United Home Audio Phase 11S deck has been ordered

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
1,725
New York City
Nortronics AFAIK are no longer madw and I think John French (?) bought up all the remaining stock. I use the pro Nortronics heads that are a huge step up from the stock heads. (Remember reading somewhere that all the Japanese deck's heads were made by the same company?)

And then there's the custom made flux magnetic heads that many studios and Bruce use. Charlie and Rich have done a lot of comparions of heads and think Rich liked the old Bogen heads the most.
 

rbbert

Well-Known Member
Dec 12, 2010
3,820
239
1,000
Reno, NV
Anyone know where UHA's proprietary heads come from?
 

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
2,162
51
1,770
Some RTRs I've tested that have switchable EQ (NAB/IEC), only switch the HF EQ. They leave the bass EQ always in the NAB position. (NAB bass EQ is a 3db boost @ 50Hz in record and a 3 db cut @ 50Hz in play).

If you were to record on one of those decks set to IEC EQ (with an improper NAB record bass boost) and then play back on another deck with standard IEC EQ (which has flat bass response), then the resulting tape would be bass heavy. 50Hz would be boosted 3 db.

I believe I have experienced this phenomena when playing back some other tapes. Thanks for the instructional post :D
 

jdza

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2010
294
255
1,513
I own Studers fitted with NOS Studer heads,Flux Magnetics extended response heads and another with Nortronics Pro heads. As these are all different machines with different repro electronics it is difficult to say which heads are best.I can say that the machine (fully restored A80R) with the FM heads measures so flat from 32 to 20kHz that it catches me out every time I calibrate it. I always have to do a double check that I am actually measuring the tape output.At around $750/head they are not cheap but neither is NOS Studers,and with the FM you get a fantastic reputation. Depending on source "NOS" Studers may not be quite what is promised .

The Nortronics pro heads are exclusively available from John French. Advantages are that they are available in various guises to physically and electrically fit virtually any machine/repro amp,John French will supply adapter plates for any machine (within reason I suppose) and that they are considerably cheaper than the Studer or FM heads. They do sound very,very good and look every bit as solid as the other two. I suppose the main advantage is that John French's expertise comes with them.In my case I have a Studer with a 400 mH replay heads (both 1/4 and 1/2 track) for a tubed repro amp. For that sort of nuttiness Nortronics would be the only source.
 

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
2,162
51
1,770
I acquired NOS 318-series rec and rep sound heads as well as a NOS 1/2" head block from Audiohou$e.
Audiohouse employs the incomparable Herr Berner whom remains a TREMENDOUS asset to those of us with the stewardship of Studer pro decks :p
I just visited Greg Orton's site, Flux Magnetics, and it appears the 'ME' heads are available in 1/2", only.

Good post, jdza :cool:
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
1,725
New York City
I believe they are Flux Magnetics made for JRF. That's the only head I will put in my machines.... Flux Magnetics ER Heads.

I'm not sure. Perhaps Greg (or Christian) can fill us in. On his site, Greg mentioned testing six different heads from six different manufacturers before selecting the winner. I seem to remember somewhere that the UHA heads are made in Germany. But I might be mistaken.
 
Jan 18, 2012
2,323
2,409
1,475
Drobak Norway
I guess what people prefer as winner is highly individual and that different heads have different" flavours"
some claim the vintage Studer heads sound the best, some the butterfly heads
not to mention when one starts to rewire from the head....silver, copper, litz, different insulation....too long for head inductance to driver external repro amp and so forth :confused:
and I thought this was more straightforward than vinyl??
I start to get the picture.....
or like my wife summed it up:...congrats with new hobby :eek:

best
Leif
 

rockitman

Member Sponsor
Sep 20, 2011
7,097
412
1,210
Northern NY
I'm not sure. Perhaps Greg (or Christian) can fill us in. On his site, Greg mentioned testing six different heads from six different manufacturers before selecting the winner. I seem to remember somewhere that the UHA heads are made in Germany. But I might be mistaken.

one of the pictures on the deck features/options page on the UHA site shows a head and you can see JRF on it.
 

Attachments

  • 15b020130.jpg
    15b020130.jpg
    71 KB · Views: 743

jdza

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2010
294
255
1,513
That's it? Current state of the art in tape replay? Precision tape guides, scrape flutter rollers,precision head block? Wow! How can I unsee this?
 

Asamel

Well-Known Member
Jan 22, 2012
578
1
263
Philly
That's it? Current state of the art in tape replay? Precision tape guides, scrape flutter rollers,precision head block? Wow! How can I unsee this?

Too late. Would you like to place an order?
 

rockitman

Member Sponsor
Sep 20, 2011
7,097
412
1,210
Northern NY
UHA has updated their site for the 11S spec:
UHA has an all new preamp design for 2014

The twelfth generation (model G-3.12) UHA preamp design.


1.) All new custom designed boards done in house by UHA! The new G-3.12 preamp.

SHQM (super high quality materials) boards are used with both wider and thicker traces for much better signal flow.

All electronic parts such as resistors, power caps, RCA & XLR connectors, internal wiring, were chosen from various auditions done with parts from many manufacturers.

THE PHASE 11S PROJECT

"This one goes past 11"

The Phase11 project started with a some new component discoveries.

1.) A new way to handle DC current, we do not amplify DC from one gain stage to another.

2.) New cast silver and copper wire discoveries.

3.) New audiophile power transformers with new capacitive power delivery to each gain stage.

4.) New EQ configuration.

5.) A change in various electronic component values that brought more weight to the sound.

6.) These improvments were employed in both the record and the playback preamps.


The bottom like was a new preamp design for the G-3.12 preamp, some features of this new purity in circuitry involved

eliminating additional coupling (DC blocking) caps.

This resulted in a measurable difference with cleaner bass response and equally as important, better phase response in the low end.


This exotic mixture of preamp design with esoteric hand made parts found the last measure of electronic control across the entire audio spectrum.

But the goal was to still keep the dynamic sound that the UHA decks are known for.


With this New G- 3.12 preamp Greg wanted to have a balanced top end to the very bottom frequencies in complete balance, then let the purity

of the preamp shine through with it's own sonic signature. Many trial listening sessions with the 6 listening experts using Master Tape copies

determined that the new Phase11S was the pinnacle of playback decks so far.
 

rockitman

Member Sponsor
Sep 20, 2011
7,097
412
1,210
Northern NY
My UHA Phase 11S with Outboard Power supply has arrived. I now have arguably the best analog source playback device available. Quality packaging. I will be setting it up later today.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0513.JPG
    IMG_0513.JPG
    224.5 KB · Views: 450
  • IMG_0514.JPG
    IMG_0514.JPG
    276.2 KB · Views: 428
  • IMG_0515.JPG
    IMG_0515.JPG
    238.1 KB · Views: 374

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
51
38
Calgary, AB
[\
 

awsmone

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2014
1,616
513
435
Canberra Australia
To quote

You luck lucky Bastard!

Enjoy ……..lol
 

Asamel

Well-Known Member
Jan 22, 2012
578
1
263
Philly
Last summer I went to the Capital Audiofest specifically to hear this deck. I spent about half my day in the UHA room listening. Amazing!

You'll love this deck.
 

rockitman

Member Sponsor
Sep 20, 2011
7,097
412
1,210
Northern NY
The unit has some break-in to go...all new components/wires for the repro pre, outboard PS. This is hotwired. No NAB, no 7.5 ips. Only 15 ips/IEC so no switches in the path to degrade sound. The record and erase heads are also disconnected. The path is pure and smooth. No tape shed what so ever unlike what I experience with Studer A810 transports. All spooling memory functions perform as expected. The sound is intense. I will comment more once it is broken in.
 

Attachments

  • Phase-11S-IMG_0531.jpg
    Phase-11S-IMG_0531.jpg
    236.9 KB · Views: 287

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing