I have been happy with NOS Mullards. They provide a touch of warmth, a bit bigger image size, scale, and naturalness. I also have NOS Mazda tubes. They sound crystal clear, black background, with more detail. My preference is for the Mullards, but I could understand why others would like the Mazdas more.
Coincident Statement Phono stage in da house!
- Thread starter Mendel
- Start date
So finally got unit up and running and spent the whole night spinning records and indulging in edibles. A few observations:
1. Out of the box, it sounded better than my PS Audio Stellar which is no slouch. I was expecting a brand new unit to sound dull before break in, but within 15 mins of being on, it sounded really good.
2. It is more quiet than the PS Audio which again surprised me because I assumed a tube based circuit will have higher noise floor. My previous experience with tube equipment was Prima Luna and Rogue Audio; and that experience turned me away from tubes altogether because in retrospect those components didn't have very good resolution, and lacked dynamics and details at low volumes.
3. I agree with prior comments regarding the Mullards, they do a good job with layering the sound stage and offer more natural smoothness. However, the highs and bass could use more punch.With my RCA nos tubes, I get a darker tone, crunchier highs and deeper bass; but the sound stage loses some depth and layering. I compromised by putting the Mullards in the forward position and RCA in the back position. I lose a just tiny bit of layering but get punchier highs and bass.
4. The biggest surprise was how good the volume control was plugged directly into my amp. When listening directly plugged into the amp, I wasn't initially sure my dedicated preamp (Gryphon Pandora) would sound better. For something, I saw as a throw in feature, the CPS has a phenomenal volume control. However, after running phono into Pandora, it is not as good as the Pandora; the Pandora offers better resolution and layering, and adds refinement and warmth to the sound. However, when CSP is plugged straight into the amp, there is a greater immediacy to the sound; overall I prefer the sound going through dedicated preamp. I noticed when going through preamp, using the volume control on the CSP definitely hurts sound, CSP volume control to me is only usable if plugging directly into amp
The Mullards that came with the preamp says made in Russia (so I'm wondering if these tubes I paid $300 for are really NOS tubes or just a recent reissue); I thought NOS Mullards were British made?
Anyway, these are my initial impressions out of the box, I assume sound will improve over the coming weeks. Overall, I am pleased with this component and it is currently meeting my expectations.
1. Out of the box, it sounded better than my PS Audio Stellar which is no slouch. I was expecting a brand new unit to sound dull before break in, but within 15 mins of being on, it sounded really good.
2. It is more quiet than the PS Audio which again surprised me because I assumed a tube based circuit will have higher noise floor. My previous experience with tube equipment was Prima Luna and Rogue Audio; and that experience turned me away from tubes altogether because in retrospect those components didn't have very good resolution, and lacked dynamics and details at low volumes.
3. I agree with prior comments regarding the Mullards, they do a good job with layering the sound stage and offer more natural smoothness. However, the highs and bass could use more punch.With my RCA nos tubes, I get a darker tone, crunchier highs and deeper bass; but the sound stage loses some depth and layering. I compromised by putting the Mullards in the forward position and RCA in the back position. I lose a just tiny bit of layering but get punchier highs and bass.
4. The biggest surprise was how good the volume control was plugged directly into my amp. When listening directly plugged into the amp, I wasn't initially sure my dedicated preamp (Gryphon Pandora) would sound better. For something, I saw as a throw in feature, the CPS has a phenomenal volume control. However, after running phono into Pandora, it is not as good as the Pandora; the Pandora offers better resolution and layering, and adds refinement and warmth to the sound. However, when CSP is plugged straight into the amp, there is a greater immediacy to the sound; overall I prefer the sound going through dedicated preamp. I noticed when going through preamp, using the volume control on the CSP definitely hurts sound, CSP volume control to me is only usable if plugging directly into amp
The Mullards that came with the preamp says made in Russia (so I'm wondering if these tubes I paid $300 for are really NOS tubes or just a recent reissue); I thought NOS Mullards were British made?
Anyway, these are my initial impressions out of the box, I assume sound will improve over the coming weeks. Overall, I am pleased with this component and it is currently meeting my expectations.
Congrats on your new Statement Phono!
I was also very surprised how quiet the unit is when I got mine. I can run it with the volume controls at maximum and hear almost absolute silence with my ears up against my panels.
The unit comes with the Russian made “Mullards” so if you paid extra for NOS British made Mullards you are definitely owed these from Isreal.
There are definitely pluses and minuses running the unit with or without a preamp. Most people seem to prefer it with a dedicated line stage, but my intention all along was to run it directly into my amp. I am now considering adding a line stage (perhaps the Coincident) but not in any rush as it would be a major expenditure.
As per the instruction manual, the Statements volume controls should be set to maximum when using a line stage. In this position they are out of the signal path.
Enjoy!
Unit has broke
Just an update. Unit has broken in and has really impressed me. I take back what I said about the passive preamp. It is a really good preamp, so good in fact, I have removed my Gryphon Pandora preamp from the chain. I use an Orchard RCA to XLR Converter to connect to my Gryphon Essence amp. The combo is very dynamic and clean. I reached out to Israel to find out if his active preamp would better the passive in the phono, he basically said no. I post his response below.
"We designed the Phono stage so that it is the absolute state of the art phono but allows users who also wish to connect an RCA component like a digital component . The second input is totally passive with the signal going through the mute and input switch only. Nothing can be purer than that. An extra bonus, when only listening to digital, the Phono Statement does not need to have the power on. Power only is required when listening to phono."
Just an update. Unit has broken in and has really impressed me. I take back what I said about the passive preamp. It is a really good preamp, so good in fact, I have removed my Gryphon Pandora preamp from the chain. I use an Orchard RCA to XLR Converter to connect to my Gryphon Essence amp. The combo is very dynamic and clean. I reached out to Israel to find out if his active preamp would better the passive in the phono, he basically said no. I post his response below.
"We designed the Phono stage so that it is the absolute state of the art phono but allows users who also wish to connect an RCA component like a digital component . The second input is totally passive with the signal going through the mute and input switch only. Nothing can be purer than that. An extra bonus, when only listening to digital, the Phono Statement does not need to have the power on. Power only is required when listening to phono."
Interesting info, especially the fact that the line input works without the unit being powered!
My intention all along, and the reason I bought the Statement Phono, was to do away with a line stage, allowing for a purer signal without the extra circuitry of an active line stage and a extra set of interconnect wires and connections. If the phono stage has high enough gain and quality volume controls and low output impedance what more can gain stages and wires add? The only possible issue is total system gain if you use an extremely low output cartridge or have very insensitive speakers.
Hope you got the real Mullards from Isreal and are enjoying them. The unit is very responsive to tube rolling (particularly the first gain stage) so it’s lots of fun to play with if your into doing that.
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I've long considered adding Statement phono to my Statement linestage (upgraded with MkII transformers, Audio Note Seiryu caps, Takman resistors, Amtrans selector) but present Thoress phono satisfying. Easy to understand great results you're both getting with Statement phono, both Coincident pre's have amazing power supplies. In fact in recent long term comparison of my Statement with my Pass Labs XP22, Statement remains, Pass sold. Noise floors were amazingly similar, Statement greater transparency, palpabile and more like live performers in room than Pass in my system. The Coincident pre's can easily be keepers for life.
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