Now we can close the lid and give the phone stage a nice place next to our Feickert Blackbird turntable. The power supply we put as far away from the SPA-one main box and cartridge as the 1.65m umbilical allows. From the phono preamp we use a pair of shielded Nanotec interconnects to the inputs of the matching NVO ISA-2 integrated. From there the signal is transported by Nanotec loudspeaker cables to the Arcadian Audio Pnoe hornspeakers with add-on TakeT super tweeters. From the ISA-2 both our Zu Submission subwoofers are fed via Crystal Cable Crystal Speak.

After a final cable check, we flip the power switch. The LED starts red and when all internal checks are done, changes to a reassuring green; the same as for the ISA-2 integrated. When that power house's LED turned green as well, the needle of the Zu DL103 findsits way into the groove of the first album to play and the volume gets slowly turned up from zero.

But wait. What's that - hum? Yeah, and volume dependent too. That means the hum rides on the input signal. Our first look is at the turntable's ground wire. That proves properly connected to the ground terminal on the SPA-one SE. Check. With 13 tubes, one could have gone noisy. The most likely candidates are the input tubes. But two gone bad at the same time? Unlikely. Time to lift the lid and see what's glowing. With the SPA-one SE now on the floor in front of the turntable, bonnet popped, we repeat the startup procedure, then turn up the volume gently. Guess what? No noise. Good. So what caused the hum, then made it disappear? The phono stage is now closer to the power supply. That's not the culprit. Another distance variable is that now the phono stage itself sits further away from the turntable and its cartridge. As they say, the proof is in the eating. We put things back into their original place. Bingo, there's the hum back again. For some reason, our cartridge and the NVO phono preamp need some personal space. Fair enough. The Cypriot gets a nice spot as far from the turntable as the interconnects allow.

With hum mitigated, the combination of turntable, phono stage and integrated with its volume at high noon but no music playing is completely quiet even with the ear in the 100dB AER driver's whizzer. Now that is an achievement. Music, maestro! We recently received a review sample on vinyl, of Al di Meola's Elysium. To be more precise, on two 180-gram, 45rpm DMM LPs. We also have the CD of it. Though the music is great, listening to it is a true pain in the arse. Someone deemed it necessary to edit any and all life out of the recording before transferring it to shiny polycarbonate. The dynamic range of the CD version is around six lousy dB. Believe it and weep! With the 'audiophile' vinyl pressing, we expect things to be better, more in line with the great di Meola productions of yore.

With the tubes warmed up properly, we switch the Blackbird to 45 and lower the needle. From the hot seat, the volume gets turned up; and then some more. This version sounds great, with no restraints on the dynamic throttle. Yousa. The sonic illusion is wide, deep and high. In the room the loudspeakers have vanished completely. Only pure music floats in the air. Memories of Al's concerts at the North Sea Jazz festivals of the early ‘90s and later flood back. Who said time traveling is impossible?