[AB]

My SWL just returned from being turned into an SWLP by Modwright.

As I was plugging in the tubes and had the tops off, I took a few crappy pics.

The SWLP retained the DACT attenuator, the BlackGate PS smoothing cap of my SWL plus I had Dan add Bybees to the AC in and the outputs. Dan also replaced all the Sonicap caps with his new Modwright caps.

The SWLP



Its PSU.



My carpet plus the SWLP, its PSU and the Revelation Audio umbilical.






It's now plugged in and warming up. No TT yet so I won't be able to comment on the phono stage. I will be able to comment on the line stage though and, after some hours, I will.

[modwright]

Thanks for sharing AB, not many people have really seen the insides of our new SWLP units or the new tube supply.

Take care and have fun!

Dan

[AB]

Listening to the SWLP now. It definitely has a fuller, warmer sound than the SWL.
It's producing a very wide soundstage with GREAT bass extension and clean, extended highs.
The mids and vocals are much warmer and "bigger" sounding. Not so much more forward but "rounder". Ya' know what I mean?
No one would call this sound lean or solid state like.
I would say the dynamics are the same as with the SWL - punchy and tight.

It is absolutely dead quiet! 

I need to play a bit with isolating the unit from vibes etc. The SWL benefited from sorbathane footers so I'll need to try them here too.

I haven't done any real critical listening yet. I would like to get 20+ hours or so on it before I do but I have high hopes. The fact the unit is dead quiet promises a very black background for a deep soundstage, great low level detail and lots of "air".

The unit has all stock tubes - Tung Sol 5687 and the Sovtek 5AR4.

Still no TT so no feedback there.

Dan suggested the SWLP improves on the SWL by around 30%. So far I would agree.

[SCompRacer]

Nice pics AB!  Did you aquire a TT yet AB?  I sent my SWL 9.0SE in last week to be converted to the SWLP and anxiously await its return.   Though I have a borrowed pre amp with phono stage to use, it is levels below what I was use to.  I am suffering from ModWright withdrawl....

[AB]

Nice pics AB!  Did you aquire a TT yet AB?  I sent my SWL 9.0SE in last week to be converted to the SWLP and anxiously await its return.   Though I have a borrowed pre amp with phono stage to use, it is levels below what I was use to.  I am suffering from ModWright withdrawl....

No TT yet but I will be visiting these folks http://www.galibierdesign.com/ next week or so if everything works out ok.

My SWLP has more than 350 hours on it now. I lost count around 300 and can't say anything's changed since around 250 hours. At that point it had opened up and became VERY sweet. The top end sounds crystal clear and super accurate. The mids are smooth and liquid. Vocal images have tightened up too. They started off a bit diffuse and "round". The bottom end was always pretty perfect but the whole FR balanced out when the top came in.

You are going to be very happy, the SWLP is a very definite upgrade over the SWL.

[modwright]

The folks at Galibier Design also make a great product.  I look forward to hearing how it sounds with the SWLP.

Take care,

Dan

[SCompRacer]

My SWLP in Blue.  Still burning in with the Granite Audio phono burn in CD.  Less than 100 hours so far, but my vinyl rig has never sounded so dynamic.  High marks for Dan!  I just do occasional vinyl with a Nottingham Space Deck/Space Arm/Sumiko Blackbird combination.  That could change now.

[halo]

I've heard this rig first hand and it is amazing. So amazing that I'm trying to duplicate it - with a few exceptions.

[modwright]

There are two ways to go here...obviously upgrading the SWL 9.0SE to an SWLP 9.0SE or simply purchasing a SWLP 9.0SE from your dealer.  Alternatively, the SWP 9.0SE standalone phono is equally exceptional and can be paired with any preamp, including our LS 36.5 .  The SWP has a max gain of 63dB and this means that the gain of your preamp or LS will add to that of course.  The SWLP has a max gain of 68dB and I have tested it with .2mV carts with NO problem.  I am certain that a .1mV cart would also work perfectly well.

Thanks,

Dan W.

[Normanality]

I just returned from SCompRacer's place and can offer the following:

I've been lucky to have experienced every incarnation of Rich's 2 channel rig and his foray into vinyl.
He's gone from a old basic Denon? turntable up to a Rega P3, then onto a Linn Sondek LP12 and now finally with a Nottingham Space Deck with Space Arm.
His preamps have run the gambit from Adcom, to a BAT 3Kvi with a McAlister ML33 in there and then to an Innersound iphono along with his Modwright SWL 9.0SE.
Rich finally had Dan upgrade his SWL to the new SWLP.

I now understand what all the hooplah is about regarding vinyl.  The SWLP along with the Nottingham is nothing short of spectacular.  We just played an old Phil Wilson Sextet LP
and it was clean, full of body and character.  I'm impressed!

[SCompRacer]

I've been lucky to have experienced every incarnation of Rich's 2 channel rig....

It was great having you over and experiencing that old Phil Wilson album.  You know if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be where I am at now (except for the vinyl upgrade, that was Dan's doing...LOL).  I'll never forget carting all my gear over there to find the secret of your systems sound, and that is how the ModWright gear ended up here in the first place.

[modwright]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your sharing your personal experiences.  Professional reviews are great, but it is our customers words that ring most true.  I am glad to hear that you are enjoying the new SWLP unit.  We are currently VERY busy filling both phono and LS 36.5 orders and I expect that as more people experience both, that we will be even busier.

Take care,

Dan

[SCompRacer]

AB, I hope you don't mind but I didn't want to start another SWL to SWLP thread and figured I would just add this here.  Yes, I am a big ModWright fan and I paid for the upgrade.

I have one of Dan’s Platinum Level 9100ES’s with tubed PS and was unhappy with my vinyl setup because of it.  Dan had helped me with some table selections but it still didn’t sound that great to my ears with the phono pre amp I had.  So I had Dan convert my SWL 9.0SE pre amp to a SWLP with tube rectified power supply. 

I am a member of the Club Polk Forum and we recently had a Chicago Area Polk Fest that was held in Bloomington, IL.  Thirteen forum members and guests were in attendance.  Many members brought different gear to hear, and I took near my entire system down along with my vinyl rig and the recently converted SWLP pre amp.  I only had around 225 hours on the pre amp when I took it down.  A friend with the same speakers I have brought his amps down.  The system is comprised of:

InnerSound Eros MK II Speakers
InnerSound Active Crossover/bass amp (second design, 600WPC @ 4 Ohms).
Sanders Sound Systems ESL amp (600WPC @ 4 Ohms panel amp)
ModWright SWLP pre amp/phono stage – Raytheon 5687 Kuhl Tubes (Pre)/RCA Branded Mullard GZ34(PS)/Supplied Sovteks (Phono Stage)
Nottingham Space Deck/Space Arm/Sumiko Blackbird
Boston Audio Design Carbon Graphite Mat 1
The Clamp
All Harmonic Technology IC/Speaker Cables

Demo albums: 

Robert Palmer - Riptide
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Mannheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire 4
Dire Straits - BIA 180 Gram

A shot of the rig here. http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25021&d=1179647778


The thread is kind of long, but the after the fest comments start from this page. 

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45956&page=15

I pulled some quotes out of various posts in regards to the vinyl rig. 

Almost forgot....listened to Rich's vinyl rig; what can I say; I didn't want to hear it and I shouldn't have...I still think it's impossible it could sound sooooooo good. I don't want to get into it.....no....I won't..... (Post 437)

Your TT rig was stellar as I haven’t heard a proper analog rig in over 15 years. (Post 497)

Rich's vinyl rig sounded simply euphoric. (Post 525)

SCompRacer's vinyl rig was literally out of this world. I could listen to vinyl all day long on that rig (as long as someone else did the prep work. (Post 550)

I have owned some decent phono pre amps up to the SWLP ($2500 retail) but the SWLP has bumped them off the rack.   I thought it sounded good but it was nice getting the favorable comments from others.  Thanks Dan for all your help and for offering the SWLP conversion!

EDIT:  Add more tube info

[AB]

"AB, I hope you don't mind but I didn't want to start another SWL to SWLP thread and figured I would just add this here. "

Mind? Who me? 

"I have one of Dan’s Platinum Level 9100ES’s with tubed PS and was unhappy with my vinyl setup because of it.  Dan had helped me with some table selections but it still didn’t sound that great to my ears with the phono pre amp I had.  So I had Dan convert my SWL 9.0SE pre amp to a SWLP with tube rectified power supply. "

I have a Modwright Sony same as yours and the darn thing has made my vinyl rig search VERY expensive. To beat Dan's Sony is not done on the cheap!

My SWLP took a ride to Boulder a few weeks ago and finally had its phono pre connected to a TT - a Clearaudio Champion with a Benz Ace cart. My friend Mike had the SWLP in his system for 4 days and played it about 24 hours. I was able to listen to it for a few.

I was really happy with what I heard. Mike was impressed too but his system has been carefully setup for his phono stage and his preferences. We set the cart loading on the SWLP to 100 ohms and left it there.
His current phono stage is a Nelsen Pass designed FET10.

The first hour was horrible as the phono stage had been "on" with no signal for probably 500 hours as I ran the line stage but not the phono stage. I don't know what that does to the tubes - heaters on but no B+  - but it sounded like crap. After about an hour the sound filled in and opened up.

I do have to say that there was a lot of getting up and sitting down - those 45 RPM 200 gram records don't play very long. Does anyone manage to fall asleep while listening to these things?

Anyways - I am still waiting to hear the Galibier Serac. I am told they'll be finished soon.

Sounds to me like you're all set. 

[modwright]

Just to clarify, the B+ to the tubes is actually on and thus the PS caps etc. have been breaking in, but if you haven't played any vinyl through it yet, the signal caps are really not broken in at all on the phono side.  If you want to break the phono stage signal caps in more efficiently, Granite Audio sells a phono burn-in CD that is appropriate for this purpose.  It takes the signal from the CDP and attenuates it to 'cartridge' levels.

Thanks,

Dan

[AB]

Just to clarify, the B+ to the tubes is actually on and thus the PS caps etc. have been breaking in, but if you haven't played any vinyl through it yet, the signal caps are really not broken in at all on the phono side.  If you want to break the phono stage signal caps in more efficiently, Granite Audio sells a phono burn-in CD that is appropriate for this purpose.  It takes the signal from the CDP and attenuates it to 'cartridge' levels.

Thanks,

Dan

Ah ha, I am wrong again. 

So when the SWLP is on the phono stage is on regardless of what source is selected?

I thought there was a circuit that "turned on" the phono stage when the LP source was selected   - or something like that.