 What a simple name – only three letters, there is not much to write in the header... And the name of the model is even shorter. But this is the philosophy of manufacturing of this, distributed by Bauer Audio company, but it seems, that it is also the owner of dps, a name which is spelled fully as – der Platenspieler – and reproduces very well the area of interest as well as the country of origin. This German company distributes only two (or actually two versions of one) gramophones – model 2 and model 3. Although most frequently the Naim Aro tonearm is used with those, a Schroder No. 2fW tonearm – a variance of the Schroder Model 2, manufactured especially for dps gramophones, with dps cabling and Schroder Reference magnets. Any arm can be attached to the chassis, as this test shows, conducted with Mørch UP-4 Precision arm, with silver cabling. The ZYX30-02 pickup was mounted, but the test was conducted with Koetsu i Dynavector pickups. )
Inconspicuously looking deck turned out to be an incredible example, how truly analog vinyl can sound. Maybe it is tautology, but used to emphasize this aspect of the sound, for which LP lovers strive, and that is still lacking in even best digital systems. Maybe only devices like the top player from Jadis (test this month) can share some of the magic. It is , as the company talks about it, a gramophone with a decoupled chassis. The section borders are not visible anywhere – separately the tonearm, and the turntable, or any springs, but the company explains, that the whole upper chassis is placed on elastomer elements, and the dampening is big enough to allow the usage of the term “suspended”, meaning decoupled. I do not know in what way this is influencing the measurements, as I did not measure the vibration, but – at least from the side of systematic – it is not fully correct, because the most important element, from which this line of gramophones acquired their name, is missing - namely the springs. But there is nothing to fight about, we know what dps wanted to tell in its statement, and this is what counts. Looking at the Bauer Audio home page we see that the main characteristics of the model 2 are:
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Did you notice, that the land of manufacture was placed first? This is, against appearances, an important information, as Germany is at the moment the home of European analog and there the most interesting constructions are designed – not only in such known companies like Clearaudio or Transrotor, but in smaller companies like the presented dps. And all are noteworthy... Anyway, looking at the dps, one does not see where the money went – it is not especially eye-catching, it does not shine with chrome and a large turntable, actually there is not much on top of it. So every time I saw it on the HIGH End show in Munch (coverage from 2005 HERE, from 2006 HERE) I was surprised by its surroundings – almost always it worked together with much more expensive devices, for example this year with Hovland electronics and Avalon speakers. Let's listen to it in a good company – with a preamplifier of the class of Manley Steelhead and we will know what it is all about.. LISTENING EXPERIENCE )
If I was to forge a definition of analog sound, that would satisfy both the beginners in the field of black magic, named VinylSeth, and also for the advanced users, one of the tools used would be this gramophone. Listening to it provokes many questions about the nature of the recorded sound in general, leaving the quality of its reproduction aside, as it is accepted as self evident and complete. No, this is not the ideal gramophone, there are better units, but in this case the idea of sounding is full and perfectly realized. The sound of the system is characterized by a large momentum and focusing. The sound is full and quite warm. It does not mean that the sound is damped and dull – it is far from this stereotype of analog sound – because it is incredibly resolving (although not in such a degree like Oracle Delphy MkV or SME 20), but in its sound nothing is exposed, that is usually associated with, what we call, the “hi-fi” sound, there is no trace of mechanization, one is not searching for a better perspective, insight, bass, or similar, but is absorbing music. This is a big achievement. Every LP, when correctly mastered, sounds on the dps in full glory and praise (I would say). It sounds like it would be the last recording on our life, or as if after it, this semantic unit, and together with it, its designate (speaking in plain language – the gramophone) would be erased from the space of the language, and with that from the space of our world, (in the end our understanding of the world is shaped by the language, the ability to name things). If personification would be allowed to get the word for a moment (what I am doing often, but what is banned in the world of linguists – although it works...), then I would say the gramophone has a soul. )
Some things are related to that. First of all in the sound the emotional side dominates over the rational side. The beauty of music is put over the precision of the sound, over the need to reproduce that, what was pressed in the groove, as faithful as possible, at least in the terms of hi-fi. So when we put on the disc of Eva Cassidy in the newest pressing from S&P Records (S&P-501, HQ-180 g, LP), then, regardless of the fact, that the disc was recorded with a slightly elevated treble, sharper not only in comparison with the original recording done by Hot Records, but also in comparison than the CD version, the gramophone showed it in an incredibly suggestive, and deprived from harshness way. I know, I know – it sounds, as if it just would cut the treble and done. But this is not the case. The differences in timbre, dynamics, and similar, were clear, and combined into a very good, coherent transmission, but it must be confessed, that the character of the pressing itself was not fully reproduced. Confirmation, that it is not about cutting treble, but promoting coherence of the midrange harmonics, gave the splendid pressing of the disc of Nat “King” Cole – Just One of Those Things (S&P Records, S&P-508, HQ-180 g, LP #0886) with an incredibly warm, full vocal, that easily turns into a pulp, when somewhere in the sound path the treble is cut or the micro-dynamics of this frequency range is weakened, that sounded beautiful here. With the dps the transmission was ultra-warm, there was no doubt how the disc was recorded, but also incredibly readable. This is one of the secrets of vinyl, that, with its technically limited dynamics, can sound so incredible in that aspect, as no digital source can. That was also the case here. After a quiet intro, a few phrases of text, a strong, explosive big-band enters. The German gramophone reproduced it as if the players were blowing directly in the speakers membranes – thy were so touchable, and it was clearly heard, that the upper treble was a bit softened and rounded. I know, I know – I have written that it is not the case. OK – maybe it is a bit like this, but it is hard to classify this as an error, a deviation from the reference, because it sounded in a way that the listener was starting to defend this vision of the world, albeit unconsciously. In both cases, the low range on the discs is not specially underlined and showed, but dps adds something to it, amplifies it, so that it always sounds attractive. Only when I put the reference disc (for me) on, Waltz for Debby from Bill Evans Trio (Riverside/Analogue Production, 45 rpm, 180 g, LP #0773) it could be heard, that this range is a bit favored by the German construction. The contrabass had a beautiful timbre, was massive and large, but in absolute scale, in reference to how I remember the instrument, on the disc it was a bit closer, was a bit larger. Maybe the secret of the gramophone is not in perfect reproduction? It shows a perfectly credible reality, not fully uniform with the real world – large, attractive, without any thinning of the sound, what is still a sickness of the digit, unfortunately. THE MAKE )
The Gramophone Model 2 of the German company dps has a “rigid” make. Its chassis is made from a sandwich from plywood, cork, acrylate, with highly dampening, elastic interleaves. The whole is placed on a granite plate. The turntable is made from acrylate and it is connected to a synchronous AC motor with a very small beating by a flat, rubber band. The motor is powered from a power supply, that also encompasses a dip switch for speed change. The motor is placed in a excision of the enclosure, but in a way it does not touch any part of it. A similar solution is used by among other Clearaudio, but there rubber rings are recommended to couple the motor with the deck. The whole is covered by a transparent cover, that is not fixed to the gramophone in any place, and that is put in place and removed in a very troublesome way. But the company claims, this was the only way to problems brought by the cover. In dps another concept as usual was chosen for the turntable – usually it is assumed that the turntable should have an as large as possible mass and pose as low as possible resistance to the motor. Here it is different – the turntable has a medium mass and poses a resistance to the motor.
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