’ve owned.

Still, I agree that Steve’s reviewing practices are questionable, to put it kindly.

 

Could definitely be a big part of it. So too could be the general de-emphasis of the preamp since the late ‘80s, with component makers no longer putting quality (or any) phonostages in ‘em, as many ppl were not using vinyl anymore.

But then again, the reviewer we’re discussing seems to make a lot of odd and bad choices (‘I can talk to dead celebrities!’). Perhaps his preamp/phono neglect is just one more.
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