Moderator: jadis
jadis wrote:MAXING OUT THE LINE...THE MINIMAX LINE STAGE
It's been a while now since I got the Minimax Line stage. Why I got it untested is because I have some faith in my guts. Ever since Pat brought his 'demo' unit here for one afternoon, I had been curious to hear what a matched brand phono and line stage would sound like. I was looking for their 'synergy', as they were cut from one hands, so to speak. Also, my Jadis JPL line stage had a gain of 35db and I was curious what the Mini's 20db gain would sound like after giving up 15 dbs. I want to see how the Mini would push itself when compared to a seasoned brand like Jadis, who's sonic signature enamored me enough not to be an 'audio infidel' for the last 15 years.
Out of the box, and into the first few days and weeks, I did not experience any 'terms of endearment' moment with it. The Jadis would be hard to match, I'd thought, specially with an all-Mullard ensemble. True enough, after initial comparison, the Max still had a long way to go, in dynamics, in lushness, and finesse. What I did next was to yank out the ICs and move back to the JPL for my day to day listening while the Minimax Line gets burned it for as many hours as I can monitor it, and I did this for several weeks.
As time passed, my order of a pair of NOS 12Au7s came in:
Sticking in these tubes in place of the stock Eastern Electric tubes provided instantaneous improvements! The tonal character of course shifted to the classic Mullard sound that I know of. Female vocals specifically sounded full, luscious, and airy. It's almost Doris Day and Julie London were lying down in their beds. Bedroom voice. Maria Mellnas in the album Cantate Domino now sung like a songbird reaching highs that makes my skin crawl. Putting on some jazz albums, I played Jazzical Class by Wayne Bedrosian, of late my pet LP, and was wow'ed by the utter dynamics given by this little preamp. It blew me down, literally, one night. I felt there was a certain 'rightness' in the combination of the Mini phono and the Mini line stage. It is just magical. And the more I crank up the volume, this combination opened up the sound stage even more. Images are stable and instruments have a rich texture and top to bottom coherence is quite excellent. The Mini line preamp's overall performance is knocking at the door of my JPL. This alone is surprising enough as cost-wise, the Mini is just a fraction of the Jadis. Ultimately, the Jadis line still has an edge as far as 'emotional content' is concerned, it gives a little more tingling sensation after listening to its vocal rendition on LPs but the Mini line is not far behind. I would like to venture a guess that the 35db gain of the Jadis line may be too much as at times, my max volume level was just at the 10 o'clock level and it felt like things were bursting already in some cuts. The Mini Line does not exhibit such phenomenon even at the 1 o'clock level. And it actually sounds deeper and more transparent than the JPL/Mini Phono combination. Overall, the Mini line stage gives me a level of satisfaction that I am not in a hurry to go back to my JPL line stage. I know when I go back to the JPL I will discover where its magic still lies as I have gotten so much used to its sonic character and loved it as well, but the Minimax Line is tempting, and taunting me to be an 'audio infidel'. Well, at this point, it has quite succeeded, actually. Is this the feeling of having a mistress? I mean in the audio world. As they say in the commercial jingle, 'palit-palitan pag may tym'.
kitaro wrote:
Many thanks for nice review on the Minimax pre. Have you had any experience on minimax's setup with E80cc in the buffer stage (middle tube)? Many love this kind of setup.
BTW, which one makes you more ecstatic, minimax phono or minimax pre?
kitaro wrote:HI Jadis,
Thanks again for your crystal clear post and for sharing your impressions on both units.
dench wrote:Hi Philip,
Not sure if you've noted it on the previous pages. I'm wondering how good does the Minimax perform with low output MC cartridges? Thank you.
jadis wrote:dench wrote:Hi Philip,
Not sure if you've noted it on the previous pages. I'm wondering how good does the Minimax perform with low output MC cartridges? Thank you.
Hi Dench,
May I know how low is your MC cartridge? 0.2mv?
dench wrote:jadis wrote:dench wrote:Hi Philip,
Not sure if you've noted it on the previous pages. I'm wondering how good does the Minimax perform with low output MC cartridges? Thank you.
Hi Dench,
May I know how low is your MC cartridge? 0.2mv?
Hi Philip, it's 0.3mV. Benz Wood L2. Kayang kaya ng Minimax?
TheAnalogSource wrote:
Analog front end is a Benz Glider on a TASLenco with the mighty Minimax Phono.
Oh let me mention also the killer digital audio system that includes file stream thru a Logitech Transporter then to Minimax DAC.
sorry for the lousy pics
TheAnalogSource wrote:
gyro se and minimax......lenco's gone.....single malt didnt last long either hehehe
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