Anyone who grew up in the 1970’s and was into Hi-Fi wanted a Phase Linear system. Bob Carver was flexing his genius and making high power the DeFacto standard for the day.
His preference to drive his amps, were of course his own preamps, which likewise rocked audio and turned things upside down. The Phase Linear 4000 preamp, was his master piece. Nothing came close to sounding like this preamp. I know, I had a few. Incredible specs to be sure, but it was the processing features that set it apart. The downward expander, once calibrated you could be sure that your system was delivering the lowest tightest bass possible from any program material. It could find bass when none seem to exist previously. The Auto Correlation, dial this in to remove up to 10db of noise from any program source. The Peak Un-limiter which worked in conjunction with the Downward Expander, ensured that the clipping point of program material was expanded. Sensational tone controls, with useful turnover frequencies, and separate adjustments for left and right channels independently.
The bottom line with this preamp, is that if there is music in your program material, you are going to hear it with dynamics that you never dreamed possible. Every album, or tape was new experience no matter how familiar you were with the source. You would hear things you never knew were in the mix. Total excitement all the time.
And that was the problem for me. Listening fatigue. After listening to this for an evening, especially when coupled with the Phase 400 or 700 amplifiers you were exhausted. Mentally drained from information overload.
Music that I loved, such as listening to a Bill Evans trio, or Michael Hedges solo guitar became irritating. Not the effect one looks for after a hard day and wanting to unwind.
I can only describe this preamp as the most “IN YOUR FACE” music experience you will ever have. Hard rock fans loved it, Classical music buffs loved it. But if you are like me, and listen to a little of everything, then well not so much. One glaring omission on this feature ladened preamp is there in no head phone jack. Are you kidding me? I send mine out to be modified and had the two 1/4” accessory output jacks converted to a headphone jacks. I love phones and use them often for late night listening when I don’t want to wake the household up.
I think everyone should experience a Phase 4000 preamp, at least once. It is best when paired with a Phase Linear 400 or 700 amp. That will give you the intended experience. I will cover the Phase amps in another post and ask forgiveness over the incredible crummy iPhone shots that I have. My Phase Linear 4000 and 400 now live with an audiophile in south east Kentucky. I miss them sometimes, but only sometimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment