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Tenor Phono 1 preamplifierMICHEL BÉRARD

LE MAGAZINE SON & IMAGEMarch-April 2015 / Vol. 16 No 3

I present here the last link of the Tenor high fidelity devices. Over the past seven years I have had the chance to review all the Tenor brand appliances. I witnessed their evolution and , during this last test , I was able to attend the culmination of more than fifteen years of effort and a few million dollars invested in research and development.

High fidelity is not an art thank you mercilessly . For all music lovers and audiophiles warned, the quest for perfect sound reproduction is a hassle , an obsession bordering on madness. Unfortunately, to date, no full control and

perfect of all components of the stereo, the perfect result is impossible.

The path of any serious audiophile is inevitably paved with frustrations, unless they have an inexhaustible fortune to now obtain the complete set of Tenor equipment or simply accept certain limits.

When you know that on any chain at any price , even bordering on a million dollars, one KO mismatch makes the listening experience , it is recognized that everything

depends on the precision and fine-tuning of each item and each component.

I remember hearing me tell an audiophile manufacturing engineer who worked on the design and for the achievement of aircraft Boeing knows that it is easier to produce a 747 than a perfect audio amplifier !

Optimizing stereo lies in the balanced layout and the optimum setting for each of its components . How many times have I heard of the systems to $ 5,000 " sound better " than even ten times more expensive systems? All that to say that since my first listening devices for Tenor , yet very satisfactory , we never had reached nirvana. The cause was the missing link : the Tenor phono preamplifier.

PUSHED THE RETAIL EXTREMEAlthough I have reported several details of manufacturing Tenor devices in my previous test stands , I take the opportunity here to describe how far the engineers went to perfect their products. This accuracy is found nowhere else in the world, probably not even in the aviation industry !

Start by quoting a few quirks like screws . Each costs three times more expensive than a normal screw. The underside of the head in contact with the surface that receives is perfectly flat to ensure perfect matching . The thread is finer and precise. The screws were selected for a perfect marriage with the rubber washer beveled . Speaking of rubber washers when a component is attached to each unit , Tenor uses a specialized tool to fine-tune the coupling pressure. For example, when a component is fixed on an aluminum surface, the MOSFET and the heat sink can distend in a different ratio and generating a stress in a specified period of time . Tenor with washers and coupling technique as well as calibrated voltage , pressure and contact remain constant indefinitely .

The majority of the top tube equipment manufacturers to test their range tubes for "games" perfect. Tenor goes even further in

designing and manufacturing a chamber to test tubes. As the microphony may deteriorate the tube with time, all tubes are tested only after several hundred hours of heating. Sometimes a rejection rate of 60% is reached.

While the frame is designed to control vibration through several decoupling bearings since the amounts of the internal circuits and the suspension damping materials applied to the internal surfaces. In addition, to isolate the devices from the floor vibration and microphonic waves, the audio of each unit circuit is adjusted to the resonance frequency of 20 hertz.

When one invests more than $ 50,000 in a device, it is reasonable to expect that the contacts do not oxidize after a few years. To remedy this, the majority of internal wiring is copper plated silver Teflon-wrapped for superior insulation. A special oil is used in the extrusion process to ensure the absence of oxidation for a minimum of twenty years.

These are just a few details that reflect the precision design and manufacturing Tenor devices. You can visit the website for more information @ tenoraudio.com

FEATURES• 90 pounds , 19.5 inches wide x 9.5 in length and 9.5 inches in height• Gain: 55, 60 , 65, 70 dB adjustable• impedance load: 200, 300 , 400, 500 and 600 ohms• Precision RIAA : 20 Hz to 20 kHz ( +/- 0.1 dB deviation)• Frequency response : 1 Hz to 100 kHz• Output Impedance: 10 ohms• Maximum output: 25V rms• Signal / noise ratio : < -87 dB ( 70 dB gain)• Channel separation: < -90 dB• Two RCA inputs voice coils• A voice coil balanced input• Two RCA outputs and a balanced output

The unit is also equipped with a meter that measures the time of use, useful in the case of a lamp (tube) electronics.

It is not surprising that the Phono 1 Tenor is the most advanced device in the arsenal.

Not only does it benefit from the experience of its predecessors, but it was probably the most difficult to develop, given the inherent challenges a phono preamplifier . On its own, it has taken five years to develop .

TERMS OF LISTENINGAs for testing the preamplifier and amplifier Tenor made in 2013, tests were conducted in a dedicated studio of the company's members, my own studio unfortunately not enough space or the quality high Tenor of devices.The chain consisted of the full range Tenor: mono amps, preamp fitted with its separate power and phono preamp. The deck and tonearm were unique models designed and produced by André Thériault, the designer of reference tonearm "Black beauty" used by Kronos Audio. The speakers were the Kharma Ceramique model Grand. All wiring also had been updated since my last test.For this test bed, I will not go into the details of each disk used for testing, but rather on the sound quality of the whole.

Besides the room dedicated to the system, it is necessary to remind that the value of this package is around $ 300,000. At this price, it is permissible to ask what to expect. The answer is simple and paradoxical to music and only music devoid of any electronic artifice.

BACK TO THE FUTURE IMPROVEDThis is both a return and a jump to the future.Many audiophiles and music lovers tell you, the public has been deceived by the great audio companies during the introduction of digital music. They saw it as a way to increase their profits despite the huge decline that the process was in the quality of music reproduction. I refer in particular to the invention of the CD and the standard 16-bit / 44.1 kHz, chosen for cost considerations, of small size and marketing, which is not based on Nyqvist theorem for a response amplitude of 20 kHz. It is a fact that industrial audio knew very well that the sound quality would be compromised for the following reasons: 1) filtering technology and time is imperfect, even today; 2) there is no filter "brick wall" perfect; 3) filters and noticeably resonate with errors of "timing" which the brain is particularly sensitive. In addition, a level of sampling of 16 bits is simply unable to adequately reproduce a sine wave. In this context, it is not surprising that the audio manufacturers have been producing digital converters attempting to overcome the shortcomings of the CD. This is also what

explains the exponential rise of new high resolution formats (HR). For these reasons, only an analog source can reveal the potential of the Tenor system. The proof is that during the listening tests, we used a CD player juxtaposed to a high-end DAC, and the difference between musicality digital and analogue was slicing net. I also had on hand vinyl made from digital recordings such as the Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue George Gershwin, with Gabriel Tacchino and Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded in 1981 under Erato label. The

record was impressive even mention: DIGITAL RECORDING digital. Compared with analog recording, it was significantly lower and irritating.

This is where all the years of research and development on the part of Tenor lead us . This is a great return to the heyday of analog recordings from tube devices, but pushed to its limits today .Complete Tenor all unequivocally reveals the superiority of the analog medium. The nuances are subtle, but frank .

SOUND RESTORATION Let us first of all acknowledge that we finally have access , through the Phono 1, with the total Tenor brand , This now allows us to assess and estimate the system to its fair value.

What does this mean for the listener ?Simple music and listening and no way to understand the ease unless you experience it. The Tenor system improves nothing and destroys nothing . It reveals fairly, without distortion , without artifice and effortlessly, all

we ask them to reproduce . And that is the most surprising .

The $ 300,000 associated with the system allows you to reach music as if you were there, to the extent that all registration requirements are there too.

SCOPE SOUNDThis is one of the most sensitive features . Whether the delicacy of a string quartet or orchestral music and explosive blockbuster , Tenor maintains his authority without losing its refinement . There is no congestion and instruments retain their respective space without ever confusing .

The SOUND SPACETenor is fully 3D. With the proper recording, it puts you right in the acoustic space without artifice with a totally natural realism. Eyes closed, one almost feared to tread on the toes of musicians! We must also mention all the harmonic richness and texture unaltered instruments.

DETAILS AND REFINEMENTI think one of the greatest successes of the Phono 1 is its silence. It seems that the chief engineer Michel Vanden Broeck has floored long to reach such a result. It is this feature that allows it to largely outrun all competitors. This silence makes Phono 1 an extraordinary device and the only one in this category . He leaves the system while delivering without masking the smallest detail to make room for all the emotion of the music. This contributes to the quality of listening so natural and engaging.

IN SUMZéro and 100 percent..

Zéro Fireworks . loss of information . effort . electronic listening fatigue . system .

100 % music . presence . realism

It took time and effort to achieve such a result. But what a result! Past years to erase all that separated the music of the listener.Tenor totally the challenge. The only drawback of the system is of course the price. But when you realize all that constitutes a Tenor device and the time invested , we must face the facts that the price is justified.

But I want to reassure music lovers. There are less expensive systems that will still come close to this ideal, even if there are compromises to make, so that there is none among Tenor .All I want is that buyers of such a work of art, the whole Tenor system, be real music lovers rather than wielding brands .

Tenor Phono 1 preamplifierManufacturer -Distributor : Tenor Audio

705-717-1705 • www.tenoraudio.com