Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Plinius M8 Preamplifier (SS) by Aurel

Model:	M8
Category:	Preamplifier (SS)
Suggested Retail Price:	$2995
Description:	high-end line preamplifier
Manufacturer URL:	Plinius
Model Picture:	View

Review by Aurel on April 08, 2004 at 02:03:57
IP Address: 134.158.41.241

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My english being far from perfect, I'll try to make it short.
The M8 is a new preamplifier from the Plinius company. It has now spent some time in my system, associated with a SA250-MKIV Plinius amplifier and an YBA CD player. I must say that I am deeply impressed. Be careful to give him time : it needs ~ 1 week to be breoken in (first days were a bit lifeless)
Both as a physicist and as a music lover, I ask from a high-end gear two main things :
1) to measure well. You may like the sound from an esoteric tube design with 5% THD but this is *not* high-fidelity. No way. [I don't say all tubes designs are bad : some are great !]
2) to offer much more that good measurements. Simply because there's a lot of things you hear and you can't see from the oscilloscope. This is the most difficult part of the job !
Point 1) must be fulfilled but is far from being enough.
This Plinius M8 preamp (together with the Plinius amps I know well : the SA102 and the SA250) answers just perfectly to both points. Yes, it is a serious design : I assume that as all Plinius products I have seen reviewed by professionals it exhibits such a low distortion that it's nearly impossible to measure it on the test bench, it is built with a incredible quality (I have checked all that I can), it uses only highly selected components. This preamplifier is as good as I can expect from the "scientific" point of view (I am working on a NASA space experiment and I can tell you that I would be happy to see such a level of quality in my $100,000,000 detector [cost of launch not included] !).
But it also has this fantastic "magic" touch that you can usually only encounter when listening to live music. It is also a work of art and not only a an electronics masterpiece. It seems to just disappear from your system and let you enjoy the "naked" music.
I have tried quite a lot of more expensive gears : none has this magic midrange associated with an incredible transparancy, a great dynamics, a real authority in the low frequencies and a very refined and detailed treeble. The soundstaging is also impressive. The capability to explore all the spectrum with such an ease is really something I have not experienced before. Furthemore, it is dead quite : no noise, no hum, just nothing "out" when there's nothing "in".
I know that nothing is perfect. You can always improve. But my feeling is that the Plinius M8 (and all Plinius class A amps ; I can't say for the other Plinius amps I don't know them) has reached a level of quality where you can simply consider you are listening to the real event. All the emotions I can remember from live perfomances are still there.
You think I am biased in favour of Plinius ? Let me remind you that I live in France. You know french companies YBA, Jadis, Audiomat etc. And you know all the great companies from nearby countries : Goldmund, Nagra, Pathos, Naim, Linn, MBL, Gryphon, Gamut, Boulder.... It would be so easier for me to buy from them. Not to mention american products (Jeff Rowland, Krell, LAMM, Mark Levinson,...) that now have very low (relative) prices thanks to the Euro/USD exchange rate. If I have decided to buy products that are coming from the exact other side of the World, it is for a simple and unique reason : as far as I can hear they are quite simply the best. Built as perfect as I can judge from the scientific point of view, sounding as perfect as I can hear from the artistic point of view.
I have replaced a full tube system by a full Plinius system and I can't be happier. All the warmth and emotion is still here. But in addition the capability to reproduce extremely low and high frequencies is just amazing ! I have already heard such an authority this in other SS gears (especially YBA and Classe) but they were missing the midrange touch of poetry.
A detail : the radio control of the M8 is not impressive, it is *incredible* !!!
You want a drawbak ? I don't like very much the aesthetics of the handles at the back of the M8. I don't either see the point of having the possibility to make so many adjustments in the menu (who uses a non-centered balance ?). Just to show you that I can also say something negative :-)
As a serious conclusion, if you are looking for a reference preamp at a fraction of the price, consider the Plinius M8. I bet you won't choose another one.

Product Weakness: I could live very well without all the functions associated with the microprocessor
Product Strengths: The best preamp I have heard to date

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Plinius SA250MKIV
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Plinius M8 now !
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	YBA
Speakers:	Highly modified based on old JBL studio monitors
Cables/Interconnects:	Siltech / MIT
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	all
Room Size (LxWxH):	6m x 5m x 2.5m
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	AXsON flitering system
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	I could live very well without all the functions associated with the microprocessor
Product Strengths:	The best preamp I have heard to date