Four months with the Constellation Inspiration Preamp and Stereo amp

scouter

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Oct 30, 2012
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I haven't seen any threads on Constellation's Inspiration series, so I thought I'd write down some thoughts from my listening. I acquired Constellation Audio's "inexpensive combo" and got to listen to them for 4 months, awaiting the arrival of some audio equipment I have on order. I have sold them recently in anticipation of the arrival of new components. I really enjoyed the Constellation Inspiration series. I can only compare them to my outgoing Spectral 15ss pre and 260 series 1 power amp, but they offer a valid option.

Let me put into context the room and system I listened within, as YMMV. Room is 18 x 15 x 8, heavily treated with tube traps and Curve diffusers, as well as absorption on the back wall. Listening was within reasonable levels- 65-85 dB, though some peaks were hitting occasionally 95dB. I did find my listening levels unknowingly increased due to Constellation's very low distortion levels, but dialed them back purposefully under the direction of my wife. :) Music was blues, jazz, electronic, alternative, all vocals, pop-country, but no classical. System was MacBook Pro running latest Audirvana, Ayre QB9 DSD dac, Magico S5 speakers, with MIT HD90 cables. I tried using MIT Matrix 50 interconnects but due to being RCA, non-balanced, I quit using them after a week. The Constellation sounded pretty unimpressive with unbalanced cabling (which they tell you upfront, but I had to learn for myself).

If you value transparency, you really owe it to yourself to hear these components. They are remarkable in many ways, but that's the first thing you notice when you hear them. You can hear WAY back into the soundstage, and they have an unforced, effortless detail about them that really grabs you.

I love Spectral and what they do for the music, but I feel they fall short on things such as cymbals. The sheen and shimmer that a ride cymbal has, or the distinct opening and closing of a high hat is lost in their soundstage. Not so with the Constellation. You can follow the distinct sounds throughout any musical passage, not because it is highlighted, but because it is reproduced as "there", just as in a real concert or recording. The same detail is found throughout the musical field, and its not a "hey look at me" detail, but a real presence that is just there and easy to follow.
Soundstage depth is excellent, and as I said, you can hear way back into the stage with individual instruments and voices easily delineated. Soundstage width is SPOOKY wide. I mean, you can be startled with some of the sounds coming from way beyond and in front of the speakers. I've never heard a soundstage this wide, and that's with past experiences with Spectral, Audio Research, Mark Levinson, Classe, Melos, and CRJ. This didn't happen all the time, but there were some recordings I am very familiar with, and the sound emanating from beyond the speaker's sound field really floored me. Speaking of soundstage, seating perspective is upfront, say row e-f. That took a while to get used to as my old system was mid hall, row m.

Problems? Well, of course, there are no perfect components out there, and Constellation falls short on some areas. First, even with the upfront row e perspective, macrodynamics were underwhelming. Microdynamics were good, and you get a great idea of the fine nuances of the performance. Large dynamic swings were not reproduced as well, and this took me a while to get used to, as I should have been hit with these swings with the upfront seating perspective. It wasn't enough to make it feel Hi Fi, but as great as the other attributes were, macro dynamics were average at best.

Bass, however was the real letdown. While the bass was there, it was "not in attendance " so to speak. I had to listen and sure enough, it was there, and you could follow it throughout the music, but it really left the music ungrounded IMHO. I'm not a bass freak, but the Magico S5s can really play the bass, and I've been listening to this system for 3 years now. Removing the bass to the degree the Constellation did really took some getting used to. After a while, I became accustomed to the Constellation sound, and this didn't bother me as much. I could really appreciate what Constellation brings to the music, but bass lovers with full range speakers - just don't buy without a long audition. The lack of bass moved the entire musical performance up an octave so to speak. This was nice in certain areas, as you could really follow lyrics easily- I heard some missing lyrics for the first time on many songs.
I had some misgivings about selling the Constellation gear. What they do well, they are spectacular in that. Their shortcomings will be minor for some I'm sure, especially those who do not have full range speakers or who don't care about the bass. I love my bass, and hope Spectral's latest addresses the cymbal shortcomings of their past gear. If not, I may have to try the Constellation monos- I hear they produce more bass, and hopefully the monos would help in the macrodynamic department. Another option would be to run the Constellations with a sub, but for me, I've got too many hobbies, and integrating a sub in my small room would be one of those challenges I'd most likely never get around to.

I hope I've piqued some interest in those who are considering the Constellation Inspiration series. They are really remarkable in what they do, and I enjoyed my short time with them. BTW, my wife liked them better than any other gear I've had, and she has a great ear. She just doesn't love that bass:)
 
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amirm

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Scouter, without a few line breaks, this is hard to read :). Do you mind editing and adding some paragraph breaks?
 

gshelley

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Scooter,
This is a nice write up. Thanks for taking the time to post it.
 

spiritofmusic

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Scooter, kudos for such an informed write up, fully get what y'r trying to convey.
And a pat on the back for not being afraid to say it as you heard it. Too many superlatives w/no shades of grey put me off a lot of reviews.

Re yr thoughts on bass, I have to say this remains the tricksiest area to assess when I listen to gear or mods/tweaks.
Often bass quantity will diminish w/a change, but it becomes apparent what was brilliant before was euphonic colouration, and the change is for the better (eg my going to Symposium Rollerblocks under my Zu Definitions 4 spkrs).
Otoh, bass can increase w/a change, but it's all too effusive, and in the l/t not desirable (eg my trial of gold plugs on Sablon Audio PC's)
 

scouter

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Oct 30, 2012
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Agreed on the bass. The best way to convey the sound would be to contrast it with the latest 2 concerts I attended.

Beach House-sound didn't even come close to the bass line, and for that matter, Spectral didn't either, just closer than Constellation. We are talking about electronic music, however, and it would be next to impossible to convey a facsimile of that bass w/o subs IMHO.
Of Monsters and Men- Spectral very close to the bass reproduction. Constellation beautiful but again, just no bass of any meaningful amount.

Still, Constellation is to be commended for what attributes they have achieved in the other octaves. Really impressive, and everyone who can should give a good listen. Reminded me of the time I hadn't listened to new speakers for 5 years or so, and first heard Wilsons, which at that time were a revelation. The same sensation the first time I heard Magico Q3s. Like them of not, transparency was really out of the park. I can see the reason for the love of the Constellation brand.

Scooter, kudos for such an informed write up, fully get what y'r trying to convey.
And a pat on the back for not being afraid to say it as you heard it. Too many superlatives w/no shades of grey put me off a lot of reviews.

Re yr thoughts on bass, I have to say this remains the tricksiest area to assess when I listen to gear or mods/tweaks.
Often bass quantity will diminish w/a change, but it becomes apparent what was brilliant before was euphonic colouration, and the change is for the better (eg my going to Symposium Rollerblocks under my Zu Definitions 4 spkrs).
Otoh, bass can increase w/a change, but it's all too effusive, and in the l/t not desirable (eg my trial of gold plugs on Sablon Audio PC's)
 

knghifi

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Dec 6, 2014
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Did your try repositioning speakers to improve bass performance? What works for Spectral might not work for Constellation.
 

flez007

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nice write-up, thanks!

I have never heard Constellation, but I am sure they are top-notch equipment!
Have you tried with other cables (including power cords) to equalize the bass issue you refer to?
 

asiufy

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scouter, now imagine Constellation on Magico Q3 :D It was lovely... But yeah, the lack of bass is intrinsic, not a speaker positioning thing.
I found them to be everything you described on my Q3s too.
The problem was not so much the bass, but the fact that it was just TOO smooth, it kinda rendered everything the same, that same smooth sheen, like an old school tube amp, but with a lot more transparency of course...
 

scouter

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Oct 30, 2012
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Re: repositioning the speakers and cables-
no to the repositioning- the Magicos aren't the easiest thing to move keep aligned to equal positioning to the ear. Magico is a sealed design, so less sensitive to placement in bass reinforcement, and my room isn't the easiest to get things moved around.
The Constellations did sound better in the bass area when I switched to XLR cables. RCA use was very disappointing, but Constellation says as much in their manuals. I tried them (RCAs) just to see for myself.

Again, this wasn't written as a definitive review-I'm not a reviewer. I just wrote down my thoughts in four months of use since I hadn't seen anything written on the WBF. And don't miss the line "you really should hear these for yourself, as they are pretty spectacular in the things they do well. I myself was conflicted in letting them go, such was their transparency. AND, there is no perfect preamp/amp out there- everything compromises somewhere.
 

KeithR

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thanks for the excellent write-up, scouter. you and I have similar music tastes, as well.

have you thought about a DarTZeel? CTH-8550 might be a great alternative (I play a lot of down tempo electronica on mine :)
 

scouter

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Oct 30, 2012
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Funny, you are the second audiophile who's recommended DarTZeel to me after a discussion of Spectral and Constellation. Where is a dealer near NC? Must be a great pre-amp and amp. Will give them a listen.
 

Velocitymj

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I just bought the Inspiration Preamp 1.0 and I agree with everything that you've written about the components, except on the unbalanced RCA inputs on the preamp.
Constellation doesn't say that the unbalanced inputs won't sound good, they just say that the "balanced inputs will sound better".
But they should have said that they don't sound good, because the music played using the unbalance inputs sounds horrible.
I have an old Magnum Dynalab Etude that is still a great tuner and I listen to it all of the time, usually for background.
The Etude only has unbalanced outputs.
I use unbalanced Audioquest Sky RCA interconnects into a tube buffer and and Sky RCA into the preamp.
I almost exclusively listen to classical music on the Etude and now I can't stand listening to it, because through the Inspiration, the music sounds thin, veiled and without texture and depth and completely unmusical. The nearest thing that I can describe it would be, sounding like a transistor radio compared to the balanced inputs.
There is a night and day difference between the sound on the two types of inputs.
I swapped out the Inspiration with a Peachtree Nova and I had music again from my tuner. Seriously, the Nova sounds better... Maybe it doesn't have the deep sound staging and quiet black spaces between the notes as the Inspiration, but it sounds like live music.
There are numerous audio companies (like Lamm) that only have unbalanced inputs and they sound amazing.
So I don't understand what Constellation was thinking... Esp. considering the numerous phono stages that only have unbalanced outputs.
Why not make everything stellar across the board?
I find the sound so bad using the unbalanced inputs, that I'm considering selling the preamp now and saving up for Solution's preamp..


Mark Levinson 334 Amp, Inspiration Preamp 1.0, Bryston BCD-1, Magnum Dynalab Etude, X-10 v3 tube buffer, Peachtree Nova (as a stand alone DAC), Martin Logan Prodigy speakers.
Cables: Transparent Audio Reference SC speaker cables, Tara Lab balanced 0.8 ISM interconnects (from the pre to the amp), TARA Labs RSC Air Evolution (XLR), Tara Labs Air Forte XLR, Audioquest Sky interconnects.
Furman Reference 15i power conditioner.
Power Cables: PS Audio Perfect Wave AC-12, TARA LABS RSC Air Reference AC 15
Goldman Cones.
 
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dan31

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Please review the output impedence of the tuner and be sure it's appropriate for the input impedence of the preamp. If this ratio is lower than 1:10 you might hear reduced dynamics and rolled off highs or lows or both.
 
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scouter

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Oct 30, 2012
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Funny, I ended up going back to the Constellation Inspiration preamp and amp.. (That transparency really gets into your brain, and its hard to live without once heard). I listened to the stereo version for 7 months, then switched over to the monos for the last 4 months. The monos are quite a bit better than the stereo version, as they should be considering the cost differential. No, the monos are not twice as good- the audio law of diminishing returns definitely kicks in.
I agree that the single ended connections are not very good. Constellation notes the system should be run balanced throughout, and RCA connections are for "convenience purposes only." I'm not really sure what that means. When one buys $20k to $30k of heavy amplification which is difficult to move around, convenience is not really a consideration:)
I will attest that running a balanced DAC into the pre and using the XLR connections for the amps result in a really great sounding system. Perhaps Constellation dealers should warn potential buyers that RCA connections are not to be considered, rather than not recommended. Good luck sorting it out. I know I couldn't listen to the single ended connections either!
I just bought the Inspiration Preamp 1.0 and I agree with everything that you've written about the components, except on the unbalanced RCA inputs on the preamp.
Constellation doesn't say that the unbalanced inputs won't sound good, they just say that the "balanced inputs will sound better".
But they should have said that they don't sound good, because the music played using the unbalance inputs sounds horrible.
I have an old Magnum Dynalab Etude that is still a great tuner and I listen to it all of the time, usually for background.
The Etude only has unbalanced outputs.
I use unbalanced Audioquest Sky RCA interconnects into a tube buffer and and Sky RCA into the preamp.
I almost exclusively listen to classical music on the Etude and now I can't stand listening to it, because through the Inspiration, the music sounds thin, veiled and without texture and depth and completely unmusical. The nearest thing that I can describe it would be, sounding like a transistor radio compared to the balanced inputs.
There is a night and day difference between the sound when using the balanced inputs and the unbalanced inputs.
I swapped out the Inspiration with a Peachtree Nova and I had music again from my tuner. Seriously, the Nova sounds better... Maybe it doesn't have the deep sound staging and quiet black spaces between the notes as the Inspiration, but it sounds like live music.
There are numerous audio companies (like Lamm) that only have unbalanced outputs and they sound amazing.
So I don't understand what Constellation was thinking... Esp. considering the numerous phono stages that only have unbalanced outputs.
Why not make everything stellar across the board?
I find the sound so bad using the unbalanced inputs, that I'm considering selling the preamp now and saving up for Solution's preamp..

Mark Levinson 334 Amp, Inspiration Preamp 1.0, Bryston BCD-1, Magnum Dynalab Etude, Martin Logan Prodigy speakers, Tara Lab balanced 0.8 ISM interconnects (from the pre to the amp), Tara Labs Air Forte XLR, Audioquest Sky interconnects, Furman Reference 15i power conditioner, X-10 v3 tube buffer.
Goldman Cones.
 

Leif S

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Feb 13, 2015
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Funny, I ended up going back to the Constellation Inspiration preamp and amp.. (That transparency really gets into your brain, and its hard to live without once heard). I listened to the stereo version for 7 months, then switched over to the monos for the last 4 months. The monos are quite a bit better than the stereo version, as they should be considering the cost differential. No, the monos are not twice as good- the audio law of diminishing returns definitely kicks in.
I agree that the single ended connections are not very good. Constellation notes the system should be run balanced throughout, and RCA connections are for "convenience purposes only." I'm not really sure what that means. When one buys $20k to $30k of heavy amplification which is difficult to move around, convenience is not really a consideration:)
I will attest that running a balanced DAC into the pre and using the XLR connections for the amps result in a really great sounding system. Perhaps Constellation dealers should warn potential buyers that RCA connections are not to be considered, rather than not recommended. Good luck sorting it out. I know I couldn't listen to the single ended connections either!

Both the balanced and RCA inputs are using a gain stage. The direct XLR inputs on the amplifier are the ones to use on the Constellation electronics for best performance:)
 

Velocitymj

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Mar 20, 2013
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133
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Funny, I ended up going back to the Constellation Inspiration preamp and amp.. (That transparency really gets into your brain, and its hard to live without once heard). I listened to the stereo version for 7 months, then switched over to the monos for the last 4 months. The monos are quite a bit better than the stereo version, as they should be considering the cost differential. No, the monos are not twice as good- the audio law of diminishing returns definitely kicks in.
I agree that the single ended connections are not very good. Constellation notes the system should be run balanced throughout, and RCA connections are for "convenience purposes only." I'm not really sure what that means. When one buys $20k to $30k of heavy amplification which is difficult to move around, convenience is not really a consideration:)
I will attest that running a balanced DAC into the pre and using the XLR connections for the amps result in a really great sounding system. Perhaps Constellation dealers should warn potential buyers that RCA connections are not to be considered, rather than not recommended. Good luck sorting it out. I know I couldn't listen to the single ended connections either!

I have to admit that I don't want to lose the preamp I'm just annoyed over the sound from the unbalanced inputs.
Considering the quality of the sound coming through on the Inspiration preamp compared to what it cost, perhaps I shouldn't have complained.
The Inspiration preamp interfaces almost perfectly with my ML334 and I'm not wanting for more powerful bass.
But I sense that there is even more to gain by going with Constellation all of the way.
I'm going to go and have a listen to the Inspiration mono amps as well, esp. after reading what you've just posted.
 
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Leif S

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Feb 13, 2015
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I have to admit that I don't want to lose the preamp I'm just annoyed over the sound from the unbalanced inputs.
Considering the quality of the sound coming through on the Inspiration preamp compared to what it cost, perhaps I shouldn't have complained.
The Inspiration preamp interfaces almost perfectly with it and I'm not wanting for more powerful bass.
But I sense that there is even more to gain by going with Constellation all of the way.
I'm going to go and have a listen to the Inspiration mono amps as well, esp. after reading what you've just posted.

I think that's a great idea. I used the Inspiration mono's and pre at a couple of the shows and I loved them. But I was running all balanced and into the direct xlr ins on the monos.
 

Velocitymj

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Mar 20, 2013
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I'm using TARA Labs 0.8 balanced between the Inspiration and my 334 as well as TARA Labs RSC Air Evolution (XLR) between my Bryston and the Inspiration.
It's the tuner and the Peachtree that I'm using unbalanced cables. That's where my issue is.
(I also have an Oppo 95 Blue Ray as well as from my Pioneer Elite plasma with unbalanced out, but that's for movies only. So the sound is a bit less annoying because I'm distracted by the visuals.).

I discover a lot of music listening to the radio. Magnum Dynalab makes several FM tuners with balanced outputs that also include a DAC.
That's the only solution to getting around the poor sound quality from the unbalanced inputs on the Inspiration.
 
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