After nearly 8 years of running my Dynaudio bookshelves on 60 watts or less, I have finally arrived at the decision that these babies need to stop being underfed. I decided to go the Conrad Johnson route and picked up a Sonographe SS amp for $350, running it through the preout stage of my Cambridge integrated. Firstly, let me say HOLY BASS awakening! These speakers will shake a room! I knew they packed a punch for their size but not like this. The Sonographe seems to be perfect for the Dyns in terms of power output considering the room size is roughly 14x12. Moving up from the Jolida, I instantly noticed the soundstage and image increased twofold if not threefold. That extra 65 watts goes a long way. Tube mushiness- gone. High volume dynamics- here to stay. The midbass was a little bloated and the detail so-so (due to the preamp), but I still got a great first impression of the amp- slightly smooth and euphonic in tone but very accurate and clean. Very musical as well. A nice, agreeable compromise.

I was not keeping the Cambridge in this setup and decided I was longing for that tube seductiveness again. The Sonographe has a surprisingly sweet and natural timbre somewhat reminiscent of my Jolida, but still, the lifelike aura was not there. I was looking at Jolida tube preamps but decided to go for the gold, or champagne, and match the sonographe with a preamp from the same corporate house. Step it up a bit. In my boundless laziness, I was growing weary from separating myself from the couch everytime I had to adjust the volume for each track change, so a remote was required. I was having a difficult time staying within budget and trying to stick to my relative cost principle, but eventually arrived at the PV-14.

When I connected the PV and started ramping up the volume for the first time- my first impression was- overly smooth, syrupy, and mellow. Leading edges of notes seem softened, while trailing edges and note decay seem to be almost artificially extended to the point of echo. I instantly compared it to my Jolida which seemed to be slightly crisper and had better immediacy of attack- I'd say livelier and more exciting. The Conrad is definitely a bit smoother but certainly not slower at all. The conrad conveys great speed and transparency, but seems to smooth out the "digital nasties" a bit too much. However, the Conrad is hands down the better gear. It absolutely eclipses the Jolida in resolution and sheer detail. Bass control and output is unbelievable. Not only is the bass now present for my music, but now it is far tighter, controlled, and more abundant with the PV.

Overall, its an adjustment. I never expected the Conrad to be more mellow than the Jolida, but it is. The PV is more accurate solely by virtue of its superior resolving ability, but it lends to a more laid-back, smoother timbre. Impressively, the harmonics are extraordinarily rich and textured with fantastic detail- in a word- refined. The previous owner said he played it maybe 5 times a year, so I am not convinced this unit isn't fully broken in yet. Either I am acclimating to the sound or it is continuously improving hour after hour. At first, I was having put off by grainy, harsh treble and an almost honky midrange, but this seems to have worked itself out for the majority. I considered that it may need new tubes, but it now seems to be a receding issue.







So far, soooo good!