RADA Precious One Phono
- Thread starter Audiophile Bill
- Start date
Whats the deal with SUT. It seems I would need one for both my cartridges. And if I got another cartridge, I might need one for that too.
I have a Bobs device I like that is made for my Denon 103R. It doesn't do much for my Hana ML. Wrong load.
I have a Bobs device I like that is made for my Denon 103R. It doesn't do much for my Hana ML. Wrong load.
Normally it should work with Hana ML. ML is 7ohms and 103R is 14ohms. If it is especially made for 103R’s 14ohm then ML’s 7ohm shouldn’t be a problem cause SUTs are more flexible. I said “normally” because there may be lots of other reasons.
Its a cinemag I use with the Denon. Bob told me the Sky 20 works better with the Hana. I have not boght the Sky 20 as I am not sure what cartridge I really want.
I have also listened to 3 other phono stages. 2 blew away my older entry level Allnic. Much more musical and engaging IMO. More to my taste. But both had a notably louder hum than the Allnic when I turned up the volume with the needle up. And that hum was easy to hear in quiet passages with classical music.
I tried cables and moving gear around in the rack but the noise persisted. The 3rd pre I tried was way more quiet than any other phono pre I had heard, but it did not move me.
I have also listened to 3 other phono stages. 2 blew away my older entry level Allnic. Much more musical and engaging IMO. More to my taste. But both had a notably louder hum than the Allnic when I turned up the volume with the needle up. And that hum was easy to hear in quiet passages with classical music.
I tried cables and moving gear around in the rack but the noise persisted. The 3rd pre I tried was way more quiet than any other phono pre I had heard, but it did not move me.
What setting on the Allnic multi tap step up transformers are you using with the Hana currently?
I bounce around. It does not do that much. It sort of increases and decreases the gain. I get it also changes the loading. But I don't hear anything snap into place. I'm on 26db. Its just neutral clean playback. Nothing that makes me say my vinyl is worldly better than my Mojo Audio Digital setup. It is a little better. But not any sort of OMG. I feel it should be a whole lot better.
I have heard the Lehman Silver cube and the Hagerman Trumpet. Both are much more musical and profoundly more enjoyable to listen too. IMO. I really liked both and would have stopped there. But I had noise with them.
I did not have my Torus wall mount transformer at the time. But I don't think that would have resolved the issues I was hearing. Maybe a different phono cable from the TT to the Phono Pre. Maybe. But its not an issue with the Allnic or another phono pre I tried. I went through Hagermans list of noise reduction troubleshooting. Nothing seemed to affect it.
The cable from the SUT to the phono pre is very sensitive and gathers all sorts of noise. I had to wrap my Genesis interconnect with 2 layers of Mylar and a silver drain wire, as well as strategically place the SUT to clear the noise from it.
I have heard the Lehman Silver cube and the Hagerman Trumpet. Both are much more musical and profoundly more enjoyable to listen too. IMO. I really liked both and would have stopped there. But I had noise with them.
I did not have my Torus wall mount transformer at the time. But I don't think that would have resolved the issues I was hearing. Maybe a different phono cable from the TT to the Phono Pre. Maybe. But its not an issue with the Allnic or another phono pre I tried. I went through Hagermans list of noise reduction troubleshooting. Nothing seemed to affect it.
The cable from the SUT to the phono pre is very sensitive and gathers all sorts of noise. I had to wrap my Genesis interconnect with 2 layers of Mylar and a silver drain wire, as well as strategically place the SUT to clear the noise from it.
Got it. Was just curious. So more or less settled at 1:20 (26 db ) which loads at ~ 118r and gets you 64db overall ( iirc the Allnic active gain is 38db ). In this situation of course, other hana / preamp pairings may be better at other settings
Threads can sometimes wander, its normal here 
Very few people have the Precious One to be able to comment. We have one on order, expect it in October.
Meanwhile our demo Precious phono, which will be a regular production item will land in Seattle on Monday! I will start a separate thread.
Very few people have the Precious One to be able to comment. We have one on order, expect it in October.
Meanwhile our demo Precious phono, which will be a regular production item will land in Seattle on Monday! I will start a separate thread.
A few weeks ago I received the Precious One phono preamp from Dalius Razanas of Rada. This is the “silver version with a maximum upgraded power supply for 120 V. All tubes NOS: 6X4 as a rectifier; 2X 6AU6WA (GE or TungSol) as input tubes and…very rare French 5687 as output tube” to quote the maker of the unit. Dalius also suggested that I could try a E182CC as the output tube.
My front end consists of a highly modified PD 444 turntable, and I am using the DaVA FC cartridge mounted to the AS Aquilar tonearm. I am also using the DaVA SUT and the DaVA tube power supply.
Initially I used the Precious One silver version with the French 5687, as that is what I had Dalius send me. I immediately found the Precious One uncannily musical in how it revealed instrumental timbres and textures, particularly on strings and wind instruments, an impression that built the more I listened. I also had a sense of more being revealed with the Precious One—more musical information, like the tiny sound of the triangle in the Argerich/Abbado recording of the Liszt Piano Concerto on DG—what Liszt apparently called a “mocking little motif.” Or another example would be the intricate rhythmic call-and-response between Art Blakey and Reggie Workman on “Sortie” from the album Indestructible that I could now hear really clearly.
Dynamics and transients were really impressive, probably the best I had heard to date, both macro and micro. Take for example how Miles softens his tone, plays away from the mic or goes right back to it, as he and Cannonball Adderley go back and forth on “Something Else” from Something Else. Or how Adderley soars and leaps in his indelible entrance on “One for Daddy-O.”
However, the fundamental sound, as rendered by the AS Phonolab I had been previously using, was not changed. As I heard it with the French 5687, the Rada Precious One was not an “insert and WHAM” kind of component. The differences between my AS Phonolab were on the subtle side, until I listened intently, and then they seemed major differences, and the longer I listened the more entranced I was.
I had already ordered an Amperex NOS E182CC to try in place of the French 5687 when I emailed Audiophile Bill what I was hearing, as it was his purchase of the Rada Precious One that had spurred my purchase. He told me—just wait until you hear the Precious One with the E182CC.
My God was he right. This tube supercharged everything with a shot of Dutch adrenaline that magnified and revitalized all aspects of the sound, particularly the rhythm and drive. Now it WAS an “insert and WHAM” kind of component.
With this tube installed, whatever I was listening to—Mozart’s 26th piano concerto (Barenboim on EMI) or Elgar’s Cello Concerto (Du Pre on EMI—total coincidence that I listened to these records on the same day), or The Clash’s London Calling, or Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s first album, or Supersax Plays Bird (original Mofi) or the recent UHQR of Are You Experienced? I couldn’t stop drumming my fingers, moving in my chair. Interplay between band and soloist—whatever the music—was really great. And larger band, complex music (jazz or classical) was a cakewalk for the Precious One to play back—witness Ellington’s Afro-Bossa album. I could listen to the music as an organic whole or pick out individual parts, just as when listening to live music.
I kept playing music too loud it sounded so damn good (but no ringing in my ears!). Whatever traces of hardness that had lingered with the AS Phonolab when Miles or Lee Morgan would hit their highest notes vanished. Bass lines I had never really heard clearly, I could now follow. Everything sounded like the musicians on these records had had extra rehearsal time now.
So, all in all, I am glad I took Bill’s advice twice—first when I took the hint to buy the unit before it went out of production, and second to not pass judgment on the sound until I had heard it with the E182CC installed. Like him, I think my phono preamp quest has come to an end.
PS I should call attention to one very unique (very odd?) part of my system—the power source. Due to that source, I have a very, very low noise system, which I believe contributes mightily to my overall system sound.
I run the entire system on 12V LifePo4 200Ah batteries and a 5000W inverter. This is a cruder, simpler version of what Stromtank does in their devices, except that I also add a Puritan Audio Lab power filter device. My entire system is plugged into the Puritan (save for a digital lps), and the Puritan is plugged into the inverter. There is absolutely no compression, constraint or limit that I can hear—and I have tested this repeatedly.
I use a battery charger rated for the LifePo4 batteries when the system is off. I can play at 600-700w avg levels for several hours before needing to recharge. The batteries can be charged from zero to full overnight.
If there is any interest I can post more on my battery system, which is relatively cheap and very easy to set up. The sonic difference between my 12V LifePo4 battery set-up and what I heard with everything plugged into dedicated AC lines was GREATER than any component change I have ever heard, including the Rada Precious One.
My front end consists of a highly modified PD 444 turntable, and I am using the DaVA FC cartridge mounted to the AS Aquilar tonearm. I am also using the DaVA SUT and the DaVA tube power supply.
Initially I used the Precious One silver version with the French 5687, as that is what I had Dalius send me. I immediately found the Precious One uncannily musical in how it revealed instrumental timbres and textures, particularly on strings and wind instruments, an impression that built the more I listened. I also had a sense of more being revealed with the Precious One—more musical information, like the tiny sound of the triangle in the Argerich/Abbado recording of the Liszt Piano Concerto on DG—what Liszt apparently called a “mocking little motif.” Or another example would be the intricate rhythmic call-and-response between Art Blakey and Reggie Workman on “Sortie” from the album Indestructible that I could now hear really clearly.
Dynamics and transients were really impressive, probably the best I had heard to date, both macro and micro. Take for example how Miles softens his tone, plays away from the mic or goes right back to it, as he and Cannonball Adderley go back and forth on “Something Else” from Something Else. Or how Adderley soars and leaps in his indelible entrance on “One for Daddy-O.”
However, the fundamental sound, as rendered by the AS Phonolab I had been previously using, was not changed. As I heard it with the French 5687, the Rada Precious One was not an “insert and WHAM” kind of component. The differences between my AS Phonolab were on the subtle side, until I listened intently, and then they seemed major differences, and the longer I listened the more entranced I was.
I had already ordered an Amperex NOS E182CC to try in place of the French 5687 when I emailed Audiophile Bill what I was hearing, as it was his purchase of the Rada Precious One that had spurred my purchase. He told me—just wait until you hear the Precious One with the E182CC.
My God was he right. This tube supercharged everything with a shot of Dutch adrenaline that magnified and revitalized all aspects of the sound, particularly the rhythm and drive. Now it WAS an “insert and WHAM” kind of component.
With this tube installed, whatever I was listening to—Mozart’s 26th piano concerto (Barenboim on EMI) or Elgar’s Cello Concerto (Du Pre on EMI—total coincidence that I listened to these records on the same day), or The Clash’s London Calling, or Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s first album, or Supersax Plays Bird (original Mofi) or the recent UHQR of Are You Experienced? I couldn’t stop drumming my fingers, moving in my chair. Interplay between band and soloist—whatever the music—was really great. And larger band, complex music (jazz or classical) was a cakewalk for the Precious One to play back—witness Ellington’s Afro-Bossa album. I could listen to the music as an organic whole or pick out individual parts, just as when listening to live music.
I kept playing music too loud it sounded so damn good (but no ringing in my ears!). Whatever traces of hardness that had lingered with the AS Phonolab when Miles or Lee Morgan would hit their highest notes vanished. Bass lines I had never really heard clearly, I could now follow. Everything sounded like the musicians on these records had had extra rehearsal time now.
So, all in all, I am glad I took Bill’s advice twice—first when I took the hint to buy the unit before it went out of production, and second to not pass judgment on the sound until I had heard it with the E182CC installed. Like him, I think my phono preamp quest has come to an end.
PS I should call attention to one very unique (very odd?) part of my system—the power source. Due to that source, I have a very, very low noise system, which I believe contributes mightily to my overall system sound.
I run the entire system on 12V LifePo4 200Ah batteries and a 5000W inverter. This is a cruder, simpler version of what Stromtank does in their devices, except that I also add a Puritan Audio Lab power filter device. My entire system is plugged into the Puritan (save for a digital lps), and the Puritan is plugged into the inverter. There is absolutely no compression, constraint or limit that I can hear—and I have tested this repeatedly.
I use a battery charger rated for the LifePo4 batteries when the system is off. I can play at 600-700w avg levels for several hours before needing to recharge. The batteries can be charged from zero to full overnight.
If there is any interest I can post more on my battery system, which is relatively cheap and very easy to set up. The sonic difference between my 12V LifePo4 battery set-up and what I heard with everything plugged into dedicated AC lines was GREATER than any component change I have ever heard, including the Rada Precious One.
Awesome review! I for one would be interested in your battery power supply.
Have you executed the black gate cap stack trick on the DaVa yet - that was the one where the dynamics rocketed crazily.
Great review and good move on the RADA.
Care to share the PD444 journey? Your vinyl front end is dreamy
Going to put a mono setup in the second arm slot?
Care to share the PD444 journey? Your vinyl front end is dreamy
Going to put a mono setup in the second arm slot?
Yes I have the black gate cap on the DaVa along with a bypass cap.
Here is the battery supply story...it is long...
When I moved house and set up my room for audio, I had three dedicated lines put in by the same electrician who worked on the house when it was built (before my time, in 2008). The three lines were installed direct from a sub-panel—less than 25 feet in total, done to code with heavy gauge wire. Also, I Iive in a semi-rural area, at least 300 to 1000 feet from any neighbor. The local power substation is less than 1/5 a mile away. The main electrical lines are all under ground.
So one would think that given the above, I would have good power…..
A few years ago we needed a portable power station/battery source to deal with blackouts. So I bought a Goal Zero 3KW lithium battery power station to serve as house back up (ie only for the fridge and a few other lines—I had a transfer switch set up for it). I also used it to power the stereo.
At this time, I had a pair of Kef Blade 2s and a Pass Labs 250.8, along with the source electronics. The Goal Zero allowed one to charge and discharge at the same time, so I could listen with or without charging, although the sound was better with the Goal Zero disconnected..
When I changed systems—going to Duettas and an Analog Domain integrated, and then the Parasound JC 1+s--the Goal Zero wasn’t sufficient for long playing time. So I tried an EcoFlow Delta Pro—3600W storage, 3KW available with 7Kw surge capability.
This was much better than the Goal Zero. Better how? Lower noise floor, much more natural sound, better dynamics, more musical information. The Goal Zero was softer sounding, not as dynamic, not as open, not as much layering, not as palpable or musical or emotive.
But the Eco Flow units broke down on me—I tried two units.
After the first break-down I went back to the entire system plugged into the Puritan and then into the wall.
I was shocked by how bad everything sounded. I took notes it was so bad—“The sound was greyer, more lifeless. Dimensionality was reduced, dynamics not as evident. Bass is more ponderous, bloated, less 3D and present. Piano is slower, not as nimble. A tonal and musical sameness is present. Timbrally wan and somewhat bleached. Initial note launch there but no solidity behind it. Soundstage depth shrunk. Everything not as real sounding, more fake sounding.” I didn’t want to listen to music anymore….
So….after about looking about online, I discovered how easy it was to get two 12V LifePo4 200 Ah batteries, wire them in parallel, and attach an inverter. I made sure to get an oversized one—Giandel 5KW—with a pure sine wave inverter (less than 3% THD), and heavy duty battery cables going between batteries and to the inverter.
The first time I listened to vinyl with the above set-up I couldn’t believe how great it sounded. I had never heard my original Blue Notes sound like this. I took notes but reading them now I look like I am raving…it was that good. I will just highlight two things: I could now much better hear musicians relative to each other in same the acoustic space, and my system was way more communicative as to what musicians were conveying to each other, ie the way Shorter pleads his solos, the way Morgan structures his solos, the way Blakey uses his drum sounds to guide the band.
There is one more thing I should mention. I have every device in my system star-grounded to the Puritan ground post, both electrical and chassis grounds. I use the Puritan Grand Master set-up, running a ground wire from the Puritan to a ground rod in my back garden. Note that this is entirely separate from the house electrical system—there is nothing that connects the stereo to the house save for the battery charger, which is physically disconnected from the battery when I listen to music.
PS Hopefully I have not hijacked the thread with this battery nonsense. I can move this of course if needed.
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