I have a Parksaudio Waxwing phono preamp. Many of you probably know about this controversial device. Some links:
Anyway, it arrived, and it was amazing how small and fuss-free it was, and how well it performed.
This tiny thing is powered by a wall wart AC-DC converter -- it's basically powered by any USB charger, and has a USB-B port to feed it power. No linear power supplies. I don't intend to change the power supply -- it sounds awesome as it is.
I had a Clearaudio TT with a Jubilee MM cart those days, and I had several hours of pleasant listening, feeding the Waxwing output to a good headphone amp and listening on my very clean and accurate IEMs. (I have three very inexpensive Chinese IEM, and one Etymotic ER4.)
After some recent events, I found myself with the same TT but with a Dynavector 20X2-a high output MC cart, expertly fitted and aligned by someone here. Once again I resumed listening, and the sound was if anything, more fluid and delightful. I loved some things about the Waxwing:
The Waxwing has been placed on top of his PS Audio phono preamp. It's a tiny device, and has been placed on top of a cardboard carton and a blue hardcover book has been placed on top of the Waxwing, to prevent the Waxwing sliding off due to the pull of the cables.
We first played some tracks through the PS Audio phono preamp, just to check that everything was working fine. His overall system sounds fantastic. Then we swapped out the PS Audio and hooked up the Waxwing, and played a few more tracks.
The overall experience, both for my friend and me, was that there was no difference. Please note that we were not intently doing a careful A-to-B testing, we were just trying to see in broad strokes whether was any difference in tonality, clarity, the tactile feel of the music, the soundstage, etc. We did not see any difference.
It's possible that a close comparison, or a double-blind test, will reveal differences. But I am not concerned about comparison at that level -- I was just trying to get a dipstick test of the quality of the Waxwing. My friend and I both agreed that we can keep our respective phono preamps -- they are both awesome.
I just wanted to share this here. The PS Audio Stellar costs roughly 5x the Waxwing, has been measured on ASR, and has a stellar (pun not intended) reputation.
I'll do some 24/96 recordings of the same tracks through both the phono preamps one day, so that I get something to share. I have a very good RME device to use as ADC, very neutral and clean.
- https://parksaudiollc.com/
- https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/parks-audio-waxwing.27029/
- https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/parks-audio-waxwing-measurements.56248/
Anyway, it arrived, and it was amazing how small and fuss-free it was, and how well it performed.
This tiny thing is powered by a wall wart AC-DC converter -- it's basically powered by any USB charger, and has a USB-B port to feed it power. No linear power supplies. I don't intend to change the power supply -- it sounds awesome as it is.
I had a Clearaudio TT with a Jubilee MM cart those days, and I had several hours of pleasant listening, feeding the Waxwing output to a good headphone amp and listening on my very clean and accurate IEMs. (I have three very inexpensive Chinese IEM, and one Etymotic ER4.)
After some recent events, I found myself with the same TT but with a Dynavector 20X2-a high output MC cart, expertly fitted and aligned by someone here. Once again I resumed listening, and the sound was if anything, more fluid and delightful. I loved some things about the Waxwing:
- The "magic" feature, which uses DSP to filter out pops and crackles, but leaves the rest of signal stream intact. (Not possible to do this in this selective way using any analog circuit.)
- The EQ and tone controls (though I don't need to use them)
- The real-time monitoring of the input and output levels, so that I can see that nothing is being overdriven or clipping
- A log of hours it has played music, so that I know how many hours my TT and cart have been used
- A vinyl condition "grading" feature, which tells me how clean my vinyl's sound is. It's grading correlates quite well with what I hear. New vinyl releases grade at A or A+. I have some 70s Hindi film vinyl which too grade at B+, A-, etc.
- A good VPI Prime TT
- A good low-output MC cart from Dynavector
- Luxman TOTL pre and power
- PMC 3-way speakers with 12" woofers and dome mids
The Waxwing has been placed on top of his PS Audio phono preamp. It's a tiny device, and has been placed on top of a cardboard carton and a blue hardcover book has been placed on top of the Waxwing, to prevent the Waxwing sliding off due to the pull of the cables.
We first played some tracks through the PS Audio phono preamp, just to check that everything was working fine. His overall system sounds fantastic. Then we swapped out the PS Audio and hooked up the Waxwing, and played a few more tracks.
The overall experience, both for my friend and me, was that there was no difference. Please note that we were not intently doing a careful A-to-B testing, we were just trying to see in broad strokes whether was any difference in tonality, clarity, the tactile feel of the music, the soundstage, etc. We did not see any difference.
It's possible that a close comparison, or a double-blind test, will reveal differences. But I am not concerned about comparison at that level -- I was just trying to get a dipstick test of the quality of the Waxwing. My friend and I both agreed that we can keep our respective phono preamps -- they are both awesome.
I just wanted to share this here. The PS Audio Stellar costs roughly 5x the Waxwing, has been measured on ASR, and has a stellar (pun not intended) reputation.
I'll do some 24/96 recordings of the same tracks through both the phono preamps one day, so that I get something to share. I have a very good RME device to use as ADC, very neutral and clean.
