Consumer Feedback, Professional
Reviews and Show Reports
Audio Note Custom L3 DMX
preamp / choke-decoupling / fully balanced
(inputs/output) with dual external power supply.
I now have about 50
hours listening with Bill's uber-upgraded L3 in my
system and can share some thoughts.
For context, my L3 was built in late 2007 and used
the upgraded AN HiB double c-core output trannies,
along with DACT main and L/R channel fine adjust
stepped attenuators. It had far bettered any
linestage I had before (see my original post: "JB's
Custom Audio Note Deluxe+ preamp" for a list). It
possessed (perhaps exceeded) the transparency of any
passive, yet added the "expressiveness/soul" I've
only heard from actives.
I contacted Bill in late 2008 about installing the
AN Kits "MKII" choke decoupling circuitry upgrade
and to add two pairs of true balanced inputs (with
Jensen JT-11P-1 input trannies), as I had changed to
a balanced output DAC. Bill's about the only guy
I've met in the industry willing to accomodate such
system-specific requests, for which I am ever
grateful. Conversation turned to Bill's new Musica
Bella preamp line, then in pre-production. He told
me how impressive outboard dual mono psu prototyping
had been for his own line, so we decided to
incorporate much of the circuitry/layout into my
preamp (heck, I was sending it in anyway, and
already had half the major psu parts...). I even
sent him four NewClassD "UWB Super Regulators" to
add to the recipe.
Well, what did I receive?
First off, Bill told me when the preamp shipped that
I'd really notice the channel separation. Channel
separation? I kind of regarded the comment like
Allen Iverson did "practice" back in his Philly
days. Now I understand. My upgraded preamp has dual
AC inputs, so the channels are separate from wall
sockets through XLR output jacks. I initially balked
at the idea but I did have an unused pair of
Furutech IEC inlets and a pair of PCs, so I went
along. I'm so glad I did! The preamp's channel
separation (passing to monoblock amps) translates
into stereo imaging precision/soundstaging which
defies description.
Another immediately apparent significant improvement
was in upper bass/low midrange authority and timber,
especially on tenor sax, drums and upright acoustic
bass. It is NOT an overemphasis of this portion of
the musical spectrum. One still hears the breath
across the saxophone reed in proper balance with the
notes played. Listening to Billy Cobham's "phase"
drumming on "Crosswinds" reveals both more oomph and
timbral complexity, yet the stick strikes still come
through as they should.
The preamp is dead quiet, even with my ear to my
95dB sensitive line arrays. For me absence of
background noise is a system essential, not to be
compromised. The subtlest microdetails and nuances
are audible in a way that adds so much to late night
listening sessions.
Clarity/"space", a strong suit of the "original" L3,
remains as good as I've heard.
While the preamp retains the treasured liquidity of
the Audio Note house sound, it is neither muddy nor
"slow". Transients will startle the unprepared.
Voices, BOTH female and male, are uncannily
realistic.
Such a highly-upgraded preamp comes at a price, but
pieces like this one and those in Bill's own line
are on a par with the worlds best in workmanship,
circuit design and parts quality - and at far lower
cost. Mine is unique and a true heirloom. I
consider it the centerpiece of a 2 channel music
system carefully assembled over years of persistent
effort. Bravo, Bill!
One thing to consider is that, for those interested
in Bill's Audio Note Custom preamps, a potential
upgrade path exists for folks who buy the single box
unit to later evolve to the outboard psu version.
My system:
Antelope Audio Isochrone 10M Rb oscillator >> dCS
Scarlatti Master Clock >> Esoteric P-03 transport
(with Upgrade Company mods) >> dCS Scarlatti
Upsampler >> dCS Scarlatti DAC >> Bella Extreme
Audio Note Custom L3 preamp >> Atma-Sphere MA-1
monoblocks >> Selah Audio custom "AOD" line arrays
(pictured on Selah Audio website) with stereo subs
Bella Extreme -
Bella Phono
Overall: The Bella Phono is very quiet, clean, and
accurate, and very faithful to the recording.
Excellent soundstage, inner and general detail,
musicality, accuracy/faithfulness to music. Very
very good bass, dynamics, balanced response.
Provides a window into musical information from my
LP collection that I have not heard before, on
nearly every record! Also allows me to hear the
deficiencies in recordings much better.
******************************
Such is the value of a good phono stage. And the
Bella is truly beautiful. 
There are many phono stages out there, and I have
heard many. I have come to be a bit cynical about
whether there is a need for so many different
version of the same function. But I have been
convinced that the Bella has earned its place, and
brings more music to my ears. I strongly recommend
a listen. If you are part of the road trip -
congratulations! I think you will have an
interesting experience with this unit. Bill, you
have created a phono stage that finds the music and
carries it very well, to the rest of my system and
me. Congratulations are especially in order for
you!
******************************
This has been a
pleasant week watching the Bella phono pre-amp
adjust to my system and open up. After settling in
my system, I must re-confirm billc’s observations in
his review of unit 1. Unit two like unit one can be
summed as having, “Clarity, balance, speed/dynamics,
and ability to unravel complex passages”. I found
that my amps and/or pre-amps were a good match in
gain with the Bella.
******************************
Read more feedback on the
Bella Phono
EXtreme Hurricane
200DT Modification
Yes, the hurricanes arrived
safely. I unpacked them, set them up, biased them and ran them for
about 40 hours (low volume music). Then I sat down for an initial
listening session. HOLY CRAP !!! The difference is not at all subtle
!!! Yes, I liked the pre-modified hurricanes: they were very
detailed, had good liquidity and did space very well, but the
modified hurricanes are in an altogether different league. The
detail and space portrayed is far better, but the entire musical
tapestry is still woven as one cloth. I've had these gentle giants
turned on for over 80 hours now, unfortunately not much listening
due to other commitments. However, this weekend I did some serious
listening and they are getting better, no doubt the capacitors
breaking in. Prior to the modifications I enjoyed very much
listening to the hurricanes but always would find some areas where
improvement would be welcome. However, to date, I cannot find any
wrong doings. I dare to say that at some points in my listening
sessions I would swear that I had some large solid-state units
installed, especially during some bass and/or very dynamic passages.
But then the continuousness and spaciousness reminded me that tubes
were at work. Marvelous...
Audio
Note Custom SE6550 Integrated amplifier
Happy New Year Bill,
The Kit 2 is sounding glorious. I
am not sure it is fully settled in as it seems to still be
improving daily. But it has to be getting close. I got a nice
NOS closely matched pair of Tung Sol 6550's on ebay for $177 and
they are, for *me*, the bomb in this amp. I will keep one pair
each of the new TS 6550's and GEC KT 88's. The new TS 6550's I
got were cryoed. My first shot at cold tubes so I don't know how
they are without the treatment. They are OK but the NOS TS's
beat them handily in this amp. NOS tubes really sing in this
circuit. I really wish you could hear it now. I will post a
review in a few more weeks. I want to be sure it is fully burned
in B4 I do that. Black Gates can take a long time to
really settle in.
Audio
Note Custom L3 Deluxe Preamp
Hi Bill,
The preamp and amps arrived this
evening. All looks great. I'll fire up the amps tomorrow.
As for the preamp: I'm stunned by
what I've just heard on the first cd I spun. Your custom L3 is a
remarkable accomplishment. None I've owned before come remotely
close to the L3 in performance - and this is apparent in the
first 45 minutes!
I am privileged to own it.
Bill,
While I'm always grateful for
the work of others and diplomatic in assessing new audio
gear even when they impart little or no positive change,
this is different. No doubt that I now have in place the
other components of a really well-matched, high quality
system, but your custom L3 is by far the
single most musical piece of audio gear I've ever
experienced. For the three weeks prior I'd listened to the
same system either with Scott Endler stepped resistor volume
controls or a fairly pricey solid state active preamp that
uses a boatload of bipolar FK Black Gates, Schottkys,
tantalum resistors etc and has a massive outboard psu with
1.2 Farads capacitance. Nice and nice. With the L3 the
music became palpably alive and stunningly real. Every
recorded nuance, no matter how faintly present in the mix,
is distinct and audibly 3 dimensional. Hearing a lead
vocalist up front in the center of the soundstage with
proper depth is one thing - to extend such detail
and depth to the subtlest instruments/background
voices/venue sounds is certainly a first for my system. Add
to that the uncannily realistic portrayal of voice and
instruments (attack/decay, timber, etc). The L3 has
no backgound noise. I cannot believe there is a
significantly better preamp available at any price.
I cannot say that about any of my other system components,
as good as they are (as you know).
I'll call you when I get some
extended "r&r" time, probably at month's end.
Warm regards,
EXtreme
Adagio Jr. Loudspeakers
Hi Bill,
Well, the speakers are sounding great. It was a combination of
burn-in time, integrating the sub, and much tweaking. I must admit
that I was missing my electrostats a great deal. I didn’t know if I
would ever dial the Adagio Jrs. in. I live near a reviewer for
Enjoy-the-Music.com and his reference system is always my
benchmark. In his house, the music just floats through the air.
Well, I’m getting very close. Oddly enough, the biggest shift
occurred when I double isolated the tube monoblocks (two tiers of
isolation underneath). I was astounded at how significant the
change was. I guess my amps are much more sensitive to vibration
than I realized.
So, I’m a happy customer. Thanks again!
follow-up
Hi Bill,
All that I can really say is that I never though that I’d replace my
electostats with box speakers but with your mods on the Adagio’s,
I’m a happy guy.
Shuguang CD 208 Upgrade
Hello Bill:
It has been a few weeks now since
I got my Shuguang 208 cd player back from you with the v-caps
and I am sitting here at 12:03AM listening to some of the most
beautiful music I have heard from my system. I just cannot get
over how these v-caps can transform a respectable cd player into
a truly extraordinary piece of audio equipment. I am even having
trouble writing to you because I keep stopping to listen! I just
bought Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Stephan Genz and Roger
Vignoles. Now I like Mahler as much as any other fanatical
romantic but I have never been able to sit through this
particular song cycle without getting a little antsy. But here I
am listening to this disc for the 3rd time tonight!!!! I am in
the recording venue with them and I am transfixed. Disc after
disc the same thing happens...magic. I had a musician friend
over the other night and he could not get over how real
everything sounded. He went and turned out the lights so he
could hear Heifetz, Piatigorsky and Leonard Pennario play the
Arensky trio for him. He left dumbstruck. I had another friend
over who really doesn't like "hi-fi" and I had to beg her to
listen "just for a few minutes". She did so reluctantly saying
all the stereos she has heard sound the same - electronic. I
put on Pinnock playing Scarlatti and she would not get up. She
wanted me to play more. she listened to almost an hour. She
could not believe audio equipment could sound that good. I know
this is not all due to the cd player. I have v-caps in my
integrated amp and I know the Reynaud Twin Signature speakers
make a sizeable contribute as well, but I know the amp and
speakers are only telling me what is coming from the source and
I have you to thank for that. Thank you for transforming a stock
Chinese cd player into a reality machine.
I now must get back to work. I
have about 2 thousand cds I have to listen to again. As a matter
of fact I think I will now transport myself to the Basilique
Sainte-Madeleine and listen to Rostropovich play Bach.
Jim K.
Acoustic Zen Adagio EXtreme modification
"...Mr. Baker through his "mod" is
able to enhance the Adagios with a midrange that has a more liquid
presentation, an incredible open soundstage that has more substance
and palpability, and a sweeter top end with greater attack and
resolution. SO when I take into account the total cost as a whole, I
feel it competes with loudspeaker that are much more costly and I
think you might have to look far and wide to find another
bargain...."
Read the full review by Craig Fitzpatrick
at Stereo
Times
*******************************************
Bella EXtreme 100 mono bloc amplifiers
"....Try as I might to find an
alternative, the conclusion I consistently have about these
amplifiers is that they are much closer to perfection than any other
amplifier in my experience. In fact, I find them faultless...."
Read the full review by Jerry S.
at
10Audio.com
*******************************************
Bella EXtreme 3205 Signature Power
Amplifier
"...After living with the Bella
Extreme 3205 Signature for several months, I continue to be
impressed with its performance. It is a good value, and can satisfy
critical listeners. Because it can be used with a variety of output
tubes, it can easily be configured to the listener's taste and
system. What I find most exciting, however, is that this level of
performance can be achieved for such a relatively reasonable
sum...."
Read the full review by Nels Ferre at
EnjoyTheMusic
September 2007:
The Bella EXtreme 3205 receives the Blue
Note Equipment Award at
EnjoyTheMusic.com
*******************************************
Musica Bella SP/AV-1
Loudspeaker
"......After all that typing about
the sound, let me say that these speakers like very clean sounding
amps, front ends and sources. The way Bill has voiced them, they
will provide you with plenty of detail but if you try to mate these
to a somewhat less than refined amplifier, you won't experience all
that these speakers have to offer. That said, Response has used
their amps to voice these speakers. I know the sound of Bill's amps,
and they are some of the cleanest, best sounding amps out
there....."
Read the full review by Scott Faller at
EnjoyTheMusic
"Acoustic Zen Technologies
showed these great looking monitor speakers, powered by Response
Audio Bella EXtreme 100 monoblock power amplifiers. So, are you
beginning to get the picture of how important the tube
electronics industry is to high end audio?"
RMAF - 2006
Hometheaterhifi show report - <See
pictures and full report>
-----------------------------------
"A pair of Bella
Extreme monoblocks delivered enough musical power to get the
party going. ModWright was in charge of the linestage
after his tube-modified Sony CDP......."
RMAF - 2006
6Moons show report - <See
pictures and read full report!>
-----------------------------------
"The ModWright room
complete with gleaming Acoustic Zen cabling. Liked this room a
lot... great sound and reasonably priced too"
RMAF - 2006 by Dave and Carol Clark -
Positive Feedback
- <See
their full coverage>
-----------------------------------
".........................this system could easily run with the
big, more expensive boys..."
RMAF - 2006 by Roger Gordon -
Positive Feedback <Read
More>
-----------------------------------
But the Modright room!!!!
DAMNNNN!!!! I heard low level detail out of one of my favorite
Morphine CD's that no other system has been able to
reproduce....The sound expanded miles beyond the confines of the
walls both in width and depth....For most systems, you accounted
for the rooms not being a good environment...In that room, well,
there was no room...It was a big open space...And I'm not saying
this to make you feel good man...It had all the positive audio
adjectives you can think of...I found it to be lacking nothing,
and it was a system I could listen to for hours and hours...I
really hope that you get some good press on this room, because
it is well deserved....For overall sound presentation I think it
was the best I had heard, regardless of price...No kiddin'...
[Show Attendee]
-----------------------------------
I heard both the
floorstander and the Jr. in that room. I can't say that the Jr.
sounded better, but it gave up very little to the Adagio. The
low-end performance of the Jr. was outstanding. In fact, that
room, in my opinion was one of the very best at the show. Dan
was a great host and played consistently great music. The sound
was so much better in that room than some others with much more
expensive equipment. This was my first time hearing your amps.
All I can say is you know your stuff. This weekend made
it clear that these products work very well together. I
listened to three tunes without any sense of time passing. I
was completely drawn in. Great stuff and lots of fun. That's
how it's supposed to be. [Show Attendee]
----------------------------------
Dear Response Audio,
I attended RMAF and had a great time. Room 1010 was one of my
two favorites. I also liked the Analysis Audio/Joule Electra
room but that was out of my budget! Inside my budget, the system
in 1010 was by far the best. I auditioned the system with my own
CD compilation of acoustic, live to stereo recordings with
minimal processing. I was looking for systems which could
reproduce acoustic instruments in the most accurate and musical
way. I heard a lot of systems that could rock the house or
strike fear into my wife (giant yellow horns?) but no other
system sounded as accurate with tough instruments like bassoon,
symphonic bass drum, dark jazz ride cymbal, and brass like
trumpets, trombones and even tubas. I also played my giant
killers, samples of instruments extremely difficult to reproduce
correctly that demand total system synergy. Close miked
accordion and percussion chimes, jazz bass solo. The ribbon
tweeter and the all tube electronics of your show system got
them perfect, inside a huge and satisfying soundstage. My system
at home has much larger speakers but less powerful tube amp, and
sounds a bit more relaxed. But the accuracy throughout the freq
range, and natural sound of any acoustic instrument and sheer
enjoyment of hearing all that tube LOVE coming out of very
musical speakers was extremely enjoyable. When I played
Beethoven 5th symphony Robert (Adagio designer and audio genius)
was standing right next to me, and he and I had some big smiles
for each other while listening to 6 bass violins play the fast
tremolo lines in the third movement. You could hear every detail
of the bowing, and still feel the power of the individual notes
and all the excitement that the composer intended. This music is
mind blowing when it is played back right. My mouth was open
most of the time, I couldn't believe the sound came from 2
little drivers! Robert explained that it took a long time and a
lot of work to get them to be able to do that. It is like an
optical illusion when you are listening to them, and this in
itself is too fun to not smile. These speakers, when combined
with a powerful tube amp like Bella EXtreme100 and a beautiful
preamp like ModWright have a synergy and musicality that was not
equaled by any system at the show.
I hate when reviewers say, "This is the best speaker in it's
price class." It is useless information if you are looking for
quality over price. Quality and value imply GOOD price, not
necessarily a low price. This system, independent of price was
obviously the best sound for the money of the entire show, with
Salk HT3/Van Alstine tubes electronics close second, but no
ribbons there, so failed chimes and accordion. Beyond that, I
heard only one system that had the unrealized potential of
sounding better, and that was the above mentioned Analysis
Audio/Joule Electra system on the 11th floor of the tower. The
JE amps or cable synergy were not well matched to the big ribbon
speakers and could not show off their highs. They were dead
above 12kHz But the lows and mids were unlike anything I have
ever heard. So in fact, the Adagio, BellaEXtreme, ModWright was
indeed the best sounding system to be REALIZED in the flesh at
the RMAF 2006 show, putting to shame the systems shown by B&W/Classe,
Wilson, Focal, Kimber, MBL, Escalante/Pass and anyone else. You
can play Pink Floyd and Eva Cassidy recordings all you want and
they sound "wonderful" on anything, but they are twisted and
warped by processing so badly that they cannot be used to
evaluate a speaker's real performance capability. Floyd and
Madonna will sound best on an accurate speaker. Its like an
electric guitar, sounds good with 100 different kinds and
amounts of amp distortion, but it never sounds like an acoustic
guitar recorded straight to stereo with no effects. Any speaker
can play the rock guitar because what's .5% more distortion when
the source is 15% distorted, you can't hear the difference nor
do you care. When you play processed rock, it can sound like
anything as long as it is enjoyable. Most high performance
systems have something that redeems them and validates their
performance no matter how inaccurate. But when you ask the
system that sounds great playing processed pop music to play a
solo violin recorded in stereo with no acoustic help other than
the concert hall, then you hear the difference between the men
and the boys. I heard the Adagios in 2 other rooms, with amps
that really limited their potential, and they were not as
impressive. But like the TAS review said, they reveal everything
upstream very accurately. That little round ribbon tweeter
reveals switching amp grit of the TacT digital amp's highs as
well as the highs of a triangle in all its glory. Tubes plus
ribbons equals audio bliss. Nothing can compare. There are
varying degrees of bliss proportional to the size and quality of
the ribbons and tube power. But at RMAF '06 I did not hear a
better stereo. Thanks for a putting on a great show!
RH ..............[Show Attendee]
