Life-Changer icOn4 Sparkler S-503 v2 47 Labs Midnight Blue Stratos Lonyu

Pic from Official Website. Click all pics to Enlarge.

Letter from Hong Kong (20-3): Eric L on icOn4, Sparkler S503 v2 (vs 47 Labs Midnight Blue)

Editor: We are delighted to present the third installment of Eric's recent audio journey. Unlike the first two, which concentrated on Bluetooth, this episode highlights the Autofomer Line Control icOn4 and the Sparkler CD Player. As usual, his recounting of his journey is full of drama...

Last time we mentioned that Eric had previously blogged on Wine and Food. The material is currently preserved on weshare.hk. Wow, That's a lot of fine (mostly French) wine and food under his belt! Green with envy, in particular since I have orthodox taste in wine and harbor little affinity for much of the New World high-end, Robert Parker and wine ratings.

At the End of the article proper, I have added some footnotes for further thoughts as well as an important question for Eric, which he answered in detail.

I asked Eric for some wine and dine pics. Boy, am I thirsty, and drooling-------p

Life Changer Audio’s icOn4, Less is More

My First Sparkler A few years ago I acquired the 47 Lab Gaincard. Soon after I was lucky enough to have the chance to compare the 47 Lab Midnight Blue and the Sparkler S303 CD Players, both non-oversampling (NOS) and designed by Tsukahara san (the Sparkler was designed after he left 47 Lab). To me, being the more dynamic of the two, the Sparkler was the clear winner [Editor: see Footnote 1]. I was content with the sound.

Conundrum Then I started to feel the limitation of the Gaincard. Not the sound itself, which was fantastic, but its lack of connectivity: it only has one input, so I could not hook up other devices without a preamp. It posed a big question to me: since I really enjoyed the sound of the shortest signal path, would the natural and engaging sound be compromised or altered if I were to introduce an active preamp made out of hundreds of parts (the Gaincard has a mere 9 components)?? The 47 Lab line has an Input Selector. but it was not widely popular and the user comments have not been positive [Editor: see Footnote 2].

Enter the TVC I then consulted Dom, local dealer for Sparkler and 47 Lab (we are also friends who sometimes gather together for some wine and dine). Dom was also using the Gaincard to drive his Avant Garde Duo loudspeakers. He also faced the same connectivity problem. Due to his unlimited budget, he bought an MFA Reference Transformer Volume Control (TVC) passive preamp and later changed to Bespoke. Dom told me TVC would not deteriorate the sound, which appealed to me given my main goal was for the preamp to act as a line selector for up to four sources while not compromising the sound quality of the Gaincard. Dom's Bespoke TVC had achieved this and actually gained additional dynamics [Editor: see Footnote 3] but the price of the unit is far out of my reach. At that time, TVC was a very new concept to me. but after reading many articles and considering their price and user friendliness, I became convinced that it might be a fit-for-purpose solution that would not impose any unwanted sonic signature onto my system. Balance has always been of paramount importance to me.

Detour My plan was derailed when I noticed that Sparkler had released a new series of gear running on current mode, and the amp had more than one input channels! I was hoping that the sound would be comparable to my Gaincard, as that would solve my problem once and for all!! I bought both the amp and the S503 CDP (current mode option). However, it turned out that the 7 watt of the amp could not properly drive the Dynaudio Crafft [Editor: see Footnote 4]. I fell into the Eternal HiFi Hell again…

Life-Changer About two and a half years ago (thanks Pal Nagy for reminding me), I read an article about Life-Changer Audio TVC icOn2. I started exchanging emails with Pal and I was close to being sold on it. For some reasons, I held up my decision making, either due to my cooling off on audio or the COVID19 etc. Then, icOn4 was released with a more sophisticated look and a slimmer design. Most importantly, it employs the famous Autoformer from Dave Slagle and was totally redesigned with a new concept on volume control. Icing on the cake is a remote control from Apple and that makes perfect sense to me!! After much deliberations and comparisons I finally pulled the trigger and ordered it, and getting there has been half the fun! By now there are already many positive reviews of this product with descriptions which you can read online. Here I would focus on the sound of this unit. Its small size and ergonomics are perfect for me, and I was hopeful for an extremely transparent sound! [Editor: see Footnote 5]

Intermission: Eric on his changing View of Audio

Before I go any further, I would like to share some of my views on the pain and pleasure (pain more often) of equipment matching. Whether one is well endowed or on a tight budget, finding the perfect system for any HiFi enthusiast is a pain on all levels. I had once fallen into the eternal hell of infinite permutations - equipment in and out of the revolving door, cable mix and match, tweaks with fuses, spikes, shelves etc. Often, it would be hard to stay focused on identifying subtle changes, sometimes to the point where one would start doubting himself. Even if I’m pretty confident about my hearing skills (I am more likely to pick up subtle difference than a lot of people), it’s still a pain to constantly plug in and it is mentally draining when the problem persists….

Earlier on, I would concentrate on fixing whatever part of the audio chain I perceived to be the problem. Say, if the amplifier was too warm sounding, I would try to use a “faster” interconnect or CDP. If the speaker was power hungry, I would change to a more powerful amp. Once I tried to use a McIntosh MC7300, a 300wpc power amp, to drive my Dynaudio Compound 2, a mere bookshelf speaker; I ended up with bloated and undamped bass filling every inch of space in my living room!!! After I realised that this kind of piecemeal approach was not ideal, I began to rethink my strategy, to look for root causes and to revamp my system in the simplest and most direct way. Since I’m not a perfectionist, as long as I can tap along with the music, I can live with some minor flaws.

My Equipment Right now, I no longer chase after expensive cables or power cords; stock power cords are quite good already, especially those from 47 Lab and Sparkler. For interconnect, I use mainly 47 Lab’s Strato OTA solid copper [Editor: see Footnote 6] and Belden (as recommended by Doctor John). I have been using Mogami Speaker cables for the last 20+ years (after I sold all my OCOS cables). These cables are all extremely neutral and balanced across the spectrum, but without being too analytical and cold. That means I do not have to worry about each adding their own sound signature. My Gaincard and Dynaudio Crafft are again extremely transparent, natural and colourless, and so is the Sparkler! As a result, I can easily achieve the balanced, engaging, neutral and natural sound that I have always looked for, and the need for tweaking is minimal! I know, what to some is Hifi Hell maybe Heaven to others! I do root for them to chase after the absolute sound and I wish them all the best! As for me, I prefer to sit back and enjoy MUSIC with a carefully selected stereo system that takes into account the overall balance and neutrality of each component. I also use a tiny power conditioner from China made by Longyu, an entry level one, which does yield marked improvement (thus it‘s staying). My friend is using their 100 lb monster Model 5000; but I have got only a tiny 25 wpc amp, so I laugh off the idea but deep down I know it might help. As I’m already content with my flawed system, I would rather spend the money on my other hobbies!! BTW, I now take most of my photos using an all-in-one Fujifilm X100F camera and all my lenses and bodies are just gathering dust at home, another manifestation of my less-is-more principle!

Ergonomics Once I decided to purchase the icOn4, things went very smooth and the unit was couriered to me in less than a week's time. Hooking up was a piece of cake. Volume/impedance matching with my system is good and the remote is useful. I maxed out my Gaincard and adjusted the volume through the icOn4's 40-step volume control (in general, for sufficient sound pressure, BT is around 34 and CD around 30). All set and I was ready to rock and roll!

How does it sound? Due to laziness, at the beginning I used mostly Bluetooth to play the limitless selection of performances on Youtube and was quite satisfied with the sound. The icOn4 blended into my rig seamlessly and quietly and did not change the sound of the system. To make a statement that the addition of a component does not change the overall sound quality - is this a complement at all?? In my case, that's something of utmost importance to me, and hence the highest accolade! So now I got this all figured out and the rest of the script is predictable and I can just switch back to the "ENJOY MUSIC" mode, right? If things were that simple...

Sparkler S503 v. 2 (official link) Recently, I have been struggling with my 47 Lab Interconnect, which suddenly refused to make any sound. I replaced it with the Silvercom's, which worked well but did not give me the "everything clicked" feeling compared to just a few minutes before. This morning, I finally got the interconnect to work and was in the right mood to do some critical listening on the icOn4 with the Sparkler S503 v 2 [Editor: see Footnote 7].

I ran through some of my CDs, some bought some 30-40 years ago (like the Opus 3 Test Records 1, 2, 3; Dave Brubeck's Take 5; Naum Starkman' Chopin (Pope); plus one of my favorite Cantopop CD by Lee Kwok Cheung (recorded in Shenzhen). The result caught me totally off guard, in ways that I had not expected. I don't know whether it's because of the Sparkler CDP or the icOn4, but the combo has transformed my overall system and elevated the performance to another level! In a nutshell, I am now excited to revisit my CD collection again, yet also hesitant as this would take hundreds of hours because once a disc is played, I don't think I can resist the temptation of listening to the whole disk, and I just don't have that much time!

The overall sound has improved markedly. Bass is tuneful, bouncy and one cannot help but tap the feet and move. Instrument separation has vastly improved without compromising the musicality. Instruments played together with the coherence and meaning of a live performance. Now, the subtle but deliberate off-beats by the musicians are easily picked up, and somehow the whole performance makes more sense. The airiness, reverb and decay around the instruments are also now more pronounced! Soundstage is wide and spacious so long as the recording has captured it. Vocal is honest, uncanny, dead flat in frequency response, with no humps nor special boost to artificially make it sound more dramatic, ans so is truthful to the recording's content. All the minutiae in the singing technique and emotion flow are now revealed effortlessly and they make the performances more convincing than ever!

Back to Bluetooth, it's still very musical although it cannot compare to the performance of CD, but it is respectable enough in the musicality department and overall the excitement is there depending on the video. Again, I swear NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts is my "go to" channel!

Conclusions To me, icOn4 was definitely a very important purchase. So was the upgrade of the Sparkler Audio CDP, and both are keepers! To all who wants an honest component, I would highly recommend the icOn4 to be an integral part of your system. It can work well with the rest of your components and not give away any of the virtues! If the system is improved, the icOn4 will honestly report it, and if the recording is poor, the outcome will be reflected as well.

The vibration tuning kit (Taobao bought~) placed under my CDP is actually quite good indeed but I will compare it with my Rollerblock Jr. on loan from my friend Kwong who has been luring me 渡我升仙 all these years by introducing more cheapo gadgets to me from the almighty Taobao!! Takes at least two to tango, haha.

Music Enjoyed through my setup

More Tiny Desk Concerts:
-Taimane, fierce and passionate Ukulele, Guitar and Cajon, which is scintillating. Her fingering is like a workshop for players.
-Alicia Keys, diva, needless to say, lots of love and true music from the heart.
-Monsieur Perine, dazzling and top class Colombian music.

-Snoh Aalegra, another crafty and honest female vocal.

-Take 5 by Dave Brubeck. Man, the drum solo is so wicked, plus the slick saxophone from Paul Desmond! One of my all time favorites!
-Opus 3 Test CD Therese Juel 's Tidan bara gar. Therese’ voice is full of energy and force.
-XRCD Sampler (first one), whole disk is worth listening to!
-Numerous piano recordings from Hiromi Uehara on YouTube, she's crazily talented. Probably best virtuoso pianist in the world currently ! Check out Hiromi duet with Chick Corea playing Spain!

Somehow, I still spend considerable time listening to music through BT :
1) Sea wealth of FREE great music videos and live performances!
2) Easier to put down the critique mode and enjoy the raw and vibrant music
3) Don't need to change disc all the time
4) Sound quality, though not comparable to CD, is close enough to excuse the flaws.

Sparkler S303 vs S503 v 2 Editor: As I have a S303, Sparkler's first CDP, I asked Eric what he perceives to be the difference between the two. Mind you, this is recollection, as he no longer has the S303, and previously did not really put the current mode S503 to good use (until now when he had it upgraded as well as converted back to voltage mode). His answer:

This is a difficult question as I did not give the original S503 v 1 a good chance to perform previously. Now that I have the S503II in my system, assuming the icOn4 is transparent, no gain , no loss in overall quality, there is definitely some difference. In a nutshell, metaphorically speaking , it's like an energetic young lad vs a full grown gentlemen when comparing S303 to S503II. With the S303, the sound is more raw and upfront, while with the S503II, it's more composed, stable and with more details. Bass line is more defined and provide a better foundation to the whole picture, more micro details on instruments; everything is well put in place. At first, I was drawn to the newly discovered details from all CDs. But if I switch off the critique mode and begin to relax and enjoy music, I can appreciate the music from the CDP which reminds me of analog, notes floating in the air effortlessly. I also appreciate the bouncy and lively bass even when playing some mellower music, as it provides a nice foundation. I especially like the portray of music, with connection between every music note which make sense of the whole piece [Editor: I trust Eric's mental comparison. The S303 is indeed pacey but settles down quite a bit after burn-in; see my link below].

Editor's Footnotes: 1) Before Tsukahara san left to strike out on his own, he designed two series for 47 Labs, the commercial Midnight series and the briefly available (now legendary) Treasure series Kits. I still own the S303 CDP (review here); 2) The separate 47 Labs Input Selector as well as the volume control on the Gaincard are just passive volume controls and, as can be predicted, tethering two passive controls together is detrimental; 3) Unlike Unity Gain Autoformers, TVC can have Gain on its Secondary Winding; 4) Eric's 7 wpc Sparkler amp would look like the S502, but Sparkler now also makes a 25 wpc version, S505; 5) TVC has been around for a long time, and there are a lot of companies making them, the most famous of which being UK Music First Audio (which I have heard to good effect), Bespoke and Swiss Audio Consulting. Autoformers is a more recent phenomenon, being somewhat different from Transformers in the way they are wound (see here). Autoformer Line Controls have appeared in this blog before. Here you will read about another David Slagle device (its heart similar to icOn4) as well as UK's Townsend Allegri. For the icOn4 I suggest this review, which actually compares it to the Townsend; 6) the 47 Labs Stratos Cable is basically a very thin, solid core OFC strand inside a plastic tubing (0.4 mm = 26 AWG). I doubt 47 Labs made them, whereas the ridiculously expensive bespoke connectors are probably their own. The bare cables are widely available Asia-side for about USD 1 per foot (Oyaide website in Japan; also from Taiwan, but good luck in communication). You need 4 strands to make a pair of interconnects. I use regular RCA connectors; 7) The 47 Labs Connector is particularly finicky. Unlike soldered connectors, it is not the whole hot male center metal pin that makes contact, instead, it is just a sliver of 0.4 mm wire. Readers may not know that a lot of these RCA female connectors deform after rounds of plugging in and unplugging. Shindo is a good example, and infamous. Compounding the problem is the fact that many of these Japanese designers prefer the older, less sturdy connectors (I agree) which gets worn out more easily. This happened many times to me in my Shindo preamp, and it can be frustrating as hell. Usually wiggling can restore contact, but the plug types matter. For universality, my Switchcraft and Rean work better than Amphenol. Keep in mind, if you mix vintage and new gear, interconnect contacts will also be a persistent problem. There is NO perfect RCA connector. This actually can be an article into itself.  

What a Selection of Wine and Spirits!

Boiled Fresh Shrimps

Scallops Steamed in Shell with Garlic, Scallions and Bean Vermicelli

Drunken Chicken (in Shaoxing Wine)

Steamed Eel with Preserved Dried Berry Sauce

Camphor Smoked Duck

Brined Duck