Well, Jessica might be understandably modest but I am prepared to call it. I thought her combination of phono and buffer pre was the best combination of the day in the second room. I reckon she has developed a product that is ready to take on some pretty big hitters in this space.
There has been a bit of talk about cartridge loading on a couple of threads recently, I loved the way that Jessica has incorporated switches on the front of the phono that allows loading to be changed 'on the fly'. The ART cart was lacking sparkle at first but a couple of clicks to increase the loading, adjusted whilst the track was playing, immediately opened things out at both frequency extremes. The first time I have heard this demonstrated so obviously. If I understood Jess correctly, the separately adjustable setting for the MM stage changes the capacitance. The valve buffer pre might look un-assuming but has been carefully designed to control impedance.
The combination was dynamic, extended with plenty of detail. It's pretty neutral, certainly not dry but equally valve cozy warmth is minimised. Bass was truly excellent, extended but tight and driving, it has Jack questioning the need for sub woofers on the Jantzen speakers.
The VIDA is more idiosyncratic. Firstly, unless your MC outputs at least 0.4mV it lacks gain and sounds flat unless accompanied by an active pre or head amp - considering its cost, that is a significant shortcoming. I felt it also lacked the drive and bass control of Jess's phono. Through the mids it's pure - slightly delicate even- whilst its party trick is at high frequencies that have a sort of holographic ambiance. The addition of the active SJS shakes the VIDA awake and fleshes the soundstage out, but dare I say, it still sounded a tad plodding compared to Jessica's combo.
All in all a fascinating couple of hours as part of the day. You really get to understand better the characteristics of each piece of equipment aided by the knowledge and enthusiasm of those around you. It's what makes a Bake Off.
There has been a bit of talk about cartridge loading on a couple of threads recently, I loved the way that Jessica has incorporated switches on the front of the phono that allows loading to be changed 'on the fly'. The ART cart was lacking sparkle at first but a couple of clicks to increase the loading, adjusted whilst the track was playing, immediately opened things out at both frequency extremes. The first time I have heard this demonstrated so obviously. If I understood Jess correctly, the separately adjustable setting for the MM stage changes the capacitance. The valve buffer pre might look un-assuming but has been carefully designed to control impedance.
The combination was dynamic, extended with plenty of detail. It's pretty neutral, certainly not dry but equally valve cozy warmth is minimised. Bass was truly excellent, extended but tight and driving, it has Jack questioning the need for sub woofers on the Jantzen speakers.
The VIDA is more idiosyncratic. Firstly, unless your MC outputs at least 0.4mV it lacks gain and sounds flat unless accompanied by an active pre or head amp - considering its cost, that is a significant shortcoming. I felt it also lacked the drive and bass control of Jess's phono. Through the mids it's pure - slightly delicate even- whilst its party trick is at high frequencies that have a sort of holographic ambiance. The addition of the active SJS shakes the VIDA awake and fleshes the soundstage out, but dare I say, it still sounded a tad plodding compared to Jessica's combo.
All in all a fascinating couple of hours as part of the day. You really get to understand better the characteristics of each piece of equipment aided by the knowledge and enthusiasm of those around you. It's what makes a Bake Off.