That pendulum swung again upstairs. 2:1 for Spain with a spectacular bicycle-kick goal if this were soccer. This was the desktop revisited but obviously scaled up in gravitas and grandeur. Once again another word for intensity writ large was presence. It would be easy to conflate this with more precise imaging—sharper outlines, crisper focus—but this magnetic effect was all about what came through the images if that makes sense. There's much hifi chitchat about the musical message; as though anyone but a time-travelling psychic could know a musician's mind whilst recording. I refuse to go there. Like the oft-invoked open window on a performance nobody was present at, I think it crass cockamamie. That said, with the ARP-S in the loop it felt like the tone words revealed something deeper than just the usual surface sounds. Calling it keener presence omits esoteric fluff so we'll go with that. It was simply more/other than higher focus. I like energy transmission. Communicativeness is another fine word. None of them explain the how, only the what. Actually, I can't know how this quality would impress itself on other listeners; how they'd describe it in turn. I only have Dawid's testimony which so perfectly overlaps my own experience to have me quite confident. It should take no special observational skills to recognize. The only unpredictable thing might be the value different listeners place on this quality; especially when it's so difficult to describe in accepted terms. The best I can do is point at the thing from various directions and hope that it – um, communicates. If it did, it again wouldn't be the actual words but something that travelled inside their hollow tubes. In the end, 'intentionality' could be the golden phrase? It doesn't pretend to know an artist's meaning. It only recognizes concentrated intent which shifts the sounds of playback from haphazard noises to most deliberate creations. Yeah, I could sign on that dotted line. This Hattor box empowers music's intentionality.
In any event, the effect of this magnetic-attenuating method was rather undeniable and in this system transformative not on any quantities—no more bass, treble, soundstage size—but a certain quality in which all the other stuff arose. Suchness is another lovely word from Zen which applies nicely. Put a little dial on suchness. Crank it up a few clicks. Et presto: the ARP-Silver action.
Bijou but pricey. Fully formed and featured. Vintage in concept, fully contemporary in execution and relevance. Designed and built by a chap famous in DIY and OEM circles for his turnkey volume-control modules with displays and remote code. Today's ARP-Silver seems to be his grand statement on the magnetic volume notion. It occupies a strange middle ground. It appeals to both the active preamp brigade's insistence that proper drive is absolutely vital but rarely guaranteed with variable sources; and the passive brigade who prioritize lucidity above all else. Being no longer versed in active preamps, I happily take Dawid's word that on the qualities described, this passive out-actives premium actives like his own Trilogy linestage. Wicked but welcome, strange but so. Had he not awarded it already, I'd be forced to dip into my blue-ink reserves. As it stands, "like he said" shall suffice very sweetly.
True, it took me 3½ pages to conclude thus. Mea culpa. Still, two opinions beat one. Hopefully you found Dawid's and my comments informative. By way of au revoir, I have this track from Bratsch. Once you're through it, you'll know exactly why I picked it for today's context.
Postscript: After publishing my review, Arek now living 'one over' from Italy to know the art made me an offer I couldn't refuse but afford. As such this review sample shan't ship back but bed properly into the above system atop the Cen.Grand Silver Fox headphone amp. So when you see it again in future reviews, you'll know that I didn't simply abscond with a loaner.
PPS: A day later, "I'm designing now a new still better power supply. I'll send you one when ready. It should improve the sound even more."
PPS²: A day later, I penned this brief follow-on editorial which includes mini quotes from another AVC review, this by Townshend Audio.
