For many years I've clung on to my Michell Iso. It's stuck with me through numerous cartridge-changes and one change of deck and has performed faultlessly throughout. And 'though it was rewarded for its good behaviour after its first couple of years operation with a beefed-up Hera power supply, I'm the first to admit that the Iso is less than perfect - it casts a slightly rosy hue on all it touches giving a marginally larger than life feel to everything. It's also not the most nimble performer and (particularly with the Hera in tow), can sound slightly leaden in comparison with the better (but much more expensive) contemporary opposition. But it's always sounded right in my system. Its star may have faded a little in the marketplace but despite several 'pretenders' that I've reviewed, I've never been tempted to change.
Never one to give up, Roy has tempted me with not one but two alternatives. The Clearaudio Basic, as its name implies is just that. A basic 'fit 'n forget, entry level MM/MC phono stage. It provides a first foot on the ladder of Clearaudio's comprehensive line of phonostages. The Trichord Dino is something else again. Although in its standard form, it's not hugely more expensive than the Clearaudio, it's a much more flexible beast.
......
The Trichord Dino at a marginally less modest £299, is something of a visual break from the more expensive Delphini. For starters gone are the chrome metal cases to be replaced by a fetching silver acrylic casing. But the obvious and key point of the difference is on the base of the unit. This sports a series of DIP switches that allow simple adjustment of a very comprehensive range of capacitance and resistance settings for both MM and MC cartridges. A real bonus this since you can fine tune settings almost as you listen with no farting around with covers between every setting. It also means you're immediiately ready for any future cartridge changes.At roughly twice the size of the Clearaudio Basic, it's still fairly compact, taking up roughly the same shelf space as my old Iso. With is acrylic casing iit doesn't share the same quality feel as the Basic, but of course that's no measure of what's inside and I have no reason to doubt the quality of Trichord products - look at the rest of my system!
The Dino comes with a standard 'wall-wart' transformer but for a substantial additional investment a more capable 160VA high performance power supply can be purchased.. More of this later. The phono stages were hooked up to a Clearaudiofront-end comprising the Evolution turntable, Tangent parallel tracking tonearm and Signature cartridge, Nordost Red Dawn Rev 2R cables were used for all but the tonearm connections where Audioplan X-wire was employed. The rest of the system was my usual Michell (Trichord) Orca pre, bi-amped Stereo Alecto's and Ruark Paladins.
.......Keeping the same album on the deck I swapped to the Trichord. Wow! Less obviously precise than the Clearaudio, the music really sang. Ella was undoubtedly in the room. The bass had lost a slightly thuddy quality evident on both the Clearaudio and my Iso, and although it was a little light in weight, it sounded more natural and organic. stage depth, even in living mono, had also gained a few feet.
Little Jimmy sounded great too, although I did miss the taught bass and driving quality of the Clearaudio. The vocals of both Jimmy and the backing singers were projected much more convincingly although the extra detail of the Basic let you hear better
just what they are singing. This track in particular helped identify the differences between the two 'stages'. The Trighord sounding more 'real' with better staging but the Clearaudio posessing more drive; a tighter bass and a tad more detail. Horses for courses then. They both did a great job with this album.
The Dino was a clear winner with 'Capriccio Espagnol', it didn't convey the individual sections of the orchestra with the precision of the Clearaudio, but gave a much better sense of hall acoustic and sheer flow of the music. Drawing me into the performance and (dammit, it's a busy Sunday morning as I'm writing this), keeping me there for the whole of the first side. Art Pepper's 'Ophelia' too, whilst the bass quality lacked a little precision and was slightly soft and less driving in comparison with the Basic, sang out with real conviction. The stage was again a little wider on this album.
These brief demonstrations were enough to convince me that here were two exceptionally good products. Although they both clock in at less than half its price, both better my Iso/Hera in particular (and important) areas. Both are well made and very quiet in operation with no spurious pops and clicks, despite the relatively dirty mains in my house.
The Clearaudio is neat, beautifully made, fast, detailed and excellent value for money. The Trichord has all the makings of a giant killer. With its inbuilt flexibility and exceptional performance, its particular strengths are in excellent staging and sheer naturalness. It is slightly bass light in comparison with the Basic but I can't say this troubled me particularly. Both in standard form are highly recommended and well worthy of serious audition.
The flexible little Dino has one more trick up its sleeve though. The standard power supply can be replaced. At present the only option is the unit used with the Orca pre and Delphini Stereo and mono phono amps, based on a 160VA toroidal transformer and full active voltage regulation. It also comes with a price tag of £399, although if you already own the Orcasupply it will drive both units. (There will be a slightly less sophisticated off-board supply targeted at £200 in due course). Now of course an extra £399 places the Dino in a different financial league, albeit only comparable to the original cost of the Iso/Hera, and substantial gains in performance should be expected.
Fortunately the extra cost is justified. The Pepper track opens out considerably gaining extra layers of detail, a wider and deeper stage, and more headroom, solos singing free and unconstrained. Each instrument gains more body and more realism and the whole experience is more musically satisfying. The bass performance is also much improved with more resolution apparent, a lower 'floor, although I still miss the bass precision of the little Basic.
Dave Davies - Hi-Fi +
|
