So looking around for a potential replacement two options stood out. One would be to source a, rare as hens teeth, Vivaldi one, but I was a bit put off at the idea of trading in a four box stack and still being out of pocket for a replacement which at best would have sounded similar but not as good.

The other option was the newly introduced Wadax Studio. I’d never heard a Wadax component before but after a so-so demo at KJ in London I put one on order. My impression was that it was a very pleasant sounding system and something I could live with as backup to my LPs.

How wrong I was. Truly the Wadax Studio is, despite its cost, one of the most ridiculous bargains in audio. Frankly it knocks the DCS stack so far out of the park that the comparison isn’t even worth making. Compared with the Studio a full optimized (nearly $100K of cables, clocks, footers) Vivaldi sounds like a clockwork simulacrum of music against the real thing. On disc after disc the Wadax finds a way of reaching into the soul of the performance - musicians feel as if they are really listening to one another and vocals come through with a level of emotion and involvement that I have never heard before.

The one weaker spot is perhaps SACD, it’s not that it’s bad but more that the system is so well tuned for red book that the upgrade going to SACD is small, and perhaps the SACD playback lacks a little body. 

Attention to footers is also important, check out Roy Gregory’s notes for lots of tips in this regard (https://gy8.eu/blog/wadax-studio-player/) — I ended up with the Arya Audio Revopods, the Marigo footers I usually used sounded dull and confused. 

Also the Studio does not like the use of add on disc mats so my Marigo Aida mat is not longer in use.

I used to have a Lyra Dorian Mono but never warmed to the sound of that. The Zero is no comparison, a very big and open sound, tracks at 3.5g. Going back and forwards with the Palladian on the same mono disc the Palladian/Tosca can drag out more detail but it lacks the heft, swagger and emotion that the Zero/Talea brings and that ideally suits 50s and 60s mono material.

In anticipation of getting a new MM only phono stage I took the plunge and added at step up to my system. Based on recommendations and having heard it at shows I went with the MFA Classic V2. The buying process for MFA is to have the step up completely custom built for you so you get to specify gain, loading and in my case the option for two switchable inputs for my two arms and cartridges. I've always been leery of step ups worrying about the additional interconnect and complexity. 

Wow -- how wrong could I have been! Adding a step up and getting the gain cascade right has been transformative on my LP reproduction. Dynamics are much improved and the scale and size of the image expanded. Where dynamic peaks had overloaded and confused they now seem to go on for ever -- while at the same time low level color and fine detail is coming through like never before. Against my prior option of running my pre-amp at high gain the addition of a step up is so much better

Used as a dedicated mono arm I've always lusted after the Talea having seen it first when it was introduced back in the mid 2010s.  The Talea is very easy to mount as it has normal 9.5" mounting geometry with an offset arm. The setup is also straightforward if you follow the instructions closely. 

Via Mono & Stereo I became aware that Taiko Audio from the NL offer an upgraded PSU and top-plate for the Herzan platform. Having experienced the improvements that changing the power cord on a Herzan can bring I was intrigued. Without even asking me to put down a deposit Taiko sent me the upgrades -- the original plan was that they would fly out to me to upgrade the top plate but circumstances conspired to make this impossible so I did the job myself -- after working out an issue involving a lost screw jamming the mechanism I got it all sorted, its always good to know how your equipment really works!

So how does it sound -- in a single word "transformative" -- removing another whole level of grunge and resonance from LP playback makes the system sound completely different. I had not realized how much LP coloration was making everything sound similar -- with this removed the differences between recordings are so much more apparent, and the details in every part of the recording so much more clear. Highly recommended!

One of the odder things about the Taizo PSU upgrade is how sensitive it still is to power cords -- over the years I've tried a $2K SR Atmosphere cord and this didn't work at all well, sounding thing and aggressive. For a year I've been using a basic $200 power cord that seemed a good fit but Ron H from Marigo left me one of his Platinum level cords and having enjoyed what these do with the PSU on my table I thought to try it in the Taizo -- it's a great fit, these just add another level of ease and clarity to how the table presents music -- details like different cymbals stand out more clearly -- it may take time but do experiment to find the cord that works best for you

For those unfamiliar with this piece it’s a tube based 40dB gain phono with LCR equalization. It’s very solidly built and the packaging is absolutely first rate. My one issue was locating the on/off switch which, on this one at least, is underneath! Despite the manual saying its on the back.

Anyway compared with my Voss this one is certainly up there, maybe perhaps not as detailed but with something magical in the way it renders vocals and massed strings — certainly no regrets and I’m so taken with it that I’ve ordered the matching MC-16 step up to replace my MFA — I’ll report back on that in due course.

I first heard John Voss' (Dourmandy) phono stage at the LAAS in 2017. This was an early prototype of this minimalist MM only, 40dB gain, fixed 47K loading battery powered phono stage. From the very first notes I knew that this was something special -- resolving higher frequencies in a way I'd never heard before. Most unlike me I placed an order on the spot and finally, 14 months later, after a lot of continued development its now in my system.

The Voss is a two box phono where the small black box visible under my amp stand is a power supply for the batteries and a three way switch for off/on/charge. It gets 30-50 hours from a charge and can recharge in 3 hours or so. 

Only when you make a change of this magnitude do you realize how colored a phono stage can be. The Ref2SE is a fine stage and very musical and exciting but when you compare this to the Voss you understand its giving you a false low/mid bass boost that adds energy and bounce to recordings but also overlays a layer of stodge on everything else.

One of the best instances I can cite of this is on a mono recording of multiple voices and instruments -- take anything by the Chordettes for example. Through the ARC these are fun and high energy recordings and very enjoyable but through the Voss you can distinguish every voice, follow the lead and each backup individually and listen into the stacked mono soundstage with crystal clarity.

The Voss also excels at relative scale, small things (like flutes and triangles, and vocalists) stay small even when big things (like bass pedals or bass drums) are resounding all around them. With two many components the latter modulates the former.

So it's an expensive, uncompromising and ascetic phono stage but having tried it there's no going back

Unfortunately this unit failed in December 2023, since then despite my returning the Unit to John he has failed to either effect a repair or supply the new and improved replacement that I paid for. I am afraid that I can no longer recommend Voss Elite Audio as a company that anyone should do business with.

s a believer in the impact of grounding (see my notes on the Synergistic Research Active grounding blocks) I was intrigued when Ed and Emile at Taiko suggested I try out their solution -- the battery powered Setchi ground blocks. These are very attractive wooden boxes, about 6" square (they come in different sizes) with one outlet, terminated as needed, and a 9V battery. I currently use three of the D3s, one connected to the Herzan power supply, one to the diagnostic BNC on the back of the Herzan and the other to my Mutec Clock. I also useone of the smaller A1s on the phono stage. 

The effect of these is far from subtle, especially on the clock and Herzan PSU. They immediately make things seem much more open and clearer taking away a level of confusion and congestion that you were not previously aware of. I'm not sure I can pin down the effect of the A1 on the VOSS phono stage as well -- perhaps because this is a battery powered device it is pretty impervious to grounding, and all the other solutions I've tried make things worse rather than better. The A1 brings a small extra degree of snap and focus but its a pretty marginal effect.

The Setchi blocks are also supposed to provide a vibration damping effect -- it's certainly true that they are sensitive to how and where they are located so do experiment with this as well

I've got a bit of an odd set up as these are UK spec 240V conditioners but with US spec sockets. That way I can keep all of my old US terminated power cables. Frankly this is a good idea for anyone in the UK or Europe as US terminated power cables are a) much easier to source than UK or EU ones and b) frankly easier to use (although with a downside of a less secure fit!)

Needless to say these boxes work their magic very well -- they do benefit from some thought in isolation and the glass top plate is a nightmare that needs to be covered/damped in some way. The flashy display is also a bit of an eyesore and also sometimes breaks down, a clear case of appearance over functionality!

I've been thinking about a grounding solution for some time but despite the many SR products in my system the older simple ground block did not seem robust enough for me. I was almost about to spring for the Telos system when SR came out with the new active ground block that includes a mains connection along with a host of other current UEF technologies. I've now got two of these (one for the sources, one for power amps etc) and a full selection of the HD links to connect to every component. I even grounded all my stands using the supplies basic links (which I stripped back to bare wire and looped into the open metal on my stands which are conductive)

Overall I would argue that this has been the most transformative "tweak" I've ever implemented. The impact is not felt in terms of changing the tone/dynamics/frequency extent of the system but more by unfolding a whole new wealth of information that had previously not been audible. This is especially obvious in sound washes such as background synths and massed strings which are now clearly audible, yet fully distinct. You will also feel a whole additional dimension of subtle shading in vocals and overall a better sense of integration between all the performers -- some sort of grounding solution is strongly recommended.

I use a pair of these on my mono block power amps. The latest from AQ is a significant step up over the (similarly priced) WEL I was using before. Straight up I was flabbergasted by a completely different presentation of the Dragon vs the WEL. Bass seems less pronounced but there is much more air and space all around. As you listen more you realize that low level dynamics and inflections are now apparent that you had previously not been aware of -- and overall the ability of the amps with these new cables to communicate emotion has gone up in strides. As far as the bass goes - too many audio systems add an emphasis, a boom or low/mid bass stress that seems superficially attractive and is often quite exciting. But real bass isn’t like that, it grows naturally and kind of sits under the Music with its own texture and intensity. With the WELs in my setup I had that hyped up bass, with the Dragons it’s more organic and real world.

One odd effect is to seemingly amplify dynamic range -- what I mean by this is that while perhaps previously I’d been using a range of say 36-46 on my pre amp to accommodate the optimal loudness for all my CDs, now I found myself using 28-52 -- with the Dragon’s it seems the power cord is no longer compressing the peaks which in some cases (i.e. a more compressed recording) might mean a lower volume setting is optimal while more purist recordings can take a higher.

Having trialled Nordost Odin (v1), AQ WEL Signature and SR Galileo LE speaker cables in my system I settled on the latter as the best fit for me. Odin was fast and wide open but for me at least a little thin. 

With the introduction of the SX series Galileo cords I got a good deal on the UEF series so changed too these -- compared to the LE the UEF is more open and relaxed, it could seem a bit "laid back" but more a case that this takes some of the unnatural edge and emphasis off leading edges and allows for a more integrated and complete tonal range and soundstage. 

In terms of performance I had a chance to really see what they do in my new room as originally I only had front diffusion and a blank door behind the listening position. Feeling something was missing I ordered a second diffuser for the door and was floored by the impact it brought. What was most remarkable was the effect on vocals -- not only was scale perfectly preserved but a new level of clarity in phrasing and emotional content became evident, something that really drives engagement with the music. You owe it to yourself to sort out the front and back of your room ASAP!

The LPs are stored using the Ophon Coverfront system (https://www.ophon.nl/) This is a very versatile, good value and attractive system and Piet Hein is one of the nicest people you can dream of working with. 

CD storage was a bit trickier but I finally found a steel tool storage cabinet from Bott that works very well for my 1300+ discs (https://www.equip4work.co.uk/bott-cubio-drawer-cabinets-1050mm-wide-x-1000mm-high-model-h.html). It isn't quite tall enough for CDs to sit upright but a slight back tilt actually makes for better browsing. I also store the majority of my CDs in plastic sleeves rather than jewel boxes to save space. This isn't a cheap piece of furniture and it weighs a ton so make sure you have lots of help to move it (we needed six people to get it up one flight of stairs!)

The rack is easy enough to setup (if a bit fiddly to get all of the legs in place) but rings like a bell -- judicious application of a small amount of the no longer made fo.Q damping material plays great dividends as does grounding the stand to my SR ground boxes.  With these tweaks the stand performs solidly and is excellent value of course.