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REVIEW: Transcendent Sound Grounded Grid Preamplifier (Tube) Review by Junebug at Audio Asylum

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I just got done building the Transcendent Sound Grouded Grid Preamp ("GG") from scratch. I now have the GG AND the Transcendent 80W OTLs! The only changes/upgrades I did on the GG was to use Solens as the filtering caps on the power supplies (not filament) and added a Noble potentiometer. My reference is the most recent manifestation of the Audible Illusions M3A with the coupling capacitors switched out. My source is entirely vinyl with a Conrad Johnson EV-1 for phono stage and a Linn Axis/Akito II with Micro Benz H2O cartridge.

Initial listening was very dry with an annoying ring (esp. with piano), but already, the GG was more transparent and had greater detail than the AI. I fed my CD break-in track for 38 hours and listened again. The ringing was gone and the presentation was a bit less dry than earlier, but still not as musical as the AI. The soundstage was just as deep as the AI, but not as wide. The GG is slightly faster with more solidity to the bass. At this point, I was 75% sure that I would sell the AI, but knew I would miss the extra musicality of the AI with the GG. My hopes were that improved parts might get me a preamp that was every bit as relaxing and musical as the AI.

And THEN, Wally Malewicz (WallyTractor) told me to put a 1 meg linear pot in series with the 100K feedback resistor to start playing around with reduced levels of feedback (The GG has 7db of feedback). First, I tried the extremes - either 100K or 1 meg of resistance. With 1 meg, the soundstage grew considerably and the bass impact suffered but the presentation was more musical - and that is what I was really after. Wally listened himself at this point and said that he thought the GG was an excellent preamp, but that 1 meg was too colored sounding, albeit a step in the right direction. We decided to make 500K our outer limit and experiment from there.

I must say that the GG is very very good, but, in my taste, becomes excellent with slightly reduced feedback. If you like CD sound, you will love the GG as is. If you are a vinyl junkie, you will want to reduce the feedback to get more of the musicality you are used to. (KEEP IN MIND HERE THAT MY UNIT WAS BUILT FROM SCRATCH WITH LITTLE ATTENTION PAID TO COMPONENT PLACEMENT AND WIRE ROUTING - THE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE UNIT - IN KIT OR PRE-MADE FORM, COULD, I THINK, SOUND SOMEWHAT BETTER.)

In my opinion, with at least 350K of feedback resistance, the GG is the equal of, if not better than, the AI. With 100K of feedback, there are tradeoffs: the GG is more transparent, faster and has better bass, but the AI is more musical, has a larger soundstage and is more ambient (lighting up the room). Add a few hundred thousand ohms of feedback resistance and the GG is the AI's equal in musicality and soundstage presentation. At a fraction of the cost, the GG is a hands-down winner!


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Topic - REVIEW: Transcendent Sound Grounded Grid Preamplifier (Tube) Review by Junebug at Audio Asylum - Junebug 14:47:30 04/9/01 ( 0)