Psu1 v Enigma - chapter 263

Sharing my experiences of a loan enigma with my Accession MM, comparing to standard psu1.

Interesting! The differences are subtle. So you have to have good quality transparent kit to be noticing stuff.

Along with the Accession MM I have the gear in the sig, and it’s good enough the dog out the details to get reasonable comparisons with frilly bits.

Even out of the box and more with a few hours of use I noticed a lower noise floor, better separation, improved soundstage and crisper top end freqs like cymbals. There was a smoothness and natural sound that wasn’t there before.

But wait! Look at that cable that goes from unit to preamp. Omg that’s a serious bit of wire. I tried the cable in the psu1 to see whether the psu1 was suddenly an Enigma. At first I thought I had stumbled on a cheap (and somewhat hilarious) solution to match the enigma benefits for the MM. Given the reason for the enigma was to sex up the Accession MC, and there were mixed reviews on the impact of the Enigma for MM preamps, I thought this might be the end of the story, and the loan device could go back with a grateful decline.

This triggered long sessions of A/B testing between the PSUs but using the same chunky cable. The cable really helps the noise floor, and a bit of the clarity and separation. But it isn’t the whole story (unfortunately for my bank balance).

Shine on you crazy diamond is my acid test as I’ve been listening to that for 40 years and it’s got loads of detail and dynamics and an array of instruments and sounds - plus it’s bloody good and emotionally triggering. 

Played it with the psu1 and thoroughly enjoyed it of course, thanking the lovely cable and wondering how it could be improved on, realistically. Played again immediately using the enigma, and experienced noticeably more definition and instrument separation, more dynamic contrast, more life in the performances, clear tonal differences in Gilmours solos and the sax! Sounded incredible, so breathy and lifelike. 

So I’ve played a stack more albums across a range of genres and sadly had to accept that even on an MM preamp the Enigma probably justifies the significant expense. It’s a lot of dosh for a PSU but once you’ve heard the improvements you can’t “unhear” them. Even if better cables form part of the package of the upgrade.

Just thought I’d share this with the forum, even though this conversation may already be done to death!

Cheers

Rob