[simorag]

For those using Qobuz, I recommend the playlist below: "Audio-Technica Global track list". You can find it under Playlists > Event and Media.



I am enjoying it very much in the last several days as it is very varied and it provided several unexpected gems . Musical content and performance quality is, on average, quite good, and so is recording quality.

I believe going through a playlist this eclectic is a very good (and challenging) test for an audio system as well, as it will show its strength and weaknesses fairly easily.

When a system has been assembled with an exaggerated 'my-fi' approach, i.e. by heavily coloring the sound signature on purpose, it will likely make these performances sound more alike than what they are supposed to, ending up in a boring experience, or - in the worst case - build up listening fatigue pretty quickly.

When a system is flawed, like due to lack in some areas of the frequency spectrum, or a constricted soundstage, or a veiled presentation, etc., you should find that some tracks sound awesome and some others are barely listenable for one reason or another.

A more equilibrated (say, linear) system should have the resolution, transparency and tonal balance needed to actually appreciate not only the diversity in the musical material, but also the different approaches used in the mixing and mastering of the tracks, etc..

Just as a practical example of stark contrast, take these two consecutive songs:

- Train Song (Holly Cole): bass-head low notes interplay with a very nice and smooth vocal, warm-ish and lush;
- If you don't ... (The Isaacs): much more open sound with brighter vocals, added reverb, nice PRaT and air between the musicians.

I played these two tracks with the LCD4 I had borrowed from a friend + Mullard, then with the Abyss + Fivre.
The first combo, purposely matched to sound lush and mellow was really captivating with Holly Cole, but robbed the The Isaacs song of its energy and liveliness, while taming the vocals brightness in a pleasing way. The AB-1266 + Fivre was way more resolving and highlighted the differences between these two tracks much better, thus making the listening experience more interesting and insightful, yet still keeping the emotional involving factor well present.

As always, personal taste plays the biggest role in this hobby, and for me the more I grow old as an audiophile and music lover, the more I find myself leaning towards my very personal sense of 'correctness', as opposed to my former tendencies towards fun- or wow- prone gear.

That said, the AIC-10 / AB-1266 pairing sounds correct, fun and wow at the same time to my ears lol.

Edit: added link to the playlist

 

[F208Frank]

For those using Qobuz, I recommend the playlist below: "Audio-Technica Global track list". You can find it under Playlists > Event and Media.



I am enjoying it very much in the last several days as it is very varied and it provided several unexpected gems . Musical content and performance quality is, on average, quite good, and so is recording quality.

I believe going through a playlist this eclectic is a very good (and challenging) test for an audio system as well, as it will show its strength and weaknesses fairly easily.

When a system has been assembled with an exaggerated 'my-fi' approach, i.e. by heavily coloring the sound signature on purpose, it will likely make these performances sound more alike than what they are supposed to, ending up in a boring experience, or - in the worst case - build up listening fatigue pretty quickly.

When a system is flawed, like due to lack in some areas of the frequency spectrum, or a constricted soundstage, or a veiled presentation, etc., you should find that some tracks sound awesome and some others are barely listenable for one reason or another.

A more equilibrated (say, linear) system should have the resolution, transparency and tonal balance needed to actually appreciate not only the diversity in the musical material, but also the different approaches used in the mixing and mastering of the tracks, etc..

Just as a practical example of stark contrast, take these two consecutive songs:

- Train Song (Holly Cole): bass-head low notes interplay with a very nice and smooth vocal, warm-ish and lush;
- If you don't ... (The Isaacs): much more open sound with brighter vocals, added reverb, nice PRaT and air between the musicians.

I played these two tracks with the LCD4 I had borrowed from a friend + Mullard, then with the Abyss + Fivre.
The first combo, purposely matched to sound lush and mellow was really captivating with Holly Cole, but robbed the The Isaacs song of its energy and liveliness, while taming the vocals brightness in a pleasing way. The AB-1266 + Fivre was way more resolving and highlighted the differences between these two tracks much better, thus making the listening experience more interesting and insightful, yet still keeping the emotional involving factor well present.

As always, personal taste plays the biggest role in this hobby, and for me the more I grow old as an audiophile and music lover, the more I find myself leaning towards my very personal sense of 'correctness', as opposed to my former tendencies towards fun- or wow- prone gear.

That said, the AIC-10 / AB-1266 pairing sounds correct, fun and wow at the same time to my ears lol.

Weird I can not find the play list, maybe in USA they hold diff lists than Europe?

 

[simorag]

As my seemingly never ending honeymoon phase with the AIC-10 continues (further fueled by the more recent enamorment with Roon / Qobuz), yesterday I discovered the album below.

It is one of those recorded performances where sheer sensorial pleasure, emotion (with more than a shade of melancholy) and audiophile amazement go hand in hand.
Enveloped in a very warm and inviting soundscape of variegated acoustic instruments, smooth velvety vocals, lulled by accordion harmonies it is easy to get lost and find our 1h of escape from the world's anxieties.

With the Riviera and the Abyss, the recording space is beautifully rendered with its cavernous quality, deep, dark at times, yet reassuring like a fascinating naturalistic maze you'd want to explore. The large, reverberating environment is rendered with its thick - yet full of details - atmosphere, and the gentle slam, depth and physical impact of the percussions (as in tracks like La Roca, Vals) involves not only the ear and brain but - as strangely as it may sound - the whole body.

 

[F208Frank]

Damn this experience I'm about to embark per your reccomendation sounds like a drug trip of some sort!

*Fastens seat belt, puts on sunglasses*

*Presses play*

 

[simorag]

My take on Abyss AB-1266 TC vs. RAAL SR1a on the Riviera AIC-10 (Classical)

As I have written many times here on head-fi, while the AIC-10 is not able to make justice to the SR1a in general, it can produce very satisfying results under certain conditions, namely combinations of listening level and musical genres, recording level. I was confirmed of this after having listened to the SR1a with at least 10 different very powerful high-end amplifiers.

With this post, I'd like to share my notes of how the AB-1266 TC and the SR1a compare when paired with the AIC-10 for classical. Given the premise above, this comparison is not intended as a thorough SR1a vs. TC review, more like how they sound out of the AIC-10 when playing classical music.

When / if time allows, I will do similar one with jazz and other acoustic non-classical genres.

I deliberately avoided large orchestral pieces with extreme dynamics, due to AIC-10 limitations, to keep the comparison as meaningful as possible.

SR1a playback volume was set to h13 (no distortion artifacts audible, SPL level on these recordings matches my typical listening volume, i.e. 75-85dB, with some decent extra headroom available). I listened to the SR1a both with and without EQ, where my EQ curve adds a +6dB bass shelf smoothly raising below 100Hz, and a -3dB (Q=2.5) dip at 7kHz, implemented via Roon DSP.

Tracks 1-2-5

SR1a provide better articulation and insight about Cecilia's technique, e.g. breathing, their striking speed of transients adds liveliness to the orchestral part. Transparency is also a winning point of the RAAL, and this aspect is going to be very a recurring theme with all the other comparisons hereafter.

The TC expands soundstage width and depth in a very pleasing way and add body / weight to the notes.
I give vocals presence to TC for this recording: where the SR1a produces more delineated contours yet smaller, thinner, and more recessed.

Very sparkling strings and brass section with SR1a but seemingly detached from basso continuo and other instruments.
Dynamics equally good on both. No distortion or compression with SR1a.

Tracks 1 (Choir), 2 (tenor and baritone solo)

SR1a vocals are quite credible, especially baritone (tenor was slightly hard, with more chest and warmth with the TC, slightly sibilant with both), cleaner and more there-there with the SR1a but more seductive with the TC, while more smeared.

TC bring the deep bass – organ - section to life, while with the SR1a you only get a shy hint of it. Choir is grander as well, more cohesive, and more in the background (i.e. in a more 'correct' relationship with the orchestra), whereas with SR1a choir sounds like separate singers in the foreground.

EQ'd SR1a sound better, but still does not make justice to the organ low notes.

Tracks: Gnomus, Promenade, Old Castle

Gnomus dynamics and bass drum slam are notably better with the TC (possibly AIC-10 current reserve limitations start kicking in here).

Orchestral details resolution are easily more discernible with SR1a, with more air between the instrument but within a smaller and flatter stage.

Old Castle sounds more nuanced with the TC, with a more realistic rendering or orchestra legato string passages.

Tracks 1-3

The initial solo tenor is more sharply defined with the SR1a, whereas with a slightly metallic edge.

The 2nd track / orchestral presents a more organic strings section with the TC. Also in this case, the larger and deeper soundstage of the TC make the listening experience more rewarding.

The final crescendo on track 2 and the entering of the choir on track 3 is a challenge for the AIC-10 with the SR1 while it is effortlessly and enthusiastically delivered with the TC .

Wow moment with the TC: the 1st octave organ accompaniment on track 3, which is barely audible with the SR1a.

Tracks: Bruch Scottish fantasia

TC: Immense soundstage, violin tonality extremely credible. Great texture. Great ambience rendition.

SR1a: background hiss much more apparent. As usual, soundstage narrows while a veil is lifted at the same time, exposing everything in a more transparent, but also disincarnated fashion (think anechoic chamber). Violin is more sculpted, leaner, still very present and refined. Convincing performance on the violin, less engaging atmospherics.

Tracks: 1 to 5

SR1a: very transparent vocals and piano. Relative positioning is realistic with the piano behind and below the vocals level. Impressive detail retrieval of singer breathing and non-musical content (e.g. audience noise, etc.).
Piano tonality is luminous, a clear sound with small amounts of reverberation.

TC: you can breathe the atmosphere of the venue, but at the same time the sound is more veiled, especially apparent with the vocal section.
Schreier singing has more weight and softer (more pleasing) edges, singer and piano localization is more blurred, its tone a bit duller.

Tracks: 1-6

The SR1a wins here when it comes to microdynamics, transients, instrument localization and fine resolution. However, some violin passages come close to a certain hardness, which the Abyss does not highlight. Applying EQ to the SR1a improves on this and – with some elevation of the bottom end – generates a less lean overall sound, up to a level where I feel the SR1a performs better on this album overall.

Tracks: 1-6

With this outstanding ECM recording of the piano rendition of the Bach partitas for keyboard, the SR1a really shine, preserving the integrity of the Maestro Schiff in producing a sound that, while anachronistically, is well suited to baroque intents. Well-articulated, lively, agile, clean and rigorous, with the unavoidable touch of bloom and warmth of a modern piano.

The TC adds weight and harmonics density, but also a sort of muddiness that makes the musical flow less elegant and readable.


Bottom line is that, while I appreciate the technicalities of the SR1a, the most striking being transparency / clarity / resolution (unmatched by any other transducer I have listened to), I overall enjoy the TC more with the AIC-10 and classical music.

It provides a more complete and immersive experience by recreating a huge soundstage, rendering the impact and depth of the low end notes (or harmonics) with an overall warmer and meatier sound signature, while sacrificing only a small part of the detail retrieval.

As stated at the beginning of this post, I tried to play fair with the SR1a by selecting tracks where the AIC-10 seems to have no special issues in driving them, but of course a more powerful amplifier can still be considered a more probative benchmarking platform for this SR1a vs. TC shootout (and sure it would be if the comparison is made on a broader musical content).

 

[Mikey99]

For those using Qobuz, I recommend the playlist below: "Audio-Technica Global track list". You can find it under Playlists > Event and Media.



I am enjoying it very much in the last several days as it is very varied and it provided several unexpected gems . Musical content and performance quality is, on average, quite good, and so is recording quality.

I believe going through a playlist this eclectic is a very good (and challenging) test for an audio system as well, as it will show its strength and weaknesses fairly easily.

When a system has been assembled with an exaggerated 'my-fi' approach, i.e. by heavily coloring the sound signature on purpose, it will likely make these performances sound more alike than what they are supposed to, ending up in a boring experience, or - in the worst case - build up listening fatigue pretty quickly.

When a system is flawed, like due to lack in some areas of the frequency spectrum, or a constricted soundstage, or a veiled presentation, etc., you should find that some tracks sound awesome and some others are barely listenable for one reason or another.

A more equilibrated (say, linear) system should have the resolution, transparency and tonal balance needed to actually appreciate not only the diversity in the musical material, but also the different approaches used in the mixing and mastering of the tracks, etc..

Just as a practical example of stark contrast, take these two consecutive songs:

- Train Song (Holly Cole): bass-head low notes interplay with a very nice and smooth vocal, warm-ish and lush;
- If you don't ... (The Isaacs): much more open sound with brighter vocals, added reverb, nice PRaT and air between the musicians.

I played these two tracks with the LCD4 I had borrowed from a friend + Mullard, then with the Abyss + Fivre.
The first combo, purposely matched to sound lush and mellow was really captivating with Holly Cole, but robbed the The Isaacs song of its energy and liveliness, while taming the vocals brightness in a pleasing way. The AB-1266 + Fivre was way more resolving and highlighted the differences between these two tracks much better, thus making the listening experience more interesting and insightful, yet still keeping the emotional involving factor well present.

As always, personal taste plays the biggest role in this hobby, and for me the more I grow old as an audiophile and music lover, the more I find myself leaning towards my very personal sense of 'correctness', as opposed to my former tendencies towards fun- or wow- prone gear.

That said, the AIC-10 / AB-1266 pairing sounds correct, fun and wow at the same time to my ears lol.

Edit: added link to the playlist

Listening to the playlist now. Great selection!

 

[BPED]

Great write up @simorag !
I confess that before reading I tied myself to the ship mast... as I cannot afford following the sirens’ call right now
I am quite curious about the RAAL but you confirm me that probably I don’t really need it. Anyway quite impressive considering it’s their first effort. I may wait a couple of iterations before taking the plunge

 

[BPED]

Just in case someone experiences the same problem...

I use my Dave as pre-amp and DAC for active speakers and as DAC to feed the Riviera. I had some issues with distorted sound from the speakers. It turns out that the Riviera caused it. here I explained how to easily solve the issue

 

[Ciggavelli]

I’m really enjoying my time with a loaner AIC-10. I’m waiting for my wa33ee/JPS to be built and my dealer is letting me borrow the AIC-10 until then. The wa33 standard with upgraded tubes was what I had before. At first comparison the AIC-10 and wa33 are very similar. Tons of power, great separation, enormous soundstage, POWERFUL bass. I think if I had to choose between the wa33 standard and the AIC-10, I’d choose the AIC-10 though

I’m curious to see how the WA33 Elite/JPS with upgraded tubes compared to the AIC-10.

I’ll update my impressions when my new WA33 arrives in 5+ weeks

 

[Ciggavelli]

Hmmm...so I'm testing some QOTSA albums (mainly Era Vulgaris). It appears that the AIC-10 does not have the same depth of soundstage as the wa33. There's still depth, but it isn't as deep as the wa33. I guess that's one thing were the wa33 excels. Also, no pre-amp options on the AIC-10, which I would like to have. I was running my wa33 in pream mode when I listened to my Raal SR1as

 

[spotforscott]

The AIC-10 really benefits from a large gauge powercord. I tested the Sablon Prince (6 AWG) against my HFC UDHS PC (12 AWG) and the Prince really came through as the better cable for the Rivera even though I prefer the HFC cable on the DAVE. The Prince brought about an even more solid bottom end and added richness, texture and density to the mid range. Overall, it really elevated the performance of the AIC-10 - I couldn't stop listening last night

 

[simorag]

Re: Tube Rolling on the Riviera AIC-10

After a long and patient chase, the past week I was finally able to acquire a treasured Mullard CV 491 long plate, square getter 12AU7 tube in genuine NOS-NIB (New In Box) conditions. This tube dates 1955, and was manufactured in the legendary Blackburn factory according to military specifications.

I already own a CV 491 from 1957, but the '55 one looks in really great shape – basically as-new, and measures accordingly, based on the data the seller (a trustworthy collector) has provided.

So, I went in and indulged myself in some comparisons with my other best tubes for the AIC-10, namely a Fivre and a Marconi B329, both from the end of the 50's as well.

While being partial to the Mullard utterly seductive 'house-sound', I spent my last few months mainly with the Fivre, because of its very impactful response, wide and transparent soundstage and mildly warm tonality.

The '57 Mullard is comparatively a bit veiled and rolled-off in the highs, notably slower especially in the bass region, less resolving, but it charms me with its glowingly saturated midrange and silky-smooth treble.

While not technically necessarily the best, I must say this Mullard, as all other similar NOS editions I have tried with the AIC-10, has some magic to it, that tingles my emotional antennae when listening to music in a very special way ...

The Marconiphone is midway between the Fivre and the Mullard, with a moderate euphonic coloration of the midrange and a bit dry-ish bass presentation. As good as it is, being a middle-ground characterization, I tended to gravitate towards the other two tubes most of the time in the last year or so.

Enter the '55 CV 491.

As the best Mullards, its most apparent traits are harmonics richness in the midrange, a smooth treble, and a luxuriant decay of the mid-bass region that, once combined, make listening to vocals, both male and female, and all types of acoustic genres for that matter, a gloriously satisfying experience.

Musical objects in general, and especially those produced by double bass, wooden instruments, acoustic guitar, take a three-dimensional, tactile shape that makes it difficult to avoid the usage of the 'holographic' audiophile descriptor cliché.

Compared to my '57 one, it does not sound rolled off or veiled – almost reaching the transparency of the Fivre – and while having a characteristic long-ish decay, is not dull or too slow. Furthermore, micro and macro-dynamics are improved, close to the Fivre and – while less so – to very dynamic tubes like Radiotechnique and Telefunken I tried in the past.

The pairing with the RAAL SR1a is really outstanding, baroque instrumentations and vocals are as natural and realistic, in terms of tonality, texture and tactility, as I have listened to. The upper midrange / lower treble smoothness is much increased, and the bloom in the mid-bass / bass region and longer decay make this headphone sound less dry, more pleasant (read: subjectively more naturalistic) and ultimately way more enjoyable.

With the TC, the expanded, transparent, airy soundstage of the Fivre holds its own especially with large scale classical works, but the Mullard is very close and provides a more layered and textured soundscape. With jazz, the Mullard-ized AB-1266 excels at re-creating an enveloping cigar-club atmosphere, and with modern music like pop / rock etc. the CV 491 slight forgiveness is a warranty of long, stress free, head-bobbing, mouth-grinning listening sessions

 

[silkytoad]

Have any of you experimented much driving bookshelf speakers with your Riviera? Do you think it would be able to drive KEF LS50 Meta’s to reasonable levels?

 

[simorag]

Have any of you experimented much driving bookshelf speakers with your Riviera? Do you think it would be able to drive KEF LS50 Meta’s to reasonable levels?

I am using the AIC-10 with a vintage pair of Spendor LS3/5a, in a relatively small room, and with a set-up where I am at the vertex of a 2m x 2m x 2m equilateral triangle. In these conditions, the magic happens where the loudspeakers disappear and imaging of solo instruments / small ensembles is astonishing.

I get concert-like (talking about unamplified concerts of small classical or acoustic jazz music) levels with the AIC-10 just past 12 o'clock.
I can also enjoy solo piano with much more dynamics, frequency range extension, loudness and 'volume' (read: size of the musical image) than I expected by the combo - note that my LS3/5a should be something around 83dB, i.e. even lower than the 85dB LS50 Meta.

That said, my listening levels are 70-75 typical with 80-85dB max peak, so depending on loudness preferences and / or when it comes to highly dynamic genres or large scale concerts, I can see how much more powerful amps could be better suited to fully exploit these typically hard to drive bookshelf miracle boxes ...

 

[Mikey99]

Have any of you experimented much driving bookshelf speakers with your Riviera? Do you think it would be able to drive KEF LS50 Meta’s to reasonable levels?

I am currently using the AIC-10 to drive a pair of Airtight Bonsai AL-05 that I have on demo, in a desktop arrangement (About 1x1x1 m equilateral triangle setup). I don’t know the sensitivity of this model, but numbers I have seen for previous models are ~85 dB, which is close to LS-50. They are 4 ohm nominal impedance. They play beautifully in this setup, for a wide variety of music. Volume knob at 10-11 o’clock. The amp has no problem whatsoever driving them in this setup. They amp is 10 W/channel, but apparently can deliver higher power levels (up to 30W/channel) without major increase in distortion.