Jim G, Ottawa, August 13, 2012
Since my last review November 24, 2011 there were some changes to my music system. The four Philip 6SN7 tubes in my Opal preamp have been replaced by four matched NOS Brimars. The 6SN7 tube in my Topas amp has been replaced by a Shuguang – these tubes required substantial burn in but the results have been well worth the wait. The system is now more musical, highly detailed and refined than was reported on in my last review. It was at this point that Jean phoned and announced that he designed a new idler wheel and asked if he could listen to the prototype in my system to reassure himself that the effect of the changes he was hearing were real. Once again I was skeptical that I would be hearing substantial improvements but past experiences with Jean have taught me to first listen before commenting. My first impressions were formed when Jean passed the new idler wheel to me for inspection. I was immediately struck by the quality workmanship that was readily apparent in both the design and construction of the new wheel. Prior to installing the new wheel we once again listened to the reference recordings described in my previous review. The new idler wheel was then installed, a process that took no more than 5 minutes. Reference LPs were once again played and the results can only be described as astounding. Imaging was much more centered; the small amount of glare that been observed in the high end of the musical spectrum was totally gone; vocals and musical instruments were much more natural and closer to what would be observed in a live performance; bass was deeper and more detailed. Once again it was like listening to these albums for the first time. I immediately wrote John a cheque and booked my spot in the queue for installation of the production model of the idler wheel. One week later the production version was installed along with a safety device that Jean has also devised in order to prevent any flat spots from affecting the wheel over the longer term. In addition to Jean, Roger Hebert of Wyetech Labs was also present when the wheel was installed. Roger was also skeptical about the impact of the wheel but nonetheless was curious to hear the results. In the listening session that stretched over five hours I can honestly report that the improvements affected by the new idler (and likely synergism with previous improvements), are nothing short of remarkable. The Mark II Reference Lenco is at a very different level of sophistication relative to previous iterations – you owe it to yourself to hear the differences.