Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site

I have for a month or so the Allnic H-1500 II SE Plus phono stage sitting in my home. It is two chassis phonostages with tube rectification, tube regulation, LCR 600R filters, own Allnic step up transformer for MC needles, 5842/417A in gain stages and looks like E282F for something. I do not know how expensive it is, I have a local guy who dropped it in my place, help him with noise he had, and I meant to listen it. With my apathy to all of audio out there did not hear it unit today – the day when he want to take it back.

Inside, Allnic looks lake utilitarian design essay and not expensive to make and to service.  I would say that the layout and design is on solid mid-end instead of hi-end. Well, it is what it is. The unit has the build-in Allnic tube sockets – this is granted.

 I need to tell that I like Allnic Company. Not that I am familiar with their products too much and it is not that I love too much sound of playbacks that use Allnic products. I just hear too much stores about Allnic business practice and I consider that what Allnic does is absolutely exemplary and hardly has any rivals in high-end industry. There are a few high-end companies that for one or other reasons I like, Allnic is one of them.

So, having Allnic phonostage I naturally would like to hear it, so I did it today.

I was listening it only in MM mode and compare it with my custom-made 834PT phonostage. I did not want to listen the Allnic step up transformer.  I used SPU mono in SME-2-12 arm. I was not able to hear phonostages normally and I was forced to compare them. The reason is that I do not like the sound I get from this arm, nether with my phonostage nor with Allnic. It is not the phonostages problem but rather other factors into wish I do not want to go into. I uselessly do not “compare” sound but try to evaluate how far sound from what it has to be but in this case I was interested how different my custom 834PT   will be from Allnic.

So, I was listening both of them. I do not have any MM cartridges, or put in this way I did not want to install them but I have my SPU Mono elliptical version that want to see 47K load. My 834PT has 47K input, so the Allnic in MM mode. Some shunted capacitance that Allnic might have being MM phonostage is not a problem for SPU as it is MC cartridge and it does not see the capacitance of a few hundred pF.

A few words about my custom-made 834PT phonostage. It is not my “End of Life Phonostage” but this is much sampler version. It still has LCRC separate box power supply but then it is just a custom re-made on a very small plate of copper basically the default 834PT corrector. No air caps and it use Russian 12AX7 long plate new production tubes. There is absolutely nothing fancy with this corrector, juts basic 834P with Torthen modifications, good parts and point-to-point, super compact assembly. Before I made my “End of Life Phonostage” I use it for year only with better tubes and used ET transformer externally.

So, I was listening Allnic and my 834PT, same arm, the same cables (shitty cables I have to note). They have the same noise level by mu has much more gain. I was listening Heifetz/Brooks “Kreutzer Sonata” and Bach’s Double Violin concerto with Heifetz and Friedman. I have a mono version of this record first pressing and I know this recording/performance very well in both mono and stereo version. I like my 834PT slightly better as I feel it is a bit more dynamic vs.  Allnic was a bit lethargic and mellow. That all at low-mid level signals. At loud and very loud signals however the energetic advantage of 834PT did not presented and Allnic was fine.

What however was absolutely amassing is the feeling I was getting what I switch signal to my 834PT. it was not literally “better sound” but it was that strange feeling of me coming home and being in complete peace with Sound. I made many switches back and force and was trying to define to myself what I so like in the 834PT sound. After a lot of thinking and interpreting of what I hear it suddenly come to me: the 834PT has absolutely different than anything else transition from MF to lower range. I am so accustomed to this in a way unique transition that if a phonostage does not has it I do feel some kind of luck of sonic sophistication. Allnic, very much as any other phonostage I heard do fine sound but in my view 834PT has that descent to midbass that is so organic and so natural that do not hear it makes me to feel that I am loosing something in music.

Interesting, in a few minutes the owner of the Allnic phonostage will come to my place to pick it up his unit and I will give him to listen both phonostages blindly. I will get his feedback and then let him to read this article. I wonder if he will be able to relate to what I describe.

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site