Audiophilepure

Review complete except for this wrap-up: I still haven’t returned to either reference phono preamp. Grant Green’s Feelin’ the Spirit (Blue Note ST-84132/B0033488-01) plays at moderate level in the background, and both the “Tone Poet” and VTL’s 6.5 MK II nail this one. Transparency, transient precision and delicacy, harmonic richness (RVG got Herbie Hancock’s piano just right on this 1962 recording), and an enveloping sense of the large, open Englewood Cliffs studio space produce a “you are there” sensation (and I’ve been there!).

I greatly preferred the active JFET/tube input to the transformer-coupled input, though I most preferred my costly transformer into the mm input. A different cartridge or a different system might produce a different result, but I don’t think so. My only complaint about the 6.5 Mk II was that there was more background noise (“tube rush”?) than I like to hear, and I wish it had been quieter. But that’s it. Successful transplant. In an email, Luke Manley (whose signature could not be found anywhere on the “signature” phonostage) wrote that “we are selling all we can make of this design.” I believe it.

I did end up doing some ripping of certain albums to my laptop just to experience it with the MP100. I ripped five different albums including the ones I used for reviewing the unit in its primary function. The process was easy, and the results were actually quite impressive. I recently dumped over 3000 CDs because I stream, listen to vinyl and reel to reel these days, and as part of our start to downsizing, getting rid of them seems the wise thing to do. Going back and forth between tracks downloaded through the MP100, and the same tracks on vinyl, I have to say that they sounded amazingly close to the original. The quality of the transfer was really far better than I expected. 

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/reference-components/1742-recommended-reference-component-emm-labs-ds-eq1-optical-phono-preamplifier

However, Jason offered sage advice about the price near the end of his review: “Within audio, more money doesn’t necessarily mean more better. More money can result in better sound quality, but there’s no guarantee.” He went on to say that “the nine large above the cost of the DS 003 phono stage is more than just justified,” citing its build quality, which in his view “surpasses the DS 003,” as well as “the improvement to the bass, the refinements up in the top end, and the holy-shit imaging.” Those accolades, among many others within Jason’s review, earned the DS-EQ1 a Reviewers’ Choice award when the review was published—and have also earned the DS-EQ1 a Recommended Reference Component award this month.

It sounds taut and controlled but never rhythmically over-rigid. Its tonal balance is just about spot-on, and it never strays into that rather matter-of-fact sense of resolution-first music style that some streamers/DACs do. In fact, its resolving power tends to feel entirely subsidiary to its bouncing sense of tuneful exuberance most of the time. But what I really enjoy about it is the way it puts all the musical elements together to highlight a performance. The top to bottom balance and certainly how it can layer the instrumentation is compelling.

Where some systems can bombard you with needlepoint resolution yet sound rather flat and uninteresting, the Gold Note has a real and attractive view of the soundstage and the shape of the music. It is also very quiet, which helps enormously and shows you perspectives and instrumental pictures and shapes with dimension and exceptional stability. It has real depth in more ways than one.

I admit to being surprised at how musically interesting this unassuming but highly efficient little machine is. I think it’s a great little package because it is always succinct and to the point. It sounds very good indeed, and as a gateway to the world of music outside your living room, I’d say it’s a pretty solid investment for anyone wanting to take that next step.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1141-esoteric-e-02-phono-preamplifier

The Esoteric E-02 is as serious a piece of electronic kit as I’ve ever had in my system, revealing better qualities than I’ve experienced before in terms of its powers of resolution, textural detail and finesse, impressive soundstaging, bass presence, and slam. My reference Pass Labs phono certainly delivers the goods and has a mellower touch, particularly with orchestral music. But the E-02 is notably the more powerful of the two units—blessed not only with its own velvet hand for rendering acoustic music but also a closed fist in a velvet glove for rock, jazz, and dynamic vocals. What’s more, it has fine physical lines—with a luxurious though understated aesthetic to its build—and a plethora of useful features that are supremely elegant to engage with, all of which make it instantly recognizable as part of the Esoteric line of prestige electronics. If I could summon the great novelist Ralph Ellison from his “hidey-hole” in Heaven to experience just what the E-02 can get from the likes of Nat King Cole, Ellington’s Orchestra, and contemporary opera diva Anna Netrebko, I guarantee he’d join me in a chorus of hosannas and kyries, as Esoteric’s phono preamplifier extracts a music both jubilant and pensive from my mono and stereo cartridges that is a sonic séance of body and soul. If you’re in the market for one of the best phono stages at the $10k price point, I urge you to audition the Esoteric E-02.