Pearl 2 - Lack of "Attack"
Last weekend, I had a chance to substitute my Pearl 2 into a very revealing analog rig that was running a Musical Surroundings Phonomena. While some of the listeners commented that the Pearl 2 had a bit less edge and a deeper soundstage, the overriding comment was that the Pearl was lacking in attack on percussion, and was generally kind of slow and lazy sounding. The host played a particular jazz drum solo, and it sounded like two completely different recordings on the two phono preamps, not in the Pearl's favor.
I'm wondering if anyone else has done a A-B comparison like this, and if there may be something not quite right in my build? How does percussion sound on yours compared to other quality preamps?
Thanks,
Mark
Last weekend, I had a chance to substitute my Pearl 2 into a very revealing analog rig that was running a Musical Surroundings Phonomena. While some of the listeners commented that the Pearl 2 had a bit less edge and a deeper soundstage, the overriding comment was that the Pearl was lacking in attack on percussion, and was generally kind of slow and lazy sounding. The host played a particular jazz drum solo, and it sounded like two completely different recordings on the two phono preamps, not in the Pearl's favor.
I'm wondering if anyone else has done a A-B comparison like this, and if there may be something not quite right in my build? How does percussion sound on yours compared to other quality preamps?
Thanks,
Mark
Funny you should mention the Musical Surroundings Phonomena. Saw a review of it just today.
Are the load and capacitace setting on both the Pearl II and the MSP set the same?
If you set the MSP to the same setting of the Pearl II, does the MSP sound different?
Did you build the Pearl II to suit your cartridge?
Just some thoughts.
Are the load and capacitace setting on both the Pearl II and the MSP set the same?
If you set the MSP to the same setting of the Pearl II, does the MSP sound different?
Did you build the Pearl II to suit your cartridge?
Just some thoughts.
That's a good question - I forgot to mention the loading. The rig was running a Dynavector and the MS preamp was set to 30 ohms loading.
I had 47Kohm resistors in sockets in the Pearl 2, so after the first comparison, I pulled them out and ran it with no resistors on the inputs. So definitely not apples-to-apples, but I don't know if going from zero to 30 ohms would make that much of a difference.
Both preamps were set to 60DB gain.
My experience is limited, but I have seen changes in sound when changing the loading on a Audio Research Phono Pre. Every change, no matter how small, made a difference in sound. I remeber having a preference that differed from the owner of the phono pre.
Is no resistor infinite resistance or was there a jumper inserted? How's that work?
Yes and report back, please
Is no resistor infinite resistance or was there a jumper inserted? How's that work?
Yes and report back, please
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Inserting a jumper would short the inputs and mute the signal. There was no resistor in R19 or R20.
Probably want to remove that, or verify that it's the proper loading for the cartridge in question.
Also remember that the piece of audio equipment that sounds 'more different' is usually the one people choose in an A-B comparison. Many times that one isn't that great in the long run.
Good to know Wayne, thanks. I'll make sure I have a pocketful of resistors the next time I take the unit somewhere
programmed current for positive shunt reg : 60mA
programmed current for negative shunt reg : 30mA
per channel
back'o'napkin calc of exact Iq , per channel :
positive leg : 4 x 5mA + 3mA + 2 x 1mA +10mA= 34mA
negative leg : 2mA + 4,6mA + 10mA = 16,6mA
edit : presuming that each input Jfet is in 5mA ballpark
Is that a Pearl II or X-ONO current consumption figures? I'm trying to figure out what shunt settings I need.
