RWA amp with DODD preamp both battery powered
Here are some pics from the Isabella audition with detail comparison coming up in few days or so. See page 2 & 3 for pics from the RAVE. http://www.audiocircle.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=2198&page=2 Just a little tease - it is a really good preamp. |
Isabella preamp impressions and comparison Vinnie's new creation is truly remarkable achievement in combining battery powered preamp with NOS digital to analog convertor and high quality headphone amplifier. Isabella is equipped with three inputs , two outputs , one headphone in, digital ins and USB for its build in Isabellina DAC as well as Hi / Low * gain* selector switch on the back side of the Isabella to compensate for systems which could benefit from this feature. This particular option prove to be especially useful in Rave system setup and Vinnie's Sig. 30.2 amplifier (30Wpc in stereo.) being used to drive my reference speakers - Vandersteens Quatro with build in powered woofers and its own EQ (which wasn't optimized at the time of the "Rave"). Another very thoughtful feature is the glass sliding window on the top of the unit to provide easy and convenient access to stock JJ 6922 tubes (or any other tubes for that matter) that Isabella came with and which are included with the preamp. Swapping tubes just couldn't be simpler. Stock JJ tubes are in Vinnie's opinion one of the best , inexpensive and widely available tubes on the market today. I agree with that statement and surly there are others who share that opinion. It is a very nicely balanced tube, from top to bottom. By replacing stock tubes with NOS Mullards added more middle range presents , liquidity and more life like rendition of vocals and instruments with extra spaciousness and articulation. Piano was reproduced the best I have heard in my system with attack transient that was accurately portray and consonant at least to my ear. It might however be my personal perception and/or preferences which doesn't necessarily have to mirror your own taste or ears. Describing my experiences with Isabella and Mullards are as positive and preferable as with Dodd and the same tubes. But one mustn't glorify Mullard tube alone for its magic ..its the component(s) and synergy of your system as well as your preferences towards this particular sound characteristics that will play the most important role in choosing the tubes that work and sound right to YOUR EAR - not mine. Isabella (as everybody knows) runs on batteries and I am happy to report that beside the fact of being ultra quit when run in that mode, it was ( as Vinnie advertised ) performing almost identical when plugged into the wall outlet directly. For most its run time on batteries might be more then enough but if for whatever reason you will need or want to use Isabella for longer listening sessions, no worries it won't disappoint while in AC/DC mode. Listening to Isabella's DAC with Vinnie's Mac as the source was very satisfying and I can see how someone might want to use it in such a configuration. Quality of music reproduction and absents of the usual edginess and lifeless characteristics of digital music files was staggering. I could happily live with that setup and never look back. You might ask if it is as good or better the stand alone CD player. Well , yes and no. I believe that Isabella is definitely on par or better then some very good players out there but not all. It is not exactly AMR CD-77 but it might (considering the quality of Isabellina DAC) be the perfect solution for those who can not afford the top of the line CDP but still want that (or close to it) great quality of reproduction without breaking the bank. Playing music thru Consonance Droplet CDP 5.0 ($3200 retail) and using its analog as well as digital out made it possible to evaluate the quality of both DACs and come up with the results. Isabellina ($2000 DAC or $1500 option for Isabella) sounds fantastic and I must admit that it would be silly to add $2000 DAC to Droplet as it would rise the tag price of this combo to $5200. However it did improve the already great CD player yet to another level by adding realism and fluidness over Droplet's upsampling DAC. It wasn't day and night difference but was easily heard by all , including myself. Vinnie did the switching and Buddy as well as I could tell the difference every time. I must add that we both preferred Isabellina DAC over Droplet's build in DAC. I think that Isabellina might be one of the best DACs within the reach of most serious audiophiles out there - highly recommended as a stand alone product and hat off to Vinnie for coming up with the wining formula. To accurately describe the sound of Isabella ($4000 Linestage only) and grasp how does it stuck-up to real competition we performed some comparison to already released and raved about by owners as well as press - Dodd battery powered preamp ($3300) , which I happened to own. Dodd preamp selling for $700 less then Isabella gives you extra input, HT pass thru, longer run on the single charge and beautiful wood finish with chromed-cover and front controls. But does it automatically means that it is a better value or overshadows new kid on the block Isabella? Not quite. Are these two, great products close in performance? I would say that they have more in common then what differs them to the point . Sound wise, well this is one of the most difficult comparisons for me so far. Not that I couldn't hear the differences between these two but from other perspective as well. Let me explain. Here are some (IMO) important factors to consider while choosing the preamp that works best for you: (my case was no brainer. When I bought my Dodd, Isabella wasn't available. Gary was running a special ($2495) and I was able to trade my Granite Audio 770fp preamp almost without loss - money wise. I need HT pass-true & definitely could use the extra input.) Things going for Dodd Price. I am not sure if the Dodd sells still at special price of $2495 but if he does , for many it will be the tie-breaker. Extra input and HT-pass-true. Those with HT setups might choose Dodd over Isabella for that feature alone. Those who are not looking to add more liquidity/warmness to their systems may opt. for more forward Dodd. Beautiful finishes, especially for wood lovers. So what Isabella has to offer? * Sound that is spellbinding, smooth and almost erotic. Highly recommended to sensible ears and overly bright systems. * DAC, headphone amp of excellent quality on board. Simplifies the system. Guarantees perfect synergy and sound. * Runs on AC for unlimited amount of time if needed. * Small foot print * High/Low gain switch for extra volume for demanding, more difficult speakers or low power SET amps. As far as sound quality is concern, in my system I would have to give on edge to Isabella. It is more musical, resolving and has wider and more precise imaging and soundstage. This was however most noticed while A/B-ing two preamps side by side . Later that night I was still enjoying Dodd and loved it. If I had to choose between the two NOW, after hearing them both in my system and If I was on the market for new preamp & DAC, I would go with Isabella - if I had the money. For those on the tighter budget Dodd is still above the competition and has some features that some might find as very important and irresistible. Together with Isabella these two preamps are IMO one of the best values and performers on the market today and are worth its asking price and then some. Congratulation to Vinnie for an excellent product and I should also add that Gary is not to far behind ..at least when it comes to linestage. Both great products. Mariusz |
Hi Mrjstark, interesting that you find the Isabella a little bit "warmer", more musical, and yet it has a more "precise" imaging. I am not good at audiophile glossary at all. I always thought that a gear that sounds 'warmer' tends to give away the precision of the image. Nevertheless, I am a photographer, so when people talk to me about image precision, I imagine an object being very well focused with well defined boundary (or sharp boundary). In the world of audio, my understanding is that when we add tubes, we tend to 'diffuse' the image a little, reducing the sharpness of the object which can make the object sound bigger, more liquid (i.e. more gentle transition from one boundary to another), less edginess, more holographic, but the trade-off is that each object is no longer as well-defined as before. I am not trying to debate glossary, I am just trying to imagine and understand what exactly you're hearing based on your description. In any case, your review was a well-written and straight-to-the-point. Take care Viper |
Imaging - The measure of a system's ability to float stable and specific phantom images, reproducing the original sizes and locations of the instruments across the soundstage. Warm, fluid, smooth....yes. Dark....NO. When I said that Isabella is on the worm side, I meant: effortless, 3-dimensional, very emotional, smooth but not syrupy sound. My guess is that its qualities lay in the choice of capacitors, which are(if I am not mistaken) oil-filled Jensens. Also, due to very low floor-noise and absolute lock of degrading effect of the polluted power lines (grid garbage), more subtle information and details are able to get true without being saturated and automatically vanish from the original recording. Again, warm doesn't necessarily means lock of detail or transparency......in this case, it is just a small amount of warmness which might be beneficial and in some cases - preferred. In the world of audio, my understanding is that when we add tubes, we tend to 'diffuse' the image a little, reducing the sharpness of the object which can make the object sound bigger, more liquid (i.e. more gentle transition from one boundary to another), less edginess, more holographic, but the trade-off is that each object is no longer as well-defined as before. Well, yes and no. In my opinion tubes actually add to realism of the reproduction rather then distorts it or take anything away from musical enjoyment. I guess that big part of successful setup lays in synergy, careful component choices as well as tubes, wires and of course - room acoustics. For some, sharpness or surreal detail might be interpreted as coloration or edginess and it might cost fatigue for others. Tubes like caps influence the sound and its characteristics. We used Mullards as well as JJ. Where JJ sounded more balanced and more "detailed" at frequency's extremes. Matter of taste and preferences. When we switched back to my Consonance Cybers 800 (we originally have used Vinnie's Sig.30.2 amp [30wpc] for evaluation) things kick up a notch. Better dynamics, speed and bottom end improved substantially. Simply speaking, Vandys like more power then Sig.30.2 can provide and in my opinion are more transparent in general. You have to pick your poison and what suits you best....and your system. Mariusz |
