It’s all about simplicity, and it is something audiophiles tend to forget. It seems the machinery of industry always wants to push a new feature, another aspect of operational complexity. Our cars are becoming technologically laden, far more so than computers of ten years ago. Phones are ubiquitous with the continual addition of functionality. Bluetooth invisibly conjoins mobile audio devices. Our homes are becoming “smart,” our children questionably so. Why, then, shouldn’t our components and systems for the home two-channel system also become more complex?
Some have, and a prime example is the previously reviewed Benchmark AHB2 Amplifier that has so much going on technologically that it takes a hefty Owner’s Manual to explain it all. In that review, I spent time comparing the straightforward operation of the amplifier under review here, the Power Modules Inc. Aria Monoblock, to the AHB2. While there is no shortage of configuration flexibility with the Benchmark Amp and it utilizes the new Class AAA operation developed jointly with George Lucas’s THX, it did not show itself superior in performance to the Aria when the latter was set up well.
The old adage that the best signal path is the shortest one still holds true, not just at the component level, but also potentially at the system level. In my experience it holds true in terms of power and signal cables (i.e. straight wire cables are better typically than networked or filtered cables), in terms of circuit layout in components, and in terms of simpler versus more complex products. Even when it comes to digital sources like Tidal, and music management software such as Roon, turning off features that purportedly enhance the listening experience, like up conversion of the signal or Roon’s Headroom adjustment, improves the sound of playback of files and streaming audio. (Please note the warnings in Roon associated with defeating the Headroom adjustment. You turn it off and play the system at unsafe listening levels at your own risk of damage to your ears and/or equipment.)
Aforementioned simplicity principle notwithstanding, there seems a movement away from simplicity toward preamps, DACs, Integrated and even power amps festooned with functionality – all requiring longer signal paths. By the time the average audiophile constructs his system the signal has to be pushed through a maze of circuits. Thankfully, there are still purists around, those who like less in the signal path. One of them is Dave Belles of Power Modules Inc. in Pittsford, NY, who has been making high quality, no gimmick audiophile pre and power products for decades.
Dave does not subscribe to the school of component design wherein the front panel is festooned with features that would be used seldom, if at all. The internals are arranged by necessary function, according to old school classic design. The secret sauce of the amp is the power supply. Dave tunes the power supplies in his amps for maximal musicality of the amplifier. I am not at liberty to discuss the particulars, but please trust me when I say that the power supply of an amp is a make or break element. Even upgraded outboard power supplies yield an easily discernible benefit to sources and DACs. A robust power supply and minimalist layout make the Aria a very desirable amplifier from a design perspective, and the quality shows in the sound it produces.
PMI Belles Arias Preamplifier
Like DAC, like preamp
Recently I had an opportunity to compare some high-minded, high bit rate and up-converting high-clock-frequency DACs to a simpler design, the BorderPatrol DAC SE (USB + SPDIF). This unobtrusive, well-built, streamlined NOS (Non Oversampling) DAC is the epitome of minimalist circuit design – if one can call a DAC’s topology minimalist. The simplicity is found in two essential areas encompassing two objectives, namely signal treatment and build. Rather than up convert the signal, which requires the application of algorithms, the signal is kept native at 16 bit/44.1 kHz. This allows for a simpler build eschewing devices such as opamps in the signal path. Consequently, the output of the BP DAC SE is directly from the DAC chip, which results in quite an improvement in cleanness and vibrancy over the up-converting DACs I have used.
On a thread at Audiogon.com the question was asked: what kind of car would your system be? I responded instinctively, the Ariel Atom, and in some iterations the V8 Nomad version. No prissy features, no sluggishness, just pure performance. The stripped down Ariel is a supercar that normal mortals can afford (well, at least some normal mortals). It is all about the simplest design that can accomplish the feat of extreme track or, in the case of the Nomad, off road driving.
My idea of extreme audiophile sound is not to put up a rig that lulls my ears. I’m not interested in very warm sound, sound that is “rounded” by the elimination of some definition. I want to hear everything, but in no way do I wish to hear it harshly. Continuing with the Nomad V8 illustration, I want to go off road at high speed, but to have such a capable vehicle that I don’t get shattered in the process of doing so. Similarly, I want a rig that is able to handle anything musically, and I do mean anything, even the ugliest, most tortuous music that demands extreme equipment to produce cleanly, yet without a hint of stridency or roughness not inherent to the recording.
Does that sound like an impossible request? Honestly, it is for all but a few systems. There are very, very few rigs at shows or in homes that can do so, perhaps 10% of all extant systems. I have been putting up hundreds of systems for more than 12 years and most of them can’t be said to have unlimited performance with perfect manners. If I can’t do so easily after assembling dozens of systems at the $50k-$100k mark, neither can you.
One thing is for sure, you will not be moving toward the most extreme performance rapidly by stuffing the signal path. It takes herculean efforts to recapture what is lost through plying the signal with additional processing and/or extra electronic components. Why we do this to ourselves is a testament to wishful thinking that the more complex something is, the better it must be. It’s simply not so in most cases.
For instance, my fancy refrigerator with water and ice dispenser went rogue one night when a plastic part in the dispenser failed, and it flooded not only our kitchen but also a portion of the downstairs, taking out some of the ceiling and flooring of the basement. The listening room was completely unaffected. That was the last time those fancy features will ever be used; they were disconnected. It has now become a very reliable refrigerator that makes ice cubes in trays and keeps food in a climate-controlled environment. Simpler, better. In the same way, consistently I can make an audio system sound superior by removing the preamp from the chain.
The post PMI Belles Aria Preamplifier and Monoblock Amplifiers Review appeared first on Dagogo.