LPs can be maddening, irritating, frustrating things - sounding glorious one minute and terrible the next.
Compared with the robustness, simplicity and consistency of CD, LPs need careful handling for their full potential to be realised. Speaking as someone who runs LP and CD side by side, I sometimes wonder if it's worth all the extra effort needed to coax top performance from vinyl - it'd be far easier to switch solely to CD.
Yet there's no denying that LP reproduction at its best has an openness, freshness, ease, and unforced nature that CD struggles to emulate. True, as players and discs have improved over the years, CD has got better. And at its best it's very, very good. But analogue LP still has the edge when it comes to creating holographic soundstaging that suggests three dimensions.
Moreover, you never quite know how good an LP actually is; even records you've had for years and thought you knew backwards can be transformed at a stroke by improvements to turntables, arms, cartridges, and phono stages.
Some months back I had the enviable task of reviewing the fabulous Avid Acutus turntable - I know; it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. But initially things didn't go too well. I should've been in Audio Nirvana, but first impressions were rather mixed. Using my regular Audiolab 8000PPA phono stage, the sound was super clean, bright, and incredibly lucid; dare I say it, more like CD than CD. Very impressive, but almost too up-front and chromium-plated in its unyielding brilliance.
The Audiolab's been my phono stage since the mid '90s, and I prize its neutrality and lucidity. It's an exceptionally revealing component - your turntable/arm/cartridge needs to be first-rate, and your LPs spotlessly clean. The 8000PPA is capable of very sharply delineated, articulate reproduction that makes lesser phono stages sound soft-focused. So I've learned to accept its incredible fussiness even if (sometimes) something less razor-sharp would be easier on the ear.
Alas, the Audiolab/Acutus combo went too far down the path of analysis and detail - unless you like a lean, bright, up-front presentation. That's where the Michell/Trichord Delphini two-box phono stage came in. Substituting the Delphini had the effect of maintaining the Audiolab's incredible fine detail and lucidity, while (miraculously) minimising its clinical brightness and hyper-sensitivity to faults. The Delphini seemed every bit as revealing, but not at the expense of warmth or smoothness.
Tonally, it added richness and colour to the Audiolab's steely 'etched' palette, sounding sweeter and more natural, yet, with no loss of focus or dynamics. Delphini cymbals had shimmer and weight, with a ripe golden timbre that sounded more believable and realistic than the Audiolab's icily brilliant portrayal, yet there was no lack of attack or impact.
In other words, the Delphini had that highly desirable combination of opposite attributes; clarity and detail on the one hand, smoothness and warmth on the other. It's at once highly revealing, yet forgiving. Naturally, it doesn't hide faults and blemishes. Yet, by making the most of what's right with a given LP, it subjectively minimises the things that might be wrong - the good magically outweighs the bad.
The Delphini seemed to pull the music into sharp focus without making things sound stiff and regimented. Rhythmically, it's fluid and lively, with good pace and sharp dynamics. It offers exceptional mid-band clarity, while sounding smooth and extended at bass and treble extremes. The presentation is extremely clear and effortless. When paired with an outstanding turntable like the Avid Acutus, the combination of relaxed ease and biting clarity was at times remarkable. CD, eat your heart out!
Technically, the Delphini is very impressive. Passive EQ is used, while the output stage is described as a composite FET current feedback design. The regulators in the power supply are claimed to be very special low noise ultra-wide bandwidth devices that contribute in no small measure to the outstanding sonic performance produced.
The Delphini is available in three versions. You can start with the basic single-box variant at £535, powered by a simple transformer-in-a-mains-plug power supply, or go for the two-box version which has a much beefier transformer for £895. The ultimate Delphini is the four-box dual mono version costing about £1,850. Pretty expensive, but the good news is you can start with the basic model and upgrade to either of the improved versions at some future time - helpful if you can't quite stretch to the ultimate in one hit.
I sampled the two-box version; costly, but not too outrageously priced given the high standard of performance. To ensure optimum matching with a wide range of cartridges, it's possible to alter things like gain and loading. So you can precisely tailor the Delphini to the cartridge being used. Hum is nonexistent (although, like most phono stages, the Delphini is sensitive to stray fields), while background hiss is extremely low. MC cartridges with as little as 100mV output voltage can be used without too severe a noise penalty, while high output types are also catered for. Turntable lovers should investigate forthwith, if not sooner!
Jimmy Hughes
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