Preview: Pro-Ject RPM-9.1 and Trafomatic Audio Phono One.

[InSides]

While this is primarilly a headphone related forum, most of us here have accepted the source first paradigm as can be seen by the recent spur of posts in the Dedicated Sources forum with an additional twist on vinyl. I myself owe most of my addiction to vinyl to this forum, and was hoping to repay some of that with my experiences and a review or two on products that might be of interest to users here.

As part of my new system build I decided to completely split the analog and digital chain and started with the analog chain. Budgetary concerns aside, I figured I can still enjoy the turntable using my headphones until I can muster the funds for new speakers and amps.

The reason why I titled this post Preview is that the equipment is still pretty much new and I have not had enough time with it to present a review that should cover all aspects of use and handling. I wanted to start with the information on these products and update this thread to a full review as time moves on.

Project RPM-9.1

This turntable was the flagship of the Pro-Ject line until a few months ago when Pro-Ject introduced the Pro-Ject RPM 10, but they share the same concept. The turntable is a mass loaded design with a massive acrylic platter spun on an inverted bearing, a damped plinth and a carbon fibre 9" tonearm with integrated headshell. The drive [motor] is a separate motor pod fully decoupled from the main plinth via sorbothane pads and a thin rubber belt turning the outer rim of the platter.

I had moved through most of the Pro-Ject line starting with the Debut II through the RPM-5 to get here.

Here it is perched atop a makeshift turntable platform [an old coffee table in reality]:

I have added the Speed Box SE to the system since AC is crucial to the performance of the motor of the RPM 9.1, and I wasn't to take any chances with the mains frequency. In my opinion the Speed Box SE should be standard issue with the turntable, but that is a different matter altogether.

For the initial setup, I mounted a Denon DL-103:

Turned out to be a sweet sweet cartridge and after the initial setup and later tweaking I decided to just continue listening with the Denon. Note though that the standard counterweight that comes with the Pro-Ject is pretty much useless with heavier LOMC's [like most in my stash]. So I ordered a second heavier counterweight that fits like a glove:

Here is motor pod detail [I need to find a way to somehow dim that bright blue LED]:

And here is one more money shot of the Denon in play:

Trafomatic Audio Phono One

I learned about Trafomatic Audio while reading through 6Moons. Srajan had reviewed their 2A3 integrated and was very enthusiastic. What had me worked up is that their factory is just a few hours away [Trafomatic is based in Serbia which is pretty much next door to where I leave]. I contacted them with intentions of getting the 2A3 with slight modifications to be used with K1000's and my other headphones through custom output transformers [more on that later].

What I got instead was this:

Shown above is their fully tubed phono stage built specifically to be used with LOMC's within my stash. Based on what I was able to understand, it is a three stage design using three Russian made 6N23P [6Н23П-ЕВ] double triodes and an EZ80 tube rectifier. The additional gain required for the LOMC's has been achieved passively using a pair of Lundahl LL1678's.

Here is a view of the power supply with the EZ80:

Followed by a view of the 6N23P's:

Near the back panel, there are the stepups:

And finally the back panel showing a toggle switch to select between 40ohm and 100ohm for the cartridge load:

How does it sound?

I do agree I am still in the honeymoon stage, but it already sounds so much better than my previous iteration. Sound is more balanced and prominent, background noise has greatly been reduced, and music sounds more like music. I had been listening for 6 straight hours last night.

But I should stop here, as my intention was a mere preview. I hope to update this information soon with more impressions and additional photos that might be required or requested.

 

[memepool]

Cool, a lovely set-up. That phonostage looks very well made, and yet another interesting Hi-Fi product to come out of the former Soviet bloc. Do you have a link for the company?

 

[TimJo]

Wow, looks really nice, and I bet it sounds amazing using headphones. Looking forward to hearing your impressions as you spend more time with it.

 

[derekbmn]

Great looking setup! VERY interesting phono stage.
Trafomatic Audio

 

[InSides]

Thanks for the props guys. Especially to memepool, I still remember your helpful suggestions a couple yeards back when I was starting out with vinyl.

This thing [well these things] sound positively lovely. So far.

One minor quibble I have right now is low level hum from the phono stage at 12 o'clock on the Rotel preamp. I was told by the designer that the phono had been designed with as low as impendance as possible to be able to run any preamp. He had also wired it for 1 : 16 gain in order to run a power amp directly. I had already ruled out the tubes as source of the hum.

Seeing I do most of my listening from 9 - 11 on the volume dial that is no big deal. But I am still having this modified to be run on 1 : 8 gain thus gaining more leeway on the volume control.

Additionally, photos do not do justice to each of the pieces. The finish is absolutely gorgeus... one of the first pieces I don't mind parting with money for. And even more incentive to part with more money for that 300B headphone amp [dang I spilled the beans

].

 

[InSides]

So... been almost a month and a half since my last post regarding these pieces, and in between work related travel and trying to live through a hellish summer, I believe I spent enough time with the pieces described above to develop an [as much as possible] objective opinion on them.

Besides time, there was one last item that I was waiting on to complete the preview [ECM-1-1209] but more on that later.

Let me start first with a few minor quibbles that I've had over the past period of time.

Turntable

I've come a long way since setting up my first turntable, and I have documented the experiences I've had with each of them here on Head-Fi, so working on this one was a snap. All that I needed to take care of is not scratching the piano finish, but there are gloves included in the package just for that.

However, one thing that I had trouble with is slight belt creep and thus belt induced vibration. Because of the turntable having an external motor pod, the pod can be placed anywhere on the exact perimeter on the turntable. There is an included template that determines the relative position of the motor pulley to the platter, but that still leaves on the user to experiment with motor placement. Vibration did not effect the listening of music, but you could hear it only slightly during very quiet passages.

Once I placed the motor pod on the far left of the platter [thus balancing the belt on both ends] the vibration stopped.

Apart from that, there is little maintenance to the table. The bearing is self lubricating and needs only occasional checks [to be on the safe side] while the tonearm [9CC] is much more robust and tweakable as opposed to the one found on the RPM5 [9C]. In this case, it is a single piece cast affair that includes the headshell molded with the tonearm tube.

Phono Stage

During the first couple of days, I experienced low level hum equivalent to AC hum that I already mentioned in the previous posts. I tried the usual tricks with checking the ground paths and using cheater plugs to disengage the ground connection to no avail.

Granted, after a week or so the hum had significantly reduced, but it is still there. Not a major quibble, as it completely fades away once the music starts and apart from that there is no audible hiss. While I can't say the background is totally black, I did not expect it to be. This really is a tubed product that does not strive to be solid-state like but exhibits all the sweet distortion that is associated with tubes.

You might like it. And then you might not. I adore it.

Impressions

Impressions to follow in the next post. Additionally, if anyone needs/wants any specific information about the products, let me know to include it in the next or following posts.

 

[InSides]

Impressions

To say that I am overwhelmed might be a slight understatement. I am aware that most impression threads are written in a way to lead the reader to the imminent conclusion and I might be jumping the gun by putting the conclusion first... but so be it.

I went in this purchase slightly blind. See, the situation with my dealer is such that they don't usually have pieces like this on display since they fear the market is a bit small for turntables around here [and they are probably right]. Coming from the RPM5, I had slight reservations as to what can I expect from a turntable that has roughly the same construction [based on net photos] and a slightly different tonearm. Would it be worth it almost three times the price of the RPM5.

Fortunately, my fears dispersed as soon as I lowered the cartridge onto the spinning record. The RPM9.1, although similar looking to its smaller brother, is nothing like it. This one features a substantial bearing, a whole new plinth, and a wonderful platter, not to mention the hefty separate motor pod.

To make sure that I evaluate each component separately, I initially connected the RPM9.1 [with the Speed Box II SE] to my earlier phono stage [Tube Box SE]. I soon realized how a rock stable rotational speed [as far as belt drives go] brings to the table with increased clarity and less smeared notes, improving attack and decay as well as overall presentation.

I was hooked.

I played with VTF, antiskate, VTA and azimuth until I got to a place where I was satisfied with the cartridge mount. At this point, I really started appreciating the one piece tonearm tube / headshell featured on the 9CC shipped with the RPM9.1, as it substantially improves the stability of the cartridge / tonearm interface.

During this, I took to the table with the stethoscope, only to find that there are no audible parasitic vibrations on the plinth. Note that initially I had to deal with belt creep but careful positioning of the motor pod allowed me to eliminate this issue to my overwhelming satisfaction. :regular_smile:

The RPM9.1 just seems to do everything better than its smaller brother up to the point I no longer felt any concern about the purchase. Although the RPM5 is no slouch, and does everything wonderfully, especially concerning its price point, the RPM9.1 does all this and much more. Much more.

Some of the records I played...

1. Air - Moon Safari
2. Air - Talkie Walkie
3. Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia - Friday Night in San Francisco
4. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
5. Dire Straits - Communique
6. John McLaughlin - Electrical Guitarist
7. Kraftwerk - Minimum Maximum
8. Mount Sims - Ultra Sex
9. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
10. Radiohead - OK Computer
11. Santana - Festival

Next I added the Phono One to the system, but was totally unprepared for what had come next. See, in one of my earlier threads on turntables and cartridges, lini had suggested that a large improvement is to be had by employing step-up transformers feeding a MM phono stage to run LOMC cartridges.

At first, I felt there was no audible improvement.

But I let the Phono One in for a couple of days and played a bit with the load impedance of the Lundahls. According to what I've come across on the web, the Lundahls are one of the most hightly regarded step up transformers. About a week into having the Phono One into the system, I decided to shortly go back to the Tube Box SE.

And that was the point that I decided never to have the Tube Box as my primary phono.

I realized that the presentation the Phono One had developed was not something to immediately hit you on the head, but rather one to creep inside your skull and linger there for an eternity. Once those small signal tubes warm up they perform magic. There really is no other way around it.

Again, I was hooked.

When I started actively listening to music, I came across an Italian magazine being sold in Macedonia, named Musica Jazz. I don't speak Italian unfortunately, but the magazine comes bundled with a high quality CD with each monthly issue as a great way to come across music I can't otherwise find out anything about.

One of the issues had a CD celebrating the life of Lester Bowie with cuts mostly recorded during his time publishing for ECM. This was my first exposure to both Bowie and ECM... ECM Records being fondly [tongue-in-cheek] described by a fellow over at Vinyl Asylum as Extra Cymbal Microphones. Once I had completely destroyed the CD I stalked eBay for a vinyl copy of said CD and about two weeks ago, took possession of Lester Bowie's The Great Pretender, original pressing from 1982.

Granted, these guys at ECM really used a lot of microphones. But they have produced a record that is so mind boggling to me that I can't get it out of my head. Seeing that I have heard it so many times on my CDP, I felt that the only fitting way to complete the preview would be listening to the record on the RPM9.1.

It was everything I remembered, and then some. I am not going to say that Lester Bowie was in front of me blowing the horn, but I witnessed an expertly made recording that conveyed every little detail, no matter how insignificant, of that studio session 25+ years ago. Layer upon layer of music, I could feel the notes linger impossibly long as new passages came in building up towards the end of the record.

Now I know why the source first paradigm.

Notes

Apologies for the length of the post, I did not start it with the intention of making it so long. But I should reiterate again how satisfied I am not only with the purchase but with my persistence with vinyl and analog reproduction. I hope people here find the information I've added useful, as I have had tremendous help from the people here when I started my vinyl journey.

 

[velogreg]

Excellent and thorough review! Being an owner of the Head One headphone amplifier I can say I am a big fan of Sasha's products. The Trafomatic Phono One and Project TT's have been added to my turntable shopping list.
Please keep us posted.

 

[InSides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by velogreg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Excellent and thorough review! Being an owner of the Head One headphone amplifier I can say I am a big fan of Sasha's products. The Trafomatic Phono One and Project TT's have been added to my turntable shopping list. Please keep us posted.

Well how about a review on the Head One?

I have been eyeing that little box, but am now talking with Sasha about something with a bit more power.

When I got the Phono One, I was going on a limb since I had never even seen one of their products in real life. But I am glad to say that it was well worth it. I am not sure whether I even mentioned this earlier - I also got two of their balanced power supplies [Experience Model 500] with three outlets each so that I can completely separate the digital from analog circuitry.

As for the Pro-Jects, I did mention that I went through their line to get here. Of course what helped immensely is that I almost never paid full price in view of their pricing policies for smaller markets [like Macedonia].

But the RPM9.1 is well worth its asking price.

And now that I have a second tonearm on it [SME 3009] I am getting another Phono One, but this time MM only.

 

[Afrikane]

Nice gears Insides! The RPM 9.1 (Carbon arm, Orty Rondo Blue cart, EAR 834P phono) was my re-introduction back into the world of vinyl and I loved its simplicity. Its ability to convey the magic of vinyl got me well and truly hooked. I have since moved on but that rig will always hold good memories for me.
Thanks for the Trafomatic impressions, it is very helpful to get some feedback on a product that has interested me since its announcement.

 

[InSides]

Thanks Afrikane!

I see you moved on to a turntable made in my vicinity.

I've always loved Franc Kuzma's creations [my father used to own a suspended table Kuzma no longer makes] but I found the RPM 9.1 more to my liking [and definitely more to my budget

].

Have you thought about moving up a bit in the Kuzma line?

 

[Afrikane]

The Stabi is for headphone rig duty only and for that purpose (and budget) it is doing a sterling job so at this point I have no plans to explore Franc's higher up line.

 

[velogreg]

Well how about a review on the Head One?

I have been eyeing that little box, but am now talking with Sasha about something with a bit more power.

As you requested sir-

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/new...omatic-282261/