It’s a wonderful thing to have
the fact that one is never too old to learn something new emphatically proven,
and even better when it is totally unexpected. My new Solo Ultra Linear was both
unexpected and an education.
As mentioned in my first post http://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/forum/greetings-from-cape-town_topic4724.html - ,
I’ve a fair amount of experience with high fidelity gear of all kinds, having
been an enthusiastic audiophile since my late ‘teens. The spark was rekindled
after a long hiatus about 3 years ago, when I discovered this thing now
commonly dubbed “Head-Fi”.
This rabbit hole has been slippery and deep, and the journey
of discovering a new way of listening to my favourite music has been
exhilarating and incredibly satisfying on many levels.
I wasn’t planning on another
headphone amplifier. I already had five! Each carefully chosen for it’s
particular attributes, I felt I had achieved the synergy between gears that I
was looking for, and was as satisfied as any Gearhead could be, I suppose.
Then I came across an ad for a
pre-owned Solo with upgrade UL board fitted and PSU1…and ignored it for about a
month. Of course, I had come across the work done by Mr. Slee and Company
during my ramblings on the interwebs, but had never seen one in the wild, nor
considered it as something I needed to have. After about 6 weeks, with the amp
seemingly still unsold and having hoovered up as much information as I could
about it, I had to enquire after it. The rest, as they say, is history…
It took a while for the package
to arrive, and I’m not the most patient, so when I finally unboxed the amp and
PSU it was in a state of extreme anticipation. First thought: damn, it’s small!
But beautiful. I love the utilitarian look. Classic. It won’t date and I’ll
always enjoy looking at it.
Here’s the rig used for initial
listening:
PC
running Windows 7 Pro/JRiver MC24 and little else, optimised for media -- Audioquest Pearl USB -- Resonessence Labs Concero DAC used as DDC
(SPDIF bridge) -- 75 Ohm Lindy Gold coaxial cable -- Benchmark DAC1 USB -- Sommer Stage 22/Amphenol interconnects -- Solo SRGII with Ultra Linear board upgrade
and PSU1 -- HD600/LCD2F/K612/DT990
It’s a tricky thing, trying to
describe what something sounds like. Or rather, in the case of an amplifier,
how it makes other things sound really: the DAC and headphones connected to it.
My first impressions after letting the Solo warm up for a few hours were quite
honestly underwhelming…it sounded good, but a tad thin and dry. Bass was
present but not very extended or detailed. Plenty of promise though…that
soundstage was already very apparent. I expected this, since the amp had not
been used for at least 2 months, and left it powered on until I could again do
some listening the following night.
I have a selection of favourite
test tracks that I know note for note and chose “Yambu” off the stellar Santana
IV album to kick off with, a track that has everything AND the kitchen
sink: complex, multi-layered instruments, two percussionists, multiple vocalists
and of course THAT Santana guitar tone. Well, what a revelation! Now I was
hearing something rather special, but it would take a bit more time to realise
exactly what that was. Detail and instrument separation was simply in another
league compared to my Kingrex HQ-1 and Audio-gd NFB11.32 and they are both
highly resolving amps. Bass now extended much deeper and punched harder. Wide
soundstage with everything in its place, front to back and side to side. The
mark of a well-sorted amp in my book. I was immediately sucked into the music.
Dave Weckl’s “Heads Up” (1992, GRP) can
sound dry, as if it were recorded in a bare studio. Not so with the UL. I’ve
never heard so much air in this recording. Snare drum decay is amazing, hi-hats
actually sound suspended exactly where they should be. Precise imaging as good
as anything I’ve heard on the MANY (expensive) amps
I’ve had through here over the past 36 months or so. Drums are not easy to
reproduce accurately, and the UL rendered them stunningly well and with
seemingly endless headroom. This is a high DR recording that requires an amp
with decent grunt and the volume knob never climbed above 11. This well and
truly laid to rest any lingering misgivings about sufficient power. This amp is
highly dynamic and I’ve not yet managed to get close to its limits – it just
sounds effortless on any and all genres.
Jeff Golub’s ‘The Vault” (2015,
eOne) is a fitting tribute to the late, great guitarist and again I was
delighted by the smooth yet punchy delivery of the UL/HD600 combo with
Jazz/Rock
So far so good, but my tastes are
as wide-ranging as a Bedouin with itchy feet – how would the Slee deal with
some Death Metal?? Omnium Gatherum’s The Burning Cold is that rare
beast, an extremely well mastered Metal album, and the UL didn’t break a sweat
in rendering double bass drums and guitars with power and precision – hugely
impressive considering the specifications give little clue as to the ability of
the UL to deal with such demanding music.
Thankfully winter is well and
truly with us here at the Southern Tip of Africa, and I need no further excuse
to spend as much time indoors as possible bonding with the Ultra Linear, as I
troll through my collection at random. It takes a bit of time to fully
appreciate the effect of the Ultra Linear circuit. This amp DOES sound
different to most other solid-state amps and the secret lies in its musicality –
the ability to render a recording organically. No hint of the dreaded
Digititis, unless your DAC is that way inclined…which it should not be! Plenty
of great DACs out there these days for beer money.
Paired with my Resonessence Labs
Concero the Ultra Linear seems to revel in having to work a bit harder to
translate the 1.2V line output of the Canadian mini-marvel to ear-splitting levels
on Marillion’s magnificent “All One Tonight (Live at the Royal Albert Hall)” in
24 bit 96kHz FLAC. The Solo just makes me want to turn the pot up a LITTLE bit
more…Now sometimes that can be due to a lack of punch or energy in the music,
or artificial detail, neither of which is the case here. It just sounds so damn
excellent with the Audeze LCD2F at volumes higher than I might normally listen.
It’s all about control, which allows for a neat segue…
What sets great amplifiers apart
from the herd is control. Regardless of source or material a great amp just
gets out of the way and lets the music arrive, unencumbered by distortion or artefact.
You realise this after you look at your watch and you’ve been listening for 3
hours and could continue another three. At least. The Solo Ultra Linear
facilitates this happy process unfailingly. It makes me want to get home and
listen to music rather than watch TV – Cricket World Cup? Don’t even go there.
Definitely rather find out what the Solo can do with some ultra-revealing DSD recordings.
Amber Rubarth is as good a test
of vocal rendering ability as any, and I’ve never heard “Sessions in the 17th
Ward” (2012, Chesky Records DSD128) sound quite this binaurally huge. Her voice
can veer towards shrill to my ears on certain gear – not so with the Solo and
Audeze planars. Also excellent with my AKG K612, soundstage for Africa (!) and
a steely grip on the power-hungry Austrians.
Beyerdynamic DT990 Edition 600 Ohm?
Spectacular headphone with the Slee, which tames the infamous chainsaw treble
just a tad. Although that said, my battle-scarred aural appendages don’t hear
much above 15kHz anyway and I LOVE the DT990 for that very reason. Few other
headphones at any price deliver the visceral punch that the Beyers can with the
right amplification. Budget they may be, but don’t let anyone tell you they are
entry level. Technically excellent headphones, start and stop on a dime. A
Metalhead’s dream.
Much more listening to be done,
apologies for the lengthy ramble but I got inspired to spew forth this stream
of consciousness babble and just had to share. Great gear can do that...