Bauer DPS Phono
Bauer DPS Phono
Bauer Audio is an enterprise that has its base in Munich, in the active southern Germany. Willi Bauer is the owner, designer of the DPS turntables -or Der Plattenspieler (that means "the turntable" in German)- a project that is simply complicated like I wrote in Hi-Fi e Musica blog. This is the link to the article that unfortunately has no English version: http://hifimusica.blogspot.it/2012/06/giradischi-bauer-audio-dps-der.html
DPS has been awarded turntable of the year in 2010 by the American magazine Stereophile, but I had long before noticed that this turntable is one of a kind. In Pollingestrasse there is Bauer’s shop in which there are many LP's and where there are the products that he distributes in Germany, the loudspeaker systems of the French brand Mulidine for example (this is a brand that has been imported in Italy in the 90’s and that most of the audiophiles did not notice). 
Bauer DPS Phono
Bauer is a real music lover. During my visit in Pollingestrasse we spoke very little of audio (anyway the system present in the shop was of very high quality) but we spoke a lot of music and most of all we listened to a lot of music. I had already listened to the prototype of the DPS Phono and I was very curious to listen to the final product. This is the achievement of the designer Dan Nistor. Three years ago it was all hold into 2 small black tin boxes, the designer was working with a version 3 DPS with its tonearm (also designed by Willibald Bauer) and with a Lyra Dorian; the phono preamplifier used for the comparison was a Tom Evans (I think the model was The Groove). I had a very good feedback at that time, we listened to some Bartok Quartets from a vinyl reissued in Germany - I do not remember which label it was - but I do remember that the small Bauer did its job very well and gave us a feedback of high timbral refinement. The phono preamplifier: two black metal boxes of identical dimension. One is the switching power supply and the other one is the real phono pre. The preamplifier does not have a setup for gain or loading impedance and has only in and out connectors and a ground connection. The load given to the pickup is 47 KOhm. This is a very high loading that might lead to think of a very shrill sound and of a dynamic compression with some cartridges but it's not so and if you keep on reading you'll find out that it's the exact contrary.
Bauer DPS Phono
Technical data given are really few. Gain is not declared and the
manufacturer informs that the phono preamplifier works well with cartridges with an output from 0.1 mV up. The gain should be very high but the noise produced by the pre is very low, so the only way to hear something is to put your ear close to the tweeter and keep the volume very high. But this is what happens also with its competitors. The system I have used to test this DPS Phono is the following one: DPS turntable with Mørch DP6 tonearm, Transfiguration Aria e Denon DL S1 cartridges, Revox B795 turntable that’s been used as co-protagonist with an Ortofon Vivo Blue cartridge. Spectral DMC12 and Olimpia Audio Guglielmo II preamplifiers, Spectral DMA50 and Wyred4Sound ST250 power amps, Magneplanar MG 1.6 loudspeakers. Reference phono preamplifiers: the American Hybrid Technology – P “Non Reference” (ha!) and Lehmann Black Cube. 
Bauer DPS Phono
As I said before I was afraid to hear a typical German old fashioned sound but this DPS surprised me with a balanced sound, with a powerful low range always very well in control. Cellos and double basses are both very present but never out of place. A low range like this somehow makes you think that may be, with other products of the same kind, there is a chance of loosing accuracy in the listening. Many products of this kind give no importance to the low range but focus their attention on the high and medium range -and I'm thinking of my Lehman and not to the more expensive AHT that is presently proposed by Lloyd Walker of Proscenium at a price that is a lot higher than that of the DPS. Listening to high quality recordings such as New Year's Concert of 1979, the first Decca Digital recording with Bokovski on stage, or to the Sacre du Printemps directed by Maazel on Telarc, the sensation given is that the sound rests on the deep notes that make a strong base for all the rest. Cellos and double basses are fast when starting and exact in decays, powerful but correct in their timbre. They are the basement for the whole sound of the orchestra. Trumpets are loud, the flute is delicate, the ensemble of the strings results a little bit dark as if you were listening to it in a opera house, La Scala for an instance. Percussions have a clear timbre - just like when you listen to therm live - with its typical power and presence. Dynamic does not loose its characteristics, it is smooth and contributes together with the timbral characteristics in making the sound easy and the listening is very pleasant and relaxed. Well, it's exactly this sensation of smoothness in the reproduction of sound that strucks while listening to this small component. There is no sensation of a hurdle, of a stumble, everything is smooth and easy. In fact at first dynamics do not seem to be very present but listening to the Fanfare of the Common Man by Aaron Copland, on Crystal Clear LP, we find it absolutely present. The violent hits of the percussions come out with absolute force and every hit has its personality. In this case the cymbals results somehow softened but always very real. Brasses have a very natural sound. When listening to the solo instruments this easiness in the dynamics comes out clearly. Listening to the partitas for Violin by Bach (Kremer,Philips) or the Capricci by Paganini (Accardo on DGG) the vibrato of the violin is very sharp; this seems very normal and the mind goes back to the 70's to a concert with the Capricci directed by Accardo in the Conservatorio in Milano, Italy. The timbre is not too open and you have the sensation of having the audience around you and makes you recall the past live experiences. The same thing happens with Jesse Norman in Vier Letze Lieder by Strauss (Mazur, Philips): also in this case the vibrato of Norman is unveiled just like it is for the whole big orchestra that plays for Norman. And I recall perfectly of having this same sensation listening to the prototype I described above. This same result applies to all the music genres I listened to, both with the Classic Records vinyls of Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington and with Dire Straits' Making Movies and again with The Rolling Stones' Some Girls and with St John's passion directed by Gardiner.
It's a phono preamplifier that worth a listening and that is sold at a price in line with the competitors. Domenico Pizzamiglio Translation: Francesca Rubino Bauer website: www.bauer-audio.de |