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THE METAXAS MAS PHOS TRANSPORT AND MASDAC DAC
Reviewed by Greg Borrowman, AUSTRALIAN HI-FI BEST BUYS, Australia
The Phos CD transport from Australia's Metaxas Audio Systems (to date, our only native example) has been joined by the company's no-compromise D/A converter- the MASDAC. The combination-available together or separately-follows in the tradition of MAS amplifiers and speakers which have made a world-wide reputation for this small Melbourne company...as well as earning valuable export dollars for this country.
According to audio 'maverick' Kostas Metaxas, the principal of MAS, the construction technique used in the Phos has virtually eliminated the vibrations that muddy CD information retrieval. Metaxas has constructed the Phos and MASDAC chassis and castings from high-gloss stainless steel. This largely empty, hollow chassis is said to have excellent vibrational properties, in that it has none! Irrespective of its technical merits, the stainless steel certainly creates a striking visual impression.
The gleaming steel front panel is angled backward (from low front to high back) and bears the smoked perspex display panel in its centre, with the single line of black control pushbuttons beneath it and the large, circular remote sensor window beside iÝ. The control complement is conventional and basic: Play, Stop, Pause and forward and reverse Track Skip and Music Search. A small reset button clears any digital log-jams; it's located in the bottom-right corner of the panel.
Set into the top horizontal surface is the hinged perspex lid to the playing well, partly encased in stainless steel to match the casing. The lid is lifted manually to expose a stainless steel-lined compartment. In the centre of which is the naked spindle/laser mechanism, poised on four soft-rubber suspension saddles. Sitting on the spindle is something resembling a plastic cotton reel with a circular magnet built into its centre. This is the disc once it's seated on the tapered spindle-top(the latest version of Phos uses a sliding draw- Editor).
Though the magnet's attraction is intended to centre the stabiliser on the disc, it's easy to place it al least 3mm off-centre. Press 'play' and the disc starts spinning (even with lid open) and you can see the stabiliser wobbling around on top of the disc. Granted, the stabiliser is very low-mass device, but after all the efforts taken to eliminate vibrations it seems a little cavalier to ignore a potential cause of disc wobbles and speed variations.
It's also possible to place the stabiliser upside down, in which position the magnetic attraction is substantially reduced and its centring ability further weakened. Testing operations in this situation, we watched the stabiliser's rotation grow progressively more eccentric until it flew off the spindle and inside the Phos, from whence it had to be retrieved with a pair of tweezers. The stabiliser on our sample seemed to show evidence of previous excursions into the bowels of the machine (or it could have been the machining which was at fault).
If you place a disc on the spindle label-side down, the Phos tries to initialise it, spinning it clockwise. It then stops, changes rotation direction and gives up. With no disc loaded, the exposed laser assembly can be seen to go through a series of attempts to position and focus the lit laser, something we imaged to be prohibited by the laws relating to laser safety in consumer products. Granted, it's a low-powered laser that is unlikely to cause any harm, but we would not recommend gazing into it!
MAS calls the Phillips CDM-9 laser assembly it uses a 'holographic laser mechanism' and its optical section a 'holographic light pen' because it uses diffraction rather than reflection of the laser light to achieve´beam separation. The tiny laser is mounted on an ultra-light 'swing-arm' suspension isolated in horizontal and vertical planes: a design intended to result in superior isolation, tracking and access times.
The Phos' electronic circuitry incorporates MAS's discrete, series-pass circuits, balanced transformers in the power supply and ultra-low-noise voltage regulation stages. Strict isolation is maintained between the digital and mechanical sections for minimum interference. The electrical digital output avoids the usual 'capacitor/resistor' network and there are two alternative paths: Digital Direct from the primary tap of the huge, Litz-wire wound output isolation transformer, and Transformer Isolated from the transformer secondary.
The MASDAC D/A Converter comprises another two shiny stainless steel boxes: a flat slimline component the size and shape of an audiophile preamplifier with a massive, centimetre-thick front panel (the D/A converter) and an upright boxy component that is the MASDAC's power supply. The two boxes are linked by a 25-pin (DB25) connector lead. A single coaxial lead takes the digital signal from e Phos to the MASDAC and conventional RCA interconnects route the converted audio signal to an amplifier.
Although our review sample was configured for digital coaxial input, MAS will set up your MASDAC for optical input if you prefer- though it claims that its coaxial connection is superior. There are several other optional configurations, but the recommended retail price for the Phos Basic CD Transport is $2,780.00. The basis MASDAC costs $3,950.00 ($6,500.00 with the isolated power supply).
Circuitry sophistications said to make the considerable expense and inconvenience of the Phos/MASDAC system worthwhile include MAS' use of the 'Linear Technologies' high-speed input comparator with its two nanosecond response time, corresponding to a bandwidth of 300MHz: a high-speed buffer that precisely defines the 'edge' of the digital datastream and assists in the minimisation of jitter. In addition, MAS uses an optical output clock to synchronise with the Phos output, avoiding possible interference with a common electrical 'sync' signal. The input buffer also allows use of the phaselocked-loop technology of the Apogee clock which reduces jitter levels to the picosecond range.
The 20-bit D/A converter from Ultra-Analog (the same converter used by Chesky, Sony Classical and Telarc) has been customised by substituting MAS discrete components for the internal integrated circuits. According to MAS, these technologies combine to make possible the full 20-bit resolution of the data-stream, representing a 120dB dynamic range (less the one-bit, 6dB dynamic range (less the one-bit 6dB error lost through 'uncertainty').
LISTENING SESSIONS
Whatever complex, state-of-the-art technology has been embodied in the Phos/MASDAC combination, the sound is anything but complex. It's a simple, untainted stream of highly naturalistic music with holistic, realistic instrumental timbres and convincing spatial recreations that you just can't get with affordable integrated players. Most noticeable was the naturalness of the attack of notes: especially piano, bass and percussion. Bass solidity was stupendous, with ambiguities of pitch only evident on poorly recorded material.
Brass solos and sections (Art Farmer and Dizzy Gillespie on the new CTI outing 'Rhythmstick') exhibited a consistent sweetness with none of the harshness that sometimes serves as 'bite'. Almost as striking was the way the Phos/MASDAC system handles the subtle decay of notes-especially bass notes, which often die suddenly rather than fade away naturally.
Ambience, though not artificially exaggerated, was lively and sparkling, with the embracing 'buzz' of an exciting live event. Place into this illusory environment a perfectly articulated human voice and you have a private audience with your heroes with such an uncanny sense of physical presence that politeness makes you hesitate to talk or shift in your seat.
CONCLUSION
Despite their idiosyncratic configuration and surgically reminiscent cosmetics, the Metaxas Audio Systems Phos transport and MASDAC D/A converter represent twin pinnacles of Australian digital and electronic engineering. And though the law of diminishing returns means you are paying dearly for those extra milligrammes of audio performance, well-heeled audiophiles who want nothing to come between them and their beloved music will have no trouble justifying the expense of this magnificent combination.
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