Naprawdę rzadko spotykam urządzenia o tak nasyconym, tak jednoznacznie poprowadzonym dźwięku – jednoznacznie w kierunku wypełnienia i masy. Urządzenie buduje barwy o jakich audiofile marzą po nocach, a realizatorzy nagrań w dobrych studiach nie słyszeli, chyba że podczas słuchania muzyki na żywo. To potężne granie z rozmachem i wyraźnie faworyzowanym, dość szerokim, zakresem basu.

Dostajemy w nim dźwięk, który wymyka się interpretacji i ocenie. Nie dlatego, że się tego nie da zrobić, to nawet łatwe, ale dlatego, że nie ma się takiej potrzeby. Jeśli tylko tego szukamy, będzie to dźwięk na zawsze. Jest całkowicie satysfakcjonujący, ponieważ urządzenie znika z równania, pozostawiając nas sam na sam z muzyką. W swojej interpretacji - to powinno być już chyba jasne.

Muzyka w tym wydaniu jest dobra, jest aksamitna i ma potężne wsparcie na dole pasma. Nie słychać pojedynczych instrumentów, a tylko to, jak korelują z innymi. Wokale nagle pojawiają się przed nami i gdyby nie to, że zaraz wchodzi niebywale dobrze różnicowany, mocny bas, zostalibyśmy w stuporze.

Nie da się więc ukryć, że kanadyjski przedwzmacniacz modyfikuje sygnał. Jeszcze trudniej byłoby ukryć, że tak robią dokładnie wszystkie produkty audio. Ważne więc, jak to robią. Line1/Power1 ułatwia odsłuch. Każda płyta zabrzmi z nim co najmniej ciekawie, jeśli oczywiście muzyka jest ciekawa. Było poprawnie, teraz mniej: nawet nudne nagrania przykują nas do fotela sposobem, w jaki zostaną odtworzone.
Urządzenie ma znakomicie różnicowaną barwę. Nie zamienia więc wszystkiego w tę samą płytę, nie upodabnia do siebie nagrań. Choć bas jest mocny i usłyszymy go często tam, gdzie się nie spodziewaliśmy, to jest bardzo dobrze różnicowany, tak pod względem tempa, jak i barwy. Najwyższe tony są dość słodkie i wycofane. Pod tym względem testowany jakiś czas temu Takumi K-15 Roberta Kody jest zupełnie inny (czytaj TUTAJ). Podobnie górę traktuje natomiast przedwzmacniacz Soulution 720. Ayon Audio Polaris II i Spheris II byłyby gdzieś pośrodku. Podobnie grają przedwzmacniacze Audio Research, tyle że Tenor robi wszystko lepiej i jest bardziej dynamiczny, bardziej kolorowy.
Ma wyraźną osobowość. Powoduje, że nagrania są ciekawe, nie nużą. A nie są przy tym rozbierane na czynniki pierwsze. Urządzenie raczej sumuje to, co dostaje z źródła niż analizuje. Topowy high-end z ludzką twarzą, bez udawania, że coś takiego, jak „neutralność” jest w audio możliwe. Wysyłany przez niego komunikat jest jasny i czytelny: świat jest piękny! 

Link do recenzji: Tenor Line1/Power1 – Highfidelity.pl

There was an immediate and dramatic sense of involvement with the sound existing in space as opposed to emanating from a speaker. The ability to flesh out individual images is a baseline requirement for any aspiring high-end component. What separates outstanding from merely good is the ability to maintain these images during complex dynamic music. As complexity increases, lesser components either smear the images, blend them into a homogenous goo or present a strident outline devoid of heart and soul. The Line1/Power1 presented images with depth, air and layering that for fleeting moments strayed into the believability of live music. Let’s address the superlatives now. No one wants to write or read a boring tome that numbs the reader with a constant flow of praise. But there is a problem. The Tenor is that good. With that disclaimer out of the way—rave alert!—let’s look deeper.

In "Way Down Deep" from The Hunter [Jennifer Warnes, Cisco] it was as though the room expanded into a subterraneous cavern and the entire space filled with an expanding bubble of low energy, powerful and deep. Rich nuances previously buried were now easily defined with bass that was taut, quick and fully integrated with the musical event without a touch of boominess. Those familiar with Magico speakers know them to have a very quick fast and well-defined bass structure that’s almost electrostatic in speed. The Line1/Power1 added a touch of this Magico ‘sound’ to the low-end mix. It was deeper, richer, quicker and with a better pitch definition than I’d ever heard. I know it’s odd attaching these qualities to a preamp but these changes were real and quite audible.

With some of my best go-to infrasonic recordings like Morph the Cat [Donald Fagen, Reprise] or "Take the A Train" from Soular Energy [The Ray Brown Trio, Pure Audiophile], the results were consistently clean and powerful with seamless coherence between the mid and low bass. The big bass started clean and tight and then extended into the most powerful low-end I have ever heard, delivering a texture and definition that was astonishing.

Harmonic textures. This is where Tenor literally shines. The harmonic structure, spatial cues, resolution and liquidity painted stunning realism. Regardless of the recording, this listener was struck by clarity and nuance, immersing him into a visceral connection with the music with unmatched transparency. The tonal colors were vivid and the natural decay explicitly striking - a comment noted not just by myself but other listeners as well. Sometimes the absence of a negative can tell you much and with the Tenor there was a striking lack of artificial or mechanical reproduction.

With regard to these harmonic textures, my long-term listening notes were peppered with "purity," "natural" and "non-fatiguing". This extraordinary purity combined with vanishingly low levels of grain and distortion allowed the Line1/Power1 to virtually disappear. But resolution and harmonic purity would be nothing more than an audio footnote unless they enhanced the emotion, drama and intensity of the musical experience. The intangible ‘goose bump’ experience is what connects me to the soul of the music. The Line1/Power1 pulled me into an emotional experience where I could lose track of time and feel drained in a joyous positive spirit. One connects with the music in a way that is almost intoxicating, joining heart, soul and mind without compromising any of them. Tenor immerses you in the ambience of the recording session from a small café to the largest symphonic hall. Studio recordings were clean and precise, offering an almost visceral connection to the artist in the studio. There was beauty and aliveness to connect with. It moved the barrier one step closer to the real thing. You sense less that you are really looking at a high-resolution photograph rather than the real thing. The Line1/Power1 is one of those exceptional components which disappear from the chain, allowing your brain to turn off and your mind to wander. You flow deep into the music and float along with the experience totally removed from the drudgery of daily life. It’s a subconscious experience with subtle cues drawing you in more deeply.

Clearly the Tenor excels at classical and jazz but unless it rocked, it’d never make my list. Classic rock is a staple in my abode and several components over the years have appeared then quickly disappeared because while beautiful sweeping and elegant on jazz voices and orchestra, they didn't have the raw power, excitement and even anger of rock. Rock is not pretty. It’s hard, rough but not hard like the MP3 hardness of today's music. I’m talking about innate roughness like Janis Joplin. Did the Tenor rock and roll? With its spectacular dynamic range it presented rock with exciting visceral toe-tapping rhythmic drive and demanded that I turn it up. It served up the music accurately without euphonic sheen or softening. If the recording was bad, it sounded bad. But on well-recorded rock such as Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin and Heart; the Tenor will blow you away with sheer power dynamics and detail you've never heard.

Detail. The rendering of precise detail is often perceived as the antithesis of emotion. Overly detailed and analytical components provide a strong outline of the music without filling in the fleshy innards. You get a wonderful picture of the music but no meaning. The Tenor gives you the best of both – detail resolution and an emotional connection that would make most SET owners proud. The Line1/Power1 presents subtle details like the fingering of the clefs of a piano, the rich vibrating strings of a bass, the subtle intonations of the female voice, which in the past were only hinted at. Interestingly when you sit down and listen, you don't focus on details. You don’t think transparency. You’re lost in the music, not in its individual constituents. So the sound of theLine1/Power1 produced some apparent contradictions. While you would never describe it as clinical or bright, it did have spectacular resolution with a soaring extended treble that was clean and open. The Tenor is not warm yet with the right recordings one could swim in liquidity reminiscent of a SET. The bass was nimble and quick but with the correct recording staggeringly prodigious. After living with the Tenor, you realize that it defies classification. Neutral is best but the word itself belies the emotional power and involvement of the Tenor which simply channels the essence of the recording.

The VTL is fully differential, the Tenor is not. Differing volume controls, tubes, circuits and build quality separate these units further. While there is a similar sonic signature, there was no free lunch. The Tenor significantly bested the VTL in virtually all respects. The VTL 7.5 is a state-of-the-art contender but missing the last word in background blackness. There is a touch of tube noise that by itself is barely notable. The Tenor by comparison simply was an order of magnitude quieter. The low bass was cleaner deeper and faster and individual notes far more distinct. The overall textures of the music were finer, the soundstage wider and deeper with greater harmonic richness. The speed of transients was faster, instrumental decay more natural. The VTL showed me the door, the Tenor opened it. But this was something one would expect costing three to four times more. Even so these qualities and distinctions only became apparent in a direct A/B. It thus did not diminish the VTL. It simply recognized the amazing Tenor.

Link do recenzji: Tenor Line1/Power1 – 6 Moons

Link: Tenor Audio Line1/Power1 – 6 Moons – Blue Moon Award