Accession for Moving Coil

Some more updates from the Accession MC world. This is the 3rd or 4th day of listening and I keep rediscovering things.

For instance, I forgot that I was using a stereo cartridge (Presentation MC) on a Mono vinyls. Traditionally I have had the issue of hearing some noise thanks to the additional detail. And I have had the best results with mono cartridges.

However what turned into a eureka moment was that absence of noise. Wait...I have never heard my Presentation play mono records with such clarity. The version I compare with is the Accession MM. So either:

a. Accession MC is better than Accession MM (actually better suited for the MC cart)
b. The Enigma is making a difference (I need to verify this by using the Enigma with Accession MM....note to self: buy more Enigma)

The next revelation was regarding bleeding sounds from the upcoming groove. Typically I hear bleeding noise at the start of the track or in some dialogue tracks...where there is mostly silence puntuated with some voices.

With the Accession MC, I noticed the sound bleeding has reduced...not completely gone. And the dialogue tracks now exhibit interesting behavior. Earlier I can hear the bleeding of the upcoming dialogue. Now I hear echo of the just spoken sentance. With song tracks I still hear upcoming song - but is has reduced to almost insignificant. Again not sure if this is the Accession or the Enigma. I love it regardless.

And lastly I observed with the Accession MC/Enigma setup, there is a remarkable increase in the black noise or quiet background. Its like really listening to people in a soundproof room. I can hear the hiss/lisp/whisper of a singer. The reverb in my listening is enhanced...not artifical..but of vocals and instrument sounds bouncing around in an enclosed soundstage. Bliss!

Cheers
Shashi

Already ahead of you...I had brought nay insisted the Accession MC with the Enigma. Which brings another interesting item to test - switch the Enigma with the regular PSU1 and check the difference.

Finally - I got my tonearm back after maintenance (pin needed re-soldering).

I purchase the Accession MC a few months ago and had been waiting to really play it - and finally the moment arrived today.

First impression - Graham Slee has killed it yet again!
Setup: Project xTension 12 classic with Palo Santos Presentation MC cartridge.
Sampled 3 song tracks over Sennheiser HDP 250 headphones.

The tracks I played included a mix of stereo and mono pressings. The stereo reproduction was tight/crisp with details revealed loud and strong...layer after layer of music. I ended up playing catch with instruments I wanted to follow in the recording. And I was able to listen to instrument transition and all those acoustic play delicacy that one experiences in a recording room. The stereo vinyl is from the early 80s and well beaten up (test record for me). The Accession's ability to filter out the music from the noise was quite evident. There are the expected noise from a well used vinyl...but as expected it hardly interfered with the music.

As for the fabled MC details - too early to ascertain. I did not miss any sound detail (having heard the track many times before). But I am curious to compare it with my Revelation C. A straight MC to MC compare.

I played the music on the highest volume setting and did not encounter any elevation of noise or fatigue.

Then came the mono pressing. This was an early 80s CBS recording that was troublesome for most MC cartridges - especially when the singer hits the high notes. The previous experiences have been from shrill, loud to downright grating on the ears. I found the MM cartridge (Clearaudio Charisma v2) handled this recording the best.

And today, the magical doors to musical nirvana opened up. My Presentation cartridge is known for detailed soundstage and not shy of playing a bad record in all its horrid glory. At the start of the track, one can distinctly hear the click of the recording equipment and the squealing of the master tape motor. With the Accession MC, the Presentation played the same details. However the vocal shrill was not shiny and grating anyore. In fact for the first time I got to appreciate the singer scaling the high notes and her dextirity. The percussion held its place and it was a fantastic performance by this setup.

I can confidently attribute the Accession MC's handling of the Presentation as the huge and only factor that allowed me to listen to its detailed reproduction as intended when recorded. I noticed that I had my headphone amplifier set to -8db input - and it sounded perfect. Increased to -4db input did not distort the sound, but increased the sound level as expected - and was louder than what I needed. So back to -8db input for this recording.


All this in under 20 minutes of listening....and I have many years of listening to look forward to. So on first glance - Graham Slee - thank you for improving my MC cartridges. I remember the Accession MM's ability to filter out noise upgraded my vinyl collection grading by a few notches.

If there is anything better coming from your workshop forthe pre-amp world - I say give me a year or two to savor the Accession MC and establish a new baseline to my listening standards.

Cheers
Shashi