DPS PHONO

As I said before I was afraid to hear a typical German old fashioned sound but this  DPS surprised me with a balanced sound, with a powerful low range always very well in control. Cellos and double basses are both very present but never out of place. A low range like this somehow makes you think that may be, with other products of the same kind, there is a chance of loosing accuracy in the listening. Many products of this kind give no importance to the low range but focus their attention on the high and medium range -and I'm thinking of my Lehman and not to the more expensive AHT that is presently proposed by Lloyd Walker of Proscenium at a price that is a lot higher than that of the DPS. Listening to high quality recordings such as New Year's Concert of 1979, the first Decca Digital recording with Bokovski on stage, or to the Sacre du Printemps directed by Maazel on Telarc, the sensation given is that the sound rests on the deep notes that make a strong base for all the rest. Cellos and double basses are fast when starting and exact in decays, powerful but correct in their timbre. They are the basement for the whole sound of the orchestra. Trumpets are loud, the flute is delicate, the ensemble of the strings results a little bit dark as if you were listening to it in a opera house, La Scala for an instance. Percussions have a clear timbre - just like when you listen to therm live - with its typical power and presence. Dynamic does not loose its characteristics, it is smooth and contributes together with the timbral characteristics in making the sound easy and the listening is very pleasant and relaxed. Well, it's exactly this sensation of smoothness in the reproduction of sound that strucks while listening to this small component. There is no sensation of a hurdle, of a stumble, everything is smooth and easy. In fact at first dynamics do not seem to be very present but listening to the Fanfare of the Common Man by Aaron Copland, on Crystal Clear LP,  we find it absolutely present. The violent hits of the percussions come out with absolute force and every hit has its personality. In this case the cymbals results somehow softened but always very real. Brasses have a very natural sound. When listening to the solo instruments this easiness in the dynamics comes out clearly. Listening to the  partitas for Violin by Bach (Kremer,Philips) or the Capricci by Paganini (Accardo on DGG) the vibrato of the violin is very sharp; this seems very normal and the mind goes back to the 70's to a concert with the Capricci directed by Accardo in the Conservatorio in Milano, Italy.  The timbre is not too open and you have the sensation of having the audience around you and makes you recall the past live experiences. The same thing happens with Jesse Norman in Vier Letze Lieder by Strauss (Mazur, Philips): also in this case the vibrato of Norman is unveiled just like it is for the whole big orchestra that plays for Norman. And I recall perfectly of having this same sensation listening to the prototype I described above. This same result applies to all the music genres I listened to, both with the Classic Records  vinyls of Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington and with Dire Straits' Making Movies and again with The Rolling Stones' Some Girls  and with St John's passion directed by Gardiner. 

It's a phono preamplifier that worth a listening  and that is sold at a price in line with the competitors.