UK’s wonderful Hi-Fi music gear webzine ‘The Ear’ published a great review of the PW1. Editor Jason Kennedy tried various cartridges with lots of LP’s and all of them topped his prior experience. We are delighted that he offered the PW1 the ‘Editor’s Award’ of The Ear. We copy some excerpts for you below, but please read the full review at The Ear.
“Playing a Freddie Hubbard album, Backlash, I was greeted by serious amounts of energy and groove, the tone being totally authentic and the sound so live that it made me wonder how they had managed to capture so much power so long ago. Jan Akkerman and Kaz Lux’s Naked Actress (Eli, 1976) is a more subtle affair with an emphasis on the poet’s spoken vocal, the word “Perfection” reflecting my initial impressions of this phono stage, an impression that stayed for the duration of the review to be honest.
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I also tried a Skyanalog Ref moving coil with the PW1, this is a more open sounding cartridge than the Aphelion with impressive speed and agility, especially via this amplifier. Again energy was very well served, Nils Frahm’s All Melodycoming through in fast, fluent and finessed style and delivering huge amounts of detail. The pairing of cartridge and phono stage producing that rare combination of ease, pace and muscular bass. I particularly enjoyed the Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette’s version of God Bless the Child (Standards, Vol. 1), which sounded a lot better than it has in the past, with impressive power in the bass and a really vibrant, live sound.
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I have to congratulate Peter van Willenswaard and Grimm Audio on the PW1, it is a very good phono stage indeed and one that is unlikely to hold back any decent cartridge. It’s interesting that a company that has been all about cutting edge digital technology has a vinyl and tube nut in its midst, it might explain why the MU1 is such an exceptional streamer (and the MU2 by all accounts). Having someone on the team who is listening to pure analogue gives Grimm a breadth of experience that not all digital engineers get to enjoy.
The PW1 has some distinctly tube/valve characteristics, notably a fluency and openness allied to a balance that is revealing but never hard edged. It brings the power of solid state to the party however and has the very low noise that such tech can provide for the modern music lover. The Grimm PW1 is a good looking, great sounding winner, if you want to hear more of what’s in those grooves do not overlook it.”
“if you want to hear more of what’s in those grooves do not overlook it.“, Jason Kennedy, The Ear
