All,
I have been using the Vision phono in my upgraded Insight+ pre-amp since late December 2013. I posted first impressions in another thread:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=121452.0After a couple of months listening pretty much daily ( I workout in my lisenting room in the evenings), my impressions are essentially the same.
This phono stage (static values, MM; I'm using a VPI Classic I and Sumiko Blackbird HOMC) is extremely quiet, and revealing. The presentation is large, filling the space between my speakers (Maggie 3.6/R via AVA Insight 440H amp) and beyong,while being true to the recording, good or bad. Great vinyl sounds spectacular, poor, compressed recordings just sound like they were recorded/mixed poorly. I prefer a revealing system to one that's overly compensatory or 'rosey'. Instrument attacks are precise, with no smearing or distortion that I can hear. Soundstage depth is good, but not the ultimate best I have ever heard. Cymbals, acoustic instruments like guitars, horns, etc all sound very true and in-the-room. Vocals really shine, both male and female. Massed works are big, and while not analyitcially etched apart, I can hear individual instruments and single parts with no effort. After the inital WOW, I find I can do what I've always done with AVA equipment, just relax and listen to the music. No fatigue over long periods. Bass is deep and presented in an accurate fashion. I listen ony ocassionally to classical works (eg. Music from Bohemia; Supercuts UPC:5060218890249 ). The dynamics from very soft to very loud are handled with no problems. Jazz, rock, pop, alt-county, the Vision phono in my preamp handles these all very easily. In my collection, some 80's recordings (likely AAD, ADD) are very 'hot'; sizzly, tinny, compressed. With the Vision these sound very accurate- bad. I have a second TT set-up for these: SOTA Comet with Ortofon 2M Red feeding a Rec-O-Cut MM preamp ($99) into an Aux input on the Insight+ EC pre-amp. When I compare the two phono stages, the Vision is miles ahead: quieter, more holographic and accurate. The SOTA/Orto/Rec-O path tones down these hot recordings, but at the expense of accuracy, depth and separation and just less 'life' jumping from the grooves. The Filter on the Insight+ EC preamp also helps a great deal, but I prefer listening mostly at 'flat' with regard to tone or filtering options on the AVA pre-amp.
Am I glad I upgraded from the Insight phono to the Vision? Yes. For the money this is, IMHO, a silly good phono pre-amp. Performance for all my AVA gear is flawless: rugged and bullet-proof. The convenince of a built-in, and now fully configurable, MM/MC phono pre-amp is a great advantage.
Highy recommended.
Mark
