mixdown Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Hi all In the never ending quest for "that" sound I hooked up a phonobox RS last night in place of a Musical Fidelity V-LPS and wanted to provide some impressions. Firstly, the rest of the system - Rega Planar 3/RB300 with many mods (motor, sub-platter, arm spacer, mat, IKEA bamboo plinth) running an Ortofon Blue, Plessey S1 amp, Cabasse Bora speakers, Mordaunt Short Mezzo sub. So what difference did the phonobox RS make? I'd liketo tell you it transformed the sound but that would be gilding the lily. What it represents is a good incremental improvement. What do I mean by that? Well I guess everything is now a little better. The sound has more air and space around each element, particularly female vocals. The sound stage is wider but more particularly its now got real depth. Which makes it very interesting to listen to how individual artists are produced and engineered. Natalie Merchant appears from a wonderful black background right out in front of the band, whilst Ian Moss on the Matchbook album sits further back in the mix. Individual instruments are well rendered and convey their own timbre. To hear the sound of fingers plucking the strings of upright bass, rather than just the resultant sound of the instrument, is very satisfying. It reminds me somewhat of sitting in the front row of a live performance, which is the sound I'm attempting to emulate - eventually. The only downside is that the bass is somewhat restrained but I put that down mainly to the Plessey amp. Its been adequate in the past but is now being shown up as lacking grip and depth in the bass regions. It also tends to get a little harsh as volume increases. I recently acquired an NAD 275BEE power amp from another member and am now on the hunt for a preamp. The never ending quest.... Overall I'd rate the phonobox as a very good incremental upgrade from an entry level phono stage. It has added realism and detail and lent the sound an airiness that is very attractive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 I also have the Project RS. I agree with the above regarding the soundstage around performers, but not with being bass shy, IMO it is far better than described above, but I suspect that my equipment it is also at another level. The flexibility of the RS is second to none, adjustment on the fly, RCA and XLR inputs and outputs, up to 66db of gain for MC through XLR's. If you have two Turntables you can connect one with RCA and one XLR and switch between the two. The one thing to really set it apart from the competition anywhere near the price is the ability to add an external power supply. This is an amazing device that has the power supply feeding the RS from a built in battery, whilst the battery automatically recharges without interfering with sound quality in anyway. Every aspect of the sound improves over the stand alone RS, which was already at a high level. There is an online review of the RS and Power Supply by Michael Fremer. The downside is that when I bought my power supply last year the Australian dealers did not stock it, I had to import mine from UK, which was no hardship, ordered on a Friday, arrived on the following Wednesday. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixdown Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 I think I said that I put the slight bass shyness down to the Plessis amp.......I'm sure that when I get the amp upgrade done that little issue will be gone and forgotten! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janjuggler Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 (edited) Hi All, Another with the Project and the only Phono I have heard to outshine it, that is in my affordability, was a Goldnote at about X3 the price. JJ Edited March 6, 2019 by Janjuc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eman Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 On price alone I would expect the Project to be better. If the MF came anywhere close it would be a compliment, especially if it was without a PSU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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