Melody 1688S Pre-amp

[Bronal]

I first became aware of this preamp last year when it was reviewed in Hi Fi World, which is the only monthly mag I buy and respect because of its long-standing interest in a wide range of technologies, including valves and analog. The 1688S then won a Hi Fi World 'product of the year' for 2007.

(Note: the 1688S appears to be called the 101D in Europe and has a different rectifier valve and diffrerent lettering on the fascia from the model sold in Australia. Otherwise it looks the same.)

I have been aware of Melody for some time but that's about it. They don't have a website (that I can find) and generally are a little elusive. However, their products, such as the SP3 and SP9 integrateds are becoming quite well known internationally and are getting excellent reviews. The 1688 has apparently been around for a while and no doubt is familiar to those of you living in Sydney and Melbourne.

There wasn't much chance of me getting to hear one in Canberra, but Andrew of Aslan Acoustics brought one with him when he delivered my new stands. Andrew had also kindly run the preamp in for a few days.

This is my review of the 1688S in my system, which is: CEC TL51X CD transport, Kora Hermes DAC, Turner Audio 35 wpc SE valve monoblocks, Rotel RB-1080 power amp (for subs), Marchand XM9AA 2-way active crossover, Zero Autoformers, Ambience 1600 Reference speakers, Townshend Supertweeters, Merlin Audio twin subs, silver interconnects with WBT 0110 connectors (made by Decky) and Pure Silver Connection silver speaker cables and power cords.

Packaging: the 1688S came in a big double box, well protected, with the obligatory white cotton gloves for handling the valves. It was, of course, personally delivered by Andrew but looked more than adequately protected against the vagaries of the Austrlian road freight industry.

Manual: 0/10 here, I'm afraid. The 'manual' (if I can grace it with such a word) contains no operating instructions. All I can say is it's a good job the 1688S will normally be owned by someone familiar with set-up procedure.

Presentation and appearance: in two words, audio porn! The 1688S is finished in a deep, uber-glossy black and overall external finish is extremely high. The appearance has a menacing retro feel to it and for some reason renmids me of Darth Vader's helmet! There is a proper side to side on/off switch, a volume control and a selector switch, which appears to have alien characters under it that on close inspection turn out to be highly stylised numbers 1 to 5. There are three high quality cone feet - a nice touch as most manufacurers haven't got past the el cheapo rubber type. I haven't replaced them as I doubt that I'd notice the difference. The 1688 is a big as a power amp and quite heavy. It needs about 44 cm back to front and about 25 cm top to bottom.

Functions: 5 SE inputs, plus one balanced. Two outputs - high and low. I found the low output has plenty of gain for my amps. There is a classy ultra simple metal remote.

Valves: 4 x 6SN7 (the two at the front are inputs, two at the back outputs), 2 x 101D

and 1 x 5AR4.

How it sounded: I listened to the 1688S with its original (? Chinese) valves and then with Sylvania VT-231s (front) and 'chrome top' 6SN7s (rear) and a Mullard 5AR4 substituted. Overall, I found the 1688S to be tonally neutral to just a shade dark, but very transparent. It has enormous dynamics and the music leaps of out the speakers from an inky black background with excellent timing and grip. Soundstaging is vast, both left to right and front to back. Detail is highly etched, but without grain. There is no hint of valviness and some people might think the 1688S to be a little cold because of that. The 1688S responded well to tube rolling and Andrew was amazed at how much the sound improved with the NOS valves. There is no noise or hum of any kind. The 1688S is deathly quiet at all times.

Conclusions: the 1688S is a preamp of the highest quality, but don't look for a romantic sound, 'cos it doesn't have one. It presents information honestly without dominating the rest of the system. It fits into my system like a T and there are no problems with it driving the Rotel. Needless to say, I bought it! At $4 600 or thereabouts it doesn't have many competitors before you get into the really silly money.

[56oval]

A nice read an a great out come to .So are you going to try a pair of WE101D's .

Cheers.

[mondie]

Great review Bronal, what Pre is it displacing?

Cheers Mondie

[davidsss]

Yep, gotta love those Melody amps - I have the I34 integrated with only one of the 101D tubes, looks and sounds great.

But, yes, the manual is not good - thin and doesn't tell you much which, since I'm new to valves, I wanted something more substantial. Still, I can learn from the lovely people here.

One day I'll try tube rolling myself but I'm happy with the sound as is.

BTW they do have a web site at: http://www.melodyvalvehifi.com/ and Pure Music Group bring them into the country and their web site is at: http://puremusicgroup.com/cart/ The Melody web site seems to use the European model numbers.

DS

[Bronal]

56: if only, but I don't have $1 000 to spare at the moment!

A.

A nice read an a great out come to .So are you going to try a pair of WE101D's .

Cheers.[/b]

[Bronal]

Mondie: Supratek Sauvignon.

A.

Great review Bronal, what Pre is it displacing?

Cheers Mondie[/b]

[mondie]

Ah, a good result for the Melody then. l was a Supratek owner for a short while too until l moved on to a TVC.

[Guest JohnA]

Thanks for sharing bronal,

just goes to show how each setup is different and how a change of components works in one and not the other.

I tried said pre-amp at home also but unfortunately it didn't beat the sauvignon

Another reason why reviews, blind tests etc etc mean nothing in the real world.

Go out and try things for yourself

[Nolz]

Thanks for the write up informative read Bronal. Thanks also for the insight on valve amps and the thoughts on the varying equipment and valves from the other day too

My equipment is officially sold now so valve amps here I come!

[hired goon]

G'day,

Interesting read. So what was the difference soundwise between this and yer Supratek?

--Geoff

[Young Skywalker]

I tried said pre-amp at home also but unfortunately it didn't beat the sauvignon.[/b]

Hi John,

Should one infer from your comments that the Supratek Sauvignon was better than the Melody preamp in your system and to your tastes or simply that there was not enough difference between them, again in your system, to warrant changing camps and losing money in the process?

Regards,

Aaron

[Guest JohnA]

Hi John,

Should one infer from your comments that the Supratek Sauvignon was better than the Melody preamp in your system and to your tastes or simply that there was not enough difference between them, again in your system, to warrant changing camps and losing money in the process?

Regards,

Aaron[/b]

as per bold text :biggrin:

[hueyoz]

Bronal, I see you have a CEC TL51X transport. What do you think of it? I am thinking of getting one to replace my (ageing)TEAC T1 transport.

Huey