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I
asked Dusty about the converter as the power supply for the PLC-1. His
response was that the PLC-1 is a truly passive component as regards the
signal path; there is no need for an IEC as in an active preamp. The
power supply is used only to run the microcontroller and remote control
functions. This means that audiophile quality signal treatment can be
combined with remote control convenience.
The “smaller is beautiful” philosophy applies to the RC-1 remote as
well. It’s tiny enough that it might benefit from a GPS chip in case it
is lost in an overstuffed sofa! Yet, it is perfectly laid out to
accommodate commands for inputs (including scrolling up or down or
direct input), volume, mute, 12v Trigger and Tape Monitor. A red
“transmit” LED indicates that commands are being issued. An overall
clean and ergonomically efficient design, although not backlit, I found
it intuitive to use in dim light.
The D-200’s are “featherweights” as class D amps, with minimal acreage
in back to accommodate the IEC receptacle, gold plated speaker binding
posts, and a single-ended input (Note: A balanced XLR version of the amp
is also available!). Even with such little room to maneuver I did not
find the arrangement cramped. Due to the limited space on the back side,
a purchaser must choose between balanced or single-ended intput,
however Dusty pointed out that the amp circuit is truly balanced, so
that one can buy the XLR version and use Cardas/Nuetrik adapters to run
the amps single-ended. The amps also come with either 32db gain for use
with the PLC-1, or 26db gain for active preamps. To date, Channel
Islands has not charged for adjusting the gain even on second hand or
“out of warranty” product. |
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The D-200’s use a modified Hypex UcD400 module, chosen for it’s flat
frequency response regardless of load and the absence of floating DC on
the output signal. A split-rail power supply ensures that the amps will
be compatible with all subwoofers, including ones that use a speaker
level input. Extremely accurate and uncolored, the class D amps have
lower power consumption and less production costs, resulting in improved
lifespan and reliability.
Another fine quality of the D-200’s is that they consume so little
energy that one can leave them in standby mode indefinitely. Admirably,
they do not produce the dreaded obnoxious popping sound when turned on
or off. I have a Naim Nait 5i
integrated in my office,
a truly fine |
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component, but I cannot stand “the pop” when it’s powered on or off. My
feeling is that a truly fine design should be able to eliminate such
basic operational abnormalities.
Speaking of acoustic
abnormalities, the D-200’s sent to me were in pristine condition,
however, they emitted an low pitched hum even when in standby mode. An
auidiophile DIY friend who heard them insisted it was a physical
vibration and laid the blame at the feet of the transformers. Dusty felt
it was a DC problem on my electrical lines, so he sent me one of Channel
Islands new XDC-2 AC Filters. The CIAudio website explains the fix,
“Even a small amount of DC riding on your AC line can saturate the
transformers core, causing excessive mechanical hum or buzz. Inserting
the XDC-2 between the AC source and noisy component is the solution...by
blocking the DC, the transformer works more efficiently, improves the
sound of the audio component, and eliminates the DC induced hum.” So, it
did involve the transformers and the XDC-2 seemed to be the answer. |
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So, how well did it work? In a word, perfectly. I have had other
digital amps in the past, such as the PS Audio HCA-2, which also
exhibited a hum generated by DC. Dusty said that other electricity users
in the neighborhood can contribute to the problem of DC on your lines
from the electricity company’s transformer. One of the reasons the XDC-2
was built was to help the many European customers who run into this
problem regularly. The XDC-2 worked so well that I was not able to hear
any hum emanating from the D-200’s even when I put my ear up to them!
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FLIGHTS OF FANTASY
(a listening moment): Mars Lasar’s Escape incorporates
synthesized and percussion sound in an orchestrated setting. The title
track, “Escape” is replete with subtle sonic tidbits, chirps, zings and
low rumblings in the background converging as the piece ramps up. I love
the minute details in such pieces and nothing escaped the purview of the
PLC-1. It caught every spacey detail. Case in point, on “Unity” the
culminating track, the crowd noise that enters the piece periodically
made me feel like I had stepped through the door of a noisy arena at the
Final Four.
Often there is talk about “roundness” of the notes of an acoustic
instrument detectable on a fine system. On this particular track I heard
an electronic equivalent; the paced synthesized notes had a peculiar
“bouncing” quality to them, almost as if each one were an individual
ball of sound bouncing off a hard surface. The effect was most pleasing
and reminded me of viewing the “Pipedream” piece from the Animusic
videos.
These Channel Island pieces are among the smallest I’ve ever used and
are absolutely dwarfed by large floor standing speakers. The look is
comical, seeing such superbly crafted brushed anodized aluminum casings
smaller than bass drivers! It seems incongruous that such
pusillanimous-looking equipment can drive big speakers; but indeed they
can! The beauty of these components is that they can be tucked virtually
anywhere. They run cool to the touch, so there’s absolutely no heat
dissipation issues. They can be put into a cabinet, on a bookshelf, into
the most marginal of spaces.
Sonically, the PLC-1 draws little attention to itself. It’s such a
reserved-sounding piece, I did not find myself being drawn unduly to
just one segment of the frequency spectrum. It’s character was just over
the center line toward cool and detailed. If you guessed that I wasn’t
initially overwhelmed with the PLC-1, you would be right. After a couple
of weeks with it, I wasn’t hearing it – the clarity, the depth, the
seeming superiority of the passive design. Knowing that it very possibly
was a lack of system synergy, I began to experiment. I reconfigured the
rig with the technologically advanced MIT AVt MA cabling in for review.
The MIT cabling seemed made for the PLC-1! The sound had honestly
been uninvolving until the MIT’s were inserted into the chain. In my MIT
cable review, I remarked about the versatility of the AVt MA
interconnect with its selectable impedance. This was yet another case of
its ability to almost restructure a component’s sound. The reserved
sound promptly went out the window and rip-snortin’ good times walked
through the door. Now we were in business!
Thinking back, I must confess, that before the “breakthrough” I wondered
why Von Schweikert partnered with Channel Islands at the HE 2006 show.
From what I was hearing it didn’t make sense. However, I knew that
Albert Von Schweikert was no fool when it came to designing speakers,
and that he wouldn’t choose inferior electronics to showcase
them. Knowing that pushed me to determine that it had to be the set up.
In a sense, during a conversation with Dusty Vawter from Channel
Islands, he had predicted what I eventually experienced. He indicated
the PLC-1 is designed to be neutral, neutral, neutral. One thing
he was going to be assured, I understood, after getting off the phone
with him was how neutral CIAudio gear was. Got it. |
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Dusty seemed to be indicating that CIAudio gear is designed to allow the
other elements in the system to shape the sound. The Channel Island gear
are to pass it on perfectly. Isn’t that the goal of most audio gear – to
pass on the signal perfectly? Sure, but I didn’t know how well the PLC-1
did so until I put the MIT cables into the mix. I hadn’t been in a hurry
to do so, since when using their selectable impedance IC’s with
active preamps I had heard a subtle difference between settings. But
once the MIT IC’s were put in front of the PLC-1, my oh my, did things
change! I don’t have empirical evidence to support my hunch, but
from what I heard, the gravitas of the change with the MIT IC’s
impedance selectivity had a disproportionately greater effect on the
PLC-1 than any active preamp I had used. The effect was like stepping
into another world.
Recall, if you will, the 1970’s television show in which travelers to a
unique resort have their dreams fulfilled. It starred Ricardo Montalban
as “Mr. Roarke” and Herve Villechaize as his midget sidekick “Tatto.”
Have you guessed it yet? It was called Channel Island! No, correctly it
was named “Fantasy Island,” but as you will see below, once the proper
combination of gear was utilized, the CIAudio combo transported me to a
lovely place.
There was another step when I moved closer yet to the audiophile’s
Fantasy Island experience when I again reconfigured; Saturn cdp into the
Benchmark DAC1 (acting as both DAC and pre), then the D-200 mono blocks
leading to the Von Schweikert VR-4 SR MkII. I haven’t commented too much
up to this point on these Class D amps. By now pretty much the whole
audiophile community is aware of class D amps, but not all have had the
pleasure of hearing them, much less with their own gear. They’re good.
Mighty good, kind of like Mighty Mouse (Remember that one? If you’re too
young, look it up online for laughs). For the convenience, ease and
muscle they generate at reasonable costs, they’re almost silly good. |
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Just as the PLC-1 was sensitive to
upstream components, so were the D-200’s. Having a Benchmark DAC on hand
was providential, for it revealed a very seductive alternative
configuration for those interested in only two-channel listening. As I
heard the result of running the Saturn/Benchmak combination running into
the D-200’s, I thought, “There is no doubt in my mind that the
audiophile world will be using Class D amps almost exclusively in the
near future.” In the short span of time that digital amps have
appeared, they are already capable of producing head turning sound. With
their host of desirable features, including being light, cool
operationally, cost effective and powerful, they are the heirs apparent
to standard audiophile amplification. They may not be “King of the
hill,” yet, but they are advancing rapidly.
I
have never been keen on high-decibel listening levels, largely because
in most systems I detect distortion and an etched aspect to the music
which I find highly distasteful. I also have no desire to create
opportunities for hearing loss. So it was quite a surprising thing to
find myself listening to not just polite Jazz but classic rock at what
previously would have been unthinkable levels. The D-200’s complied
effortlessly. To add to the oddity of a miniscule amp with such muscle
pounding out bass through the VR4 SR MkII’s dual 8” aluminum woofers,
these amps sounded sultry in a very good way.
The epitome of enjoyment of the CIAudio gear came from a most unexpected
source, a newfangled component. Recently, I have been reviewing the
Eastern Electric BBA “Booster Buffer Amp,” a most unique little number
that’s got me quite excited. I placed the BBA, which sports
adjustable gain, into the signal path just after the PLC-1 and before
the D-200’s. Words nearly failed me to describe the euphoric state of
listening I was in. But, I’ll try.
FLIGHTS OF FANTASY
(a listening moment): Encores Greatest Hits; Rossini “Barber
of Seville”, the London Festival Orchestra. It took me a while to
get Bugs Bunny out of my head, as I grew up on his shenanigans. Hearing
this piece with the Eastern Electric BBA Buffer Amp inserted into the
chain (commented upon below) was a high point of my experience with this
equipment. The echoes of the hall stood out distinctly from the
well-placed instruments. The breadth of the orchestra on crescendos was
most satisfying. I found myself relaxing to what is a decidedly
up-tempo piece, which says to me that my ears were enjoying what they
were hearing. When the sound is not right to my ears, I find it
difficult to relax. But when the harmonics, pacing, imaging etc. are
correct, I let down and simply absorb the sound. The combination of the
PLC-1 and BBA allowed me to do so as much as any combination of gear
I have ever had in my listening room. |
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The PLC-1 is passive, with all the
pristine beauty of that design, while the BBA is most active, to the
point of being a component dedicated to crunching voltage! When each
piece doing it’s job in synchronicity, the effect was much like the
advantages of passive and active preamps mated, with none of the
disadvantages. Whereas the PLC-1 alone delivered precisely and cleanly,
the addition of the BBA added a soundstage you could melt into.
The sound wasn’t being delivered to me, it was connecting with me. The
difference in realism is immediately noticeable to the brain; we’re hard
wired to tell the difference between reproduced sound and live sound,
and we know intuitively when we’re approaching the latter. When the
PLC-1 was linked with the BBA, they both linked invisibly to my brain in
a way that said, ‘THIS is very natural sounding!”
I
know I’m speaking in nebulous terms, but allow me a personal
illustration to clarify. When I sought a wife, I wanted someone not just
intelligent, but someone who was on the same wavelength, who
thought like I did, so that for the next umpteen years we wouldn’t have
to clarify, clarify, clarify. (Lucky you. –Ed) When a spouse has
that connection with their partner, they are understood innately. In
audio, there are special moments when the sound connects to the mind
innately. Truthfully, the PLC-1 alone did not do so, but with the BBA –
oh yes, it made the connection!
To add the BBA to the PLC-1 and D-200 package would set you back another
$850. Yes, that’s almost as much as the PLC-1! Wouldn’t it make more
sense to pursue a pricier preamp? No, not without a BBA; you will
be very hard pressed to outshine the PLC-1 and BBA combo for anywhere
near the money. It yields sound I prefer to some combinations of
separates I have tried in the $6,000 range.
If you are not so much into the two
channel audiophile thing, then forgo the BBA and enjoy the merits of the
PLC-1 and D-200’s which are plenty good for the casual
audiophile. But having heard what the addition of the BBA does to their
sound, it would be almost irresponsible for an audiophile to not pursue
that combo. I offer that the PLC-1, Eastern Electric BBA and D-200’s
together can do justice to speaker systems costing up to $15,000.
There is a world full of people who love music and would love the
gear if it was more affordable. There are Dagogo readers who don’t
want to budget a sizable portion of their income toward a significant
rig. They don’t want to lug 70lb+ components every time they move. They
only have so much space. They want better than cheesy receivers with 100
buttons on the face. They want something simple and musical. Does it
exist? Sure, on Fantasy, er…Channel Island.
*Picture of "Bunny", a
pocket poodle (aka. teacup poodle) with permission by:
http://www.smallestpoodle4u.com |
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Reviews of other equipment mentioned:
MIT
AVt MA cable system & Z-Stabilizer
Rega Saturn
CD player
Von Schweikert VR-4 SR MkII
loudspeaker system
Also read Doug
Schroeder’s article on:
Dussun V8i
Solid-state Integrated amplifier
Jena Labs "Dussy"
jumpers
with Dussun V8i
Jena Labs "Jazz" &
"Java" cables
with "Bumblebee" & "Dussy"
Melody Hi Fi P1688 & S88
tube amplification system
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Send us an
email and tell us what you think of this review:
email:
editor@dagogo.com
Subject: Channel Island
PLC1, D200, XDC-2
review
or
click:
editor@dagogo.com
©Dagogo 2007
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