Improving on Greatness?
The original Celeste W-4070 amplifier took our breath away. But time doesn't stand still. The W-4070SE tries for more greatness.
No one who reads UHF regularly can fail to be aware of the Celeste amplifiers. We had long respected the efforts of SimAudio to produce good-sounding equipment at reasonable prices, but the W-4070 power amplifier caught us off guard. When we reviewed it in issue No. 37, we were jubilant. Here was an amplifier that could take on some of the world's best solid state amplifiers, and yet which could fit into the budget of all but the most impoverished audiophile. Not only did we warmly recommend it, but we placed it on our short list for our own second reference system. And that's despite the fact that reference-quality amplifiers do not usually cost $1500 -- the Celeste's original price -- and that our own main reference amplifier actually cost more than five times as much.
But time does not stand still. In a little more than two years since that review appeared, a number of minor but significant upgrades in both adjustments and materials were made to the original 4070, and now there is a premium version incorporating still more upgrades. The W-4070SE (the two letters, inevitably, stand for "special edition") includes a better power supply, a higher damping factor, and WBT binding posts. The upgrades add $225 to the list price, and owners of older models can get most or all of the upgrades, depending on the vintage of the amp, for $375.
The amplifier hasn't changed very much visually, though a couple of features have been added to the rear panel. The original 4070 allowed making balanced connections only through the use of dual cables with conventional phono jacks. This is not standard, and it defeats in part the purpose of balanced lines. The set of four phono jacks is still in place (they are needed for monobloc operation), but a pair of Neutrik XLR jacks is added, allowing the use of regular balanced cables. The other feature -- on the SE version of the amplifier only -- is the presence of WBT model 0730 binding posts. They accept bare wires, spade lugs or banana plugs, and they are already enough to make an audible difference.
Indeed, if you look at a Celeste amplifier, it is the binding posts that will confirm whether it is an SE model. More than a dozen other changes lurk inside, however, including modifications to the power supply and to the unusual "Renaissance" circuit itself. It is certainly enough to justify the $225 surcharge, and even the cost of retrofitting the SE mods to a conventional amplifier.
When we first received the 4070SE it was brand new, and its top end was a little bright and harsh. We ran up some hours on it and gradually heard it settle down. After we'd clocked about 80 hours on it, it was purring like a kitten, and we judged it ready for the test bench. Would it astonish us as much as its predecessor had?
Inevitably the answer is no, because this time we were expecting greatness. The amplifier delivered, however.
We opened the formal listening session with a singer best known for a song on the Opus 3 Test Record 1, Therese Juel. On her own recording, Levande (Opus 3 7917), she has an intimate folk-like song called Restgarnskoftan, in which she is accompanied by a guitar, an acoustic bass, and an interesting percussion kit. The song lost a tiny bit of its warmth with the 4070SE, and the sound was a little less refined than with our reference amplifier. On the other hand Juel's voice was satisfyingly clear. The cymbal was particularly good, especially the rolling cymbal passage at the very start of the song, which is often hidden by the guitar. It was a pretty good start, though Albert noted that our YBA amplifier was tough to beat. No news there.
But on the second recording the Celeste did even better. An amplifier needs a good current supply to reproduce all the raw energy of John Newton Howard and Friends (Sheffield LAB-23), and this amplifier has it. The direct-cut LP was reproduced with plenty of impact and excellent rhythm. The sound was slightly sharper, but on the other hand the electric bass (actually a synthetizer) was especially clear and pleasant. We liked it a lot.
And the amplifier kept right on impressing us. In our test of the original version in issue No. 37, we had listened to the Requiem Æternam from the John Rutter Requiem (Reference Recordings RR-57). In one subtle but important way, the Celeste had actually outdone our reference amplifier. The mass opens with a melody on the organ pedals that establishes a dramatic tension. The tension then builds right through to the Kyrie. We have heard amplifiers totally dissipate that tension, leaving the piece meaningless. The original 4070 had established the tension from the start. So did the new version, and everything else was mere detail. Not that the details weren't right. The voices were slightly brighter than with the reference amplifier, and the esses of the sopranos more prominent. On the other hand Albert found the timbre more neutral, and thought the reference amp sounded ever so slightly nasal by comparison. It was a prodigious performance.
The only problem, indeed, was that we found ourselves getting heavy-handed with the volume control. Our reference speakers have an impedance of four ohms, which should allow the 4070 to deliver about double its nominal power of 70 watts per channel. Nonetheless, we were conscious of it getting near its dynamic limits on the most complex choral passages.
Note that we couldn't accurately match the volume we had obtained with our reference amplifier, because the 4070SE has more gain that most amps. That meant we had to run our preamp slightly lower. On the other hand, the Celeste is especially suitable for use with a passive (non-amplifying) preamp. Which Celeste makes, by a strange coincidence.
Next we tried one of our favourite wind band recordings, the now-discontinued Center Stage album (Wilson W-8824), in which Lowell Graham conducts the fanfare from the 1984 Olympics. There's more detail in this LP than most amplifiers can cope with, but the Celeste took it casually. We noticed, once more, a very slight increase in brightness, but the timbres of the brass instruments were simply delightful. This amplifier loves to work, and it communicated the full energy of this John Williams piece. The cymbals, always a difficult instrument to reproduce, were very good, and the big bass drum could be felt as much as heard. Albert actually preferred the rendition to that of our reference amplifier, and Reine thought that the Celeste had given a clearer rendition of the English horn sostenuto near the beginning of the piece.
It performed at least honourably on the song Fratelli from the Gypsy-inspired disc Correspondences (Niglo 888002). The song opens with a whimsical duo for bass and accordion, with a number of deliberately sour notes. The opening worked, and it plunged us into the bittersweet ambience of this great song. The Celeste sounded a touch bright, and that affected both the violin and the voices, which Albert always finds rather hard. Still, the song's complex harmony worked.
We had fewer reservations with Widor's Lord, Save Thy People from Pomp & Pipes! (Reference Recordings RR-58CD), which was regal and majestic, as it should be. The organ foundation was solid. The brass instruments were, once again, a little brighter than with our reference amplifier, but curiously they seemed to be placed somewhat further back. Don't take that to mean that this is a "laid back" amplifier, however, because it spits fire when it needs to. The greater distance emphasized the great sense of space (well-rendered by our HDCD-equipped player), yet all the detail we are used to hearing was present and accounted for. The crescendos, which are unfailingly impressive on this recording, were magnificent.
We ended the session with the gossamer-like Trio No. 1 by Arensky (Dorian DOR-90146), which falls apart if the slightest thing is wrong with the system. It was nearly perfect with the Celeste. The timbres of the instruments were excellent, though Albert found the cello a little light. The violin was very good, and the Rembrandt Trio's remarkable ensemble playing was moving. Reine put her pen down and just listened. Only after the piece was over did we nit-pick. Were the near-silences a little less magic? Perhaps...in comparison with an amplifier costing more than four times as much.
The W-4070SE was flawless in the technical tests, even at very low level, which is where we look for trouble. The maximum power was 78.75 watts per channel, with both channels driven, over most of the audible band, dropping to the claimed 70 watts at 20 kHz.
The original W-4070 was intended to prove that a top amplifier can be built without costing like the down payment on a condo. It was wildly successful. At its current cost of $1650, it remains pretty much unequaled. Its rival is the W-4070SE, an improved version that has kept the strengths that knocked us out last time. That it deserves a place on your shopping list goes without saying. The problem is what other amplifiers deserve to be on the same list.
By the way, this W-4070SE is now ours.
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Model: Celeste W-4070SE
- Price: $1875 (in Canada)
- Dimensions: 45.1 x 13.3 x 31.8 cm
- Warranty: 3 years transferable
- Most liked: Stratospheric performance, below-the-clouds price
- Least liked: Occasional increase in brightness
CROSSTALK
A great amp just got better, and it's an even better value now. Well, since we tend to be very critical during our listening sessions, let me cool down that lavish praise with some personal impressions.
This amp has lots of impact, but it tends toward slight brightness. On some recordings it makes synthetizers and accordions less liquid than our reference does. Yet I preferred its rendition of Center Stage as far as accuracy of timbre was concerned (especially woodwinds), and I really enjoyed the choir voices on the Requiem.
On other recordings the music appeared a bit cooler, less full-sounding, as in the difficult piano and strings of the Arensky trio. However, depth and sound stage were always exceptional, and bass was well-controlled and solid throughout.
Actually, of course, I'm comparing this amp with a highly-refined, high-priced super amp costing four times as much. Is this fair? Of course not. On the other hand it might be dangerous to compare it with amps at merely twice the price. Dangerous for the competition, that is.
My suggestion, if this is at all within your budget, is to use two Celeste SE amps and biamplify.
--Albert Simon
Well, the 4070 surprised me again. No doubt I'd forgotten how amazingly good it can sound. Sure, I've re-read my notes, but the feeling was difficult to re-create. It couldn't really be that great, could it?
It can. And it is.
It can be outperformed by a tiny handful of very expensive amplifiers, but on the other hand it can outperform even more very expensive amplifiers. The basic engineering has been well done, and the result is one of the world's greatest solid state amplifiers.
And it is that even before you look at the price tag!
-Gerard Rejskind
At the Montreal Audio Festival, we had a chance to spend a few hours listening to this amplifier, and you might say it made our mouths water. I expected it to turn in a good performance in the formal listening test, and I was far from disappointed. We listened to seven very different recordings, to settle on a definite opinion.
Here's mine: this amp is worth every penny of its price. It delivers a remarkable image and sense of spaciousness, as well as lots of detail, lifelike instruments, quick transients, and -- a constant on every disc we tried -- an exceptional dynamic range. There was an occasional bit of sibilance, but nothing too bad.
In certain pieces it showed off its finesse, in others its pomp and majesty, and in all the pieces its ability to communicate emotion. On the Arensky piece, with the terrific Rembrandt trio...and that incredible violin...you close your eyes, you are as one with the sublime, and the last thing you remember is that...oh yes, you're supposed to be taking notes.
-Reine Lessard
