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Graham Slee Reflex C Review (phono stage)

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amirm

amirm

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Power supply should look like the unit linked below. Rectangular and taller but not wider than the preamp unit.
That's exactly what it looks like.
 

patient_ot

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Instructions say that the figure 8 connector at the power supply can be rotated 180 degrees to experiment with which polarity makes less noise.
 
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Instructions say that the figure 8 connector at the power supply can be rotated 180 degrees to experiment with which polarity makes less noise.
I am fairly certain I tried that to mo avail.
 

LTig

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This is just not right. People who spend a thousand dollars (and more) for half a phono stage want all those pops, clicks, ticks and skips. It is what reminds them that they are listening to records, part of an exclusive and retro club as it were. It is part of what the effort is all about. Without those artifacts, the experience is just not the same. People think I am kidding. Or being ironic/facetious. But I'm not.
:facepalm:
 

Russ_L

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https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/phono-preamps/accession-mm-phono-preamp.html

I had the Accession MM phono stage (Price: £936 ) on loan for a few months and was very happy with it. It was very quiet, better than my Bryston 0.5B phono stage (dead silent in fact) and in addition it significantly reduced pops and clicks. Contemplating the Pass XP-17 although to date I've only used high output MM or MI cartridges.

Russ
 

AudioSceptic

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https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/phono-preamps/accession-mm-phono-preamp.html

I had the Accession MM phono stage (Price: £936 ) on loan for a few months and was very happy with it. It was very quiet, better than my Bryston 0.5B phono stage (dead silent in fact) and in addition it significantly reduced pops and clicks. Contemplating the Pass XP-17 although to date I've only used high output MM or MI cartridges.

Russ
MM needs a gain of only about 40 dB. That is quite easy to do with low noise these days. I'm not impressed that a device costing nearly £1k can do that.
 

watchnerd

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This is just not right. People who spend a thousand dollars (and more) for half a phono stage want all those pops, clicks, ticks and skips. It is what reminds them that they are listening to records, part of an exclusive and retro club as it were. It is part of what the effort is all about. Without those artifacts, the experience is just not the same. People think I am kidding. Or being ironic/facetious. But I'm not.

You're not being facetious?

I certainly don't consider excessive pops and ticks to be part of what the effort is all about.

If your rig is making the pops and ticks situation worse, you're doing it wrong.
 

LarryRS

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This is just not right. People who spend a thousand dollars (and more) for half a phono stage want all those pops, clicks, ticks and skips. It is what reminds them that they are listening to records, part of an exclusive and retro club as it were. It is part of what the effort is all about. Without those artifacts, the experience is just not the same. People think I am kidding. Or being ironic/facetious. But I'm not.

Hmm. I've been in audio for quite some time and am a member of a large audio club, many members of which use turntables. Never heard anyone say they like the ticks and the pops. If that were so, why would record cleaners, of all types, be so popular? And, please, not the old, "well, they just like to spend their time cleaning,.....................". That canard has been dragged out so many times it redefines hackneyed. It's about the music.
 

cgallery

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Mr. Slee is apparently taking exception with the measurements here:

https://www.hifisystemcomponents.co...w-forum_topic4993_page11.html?KW=audioscience

His explanation seems to boil down to, the measurements were improperly performed because the input resistor was not lifted, and casts doubt on the basic understand/methods here.

HOWEVER, what doesn't make sense then is the fact that the Cambridge Duo's measurements were pretty much spot-on with the manufacturer's. The Cambridge and GS both have 100-Ohm inputs I believe.

Any thoughts?
 

Labjr

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Mr. Slee is apparently taking exception with the measurements here:

https://www.hifisystemcomponents.co...w-forum_topic4993_page11.html?KW=audioscience

His explanation seems to boil down to, the measurements were improperly performed because the input resistor was not lifted, and casts doubt on the basic understand/methods here.

HOWEVER, what doesn't make sense then is the fact that the Cambridge Duo's measurements were pretty much spot-on with the manufacturer's. The Cambridge and GS both have 100-Ohm inputs I believe.

Any thoughts?

"Experienced testers know this stuff..."

He always makes these type of statements in other forums. Tell him to come over here to defend his product.
 

watchnerd

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Mr. Slee is apparently taking exception with the measurements here:

https://www.hifisystemcomponents.co...w-forum_topic4993_page11.html?KW=audioscience

His explanation seems to boil down to, the measurements were improperly performed because the input resistor was not lifted, and casts doubt on the basic understand/methods here.

HOWEVER, what doesn't make sense then is the fact that the Cambridge Duo's measurements were pretty much spot-on with the manufacturer's. The Cambridge and GS both have 100-Ohm inputs I believe.

Any thoughts?

Shouldn't the device be tested in a way that most closely resembles what the users would do and treat it as a black box?
 

cgallery

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Shouldn't the device be tested in a way that most closely resembles what the users would do and treat it as a black box?

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what the proper protocol for measuring something with that low an input impedance would be.
 

watchnerd

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To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what the proper protocol for measuring something with that low an input impedance would be.

Well, end users aren't going to change it, so the idea that the input resistor should be messed with seems odd as that won't happen in real use.

For MM, 47K is standard.

For MC, there isn't really a standard, per se, but 100-200 is a pretty common default.
 

cgallery

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Well, end users aren't going to change it, so the idea that the input resistor should be messed with seems odd as that won't happen in real use.

For MM, 47K is standard.

For MC, there isn't really a standard, per se, but 100-200 is a pretty common default.

True but the issue is apparently the ability of the analyzer to drive a 100-ohm load.

BTW, I could have SWORN some of the other reviews here had measurements of the MC gain sections (of the Cambridge Duo, for example).

Now I can't find any. Was I mistaken?

I had figured if the Duo measurements were accurate, that the Reflex C should be able to be measured similarly.

Are there any MC inputs measured here?
 

MusicNBeer

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Seems like the analyzer should be able to drive a 100 Ohm load if it's only got to do 5 mVrms max. That's only 50uA. It would be interesting to see the analyzer results with just a loopback through a 100 Ohm resistor.
 
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