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I just went up two notches in resolution

Suspecting that my LP rig's 20+ yr-old Amber amp/preamp may be getting a little long in the tooth, I tho't I'd try out the Cambridge 640p phono stage. Since the Amber pre's other inputs were getting dodgy, I consulted the Shelf of Sidelined Preamps in the garage and settled on the Outlaw 950 A/V pre/pro as the new line stage. So 5 channels (out of 7.1) and all that surround processing is going to waste (but the whole thing was going to waste before). Unknown to many, however, is that the analog stereo bypass circuit in that unit is very fast, clean, and devoid of electronic artifacts. It also has analog bass management and I'm using a 2.1 sub/sat system in this rig.

Yowzah! Everything popped and jumped out of the speakers as never before. Everything was faster, more there, more transparent. This Cambridge unit slays for the money, and it accepts a very wide range of cartridge outputs. I was feeding it output from a Denon DL-160 HOMC, rated at 1.6mV output but typically measured at 2.2. It didn't take long at all for the Cambridge to settle in, but it just got more organic and musical when it did.

At this point I suspected that the 640p could reveal more than the DL-160 could resolve. After asking for advice here and playing a hunch, I replaced the DL-160 with an Audio Technica AT150MLX mounted on a new 12g LPGear Zupreme headshell.

What do you think you'd get with such a rig? It sounds like a recipe for disaster:

Technics SL1210 M5G DD turntable (oft-accused of glare, harshness, hashy noise, etc.)
+ Cambridge 640p phono stage (summarized as fast, detailed, and lean on these web pages)
+ Outlaw Audio 950 (not going to be compared to a tube unit anytime soon)
+ Audio Technica AT150MLX (described as more linear like master tapes and less warm than typical vinyl playback even by a reviewer who *liked* it)
= Lush.

What? That's right, I said "Lush." This chain sounds lush. But not woofy, indistinct, pillowy, or lacking initial transients. In fact, it's quite fast with big improvements in both macro and micro-dynamics. Big volume swings have plenty of jump; small dynamic changes convey plenty of nuance. You can hear Diana Krall's mouth forming the words. You can hear Stokowsky getting that last nth of expression out of the National Symphony Orchestra.

You hear the fingers scraping the strings of the harp, but you also hear the harp's resonance bloom throughout the room. And it sounds like it's happening in real time. This is no slow'n'thick bloom. It's quick risetime fast followed by a room-filling bloom. And all at 1.5g VTF until it breaks in, at which point I may take it down to a vinyl-friendly 1.25 to 1.35. Even at those low tracking forces, my trusty KAB fluid damper should keep stylus-rattle under control.

I don't know how many times my wife has said (when I'm playing music through the new chain) "It sounds like they're in the room."

Who'da thunk it?
johnnyb53
johnnyb53 OP
3,490 posts
 
06-29-08: Stringreen
I understand that many Outlaw products are made by Sherwood and and rebadgeed.
Outlaw has a home office and a core of designers and engineers, but they're networked all over the world to enlist the expertise of others and Far East manufacturing facilities.

They have been candid that their 990 Pre/pro was based on the Sherwood-Newcastle 965. That is totally understandable because nothing could touch it anywhere near the price. In fact, my pre/pro is a Boston Acoustics AVP7, which is also based on the Sherwood-Newcastle unit. I suspect there were other badgings as well. In the case of Outlaw, however, they used the blank areas of the back panel to add balanced connections and 3-to-1 DVI video switching. To save costs, they then ditched the Sherwood learning remote for a garden variety one. The Boston included the nicer learning remote, which retails at $200 on its own.

Outlaw also enlisted the help of Hsu when designing their subwoofers.

My own experiences with Outlaw aren't all that great. This same pre/pro I'm using in stereo bypass mode has some kind of flaw in its left surround channel, and I ordered one of the first batch of their RR150 retro receiver, and sent it back because it couldn't touch my old Amber stack.

But good is good, and the analog bypass line stage in my Outlaw 950 is quite good--wide bandwidth, fast, neutral, and musical.
amondrool
29 posts
 
wow..jb53...thx so much for your response. i was afraid i had broken audiogon etiquette by glomming on to u for advice. yeah, i better play around some with vta. again, thx SO much
tvad
9,467 posts
 
My initial reaction to the AT150Mlx compared to the Benz Micro Ace is that the two are more similar than different. The 150Mlx has a slightly "juicier" sound to me...perhaps a bit more three dimensional. Not an enormous difference, but noticeable and fun to hear.

The Benz is quieter. The 150Mlx allows more surface noise through. I don't know if "allow" is the right word, but I definitely hear more snap, crackle and pop with the 150Mlx.

I have gone from a VTF of 1.5 to just under 1.0. The lighter tracking force results in a more balanced sound, IMO.

Phono is a Heed Quasar.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
Nice report. That's what it's all about.

Dave
chadnliz's avatar
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
Grant,my dad had the Micro before he stepped up to the Ref 3 (gotta love the upgrade policy), the Benz is exactly as you descibe but I will go a bit further and say that it was sorta boring and lacked any life (it wasnt offensive, it was so polite it bored me is all).
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