Electrocompaniet was created forty years ago and they are the largest manufacturer of high quality audio equipment in Norway, they export to over fifty countries and their range of amplifiers, compact disc players, preamplifiers, digital to analogue converters and loudspeakers can be found in every corner of the world.

The Electrocompaniet ECP 1 is an aesthetically pleasing bit of kit which measures nine and a half inches wide, three inches high and seven inches deep. The front panel has the distinctive Electrocompaniet Perspex panel and gold details, along with the company’s logo and a blue LED to indicate it’s receiving power from the mains via its dedicated wall-wart transformer and to tell you if it’s in MM or MC mode. The mention of gold detail and blue LEDs gives the impression that this is an over the top design, but I find it quite understated and, as I say, pleasing on the eye. My only one concern over the appearance of this phonostage is that the LED is a little bright. It was popular with my wife whose usual comment when asked about the look of an item of hifi is “It’s another black box!” She loves the LED and the starlight effect it gives through the Perspex.

Some reports and the owners-manual itself, suggest that the MC circuitry can suffer from problems of hum if placed too close to transformers, AC wires or even speaker cables. I sat the unit immediately to the right of my turntable’s power supply box and have experienced no indication of any hum or any other noise problems. The unit also runs in a high class A operating point and as such it is recommended that it has a good deal of space around and above it to allow for ventilation and heat dissipation.

The ECP 1 phonostage caters for both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges with gain selection being made by a simple and easy to access button on the back panel of the unit – I’ve used both MM and MC cartridges during this review and with all it has proved to be pretty much silent.

The first thing that grabbed me about the Electrocompaniet was the bass. It fair bounces along and has great pace and power whilst managing to go deep too. The old favourite “Rumours” was duly dug out and bass lines were delivered in manner that immediately got the foot tapping. On dub reggae (Dub Syndicate’s “Strike the Balance”) the deep and powerful bass was reproduced with great control and clout. Listening to the “Orgues Historiques D’Europe” on the Harmonia Mundi label it became clear that bass reproduction is where this phonostage really excels.

The upper registers of a wide range of music are reproduced with a great amount of detail being evident, but never with a hint of harshness or brashness. Steel stringed acoustic guitars were reproduced particularly beautifully, with a great realism to the sound and detail by the bucket load. Likewise the midrange of recordings was presented with striking clarity and again detail, with female voice on This Mortal Coil’s “It’ll end in Tears” album being full of emotion. The word I would choose to use when listening to the high and mid frequencies is “transparent” which is a word I know is is bandied around a good deal in reviews, but in this case it is fully deserved.

I’m a bit of a soundstage junky and love to have music presented in a wide and deep manner and the ECP 1 certainly doesn’t disappoint. The stage is wide, deep and accurate with individual instruments being easy to place on the Symphonic Band track of the Ortofon “Test” record I recently acquired. Back to “Rumours” and the beautiful “Songbird” which is portrayed in such a way that the piano and lone voice of Christine McVie in the large empty theatre is full of ambiance and emotion; her voice and the piano appear small and vulnerable in the large space.

Price in the UK for the ECP 1 is no an inconsiderable £795 but I genuinely believe that this is a very fair price for a well made product that has, in my experience, performed very well in all that it has been asked to do.

Author – Stuart

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I should add to this review, for the sake of transparency and fairness, that I was sent the Electrocompaniet ECP 1 in return for a small amount of copywriting work that I did for Electocompaniet. My intention was to give it a listen and sell it on, but it would seem that it has become something of a permanent fixture on my rack.

MC-Phono2006 phonostage

A substantial but attractive design, this unit is suitable for both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges, the additional gain for the MC stage is supplied by British-made input transformers. A separately housed low noise, choke-filtered, valve-regulated power supply featuring twin valve rectifiers and choke smoothing provides S/N figures of ≥ 90dB for MM and ≥ 78dB for MC. 12AT7 and 12AX7 double triode valves are used. The front panel provides a selector switch for MM and MC cartridges and output level control. The power is switched from the separate, cable-coupled power supply unit. Price is £1599.

My current ‘stage of choice is a Trichord Dino with a Never Connected PSU (£750 together – the NCPSU is a huge upgrade from the standard power supplies, it turns a mid-fi component into a genuine audophile item, in my opinion). Previously I have owned a Loricraft Missing Link (£400), WhestTWO (£600), Melos PS-1 valve phonostage (£ummm, not sure – probably about £1000), Angle Audio “Audiophile” battery powered ‘stage (£150) … among others.

I’ve not used a phonostage as expensive as the Ming Da in my system before, so I can’t really judge its relative merit against its price peers, but I can say that the usual laws of diminishing return do not appear to apply in this case when compared to my excellent Dino/NCPSU at around half the price.

In brief, the MC-Phono2006 was superb; jaw-droppingly good. If I had £1600 to spend on a phonostage at the moment, Jack would have made a sale there & then!

The soundstage is just huge – but not bloomy or vague, it’s beautifully focussed and oh so natural, it’s like being there with the performers. As soon as the music started a feeling of wonderful rightness engulfed me – blimey, I didn’t realise my Pioneer PL-71 turntable could sound anywhere near this good!

You can tick off all the “audio virtues” you can think of for yourself. Bass, treble, dynamics blah-de-blah – it’s got them all. It’s just so much better than any other phonostage I have heard. Can it get better than this? Well, yes, of course it can, I guess …. but I can well imagine this being the ultimate destination for many LP lovers.

Yup, a rave review. I’d love to own one!

Although bear in mind it’s twice the price of other phonostages I have in-depth experience of, so comparative listening is recommended … unless you are as awestruck by its performance as I was, in which case just buy it!

Author – Jerry

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For more than a decade, Vincent Audio has been designing and manufacturing interesting phono stages. The PHO-700 may be one of Vincent’s best designs to date, meeting the challenge of building a phono stage with low-noise and as much loss-free transmission as possible. For a very reasonable price (£549.00), the PHO-700 does just that. It also looks the business with a nice (artificially enhanced) valve glow through the window on the front).

Down to business.

This is a two piece affair with power supply and phono stage kept apart. Excellent! The looks are good – fairly retro but well engineered and solid with a front panel ‘window’ on the PHO-700 through which you can see a 12AU7 valve which is used here in dual triode mode.

Lifting the lid shows quality components from Nichicon, Wima, and their ilk. There is a four position switch which varies the intensity of the six orange-red LED backlights to the valve. If you get bored with the light show, they can be completely switched off as well.

One of the most interesting aspects of this unit is the specially designed and highly developed outboard power supply. It weighs a ton and speaks to the quality of the transformer, metal chassis, shielding, and other components. At this price point, most manufacturers (Dynavector and Electrocompaniet included) simply provide a noisy OEM wall wart. The PHO-700 uses a similar power supply to that used with the well-regarded (but cheaper, at £280, PHO-8 phono stage).

This unit explains in large part of how the PHO-700 achieves its low-noise performance. The voltage is highly regulated and filtered, so that the ripple and hum found in unconditioned AC power cannot reach the phono section.

It is connected to the separate-chassis audio circuitry by using a very long cable with D-Sub nine pole connectors at each end. This permits the power supply to be positioned at a safe distance from the phono stage itself, although it cannot really be hidden as the power switch is on the back of the power supply, and it would not be good for safety or for the life of the valve if it were left constantly on.

The phono stage features a double-sided circuit board with good quality Burr-Brown opamps, Wima polyprop capacitors, Nichicon electrolytic capacitors, and metal film resistors. But the key feature is a Chinese ECC82 with a triode used for each channel (cue tube rolling at some stage?). The valve output stage is delayed from operating until a relay is released only once the valve has reached operating stability.

The PHO-700 can cater for both MM and MC cartridges with a selector switch on the back of the phono stage. The input impedance are fixed value with MM the standard 47 kilohms and the MC cartridge 100 ohms. That should match a wide range of cartridges and at this price point it would be a bit churlish to want or expect anything else.

There will not be many instances where an exotic (generally read eye-wateringly expensive) cartridge would be used with this stage and, where they are, it might be worth noting that I got better results, for example, feeding my low impedance Yamamoto Soundcraft through a SUT into the MM input rather than straight through the MC input. Certainly, I had no problem with my Ortofon MMs or MCs, nor with my various Denons.

Compared to my Whest RS30RDT, this little unit generally delivers most of what it is fed – it can go fast, it can go deep with a powerful and clean sound, going much deeper than I’d expect at this price but with the rich coloration you’d expect from a valve output, and with a perfectly respectable balance from top, middle to bottom and a good wide and deep soundstage.

It will be caught out by good quality MCs on good recordings but how often will it realistically be paired with such a beast? My Ortofon Blue MC complemented it fine, although my Zu Audio 103 did not get shown to such good effect – poor impedance matching, I wonder. The Yamamoto simply performed more naturally through a SUT and the MM stage but it is an odd cartridge, anyway.

The MMs generally blew me away on all sorts of music. I had to remind myself of the cost of this phono stage. The Vincent and the Ortofon Black (and generally the Cartridge Man’s Music Maker MI) seem made for each other but if the Vincent has a vice, it is exactly where you’d expect it, in the treble. It could do with a little more clarity but, to be fair, I don’t know a comparably priced unit that does any better, and I am clear that it cannot be put down to the usual gripe of valve “wooliness”. It simply is not wooly with the right cartridge.

With cheaper cartridges, this unit, although not as clinical or analytical as the Whest, does about 85% of its work and is probably slightly more forgiving of the weaknesses of those cartridges. It might therefore be easier to live with. I genuinely struggle to think of a phono stage below £1000 which will best this unit although the Electrocompaniet and Dynavector would bear comparison.

The good news is that it is available on home demonstration through the UK distributor Vinyl Passion, so prospective buyers can see how it matches to their equipment. Certainly worth any vinyl buyers shortlist.

Build quality: 9/10
Sound Quality: 9/10
Value For Money: 9.5/10

Overall – 9.17

This is a bargain. Recommended for people who want a simple phono stage for a decent turntable and good MM cartridge that performs with exceptional musicality and at a price that makes it something of a bargain. The valve goodness is a bonus!

Peter Stanton-Ife

How we carry out reviews.

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Perreaux sounds French but is actually a New Zealand based company founded in 1974 by Peter Perreaux. I first came across the brand when in retail in the early 1980’s and was impressed by their reputation even then as a young company. They disappeared from these shores but years later the brand has re emerged in the UK with new distributors Audio Emotion and I am glad they have pursued this brand’s promotion here in the UK. They never went away as a brand but probably fell foul of the fickle UK audio market and dramatic change in trends over the last 20 years or so.

Quality high end audio has never been more competitive but there is still a market for it here in the UK and elsewhere if done properly. Perreaux’ philosophy has been a simple one , research your products and market thoroughly, use top quality components only if justified for sound quality and reliability, keep things as simple as possible and solid build. I know they spend a long time testing new designs and will not release a new product until it has been perfected and they are happy with it. Value for money is important in a price conscious market these days but quality is not compromised and corners aren’t cut.

Newly released the Perreaux Audiant VP3 vinyl phono pre amp is an exciting addition to the companies product line up. At £1950 it isn’t cheap and a few years ago a phono stage at this price level would have been deemed expensive and over the top. Now of course vinyl is on the rise and has overtaken CD in sales and popularity. It never died, it just had a hiatus whilst the digital formats slugged it out for supremacy. Analogue for me is still a supreme music format and is in my DNA.

The VP3 is beautifully built and has an understated quality and air about itself because of the simple design and its layout. The pictures don’t do it justice and it was only when it arrived and I eagerly took it out of its excellent packaging that I was truly impressed by its looks and build. The owner manual is superb coming in a ring binder format with very clear simple illustrations and instruction on correct use and operation. It even has its own laboratory tested performance graphs for both the MM and MC inputs showing actual measured THD , frequency response and spectrum analysis results with the serial number of each unit and the date of testing signed by the technician. Now not many companies go to that trouble and detail, very impressive.

The case consists of a very solid machined aluminium monocoque top panel with the Perreaux logo laser cut or cnc machined on the top and turned 90 degrees to form the slim front panel, half covered by a slick touch sensitive control section on the bottom half. The stand by , MM, MC and mono selection are the only controls on the front panel operated by touch capacitance like your smart mobile telephones these days. All other controls and connections are on the very comprehensively designed rear panel .Here the main power switch is located on the back right corner followed by the mains IEC input socket, trigger inputs for remote switching , RS232 port , loading switches, RCA single ended inputs for both MM and MC cartridges, balanced outputs on XLR, RCA unbalanced outputs, gain /RIAA adjustment switches, phono earth terminal. Phew, pretty impressive.

Customisation is very flexible to suit a wide range of MM and MC cartridges. There are seven different loading switches , three gain switches , mono selection and the ability to switch between a normal or IEC RIAA equalisation curve on each input. There are six different sets of dip switches on the rear to allow for maximum customisation and isolation of each input and channel. There is comprehensive loading for MM and MC inputs and variable gain for the output to suit your own cartridge or cartridges should you be so lucky to have either two or more turntables, or a turntable with two or more arms. The instruction manual really is excellent in explaining everything simply, I wish all manufactures were this good. It’s obvious Perreaux take great pride in their product and customer service.

Inside the VP3 is equally impressive in its build and component quality. All the circuitry, sockets and power supply are mounted on the solid aluminium top plate which acts as a solid foundation and effective heat sink. The toroidal power transformer is large and would do justice to many a decent hi-fi separate. All the switches and sockets are first rate and gold plated as expected in this price sector. The socketry is widely spaced and divided into left and right channel sides of the chassis so make sure your phono cables can split apart by several inches.

THE SOUND

I let the VP3 warm up for several days before serious listening commenced, but couldn’t resist initial sessions of seeing what it was like even though the unit was brand new and had never been run in. Like all new units a few hours after switch on yielded improvements as the sound stage increased in width, depth and detail. The ability to leave the unit in stand by is essential as it cuts down warm up periods, especially once the unit is run in fully.

I listened to the VP3 with both a Clearaudio Performance DC turntable and Virtuoso V2 moving magnet cartridge and my own Project Extension 9 with Ortofon Quintet black moving coil. It was therefore possible to test the full capabilities of the VP3. I set the loading and gain for each cartridge as recommended and didn’t feel the need to experiment further. From the outset I was impressed how quiet the VP3 was with either turntable and had no hum issues or glitches.

I happily put album after album on and simply enjoyed the listening experience. An old friend came round one evening and we spent several hours just revelling in the sound of the music we love , pretty well dumbfounded at how good it was. We both love modern jazz such as Bob James, David Sanborn, The Crusaders, Joe Sample, Grover Washington, John Klemmer etc.. What was so impressive was the depth of sound stage and sheer realism of the instruments and artists playing. A lot is talked about pace, rhythm and timing, my friend calls it the boogie factor, I say musicality. The VP3 had it in bucket loads and we both said it was the best phono stage we have ever heard.

Now I certainly haven’t heard all the phono stages out there and there are many superb models I am certain of that and far more expensive than the VP3, but in my opinion the sound of the VP3 is pretty sublime in its price sector. Perreaux state their aim is to make as good a product as they can with value for money factored in. Well I think they have achieved this admirably. I wont bore you the reader with all the different types of music I listened to, (it was wide and varied ) as you will probably like totally different styles to me, my wife certainly does.

One album my wife and I did listen to was Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours , an absolute classic loved by millions which has sold over 30 million copies worldwide now. We love all the tracks on the album but ‘The Chain ‘ BBC’s theme music for Formula one’s Grand Prix programme has everything we love about a great track. The build up, the bass line and drumming is superb. When Mick Fleetwood hits the bass drum with the foot pedal you hear the skin on the drum and it really sounds as if the band are in your room. The bass line reverberates menacingly around the room in front of you and then the track builds up to its climax like a race and leaves you thrilled and emotional as if you were part of it. Now that is what good music and hi-fi is all about.

CONCLUSION

I think Perreaux have made a great product in the VP3. Yes £1950 is not cheap, but if you are serious about your precious vinyl collection and have a good turntable, amp and speakers it is a cracking buy. I know it’s clichéd in reviewer speak but I will be very sorry when the VP3 goes back. My Whest Two is very good for it’s price £800 , but at less than half the VP3’s price can’t compare with its versatility due to cost constraints or sound staging capabilities. That’s why Whest make several other models themselves above the Whest Two, the MC Ref mk 4 being an eye watering £10000.

As I said at the beginning of my review vinyl has never been so popular for many years now but it’s renaissance has spurred many companies to push their research and passion into producing some brilliant bits of kit now. Enjoy.

Build Quality: 8.75/10
Sound Quality: 9.0/10
Value For Money: 8.5/10
Overall: 8.75/10

Ian Ringstead

Janine Elliot takes a listen to the distinctly art-deco looking (and named) phono-preamplifier from Zontek in Poland costing €8990 and having three inputs, allowing for three arms on your turntable.

I was honoured to be given a chance to play the heavyweight Zontek turntable complete with twiglet wooden arm a few months. At 60kg, this was no walk-over. I was also introduced to the Art-Deco phonostage, hot from the High End fair in Munich, and given its name because of the metal Art Deco style trellis to protect the unit.

This, too, was not only giant in price, at €8990 – about the same as my iconic elderly Manley Steelhead – but also in weight, bearing in mind the mahogany and brass sandwich structure matching the turntable. Its butch weight and solid structure contrast with the minute 5636 pentode and 6N16 dual triode tubes lining up in a row on the top looking like shy pupils on their first day at school. Covering them up in Art Deco wire seemed pointless. Being used to seeing large B300 or ogling over the obscene Russian GU81 single tetrode transmitter valves on the Icon MB1 monoblock, I wondered whether this novel looking product would hit the right frequency hotspots. So I decided to give it a listen.

The Art Deco comes in two units, like my Manley, with a power stage linked to the phono-stage with an umbilical cord. It seems Zontek would like the power unit to be kept on show, not least because the cord is only around two feet long, meaning its placement cannot be too far away. Hiding it would be criminal as it is a magnificent looking unit with the Art Deco trellis and solid wood build. Both are minimalist in appearance, with the green illuminated on-off button on the left of the phono-stage matching that on the turntable, and a single 3-way selector knob central on the front on the phono-stage as the only indication that you can control anything. There are no lights to help you know which input you are listening to. The back end of the unit is much more user friendly than the front, allowing for any setting of moving magnet or moving coil cartridge being catered for using the micro-switches at the back. Having three inputs is intentional, allow you to fit 3 arms on your Zontek turntable, if your needs or cash flow allows. The phono-stage, turntable and a single Delta arm will set you back a tad over €20,000, and in combination sound like a honeymoon, if not a marriage. I’ll explain that later.

Only the best components are used, as one would expect at this price, including LCR modules, Lundahl transformers and Mundorf Supreme components. On the back as well as RCA in-and-outs it also has balanced XLR output. Where my Manley Steelhead works well is that I can adjust settings easily from my chair (I have long arms…) because “factory settings” don’t always account for cable loading or resistance and, most importantly, your ears. With the Art Deco, all adjustments are done at the back with six sets of micro-switches, one for each channel of the three inputs. Anything micro on something big always worries me. Luckily Greg from GPoint Audio had preset the Ortofon MC2000ii attached to his Delta arm in such a way that it worked flawlessly with the phono-stage and my Townshend F1 cable.

SOUND

It was seamless; I mean everything was flat from the deepest pedal notes on my Saint Saens Organ Symphony to the ride cymbals on Brubeck Direct Cut Disc A Cut Above. The sound was fast, with a clarity that put many phonostages to shame whatever price. The MC2000ii has low output compared with my own Kontrpunkt b, but the noise floor of the Art Deco showed no sign of being touched with this product. Similarly the phono-stage had an ability to muster anything the grooves of my records threw at it, showing no sign of getting anywhere near the ceiling.

Its speed of retrieving soft or loud, high or low, slow or fast was as fit as any athlete whether on drugs or not. Only the bottom end was slightly recessed, lacking any excitement. I didn’t get lucky with Mark Knopfler’s solo album Get Lucky, his 7^th solo album and released in 2009. This Celtic influenced album opened up in a clarity I would expect from DVD Audio, rather than LP, and for me that seemed to spoil it. The bite from the drums in Cleaning My Gun, using a tight drum rhythm at the end of each phrase, was not far away from his earlier song So Far Away…. it just sounded too clean and recessed for me. Playing it through the £7000 Manley or the Time Step T-01MC at under £1000 gave me a more exciting bass end. But, the introductory words and heavy bass thumps in Hard Shoulder, itself reminding me of John Lee Hooker Deep Blue Sea had much more control in the review machine than either of the other two. Maybe something in the middle would be perfect, if there is such a thing. Where Border Reiver was fast and fun on the Zontek the flute at the start didn’t breathe enough for me to smell the Glasgow air of his birth town. Knopfler’s Dire Straits Brothers in Arms was iconic at release for its sound engineering and establishing the CD as a potential means of sound carrier (even with a few bad tape edits thrown in) but this stage was too perfect and relaxed. I remember reviewing a headphone amplifier 10 years ago and saying it had the personality of John Major. That went down about as well as his own tenure did, so I won’t make any jokes for fear of upsetting anyone bland.

But, do you really want to spend €8990 on what Peter Walker once said of his Quad amp as “a straight wire with gain”. Anyone knows that old Quads actually sound quite mellow and laidback with considerable bass and midrange warmth. But not so many know that that same phrase actually originated in 1964 by Harmon Kardon and their Citation amplifier, which isn’t on my list of “must haves”. What I am getting at is that the perfect amplifier or phono-stage may never happen, and whilst we all aim for that perfect 10, will we know if we get it, and then what do we do?

Music is a personal thing, and we all have our own tastes of music and equipment. For this set up to be perfect for me I need to be amongst the musicians, and I wasn’t. But, if you want a phono-stage of purity such as this then you will certainly not go wrong. This phono-stage is without doubt a honeymoon, but that is it. Being married to someone who is Mr Perfect and never ever argues just isn’t for me and I’d soon get bored. OK, the Manley has been surpassed by many top-notch phono-stages, such as the Boulder 2008, and if you really do want to spend lots of money, then you won’t go wrong with the Zontek. This was a stonker for a first release. However, whilst my Manley offered a more intimate affair with the musicians, keeping me amongst them rather than being sat in the back row, it is also more forgiving of less than perfect recordings. The Zontek hides nothing. Do have a listen to it. I will keep married to my trusty partner, but if you want something flat chested and with a cute petite bottom, then you’ll like this Polish Art Deco.

Sound Quality – 8.8/10

Value for Money – 8.5/10

Build Quality – 8.8/10

Overall – 8.7/10

Pros:

Flexible and with three inputs allowing for three arms

Fast and Clear Presentation

Cons:

Adjustments and micros-witches are on the rear

Front panel could be clearer

Slightly recessed bottom end

Hides nothing

Janine Elliot

Designer’s Comments

The preamplifier is based on three stages and LCR modules for RIAA correction. Tubes used are long life military grade (miniature) – pentode 5636 and dual trides 6N16.

To drive LCR modules we are using Lundahl interstage transformer. Preamplifier is supporting three inputs, each one is configurable for MC (stepup) or MM with appropriate R-load settings. Balanced output is driven by signal transformer.

Power supply unit is equipped with polypropylene capacitors, high quality audio grade power transformer and the choke.

Pawel Zontek

Janine Elliot takes a listen to the £2200 Signature One transformer coupled Moving Coil Phono-Stage from well known British manufacturer Rothwell.

I love Class A and large toroidal transformers, and if you have followed my reviews over the years you will know my love for anything passive. So, to be offered a chance to listen to a moving-coil phono-stage with Class A amplification and capacitor-based RIAA EQ was like being offered my favourite ice-cream. Rothwell-designed products date back to 1989, and have included step-up transformers, attenuators, phono-stages and passive preamplifiers.

Set up by Andrew Rothwell, like many manufacturers a budding musician learning classical guitar repertoire at a young age and with a love of rock and later jazz, he went on to study a degree in physics and working as an electronics engineer for British Aerospace. His interest in music and professional music technology (there’s not much of that on ships and planes) influenced his decision to leave this career and ultimately designing his Indus passive preamplifier in 1989, something he did after being disillusioned by the sound quality of some “high-end” active products on the market. And, whilst the world turned to everything transistor, his first experiments with a valve phono-stage were positive proof for him, and many other cottage industries, that valves were, and still are, better. Whilst not the earliest, the first Rothwell standalone phono-stage came at a time before such products were the norm, and his current catalogue boasts no fewer than seven phono related products.

The Signature is a high-gain moving-coil phono-stage, offering switchable 6dB gain selecting either 62 or 68dB gain, with a switch at the rear for 1:10 or 1:20 transformer turn ratio catering for input load of 470Ω or 117Ω, allowing the majority of cartridges to be well catered for. My Kontrupunkt b works best at a little above 100Ω, so the latter setting was found best for my audition purposes. The refined looking blue illuminating off/on front button relies on a smaller finger than mine to switch it on, which whilst a lovely looker took me a while to get used to as you need to literally push in the middle of the button. But once I mastered this, (the light is also a bit weak for me, but most will find it OK. It reminded me of the touch sensitive lights on the Philips GA212 turntable I had in the 70’s) my initial thoughts was the openness and silky smooth refined sound, as plush as the classy-looking silver front and black sleeved unit it came in. This didn’t mean it wasn’t clear. Far from it. Muse’s Drones album is still very energetic but not out of control or rough. “Mercy” was indeed compassionate in its delivery and the triple ribbon speakers in the Zeta Zero Piccolo speakers up for review had a sheen making for a tireless performance. Detail in Mike Valentine’s ‘Big Band Spectacular’ featuring The Syd Lawrence Orchestra and the legendary track “In the Mood” (Glen Miller), was all there and very clear. The sound was set back, rather than forward like many phono-stages, allowing for a good depth of sound allowing the orchestra to sit clearly in my living room, with the solo saxophone and then trumpet in “Little Brown Jug” to take front of stage when their time came. I started to really enter the recording studio live-area as I listened, rather than being in front of loudspeakers, which is after all the aim of all serious hifi designers. And whilst I loved what I heard I did feel it was still just a very little too laid back for me. Soundstage was as good as it gets, and the velvety performance I know will find many devotees.

The use of exceptional Swedish Lundahl transformers coupling and a capacitor-based passive EQ stage shows why this can beat even the very best of valve and transistor behemoths. Moving coils, even high output MC’s, are still very low-output generators, less than 10% of moving magnets, and therefore require circuits with a very good noise floor, something a transformer cannot be bettered for. This Rothwell is a very quiet baby, only requiring me to ensure I earth it really well to remove the very minutest hum, and with earth lift/earth link switch I could select my preference. The core material for the transformer itself is a cobalt based uncut amorphous strip which gives a high inductance factor (to extend the low frequency bandwidth) without the need for an excessive number of turns of wire, which in turn keeps the winding resistance, and hence noise, low. The coil itself has unusual inter-winding geometry to keep capacitance low, which extends the high frequency bandwidth and minimising ringing. This design also benefits from rejecting interference from external stray magnetic fields and therefore minimises hum.

For the first active circuitry a Class A amplifier is chosen, since it offers the purest and simplest circuitry, free from crossover distortion and nasty little op-amps often employed in a Class A/B design. After this is the passive RIAA EQ which utilises audiophile polypropylene capacitors. This is followed by a second active gain stage with a compound transistor configured output buffer for low output impedance and low distortion.

As well as exceptional noise floor, the extended frequency bandwidth provided me with a sound that just lit up my face with smiles. This was like home-made full fat ice-cream. Only when pushed a bit with complex mid-high frequencies did it sound slightly like a little bit of lemon sorbet, for example Pink Floyd ‘The Division Bell’ track “Cluster 1”, after matching output level, was a lot more powerful in performance at 117Ω than the low gain 470 Ω input, where the sound was less cluttered largely because the higher impedance opens the sound more giving the better top end and stereo at the expense of accuracy, especially in the bass. Having a switch to adjust to your cartridge is one thing, but this had two, one for each channel, which did surprise me somewhat, though I guess it was to do with performance and certainly not ergonomics. Perhaps there should be two on-off switches, one for each leg. Setting the best load for your cartridge is absolutely vital if you want the correct sound from your cartridge and certainly a “one fits all” isn’t likely to be the best move, as seen in some 5-figure offerings out there. So, two different settings as in the Rothwell are helpful, though I always personally favour phono-stages with variable impedance and capacitance. At £2200 I would like more settings. This is only a slight criticism as I couldn’t quite get the setting that is best for my Kontrapunkt .

For me, the Signature One just wasn’t quite as controled in its delivery as some phono-stages when mid/high frequencies were energetic. Pink Floyd ‘The Division Bell’ offered everything, but just not quite controlled enough when excited for me to give it that 9+. Floyd’s ‘Marooned’ ride cymbals were very clear, but bass and kick drum didn’t give enough authority to warrant that top mark. Clarity in the tops allowed for a great sound-stage, but David Gilmour’s voice lacked grunt I know I can get from my phono-stage of choice, though I have to admit that is substantially more expensive.

The ideal phono-stage shouldn’t leave a signature, and this Signature One is very neutral for most of my listening; only a few times sounding a bit like a panicking teacher when faced with the most unruly brats. The accompanying blurb claims the sound to be ‘simply unrivalled’, which is always a dangerous statement to make, and whilst the leaflet is a last thought, with several typos and perhaps missing a picture to show connections, it is not short of looks and design innovations. Rothwell’s CV also includes some amazing guitar pedals (I also play the guitar) with titles such as “F1 Booster”, “Atomic Booster”, “Hellbender” and “Tornado”, and I only wish he had put a bit of the titles of some of these products into the Signature One’s recipe; then it would have been up with the very best of them, at any price.

CONCLUSION

My job as a reviewer can be frustrating. Whilst I so want to give everything I hear that very top mark, I need to be critical, and so I very, very rarely give anything 9 unless it absolutely the best. This is a truly good product showing that the thought into, and physics of, the design really do work, and I have no qualms in suggesting you listen to this product, certainly if you want that purity and ease of performance. Some might find it just a little too relaxed and then panicking slightly with complex input, but what it can do, unlike many phono-stages is to be as happy on classical and jazz as it is with heavy rock. Now, that is something to be very proud of.

Sound Quality – 8.8/10

Value for Money – 8.6/10

Build Quality – 8.5/10

Overall – 8.63/10

Pros:

Mostly neutral

Ease of performance

Good with a wide range of genres

Cons:

Can get a little too relaxed and panicky with complex material in the mid-high frequency range

Janine Elliot

Designer’s Comments

Obviously, the primary design decision behind the Signature One was to use on-board step-up transformers. In my experience you can’t beat transformer coupling low output moving coils. It isn’t a popular way to go for manufacturers because it’s considerably more costly than using op-amps or transistors, and most audiophiles are wary of using step-up transformers at all, probably based on ugly rumours circulating on forums, but I wanted to produce a great-sounding phonostage and demonstrate the benefits of step-up transformers in a convenient one-box package. The on-board step-up transformers in the Signature One can be set for ratios of 1:10 and 1:20 so the vast majority of modern MCs can be accommodated. They are supplied by Lundahl and are superb.

The next design decision was to use discrete transistor circuitry. Although op-amps have become ubiquitous throughout the hi-fi industry, the fact that they have class B output stages seems to be overlooked. They’re very much like Class B transistor power amps, but in miniature, and suffer from crossover distortion in a similar way to power amps. Large amounts of negative feedback are used to reduce the crossover distortion, but in a high gain circuit such as a phonostage there isn’t a lot of negative feedback available, hence there’s a limited ability to control the distortion. But class A circuits don’t suffer from crossover distortion at all, so they’re the obvious way to go, and that’s the reason behind the decision to use discrete transistors – simple class A circuits. We use two transistors in a configuration similar to a complementary feedback pair for each gain block, that way there’s local feedback in each gain block rather than global feedback over the whole circuit. You can get remarkable performance from just two transistors this way.

The RIAA equalisation is performed passively between two gain blocks using the usual type of RC filters, but we use multiple capacitors where others might use just one. That improves the accuracy of the playback curve. We also use polypropylene capacitors for their audio performance.

Another aspect of the Signature One’s design which is unusual is the use of discrete transistor regulators within the power supply. Audiophiles are familiar with the idea that power supplies are important but all too often confuse that with big power supplies. However, we don’t need a lot of muscle for a class A circuit drawing a few milliamps, we need finesse. That means a very clean voltage with no high frequency “fuzz” on it. Big transformers do nothing to give you that, and they can cause problems by producing a large magnetic field which can affect a sensitive circuit like a phonostage. The key to making a good power supply with low noise is the use of good voltage regulators. There are lots of cheap, general purpose voltage regulator ICs available and they perform well enough for most purposes. They’re particularly good at maintaining a precise output voltage over a very wide range of temperatures, making them reliable for use next to large heat-generating devices or in freezing cold conditions, and they can be used for a wide variety of non-audio circuits, but they aren’t entirely free of fuzzy noise – which doesn’t really matter in a lot of applications. However, for the Signature One I chose to design a regulator for one application only – that is for this particular circuit and for low noise. Most other manufacturers use IC regulators but I prefer my own discrete transistor regulators. Sure, the output voltage will drift a little if you use them at The North Pole but that’s less important than maintaining low noise in my opinion.
The decision to have an onboard power supply instead of a power supply in a separate box is also perhaps a bit unusual at this price point, too. The reason for that is because an onboard power supply is much more convenient for the end user and extensive testing showed that we could get performance from an onboard power supply every bit as good as from an outboard power supply. I think that an outboard power supply is all too often used simply to justify a high retail price, and to make the power supply look “big” and therefore “good” in the eyes of consumers who don’t know any better – and why should they know any better? They aren’t electronics engineers, so they can’t be expected to know why an outboard power supply is better – or not – but they can be wowed with an extra heavy box.

Finally, there are some audiophile aspects to the Signature One which just add the finishing touches to performance. The main circuit board for example is soft-mounted to isolate it from vibration, and silver-plated oxygen-free copper wire with PTFE insulation is used internally. These aren’t primary design decisions, more like paying attention to small details. After all, every little helps.

Andrew Rothwell

The Remton 383 Mk 2 Phonostage is made in Prague, uses a trio of ECC83s valves and costs a smidgen over £1000, Janine Elliot tries it in her system for Hifi Pig.

There are an assortment of different phono stages entering the market at the circa-£1000 price point, in all shapes and sizes. Lots offer specifications and looks that would have cost much more some years ago, with many coming now from East European countries. Remton Audio, a company owned by Alexander Remmer, is a product of the Czech Republic and based in Prague, and whilst might well be a new name to many (indeed their first exhibit was only in 2013) they have already created a portfolio of phono stages that would put some established companies to shame.

Alexander has an obvious yearning for creating the best reproduction from your records. With a motto of “Real Vinyl Sound” and using proven traditional concepts and components Remton Audio are already creating products of good build and sonic clarity, and without a hefty price tag to match. Alexander favours moving magnet designs and only adds moving coil in “Mk2” versions as an “extra” facility using Sowter step-up transformers. The Mk1 version of the 383 reviewed here comes in at £550 and in two boxes; one for the power supply and one for the ECC83s/12AX7 tube based design. The Mk2 is now all in a single traditional black or silver fronted design of box, and with separate divided compartments to stop influences from the toroidal power supply, nothing exotic or wood, and even the valves are hidden inside rather than sticking through the top as in the Mk 1 incarnation. This model also has added Sowter step-up transformers for the MC cartridges, common to all Mk2 versions, and dip switches to allow you to fine tune to your cartridge of choice. With input impedance from 36 Ohm to 100k Ohm, and input capacitance choice of 0, 47 pF, 100 pF, 147 pF, 220 pF, 267 pF, and 367 pF, depending on permutation of the dip switches I could tailor my Kontrapunkt b to the optimum setting of 80Ohm load impedance via the 47k and 100K ohm switches and with the ‘MC-low’ switch, and 100pF capacitance. Their higher priced models use LCR RIAA design, whereas this £1050 offering, whilst having a similar appearance, uses a passive RIAA equalisation, zero negative feedback and excellent low noise output.

It is labelled as the ‘383’ because of the three matched JJ Electronic ECC83s tubes. Their cheaper 8382 model therefore has matched JJ ECC83S and JJ ECC82S tubes.My initial awareness was of a surprisingly efficient output and quiet noise level allowing the music to come through both loud and clear and all with a great depth; Saint-Saens Piano Concerto’s (EMI Aldo Ciccolini) had full power and weight with superb midrange, a propensity that ECC83’s in output stages give so well. It reminded me of the sound from my ECC83/EL84 Leak Stereo 20. A high level of three-dimensionality of sound was also observed, particularly in the depth of sound front-to-back. Everything was smooth, relaxed, unfettered. At no time did I find this phono-stage needy nor was it limited. Saint-Saens Organ Symphony (EMI London Philharmonic Orchestra, Serge Baudo) had bite in the bass that filled my listening room with music, showing how well the bass-to-low midrange frequencies were looked after by this phono-stage. Patricia Barber ‘Live in Paris’ had an amazingly energetic and forward bass line, and ride cymbals with a clarity that made for an involved listening session. David Gilmour ‘Rattle that Lock’ first track is called 5am, and the quietness of the amp during this relaxing start wouldn’t wake up anyone. Once David himself woke up I was compelled to listen and felt very close to the music and hence the spirit of what this latest album was all about. As a contrast Tangerine Dream ‘Rubicon’ gave me a chance to match the ECC83’s with VCO’s, VCF’s and VCA’s of the 1970’s. This was fun. A sound of delicacy and depth matched only by my treacle pudding that I heated up for tea. Unlike my pudding I never got sick of listening to the 383. No, this product had immense character. Only when reconnecting my choice $8,000 Manley did I notice the speed – particularly at the start of bass sounds – wasn’t quite as crisp and resolute, though there was more of it. Indeed, it was the bass/mid that got me engrossed in this design. The Tangerine Dream 180g album was less inviting through my own phono-stage, making me wonder whether the whole point of listening to music is technicality or to get involved inside the notes. The 383 certainly captured my mind with curiosity and intrigue, placing me closely involved in the music that at points during my review made me wonder if I should actually buy one for my own listening room. This was a product very much worth trying out, and if you should actually want a MM-only version, then of course one is available at a cheaper price. Their LCR RIAA phono stages at £2750 and £3250 would however be my next point of call.

CONCLUSION

There are many phono-stages at this price point, but very few have the musicality, richness and warmth that this design brings to bear. This product is well worth an audition and it got me hooked right from the start, and whilst detail in delivery is not quite on par with top-end and top priced amplifiers, at £1050 it was extremely good fun to listen to.

Sound Quality: 8.45/10

Build Quality: 8.3/10

Value for Money: 8.6/10

Overall: 8.45/10

Price at time of Review £1050

For:

Excellent retrieval of detail for the price
Warmth of sound

Cons:

The speed of sound not quite as good as some
Slight upper bass – lower mid emphasis
Basic looks

Janine Elliot

Dominic Marsh and Ian Ringstead take the very well specced £699 Pro-Ject MaiA DS integrated amplifier for a ride and rather enjoy it.

How do you make a great amplifier even better? That was the task facing Pro-Ject when updating their excellent little MaiA amplifier that Hifi Pig gave an Outstanding Product Award to back in March 2015’s issue.

The next logical step we can presume then would be to increase the power output, in this case from 25 watts per channel from the original MaiA, up to 50 watts per channel for the DS variant and it doesn’t stop there either, with an extra cost option of the Power Box MaiA DS taking it up to no less than 80 watts per channel. Pro-Ject say the amplifier will cope with speaker loads down to 2 Ohms. Impressive!

We don’t hand out Outstanding Product Awards lightly and the original MaiA amplifier won that by having no less than 9 inputs packed into a diminutive package and the DS version has that same number still, but some important changes have been made with those it seems in the DS variant. The phono section has been enhanced for better cartridge matching with the addition of a moving coil input, the DAC section can now also handle DSD data input, plus a new facility included whereby remote controls can be handled via a downloadable app to a phone, tablet or PC.

Construction

I make no apologies for repeating what I wrote to describe the original MaiA’s layout as they are essentially the same, which saves me a lot of typing but worth reading anyway as there are notable differences between the MaiA and the MaiA DS version.

The DS variant is still a diminutive amplifier by anyone’s standards and I can easily see it fitting unobtrusively into countless domestic situations. Measuring some 206mm(W) x 72mm(H) x 220mm (230mm including speaker sockets) deep and has a slightly larger footprint in depth than the MaiA. Incidentally, these measurements were taken by me which seems to be at variance with the dimensions given on the Pro-ject website. The separate power supply provides 24 volts of DC at 5 amps and is fitted with a dual pole plug that connects it with the power inlet socket on the rear of the amplifier, with the power input to the power supply unit is via a standard figure of eight IEC socket (Suitable mains lead supplied). Other plugs and voltage matching power supplies are available for non-UK consumers. The casework is of steel construction with the choice of either a black or silver finish faceplate. Fit and finish of the casework is exemplary and the sample supplied for review was in a silver finish.

When it comes to source inputs, there is an absolute plethora available, with an impressive NINE separate digital and analogue inputs to choose from. Rarely seen these days although we are seeing a huge revival of vinyl playback, is an RCA phono input that caters for both moving magnet or moving coil cartridges, followed by 3 line level analogue inputs labeled 1, 2 and 3 accordingly, then on to the digital inputs which comprises 2x TOSLINK sockets, an RCA co-axial digital input, a USB input and a Bluetooth connection to APT-X standard, with a supplied external aerial which screws on to a dedicated socket on the rear panel.

There is only provision for a single pair of speakers to be connected. The group of four 4mm connectors are grouped tightly together at the far right of the rear panel (although not as tightly grouped as the original MaiA) and not insulated from each other either, plus the holes to insert bare wired cables are aligned vertically so extreme care is needed so the wire isn’t pushed right through the connector body to touch the adjacent terminal above or beneath. A good tip would be to measure exactly how much bare wire is exposed on the cable to be inserted that is less than the connector’s diameter, so none of the bare wire is exposed external to the connector to negate the risk of shorting. I would not advocate or even contemplate using spade connectors for the speaker connections because of the close proximity of the naked terminals.

On the front panel reading from left to right, we have a power button with a tiny blue LED above. A real surprise was to see the amplifier perform a soft start operation with the LED blinking while it is being carried out, so no switch on or power down thumps through the speakers from this amplifier, which is rather refreshing to see. Next we have the remote control window which is a small unobtrusive plastic dome, followed by a 6.3mm headphone socket, which mutes the speaker output when a headphone jack plug is inserted. We then have a rotary volume control knob to adjust the volume by hand, although the control itself is also motorized for adjustment via the remote control handset. The control itself is quite stiff to turn by hand, although in all probability this stiffness will ease over time with usage. The remote control handset provides the basic functions of source selection, volume adjustment, muting and power on/off. Next on the front panel of the amp we find a source selector button which changes the source in upwards increments, with a bank of blue LEDs to indicate which source has been selected and screen printed in black lettering beneath those LEDs is the source names themselves, then finally another source selector button to change the source in downwards increments. Incidentally, the front panel LEDs are very small yet still bright, but don’t actually provide much glare as blue LEDs are prone to do. You can tell the power is applied and which source has been selected without constantly drawing your attention to them – a nice touch.

SPECIFICATIONS

Power output	2x 40 W / 60W at 8 / 4 ohms
Signal-to-noise ratio Line/MM/MC	> -90dB / -90dB / -75dB (IEC A-weighted)
Channel separation	> -65dB
THD +N	< 0,07%@ 15W
Frequency response	20Hz – 20kHz (+0,2dB, -2,5dB)
Analogue inputs	3 pair RCA/Cinch sockets line
	1 pair phono MM/MC input (RCA)
Input impedance	Line: 50Kohms, Phono: MM 47kohms / MC 100 ohms
Digital inputs	USB, RCA coax, 2 Toslink, Bluetooth (aptX)
D/A converter	TI PCM1796 Delta-Sigma
Speaker connectors	4mm Ø banana plugs, spades connectors or naked wire
Headphone output	6,3mm jack
Headphone impedance	16 – 600ohms recommended
Line outputs	fixed, variable (subwoofer, power amp)
Power supply	24V/5A DC; 100 – 240V, 50/60Hz
Standby Power consumption	< 0,5W
Dimensions W x H x D	206 x 72 x 220 (230mm with sockets)
Weight	1550g without power supply

The original MaiA was priced at circa £399.00 and naturally the DS has a price premium of around £300.00 more at £699.00, so let’s see what that extra cash outlay gives you.

Sound Quality

Unlike a standard run-of-the-mill integrated amplifier review, I had my work cut out with this one as it wasn’t just a case of bunging a CD player into it and any old pair of speakers and cables for the output either. If the inputs were there, they all had to be tested which proved to be quite a lengthy and protracted process. Not only that, I had to fit the amplifier into various systems ranging from high end to budget, including ancillaries so hopefully you the reader can get a handle on it’s performance envelope.

Firstly, I paired the MaiA DS with my HTC mobile phone using the Bluetooth facility and this was straightforward and easy to do when following the instructions given in the user manual. Select the “BT” source on the front panel, and then set the phone to detect any nearby devices and when the BT LED on the MaiA flashes, momentarily press the power button on the MaiA and job done with no need for passwords. I only have a small selection of MP3 tracks on my phone, but the sound quality was perfectly acceptable nonetheless given the limitations of the MP3 format. I have Spotify on my tablet PC and the sound was again perfectly acceptable from that source.

With a more accurate signal being fed into the amplifier from my resident CD player, I was stunned at just how good this little amplifier sounded. Delicious treble performance which was clean and vibrant, the sound of struck cymbals were as realistic as anyone could wish for, with a defined metallic “ting” and the following decay all clearly rendered. Mid tones were slightly on the lean side giving a slightly cool balance to the sound. When it came to the bottom octaves, the extra power of DS version certainly added weight and body in the bass regions, which is where the MaiA’s weakness lay, although the MaiA and the DS variant obviously share the same DNA, the DS version sounds like it has a lot more headroom with power in reserve to cope with heavy bass and fast transients.

I found it a very entertaining listen and happy to say that I was never affronted by what I was hearing, or never once thinking to myself “Wish there was more bass, better mids, clearer treble, etc” because it simply wasn’t the case. Fink’s “Sort of Revolution” CD sounded palpable and full of detail, the propulsive bass line being recreated very well indeed and the treble especially so, that “ting” from the Ride cymbals in all the tracks never being overwhelmed by the rest of the music so it stood as an individual clear entity. This album is threaded throughout with close mic’d acoustic guitar recorded so the body of the instrument needs to be captured and the squealing of the finger work on the frets is integral to the performance, adding not detracting from the charm of the album.

As I did with the original MaiA amplifier, I installed the DS into the wife’s TEAC component system and it outclassed the TEAC amplifier in every respect. No surprise there to be honest.

Time now to really put the MaiA DS through it’s paces with my resident system CD player, speakers and cabling. Now I found that the amplifier wasn’t seriously outclassed at all with every component costing many times more than it did. The sound moved on into yet another dimension that was snapping at the heels of my resident amplifier which cost some 10 times more than the MaiA DS and the MaiA. Yes it didn’t have the raw grunt and outright power at higher volumes, but even so it says more about these amplifier’s capabilities and what can be achieved with good design that enabled that.

Back into the CD drawer went Fink’s “Sort of Revolution” and here we are talking about differences between the two amplifiers in the finite range, they were that small. Bass was 90% of what my resident amplifier gave me, treble was even closer and it was much easier now to pick up the ambience cues in the recording , but it was the mid band was where I heard the greatest difference and the MaiA provided a slightly “leaner” sound, but even that I could probably have lived with on a daily basis without real criticism in the long term, because that is a better compromise than a flabby or chesty sounding midrange which wreaks havoc with the music’s undertones.

Imaging and soundstage were certainly well up to standard with good height and depth, the sound extending well out beyond the speaker boundaries.

The MaiA DS like it’s smaller sibling didn’t quite have the same “punch in the guts” bass power and dynamics that my resident amplifier has and frankly didn’t expect it to be, but I don’t see that as a weakness on behalf of the MaiA DS as my own amplifier has 150 watts per channel on tap. Incidentally, the casework didn’t even get the slightest bit warm during these high power runs. A highly commendable performance.

Last, but by no means least, I turned to the digital input capabilities of the MaiA DS. Both co-axial and optical inputs routed from my CD player in to the DAC section were more than satisfactory with no noise or mush detected. It was nigh on impossible to tell if the resulting sound via the DAC was any better or different to the DAC within my resident CD player because they sounded so similar. Signal lock was instantaneous although there is no indicator to show that it was. USB connection from my laptop PC was of a similar performance so no quibbles there either. As my television and satellite receiver are in another room unfortunately, I was unable to test how the MaiA DS interfaced with that equipment although I forsee no issues there either.

Conclusion

Whereas the original MaiA amplifier was fine for smaller rooms like a study or a bedroom, the extra power available from the DS version means it will provide more than sufficient output to fill a medium sized room from a good solid 50 watts per channel of clean sound, three line level analogue inputs, a switchable moving magnet or moving coil phono input, remote control, a headphone output too, no less than three digital inputs, the unique remote control facility and a Bluetooth connection as well, adds up to a versatile and highly flexible heart to any hifi music reproduction, computer, or two channel A/V system. With a genuine level of swiss army knife versatility that these Pro-ject MaiA amplifiers possess, the savings from not buying separate DACs and high sensitivity phono stages alone makes them a total steal at their asking prices.

The MaiA DS will happily integrate into budget systems, middle ranking systems and not entirely out of place or embarrassed when rubbing shoulders with the esoteric either, so I will say nothing more other than a wholehearted endorsement from me.

PROS: The closest I could find to a Swiss Army knife in terms of connectivity and functionality. Sound is considerably better than you would expect from a diminutive little box. Price.

CONS: Beware the spacing on the speaker binding posts.

Dominic Marsh

Dominic rated the MaiA DS so highly it was sent to Hifi Pig reviewer Ian Ringstead for a second opinion.

Given that Dominic rated the MaiA DS so highly I was asked if I could do a follow up to his review on the and took no persuading being a great fan of Pro-ject. The MaiA DS is basically a MaiA on steroids built to higher standards in a very nicely made case and with a solid aluminium front panel. I have owned a Pro-ject RS phono stage which was excellent, so I knew what to expect build wise; could the sound be as good?

The DS is bigger than the standard MaiA with a larger separate power supply to allow for the greater power output it produces. Like the MaiA, the DS is incredibly versatile and is a veritable Swiss army knife as Dominic said himself in his review. For such a compact unit it packs one hell of a punch with it numerous analogue and digital inputs. I particularly like the fact the very good phono stage has both moving magnet and moving coil switching. I used both to good effect and as a reviewing tool it would be a handy amp to have. The headphone stage is useful as well, and unless you are a purist does a fine job.

The credit card sized remote is neat but could easily be lost down a cushion so make sure you don’t misplace it! I tried my mobile phone with the DS streaming my music and found it a very straight forward process to achieve. The sound was good even though it was only mp3 and a convenient way of playing background music through your system for a party or meal with friends. Although the power output is only 55 watts, it was plenty with my resident Triangle speakers.

MaiA DS can be upgraded with a separate linear power supply that will almost double the dynamic per-formance power and improves the sound significantly in terms of punch and clarity. Power Box MaiA DS additionally offers convenient power wiring for customers who decide to have multiple Pro-Ject components in a system. Up to five products from the Pro-Ject family, including a turntable (DC-only products) can be connected simultaneously.

Dominic has covered all the facilities and features in his review so I’ll just say I loved it as well. If space is a major issue and let’s face it modern homes are smaller than they used to be or you live in a small flat or bed-sit, then the MaiA DS is a real boon without compromising on the quality front. In my room and system the DS was excellent, so I urge anyone who is interested in trying one out to ask a dealer if they will loan you one on a trial basis. As a second system amp it would be superb if you can justify the extra cost. I used it with my Pro-ject Extension 9 and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil and had no issues with the built in phono stage and the separate phono stage I am currently trying out costs more than the DS, and although better ,wasn’t vastly superior, so well done to the design team.

Pros

Fantastic little amp that is very well built and specified

Remote control

Great range of inputs and outputs

Power supply can be upgraded

Cons

The speaker terminals are closely packed together, so be careful with your connections, using good 4mm plugs.

Ian Ringstead

At £2500 the AVID Hifi Pellere Phono-stage borrows a lot of its make up from its more expensive sibling costing £4300, but does it cut the right kind of groove? Janine Elliot finds out.

AVID Hifi might be best known for their excellent turntables, but this company has over the last 6 years been vastly extending their expertise into other areas such as loudspeakers, preamps, power-amps, cables, alignment equipment, racks, and particularly phono-stages. Indeed, their first foray into electronics was the original Pulsare phono-stage in 2010. I remember this model receiving universal praise in the press, with its high level of adjustment of input, gain, plus capacitance and resistance loads, as well as an exceptionally good sound. Four large 1950’s style knobs allowing a degree of fine-tuning to your input and output that put most other mid and high-end photo-stages to shame. So to be delivered a Pellere in 2016 with no buttons on the front of either box was quite a shock. All that tweakery in this, the second-from-the top-of the-line machine from AVID, needs to be done via a forest of colour-coded micro-switches underneath one of the two boxes.

That box, the gubbins behind this phonostage, now just visibly sports a red light switch and a front panel etched deeply with a large “A” to show that AVID is also a major force when it comes to the art of metalwork. The Pellere and Pulsare II both use a 300VA supply dedicated to each channel in a matching box connected by umbilical cord. The all-important button is the on/off rocker-switch which sits under the front of this unit. Like most discerning manufacturers the power-supply is becoming a major part of the whole “package” and usually sensibly in its separate box, something AVID has always taken seriously with their turntables. I remember Cyrus and Naim, back in the 90’s, really pushing the idea of upgrading the on-board power supply with an external box to improve the performance. Not surprising this is now a major part of any hifi that is worth its price tag. Without a decent mains, little is possible, whether a power amplifier or turntable or phono-stage. Bearing in mind the high amount of amplification needed in a MC phono-stage it is important that the electronics are quiet, and because in simplistic terms the signal is simply modulated on the mains supply to make it louder it means that this mains supply needs to be as perfect as possible to get the most faithful audio. The four phono-stages in the range all have Latin names beginning with the letter ‘P’ and use words to do with music, such as “pulse” and “drive”; though these could equally apply to the mains supply.

So far so good. But would I then be disappointed that the standard multi-switch knobs in the new Pulsare II – which operate relays meaning that there is no outside interference to inhibit the audio signal – would were removed in favour of micro-switches hidden under the phono unit, just as in the cheaper Pellar and Pulsus? Those knobs and relays do put up the price considerably, so removing them is vital in making this phono-stage accessible to more people. Just as the first Morris Minor didn’t have synchromesh on first gear to save 2/11d, Conrad Mas, CEO of AVID, has needed to make these changes to keep that price point down. The Pellere does have the same circuit board just that the Pulsare has some higher grade components and a double-regulated power supply having greater storage capacity, though they are both rated at 300VA. Other modifications to keep that all-important price point down include missing out a few ‘Deluxe Model’ extras such as the subsonic filter, mono switch and even a custom facility to match cartridge load resistance precisely, should you have required that. Little sacrifice, because this phono-stage is by no means the economy edition. This is a serious piece of kit. Only that it is £1800 cheaper. By starting with the best and adapting it to the price point this is a Bentley, and not an Austin Allegro.

Even with these changes the Pellere is an exceptionally quiet phono-stage with an equally good specification, comprising a fully balanced architecture meaning that whether using balanced XLR or unbalanced RCA inputs, the internal circuitry is balanced at all times, and with a switchable floating or grounded earth facility in case there are hum problems; something turntables and arms can often suffer with. And should your arm cable, like most, be unbalanced then AVID are happy to rewire it so that the XLR input can be used. There are excellent balanced phono-stages from companies such as Boulder and Ayre who also see the definite advantages of true balanced wiring in the tonearm, and most arms can be adapted to balanced if not already done. Selection of balanced or unbalanced input is done by the DIP switches, one set for each leg. The other DIP switches alter input gain depending on whether you are using MM, MC low, med or high (40dB – 50dB – 60dB – 70dB) , and a high degree of fine-tuning of capacitance and resistance loading to match your cartridge. Output is balanced or unbalanced. For my Kontrapunkt b cartridge I selected medium gain, 100pf and 100Ω.

Sound

Once I got accustomed to the new looks and lack of easy access to the controls I could sit back and admire the simplicity of looks. The Pellere might be cheaper than the Pulsare, but considerable effort has been put into match it in terms of sound quality, design and components. £2500 is a very competitive price, but there are plenty of other manufacturers at this price competing for business. I needed a product that not only allowed good tailoring to my other components but also offered a musical rendition of all types of music I played. My initial observations were of a tight and very flat response, via the passive RIAA Neumann HF correction, as used in all their phono-stages.

Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell starts with seagulls, extremities of bowed double-bass and bass guitar going all the way to the bottom and ride cymbal repetition, both effortlessly played with no sign of harshness, and a speed allowing perfect timing of the rhythms. All instruments played with a clear-cut clarity that in track three ‘Poles Apart’ allowed the solo voice and vocal backing to work together in close harmony, but still with a good degree separation allowing both – competing with different notes and words – to be easily distinct and ordered.

Mike Valentine’s new Clare Teal/Syd Lawrence tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, who would have been celebrating her 100^th birthday next year had she stayed around, gave a smoothness of Clare’s voice in clear contrast to the speed and power of the ‘blasts’ from the trumpets and trombones. ‘I’ve Got You Under my Skin’ was toe tapping time for me; something I try not to do. The distinctive melancholy Glen Miller harmonies from the woodwind section in ‘Begin the Beguine’ were clearly separated from the less relaxed trumpet and trombone blasts. Hearing page turns between tracks just helped this direct cut disc to sound even more real; How Clare could get through four tracks on each side of the disc without a cough, splutter or hitting a wrong note just showed how professional she was, as were all the musicians in this excellent album. ‘Ding Dong the Witch is Dead’ starts with powerful blasts from the very start, showing the music is very much alive. This was a particularly well performed track. The split notes from the top (concert) D from the trumpets showed a clear control of extremities of dynamics in this piece. All performed with a clarity that showed this phono-stage wasn’t vexed at anything I threw at it, nor did it add anything to the sound, as many phono-stages will do. This phono amplifier was not harsh in its playing, rather giving a neutral balance of sound at all times.

For that reason I thought I would play an album that really does cry out for a phono-stage with its own audio signature to improve a bad recording. Putting on my 70’s short skirt I began to listen to mine – and Conrad’s – least favourite band Steely Dan and “Do it again” (‘Greatest Hits’ album); a track that combines a highly compressed and excessive reverb and double tracking in the vocals competing with strong rhythms and guitar solo, a double-tracking mono synthesiser melody plus even a bell-tree making an appearance at the end of a few phrases which sounds as if it belongs to a different piece of music. This album has tracks from 1972-78 hits combining lots of instruments and mixing styles that, I have to say, was never particularly recorded with hi-fidelity listening in mind, but the Pellere was as honest and as clear as I could have ever wished any phono-stage to be. If you want a machine to make awful recordings to sound good, look elsewhere. This one is about honesty and accuracy.

Moving into the 80’s, “Sky 3” ‘Moonroof’ has powerful drum stabs that compete with gentler acoustic and electric guitar tunes that some phono-stages can’t play without me gritting my teeth and heading for the volume control. The speed of these combined with the ease of performing kept me intent on playing through the entire side of this album. John Williams’s guitar playing is clear and precise. ‘Sister Rose’ with its Premier drum-kit playing with passion one minute and then with gusto the next was powerful but controlled and musical when it needed it. “Hello” is one of my favourite tracks from the Sky repertoire, with long vibrato’s from the acoustic guitar melody and piano accompaniment, only to be interrupted with powerful drum and electric guitar riffs as they get emotionally engrossed. The drum kit really is ‘in your face’ in this album – but the Pellere just kept everything in its correct place and time, with a high degree of space and positioning and allowing all notes to sustain and release fully. This phono-stage really does work. Only the lowest notes weren’t quite as gutsy as I would perhaps have liked.

As a complete contrast Ravi Shankar ‘Tana Mana’ is an excellent mix of Indian Sitar, synthesizers and early digital sampling that is very ethereal and ambient, full of detailed rhythms and high pitched phrases that some phono-stages would make sound harsh and top-heavy. In contrast, the Pellere kept it controlled and clear, opening up all the instruments with clarity and passion that made me realise why this phono-stage wouldn’t feel out of place attached to their top Acutus Reference turntable. Each instrument appeared in its own ambient space, both ‘front and back’ as well as ‘left and right’. This album has many quiet sections as well as thumping tabla drum finger-work, and all hand-hitting was allowed to decay perfectly, something a valve phono-stage might be less controlled in doing. Despite all signals travelling through the DIP switches, the unit was exceptionally quiet in operation being able to give a big blast from vocals and instruments in the Tala’s and Raga’s when required.

Conclusion

This might not be the top model in AVID Hifi’s line-up, but this is no less a model, following very closely the design architecture of its bigger brother. Not a shade of harshness from the solid state circuitry and with a passion and musicality I expect in valve. The fiddly DIP switches were soon forgotten as soon as I started to get engrossed in the music I was playing. Once you have selected the right settings for your cartridge you never need to perform any settings other than switching the Pellere on and off. If you cannot make the move to buy the Pulsare II, then this model should perhaps be your next move. The fact that the phono-stage works in balanced mode means it will be ready should you ever decide to go balanced in the future. With an extremely transparent and neutral presentation of music with extremely low distortion, and an extended and flat frequency response, I found nothing that I could criticise. Perhaps it is just a little too ‘safe’ in its portrayal of the music, and not quite as engrossing as my phono-stage of choice, though that particular one is 3 times the price. This is a very revealing cartridge, and perhaps for that reason it could be too perfect for some.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Bomb proof construction typical of AVID. Available in black or silver.

Sound Quality: Precise, accurate and captivating sound. Flat frequency response, and very quiet in operation

Value For Money: With design closely taken from the top £4300 Pulsare II but is only 60% of the cost. Now that’s a bargain!

Pros:

Based on the Pulsare II gives it a calibre
Balanced in and out
Neutral portrayal of the music
Flat frequency response
Extremely quiet
Good amount of control in matching cartridge load

Cons:

Could be a little too revealing and neutral for some
Fiddly DIP switches

Price: £2500

Janine Elliot

Specification

Noise: < -81dB MM <-67dB MC

Distortion: < 0.001%

RIAA: 5Hz – 70kHz +/-0.5dB

Gain: 40dB – 50dB – 60dB – 70dB

Resistance loading: 10R – 30R – 100R – 300R – 500R – 1k – 5k – 10k – 47k

Capacitance loading: 100pf – 200pf – 500pf – 1.5nf – 10nf – 20nf

Power supply: Regulated with 300va transformer

Voltage input: 100-240vac 50/60Hz 10 watts max. (depending on region)

Dimensions: 290 x 240 x 100mm (WxDxH)

Net weight: Control unit – 3.8Kg (8.4lb) PSU – 6.4Kg (14lb)

Packaging: 360 x 310 x 290mm (WxDxH)

Shipping weight: 12.0Kg (27lb)

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From Greece, the Echo Diastasis PH-79 Phono Stage is a dual mono design using E-Core transformers and costs £2760. Janine Elliot gives it a whirl.

Georgios Loutridis is very proud of his PH-79. This new Echo Diastasis phono-stage from Greece is the fourth product in his portfolio, all sharing the number 79, and replacing the PH-7 phono-stage before. This new model has many developments over the previous model including being a dual mono design and featuring two E –core transformers, as used in their other products, as opposed to a single toroidal in the PH-7. It also comes with better parts and materials, and a different circuit design. It maintains the active RIAA EQ of the previous model though better design and components. It is also significantly better looking though much bigger. The number 79 was very special to me; the year I started university, and the number of strands on my first serious cable. For George the number derives from his favourite numbers 7 and 9;

“I used to be a basketball player and 7 and 9 were my t-shirt numbers. Nowadays, I am still playing the guitar as a musician and composer and got 7 electric guitars and 2 acoustics…total 9!”

He refers to his four models (phono-stage, integrated, pre and power) as his ‘children’ and suggesting that as a parent he should love all his children equally, but that actually this baby up for review is really special. With pride he told me “It is to my knowledge the only phono stage on the market combining zero negative feedback with an active RIAA curve”. So much emphasis over the years has been on playing about with feedback, and whilst zero negative feedback is not a new idea, it has recently seen a lot of publicity. Zero negative feedback can, however, be taken to mean that there is no feedback at all, and whilst in this model there is indeed no global feedback loop there are however controlled local feedback points, but not loops. George informed me that this kind of feedback is very small, and the gain stages are ultra linear. Whatever the magic in this design it certainly does contribute to some very pleasing listening I had during the few weeks of reviewing this unit. The pros and cons of feedback in a design is a complex story. In its simplest term a circuit with negative feedback aims to remove distortion by feeding back a negative sample of the signal onto itself, something that I learned about when Quad introduced their iconic 405 current dumping power-amp, though had actually been present in earlier amplifiers. Conversely Sansui’s infamous Super Feed-forward system, as seen in some of their AU- series amplifiers of the 1980’s, was more complex and had the error signal amplified in a separate error amplifier whereby its output is combined with the main-amplifier output at the point where it drives the load, the intention to reduce all distortions to zero. Different ideas, then, that aimed to have the same outcome; that of a pure, distortion free output. If not done correctly they can actually increase distortion and even oscillation. Using such systems does however mean more components and effectively two amplifiers per channel, which can have their own drawbacks and increased cost. There have been designs with no feedback at all; I do believe RCA issued such a design, though this was valve, based on a USA 7025 (a sort of ECC83 double triode). The Echo Diastasis’s low noise characteristic is largely due to a no-feedback filter circuit in the power supply. With an additional noise rejection stabiliser and a design ensuring that the low level phono cartridge signal is amplified without any unwanted noises, this is indeed a very quiet amplifier.What is also good to see is an active RIAA EQ at a time of emphasis of things passive, claiming to be within 0.05dB between 20 Hz and 100 kHz. The design states ‘separation of high and low frequency poles and matching materials’. The separation is done by two active circuits in the RIAA circuitry, with the idea of achieving a better and strictly controlled RIAA accuracy. It was an excellently flat response, working well on all types of music. The unit is also a dual-mono single ended full Class A product which for me was a welcome sight. The PH79 also has their proprietary noise-cancelling technology that practically obliterates current noise. I was surprised at how large this unit was when I opened the carton it was in; with big writing on the front 10mm thick aluminium front panel and two gorgeous large knobs for selecting cartridge type and load impedance, I had expected it to be much smaller from the initial photographs, though of course it didn’t worry me. It was taller than my own Manley Steelhead, though that has a separate power-supply. The PH79 only contains one circuit board and two transformers, so could easily be 2u high, rather than the almost 3u size (excluding feet). At 147mm (5.8 inches) total height this is a substantial machine. Those large knobs allow a choice of six different settings of loads (of 47, 100, 220, 470, 1000 and 47,000Ω) and 3 gain stages. The latter selects moving magnet (41 dB), high output moving coil (60dB), and low output MC (65dB), offering -90dB noise floor on MM cartridge with 5mV input, and -79dB for 0.5mV MC, both A-weighted, both very respectable levels. I initially chose to use the Audio Technica AT33sa cartridge on my Pre Audio tangential turntable at 220 Ω and low output. These rotary selectors control high quality relays, so it means the audio signal itself does not go through them. The unit also has a 5 second delay circuitry on switch-on, as seen on respectable high quality phono-stages particularly valve, and happily for me has the on/off rocker switch under the left front of the unit, rather than hidden at the back of the unit which many of you will know tends to annoy me! The high quality input and output gold-plated and Teflon-coated RCA sockets are clearly indicated at the back, including writing both normal and upside down, to save you cranking your head too much if wiring from the front; yet another detail from this Greek company that impressed me. I didn’t expect any balanced XLR sockets by virtue of its design. Even the instruction manual, whilst printed on A4 paper, is well laid out and easy to read. At £2760 this was a well thought out package.

Music

Crossing two continents by playing Supertramp’s live ‘Paris’ album and their infamous “Breakfast In America track, it soon became apparent how transparent and open the sound was, being relaxed and undaunted, allowing me to easily hear a well-controlled soundstage with space enough to place each instrument clearly and the audience as well. Ride cymbals were very clean and not tizzy like some less flat designs might give. The ease of presentation allowed me to clearly experience the band’s notorious speed changes between verses and choruses. Whilst it would put any professional music teacher on edge if their student played around with the speed of their Beethoven as much as Supertramp did in theirs, I wasn’t actually that bothered by it all and could see just why it was important to do so here. The Echo was very open and just let it all happen and did so in a gentle and authoritative manner. “Bloody Well Right” had much more oomph, showing a good noise level between the quiet piano and loud ‘crashes’ from the percussion and guitars. The song title said it all.

“I’ve Got you Under my Skin”, “Begin the Beguine” and “I get a Kick out of You” from the Chasing the Dragon Grammy’s nominated Ella Fitzgerald 100^th anniversary record gave a rather relaxed account of Clare teal’s vocals that seemed more in the back of the soundstage compared with some of the instruments, and the smooth performance doesn’t get me as involved as some phono-stages arriving for review, but its musicality in terms of timing and warmth made the instruments come to life, and matches his own belief that just as all the best components make up the best hand-made musical instruments, so an equal care products are used in this hand-made electrical instrument. This is a really pleasing machine sounding almost valve-like, and whilst not as fast as some, certainly has the edge over many in terms of listenability and control. Again, it was a surprisingly quiet phono-stage, and even scratches seemed to disappear into the background.

Playing Schubert String Quartet in G major D956 (Chilingirian Quartet) has each of the upper four members of the string family playing a timely and well defined rendition, with each member placed well in front of me. This is an elderly record in my collection but it showed no signs of age though this Greek product. I was now beginning to enjoy this unit, managing to get more detail front to back when playing with 100Ω load; so good to make changes on a front panel, rather than using dip switches underneath which stop you doing a-b comparisons. Turning to Sviatoslav Richter, piano, in Schubert’s Trout Quintet D667 (The Borodin Quartet), this much louder recorded album might have the piano further back in the layout than the string members, but I still felt very much involved with the epic work; indeed the damper-pedal was clearly audible hinting that there is no subsonic filter; I could hear very low frequency damper pedals on a piano performance through my Wilson Benesch Torus subwoofer that I really enjoyed hearing, showing this was indeed a human recording. My turntable is very much in control at all frequencies so it was glad to hear it so well behaved through the phonostage. Indeed George himself also believes that “there is lot of musical information down there and there is no need to cut it”. Of course the danger of subsonic noise needs to be dealt with at the cartridge itself, and through the Townshend Rock 7/Ortofon Kontrapunkt b with its trough/paddle the same album was particularly carefully portrayed at the lower frequency end. In the quiet C –major development section, the noise floor was exceptional, and gave a good hearing of the foot pedal central stage, though the piano itself in the recording isn’t as well mic’d as I would have done myself; bass frequencies are more muffled than the higher ones, a fault of the sound engineering. The PH79 was just plain honest, something missing in a number of new phono-stages appearing these days. The instruments were well positioned with them performing naturally including a good portrayal of bowing and notes. Muse “Drones” was powerful but still modest, just slightly missing out on the energy and ‘bite’ I am used to hearing on my resident phono-stages. It was just not quite as quick as some phono-stages I know well, but in its place the sound was extremely natural, making it very real. Stereo spread is good, as it should be on a dual mono design.

Conclusion

This was a surprisingly good product from a company I had not listened to before, and I was surprised how analogue and almost valve-like the portrayal of the music I played on it was. For those wanting a human-like experience with their music and don’t mind the size and traditional look of the package – I liked it – then this should be well worth an audition. With good facilities and relatively low cost for such a good performer, this phono-stage could become one of your own children, too.

AT A GLANCE

BUILD QUALITY: Good Basic build with thick 10mm aluminium front panel and good quality components. Well laid out inside.

SOUND QUALITY: Good signal to noise levels and flat frequency response. An open and honest reproduction of the music, particularly the lower bass end, due to there being no low filter in the design.

VALUE FOR MONEY: At £2760 this falls into the lower end of the serious section of the market and gave a good account for itself. Well worth a listen for the price.

Pros:

Well controlled reproduction of music
Extremely flat frequency Response
Low noise design

Cons:

Could lack a little energy in some performances
The box is rather old fashioned in looks and perhaps doesn’t need to be so tall

Price: £2760

Janine Elliot

Specifications

Zero negative Feedback
Audiophile Dual-Mono Circuit Design
E-core transformer
Gold plated Connectors, Teflon insulated
Output impedance 20Ω
Input impedance 47,100,220,470 / 1 kOhms and 47 kOhms
Gain MM 41dB, MC 60dB, MC 65dB
Inputs: 1 pair RCA (L%R)
Outputs: 1 pair RCA (L%R)
THD+N 20Hz-20kHz,MM c 0.02%, MC c 0.05%
Signal to Noise 20Hz-20kHz unweighted:MM -85dB, MC -79dB
Accuracy Riaa 0.05dB
Dimensions (WxDxH)440x340x147 mm
Weight 9 kg

The vinyl revival refuses to slow and as such more and more turntables are coming to market at the budget end of the spectrum and with more features that will appeal to a younger audience. The Elipson Omega 100 RIAA BT costing a penny shy of £500 comes with a built in phonostage, USB out to digitise your records and even aptX Bluetooth for wireless use. Janine Elliot gives it a spin for Hifi Pig.

Elipson are a unique French company founded in 1938 and well known for their distinctive loudspeakers of unusual spherical shape, but their pedigree is more than just what we see at HiFi shows. Not only have their speakers been used by then French national radio station ORTF since its beginnings in 1949 but their loudspeakers were also taken up by the French experimental Musique Concrète music research group GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) made famous by important French composers such as Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer. These pioneers of sound experimented with tape recorders and electronic wizardry long before the BBC radiophonic workshop. They needed an array of speakers to create a vast sound-space that were able to perform a trusty portrayal of the complex sounds in their music. Just as the electroacoustic music itself could be described as ‘sound sculptures’, the unique Elipson products could similarly be labelled, being unique works of art that you will either love or hate; a bit like the music. Founder Joseph Leon tried lots of different shapes of spheres and reflectors predominantly using reinforced plaster, until he could create the best sound, and ever since then the Elipson engineers maintain that the best results for the sound is attained by using spherical shaped boxes, something that has remained an emblem of the brand, and not just with their loudspeakers. The new turntable up for review here is similarly curved at the edges, as well as having a round platter – of course.

Elipson have extended their portfolio to include a gorgeous Sound Tree (multiple suspended speakers), and new areas such as a circular music centre, cables, and now two turntables. The turntables, named the Alpha and Omega look very similar and offer similar features. The cheaper Alpha has a matt black PVC chassis whereas the Omega has a PMMA chassis (polymethyl methacrylate, also known as Perspex or acrylic) available in red, black or white. Under the solid plinth are the electronics and the unit effectively has 4 feet, with the front two isolating vibrations, though not adjustable so it is necessary to ensure the platform for the turntable is level before using the turntable. Both models come complete with Ortofon OM10 cartridge and whereas the Alpha uses an aluminium version of their OTT (Orbital Tension Tonearm) arm, the Omega arm is made of carbon fibre, a good feature for a turntable at this price point. The basic Omega and Alpha 100 have conventional RCA socketry, version 100 RIAA is equipped with a MM/MC phono preamp so it can be connected direct to a line input of your amplifier, and the 100 RIAA BT has, in addition to the phono-stage, a Bluetooth with aptX transmitter which allows better audio than the basic Bluetooth. Importantly for many, this model also has a USB output compatible with Mac and Windows allowing you to record your favourite discs at 24bit/192kHz resolution. Where turntables with built in RIAA phono-stage isn’t a new idea, several other manufacturers are beginning to add USB and Bluetooth. The Teac TN-400BT also has aptX Bluetooth but only 16bit/48kHz USB output and moving magnet phono-stage, and the Sony PS-HX500 that became big news in 2016 has DSD 5.6MHz as native conversion or up to 16bit/192kHz Wav but no Bluetooth. What singles out the Elipson model as special for me are the excellent dual MC/MM phono-stage, the good S/N ratio, and that it decodes as 24/192 wav files. It does require you to have a system of editing on your pc, which is fiddly, but worth doing if you want your vinyl ‘on the move’ at a later date. Nothing is done automatically, as in the Convert Technologies Plato, which I reviewed last year. You will need to edit the start and end of each track manually.

What was particularly exciting and relevant for today’s ‘look, no wires’ hifi audiophile is the fact you can play your records directly to your Bluetooth speaker. This is particularly relevant for the younger generation and particularly students – who are incidentally getting more and more interested in vinyl. The modern look of this turntable – like their speakers – will certainly attract the younger audio fan. This turntable, like their speakers and the music centre, is rounded off at the edges, and its good looks appealed to me; you won’t want to hide it on a shelf. The one piece arm might be cheap, and doesn’t even come supplied with a cueing system but rather relying on your steady hands to raise and lower the cartridge onto the record, but its design was certainly not an afterthought, and has very low friction. The turntable motor has a DDS digital frequency generator (Direct Digital Synthesis) to keep constant speed and the motor is suspended using rubber mounts so that vibrations don’t reach the arm and cartridge. The unit comes complete with a separate power source, so that it can work at any voltage, converting as it does to 12V DC. Although that part was missing for my review (previous reviewer please note) I was able to use one of my many regulated supplies, which gave a very steady direct current enabling this unit to play music with very low wow and flutter. The turntable uses a bronze bearing to ensure perfect centring of the turntable plate and low noise. The built in MC and MM phono-stages similarly give good readings of 78dB and 82dB respectively. The Omega is slightly heavier than the Alpha at 5.8kg, but still is a very light unit. The steel forged platter is just under 11” diameter, reminding me of my first record deck. As a child with a Philips turntable with just a 10” platter I always longed for a 12” one, just as I wished my FM radio aerial extended higher than my school friends FM radio; size mattered in those days. Interestingly the platter is fixed to the spindle and is supplied with it in place, rather than separately stored in the carton for you to assemble. Whilst this platter will ‘ring’ if tapped the felt matt does stop this affecting the sound, and the PMMA plinth itself is very absorbent of noises and vibrations, unlike many turntables costing significantly more that. The unit comes with a semi spherical weight (they call it a ‘centralizer’) to place on the spindle to keep those records flat on the platter, though it just sits on the top, rather than screwing in, probably to keep the costs down. Anti-skating is altered by turning a track-wheel on the arm pivot/bearing assembly, which makes a nice change from the conventional suspended weight on a nylon thread, though accurate setting-up relies on observing arm movement or using a test record. The turntable cover matches the plinths curvature nicely, though its hinge is not tensioned, so the cover needs to be fully lifted so that it doesn’t fall down. A pity. A tensioned hinge wouldn’t have added much to the price, though I shouldn’t ever recommend playing turntables with lids on. However, what is good is that the lid is provided in the box rather than an expensive accessory. Speed control is via a 33/45 toggle switch on the top of the unit, which is really a good looking feature, as is the fact that the turntable does not start revolving for a few seconds until the motor is able to go at full speed, to prevent belt slippage and eventual stretching; the motor feeding the flat belt around the edge of the plate. The DDS digital frequency generator maintains a very accurate speed. With speeds for 33 and 45 via the toggle switch, you can even persuade it to play 78rpm, should you have any shellac, by playing the unit at 45 and quickly moving the toggle back to zero and back to 45 again. You then need to repeat this procedure again once you wish to play a 45rpm disc again. The tonearm has a carbon fibre tube for stiffness and a low friction polymer plain bearing with an adjustable counterweight to get the cartridge to the correct tracking force. It should arrive ready to play the OM10, but do check that weight. The arm does not have a measurement engraved on it nor a means of setting to zero force, rather the turntable comes with a paper template for you to measure the distance from the gimbal to the adjustable weight, which is assumed to then be exactly to match the required tracking force for the supplied Ortofon OM10. No, this isn’t a good idea, nor very reliable as the template puts it nearer 1.75g. The OM10 is best set at just above 1.5 grams. My trusty cartridge scale to the rescue, then. Once optimum setup was attained I could then start to enjoy this threesome of turntable, arm and cartridge. A brand new Elipson 100 will have the cartridge already set up on the arm.

The Music

My listening started with the Schubert ‘The Trout Quintet’ (Sviatoslav Richter, Borodin Quartet), playing via my Slee/Graham Audio LS5/9 system. The music was so open and relaxed and very much in control, it was surprisingly good, and although bass and top end could have been better, and minute detail was somewhat lacking it was a good performance from everything, especially the musicians. It just lacked dynamics and detail that I would expect in a more expensive turntable and cartridge. Moving to the ELO ‘Out of The Blue’ re-pressing of this iconic album from my youth, it brought back memories of my attempting homework whilst pumping music loudly through my VMS20E/Trio KD1033/Sansui AU-D33/Audiomaster Image 2 set up. Just as then the deepest bass wasn’t as clear as I had hoped, and this new turntable lacked real detail that I needed to extrapolate from the music; I must be fair though, the OM10 is not the best cartridge out there for musicality, though its stereo detail and positioning of instruments was very clear and unwavering, showing that the arm is indeed better than its simplistic set-up and materials might otherwise suggest. This turntable was perhaps really crying out for a cartridge such as the Ortofon 2M Red, and with its selectable MC phono-stage, perhaps something even more exotic. The phono-stage had a flat response and excellent noise level. The lack of bass detail meant the deep spoken vocal ident in ‘Believe Me Now’ didn’t have the depth that I have got accustomed to hearing, though the lowest notes from the piano in Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2 (Julius Katchen, LSO Sir Georg Solti) was very able and full. For the wallet-shy audiophile this was however still a reasonable performer. What really makes this turntable really worth the money, though, are the additional features offered.

Turning therefore to the Bluetooth facility, this is limited as one would expect to a 10m line of sight distance to your enabled speaker(s). Pairing is easy with a button at the back of the turntable, and will, by virtue of the format, limit audio quality, though I did find it adequate particularly with the aptX transmitter which is an improvement over the basic wi-fi standard. Of course audio interruptions will happen if other wi-fi signals are in the vicinity or if the Bluetooth device performs other activities (eg internet). When the record is switched off at the end of a “side” the wi-fi connection will continue for another 2 minutes of inaction before disconnecting. Not only did I try it with my miniature Bluetooth speakers but also with my Optoma BE6i aptX IEMs, which I have to say was extremely fun; wearing earphones and moving around the room whilst listening to music from a turntable. Quality was surprisingly musical and full frequency, making performances of Mozart, Pink Floyd and London Grammar highly enjoyable. This turntable would therefore be ideal for those fed up with wires trailing across the room to their speakers or who just like listening on IEMs/headphones, particularly students or those with limited space, or those simply wanting to enjoy the latest technologies. The range will suit every need and pocket; where the basic Omega 100 comes in at a penny short of £350, you can add £80 to the price for the 100 RIAA with its internal MC/MM phono-stage and a further £70 to also including the BT function making a grand total of £499.99. Not only can I play to my Bluetooth enabled devices but I also have the USB function, meaning I can copy my vinyl onto my computer. I was able to use Cubase to record 24/192 copies of my albums, though there are a number of free audio recording programs out there. I was disappointed that there aren’t any suggestions on either the instruction booklet or their website to offer help on finding a suitable program, nor do they have their own basic audio program to download (Sony supply one with their PS-HX500) and nor do they even supply a USB lead. But, this is a good looking and able machine with rather a lot of facilities for the price.

Conclusion

As a basic turntable at £349 this is certainly a reasonable product, offering good sound quality, and to some perhaps looking more fun and modern than Rega/Pro-Ject equivalents. The Carbon arm is certainly a good feature, but whilst the lid is rather cute it lacks a damped hinge. Once you add the RIAA stage and the BT/USB features then this turntable begins to shine. For an ‘all singing all dancing’ affair complete with a reasonable starter cartridge this is a good product. I just wished it came complete with audio software and USB lead. Being able to play 24/192 digital files is very attractive, and the sound quality and reasonable noise floor from the motor makes this a very well-priced package. OK, the detail extracted from your record won’t be as good as is possible from the best ‘basic’ £500 turntables, but then this is deck has so much more. If convenience of set up without leads is important to you, and you want to copy your vinyl to your DAP, then this turntable is well worth checking out and comes highly recommended for its target audience.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Modern looks and ease of setting up. Solid PMMA plinth with electronics underneath. Carbon arm tube is a good feature

Sound Quality: Very pleasurable and surprisingly musical for the price

Value For Money: At £499.99 for so many features this is an excellent buy for those at the cheaper end of the audio market

Pros:

MC/MM RIAA stage, 24/192 USB, and Bluetooth with aptX

Modern looks and choice of colours

Already set up with basic cartridge

Cons:

No cueing lever

No damped lid hinge

No system for levelling

Price: £499.99

Janine Elliot

Specifications
Plate : Pressed steel
Chassis : PMMA
Finish : Acrylic laquer
Cartridge : Ortofon OM10
Electronic : RIAA preamp
Bluetooth aptX & USB : 24 bits / 48 KHz
RCA cable provided : Yes
Centraliser : Aluminium

Frequency response : 25Hz – 20KHz (-3dB / +1dB)
Gain : MM = 40,5dB / MC = 61dB
Crosstalk : MM = 88dB / MC = 78dB
THD : MM = 0,006% / MC = 0,05%
Signal / noise ratio : MM = 82dB / MC = 76dB

The Gold Note PH-10 has a host of features including various equalisation curves, nine load impedances, facilities for MM and MC carts and a whole lot more to boot. Janine Elliot takes a listen to what on paper looks almost too good to be true for the £1315.20 asking price.

My love of vinyl goes back to the days of the crystal pickup on my Philips integrated system that I had saved up my pennies for back in the 70’s. Since then I have collected a lot of Hifi, including equipment much older. Whilst my Philips assumed all my records would follow the standard RIAA EQ curve for all the records, my 1950’s Leak Varislope preamplifier has provision for a selection of alternatives, including NARTB, 78OE, and 78NE (see Retrobyte column on Record Equalisation). Gold Note’s PH-10 phonostage similarly allows you to play your Decca London or American CBS-Columbia records, should you have any.

Gold Note are a rapidly growing Italian Hifi company based in Montespertoli (Florence) Italy, that as well as being foremost a turntable, arm and cartridge manufacturer, is also now specialising in electronics and loudspeakers. Not one of their products seems to be a weak link, all being carefully and beautifully designed and engineered. Their PH-10 phono stage is no exception. This replacement to their PH-11 is available in Black, Silver (Gold or Red available as a limited edition) in non-magnetic anodised aluminium, produced from a solid piece of metal to guarantee (so the blurb goes) low frequency resonance, feedback vibrational control and low magnetic inertial field. The design comes from Maurizio Aterini (CEO and Founder) and Giovanni Rialti (Chief Engineer); both highly focused on analogue and with more than 20 years of experience in electronics, both pushing features and audio in a new direction to their previous model.

With 2 phono inputs this slab of aluminium also provides RCA and balanced XLR output, and four adjustments of output (-3dB, 0db, +3dB, +6dB) as well 9 choices of load impedance (10Ω, 22Ω, 47Ω, 100Ω, 220Ω, 470Ω, 1000Ω, 22kΩ, and 47kΩ) and selecting of MM or MC. All is done via a single knob at the far right of the unit and all beautifully visible on a TFT screen. My only gripe is the positioning of that SKC (single knob control) knob. Whilst operating and selecting is all very easy (turn it to browse options, push to select, turn to change a setting), the front design with the gold icon on top left and button bottom right is perhaps the only afterthought in this unit; I must have OCD, but a larger button just to the right of the screen might have looked better, although having it so far from the screen prevents your hand getting in the way of the display! The shape of the box with the machined angled fins and a red light inside to bring it all to life. The internal red light might be an operational feature to confirm correct working of the electronics, but it does look good appearing from the fins of the red unit supplied to me for review! All in all the light and fins make this unit a really good looker, and my eyes just lit up opening the package. More importantly, the design and features of the machine truly brings phono-stages into the 21st century. What is such a relief is that there is no inconvenience of dip-switches or a “one fits all” mentality; this unit is very user friendly enabling correct setting up for your choice cartridge, with a clearly laid out 2.8” colour display. It is good to see a graph of the appropriate RIAA curve shown on the screen. As well as following closely the curves of three record standards the unit even allows you to select an “enhanced” curve following the Neumann 3.18us[50kHz] single pole filter, to give a more exciting sound by changing the EQ curve at the higher frequencies, though as a staunch purist I didn’t use that function for most of my listening. The Neumann 3.18us[50kHz] single pole filter is a bit of a white elephant; Some believed it was there to stop higher frequencies gaining in amplitude as the logarithmic curve goes on to infinity, which could mean cutterhead-coils burning out. In reality sound and lathe engineers actually just make sure the frequencies are suitably attenuated at very high frequencies which knocks that idea on the (cutter)head. The curve was really to give extra headroom at higher frequencies, by changing the angle of roll-off of the RIAA curve above 20kHz. So if it wasn’t ever used in the recording and you followed the reverse in playback then it would make for an extra top end boost as Tommaso confirmed;
“…the playback results a bit more exciting in the high frequencies since the “enhancement” provides a slightly slower slope while the recording follows the standard RIAA, which means gaining a few dB in the highest part and can result in a more airy and delicate reproduction.”

If the three selectable curves are not sufficient, there is also the possibility of other EQ curves through modular intervention (more on that below), should you ever need to play rare aged LPs. Indeed, there are over 200 different EQ curves out there for different types of 33, 45 and 78rpm recordings! What make the PH-10 so unique and unlimited in what it can do are all the features it has. A USB link allows software and firmware updates simply by insertion of an SD card and I hear that an optional Wi-Fi App is proposed, allowing you control all the setting from your phone or a tablet. Not only this, but with the GN port at the rear, this will allow easy connecting to external units, such as the Class A tube output stage. This modular philosophy is very important because it means external plugins can connect in different parts of the audio chain, allowing it to be placed at the input stage, in the middle of the circuit, or that output stage. So, for example, the Curve Enhancer module could be added to replace the EQ curves inside PH-10 and therefore to offer a wider selection of record types. Gold Note is also working on the dedicated external power supply, called the PSU-10, which will no-doubt improve sound still further. This phono-stage basically upgrades just as and when you want it to, and a worthy replacement, albeit a significantly different design, to their older and more imposing 3-box PH-11.

Not only is this machine highly versatile, but it is an exceptionally musical machine. As Tommaso Dolfi, Marketing Manager, told me;
“The PH-10 is based on a hybrid resistor and capacitor design to get the best of two worlds since our goal was to deliver top performances at this price point while being also able to include many features on-board to make a really ‘smart’ phono”.
Indeed, the design is not only very clever but it is also completely user-friendly and with no compromises on audio quality. At £1096.00 + VAT (£1315.20) I was immediately impressed at the sound per pound, and despite the technological prowess of the unit it still feels very analogue, not just in the sound, but also in the way the controls are handled on the UI. The PH-10 is 100% analogue and selected with MOS-FET’s which act as super precise switches in the analogue circuit. The output stage is class AB. If that wasn’t enough, the unit has two separate and independently set inputs, just to make the design even more of a technological mind-field for the manufacturer, but very user friendly for those lucky enough to have two turntables at their disposal. There is no need to change the settings dependant on which of the two turntables you decide to use!

The Music

For the review I used a Townshend Rock7/Rega301/Ortofon Kontrapunkt b through my MFA/Leak Stereo 20 into Wilson Benesch Arc/Torus. Setting up the cartridge was very easy via the TFT screen with its Gold Note logo in the background, as well as it being etched in the top of the aluminium shell and on the gold logo next to the screen. Gold Note has every right to be proud to advertise their marque. With balanced output even when set to -3dB gave me a few dB more gain than from my Manley Steelhead. The Doors remastered “The Doors” album is a very powerful and ‘in your face’ production from 1967 that whilst very aged in its instrumentation, mixing and effects, still sounds impressive when put to work on the right kit. Whilst “Light my Fire” is the best known track in this album all the tracks are equally attractive in their own right. The recording will show any weakness in the stages from needle to speaker, each instrument clearly placed in their correct space; the drums to the left and the guitar or Vox Continental combo organ to the right. Interestingly this band never had a bass player for their live gigs, so the keyboardist played a Fender Rhodes piano bass keyboard. ‘Back Door Man’ came across very forward, detailed and exciting, that my even-more-aged Leak Stereo 20 seemed to relish playing. “Take it as it Comes” was very precise and if I ever wanted more detail in the top end all I needed to do was switch to “Enhanced” mode. There is no facility for altering load capacitance, though this is really only effective on moving magnet cartridges. With a rise in moving magnet cartridges from major manufacturers including Gold Note themselves, perhaps such a feature should be included in the future, something Tommaso agreed with.

Turning to “A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald” I was able to test out the enhanced setting on the excellently recorded cymbals and brass ‘stabs’ from the Syd Lawrence Orchestra with vocal soloist Clare Teal, which added life, and improved positioning of the various instruments. This feature is perhaps a good idea for some of those boring or unexciting records in your collection. To quote my article on Record EQ “…the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) curve has around -20dB taken off the signal at 20Hz and rising logarithmically to +20dB at 20,000Hz. That means in playback the EQ needs to amplify by 20dB at 20Hz and attenuate by 20dB at 20kHz”. By attenuating at a lesser rate at the top frequencies in all the “Enhanced” settings means the top frequencies will be several dB brighter, giving that more exciting sound at the expense of a very slightly reduced S/N if the record is very quiet and very hissy. I remember recording cassettes with Dolby B and playing back with Dolby switched off to get a brighter sound, though that did make for another 10dB of hiss. GN’s enhancement is not so acute, giving for a very useable setting to liven up your music, if you need, with no worries about degradation of sound. “Night and Day” was clear and very precise whilst still allowing Clare’s temperate vocals to contrast with the instrumentals. “Too Darn Hot” was just warm to the touch, the phono-stage giving great detail and precision, and that enhanced setting not affecting noise levels in my listening. What was notable, and with whichever setting I used, was the amount of detail, speed and musicality I could etch out of this recording. All of this way exceeded the price point of the PH-10. Adding to this the features and good looks this was one ‘darn hot’ bargain.

Mark Knopfler’s “Get Lucky” is one of those albums you just have to stop what you are doing and relax and listen and move away from the speed and stress of city life and head back into the green rolling hills of the aged bluesy past. Well, the album actually came out in 2009, but who’s counting. It is a regular feature of musicians that as they start to age they start producing records in older “styles” of music. George Michael’s “Songs from the Last Century” and Sting’s “Mercury Falling” (particularly the start of “I Was Brought to My Senses”) are just two examples. Dave Brubeck even started writing large classical works. Mark Knoffler’s “Get Lucky” comes supplied with accordion, flute, whistle, cittern and fiddle; an album that was well liked when it came out, but not quite as iconic as the Dire Straits albums before. However, it is very well recorded and gives me a chance to eke out the characteristics of cartridges and phono-stages. “You Can’t Beat the House” starts just like the live studio chatter at the start of John Lee Hooker’s “Deep Blue Sea”, and Mark Knopfler’s distinctive voice and refined style of music came through as if he was personally sitting down in front of me. Detail of music and instruments was surprisingly fluid and passionate, showing that designers Maurizio Aterini (CEO and Founder) and Giovanni Rialti (Chief Engineer) could link musicality and electronics in a way I regularly see GN do so well. This machine was not only user friendly in terms of its operation and versatility, but also in how it portrayed that music. Everything seemed natural and precise, only slightly losing out to my choice phono-stage in terms of three-dimensionality.

Turning to classical music, Schumann made pleasant symphonies with memorable tunes if not quite so unforgettable as Beethoven and, well, many others. Indeed his role model for symphonic writing was the Beethoven symphonies, and Schumann’s third symphony that was now on my platter particularly suggests Beethoven’s ‘Pastorale’ 6th symphony. No surprise then, perhaps, for me some of the best of the tunes are in this symphony, mostly happy and programmatic; full of countryside, peace and fun. He wrote this whilst he and wife Clara were on holiday in the Rhineland (hence why the symphony is often called the ‘Rhenish’ or ‘Rheinische’), just as Beethoven’s 6th symphony is about the countryside, with the famous second movement about a flowing brook. Schumann’s symphonies are like those of Brahms; full of complex inter-related ideas between instruments or sections of the orchestra, playing off against each other. This makes it ideal to use for reviews. Where some phono-stages can make it all rather clouded and claustrophobic the PH-10 opened up the music, with the beautiful horn lines on the left to the wistful cello pastoral images on the right. The phono-stage gave clear definition and placement of all instruments in the living-room stage area, particularly the slow lines in the cello and powerful blasts on the brass. With the enhanced setting that placement would be slightly greater, though with very slight added top end hiss from the master tape that recorded the Wiener Philharmoniker under Zubin Mehta(Decca), but not that it spoilt any listening. The PH-10 was particularly at home with classical music, making for a very entertaining and educational listening.

Turning to Genesis’s track “Misunderstanding” and “In the Cage” from the album ‘Three Times Live’ the music came across powerful and fast, with the live atmosphere from Phil Collin’s singing and the feisty guitar, keyboard and drum instrumentation, only relinquishing in my favourite “Afterglow”. This performance is highly centre stage, and noticeably more so in the PH-10 than my choice phono amplifier, though that is considerably more expensive. If I had to express any weaknesses in this Gold Note product, it is that three-dimensionality I have heard in the Manley Steelhead or Tom Evans Mastergroove, but they are considerably more expensive. What this phono-stage does excel in, though, is the noise floor. This is an exceptionally quiet amplifier, allowing you to really take in the full dynamic range of your record without music being masked by noises other than the record itself or turntable motor. Coupled with impressive frequency response and a retrieval of information and musicality in playback this is an exceptionally good product, that way belies its price point.

Conclusion

With 6 EQ patterns, 4 choices of gain and 9 impedance settings, this new baby from Gold Note is quite an amazing product even without any of the module upgrades, meaning for a very reasonable £1315.20 you can get serious vinyl speed, depth, detail and transparency, a sound that far belies its modest price.

This machine is very highly recommended and I suggest you take a listen if you are in the process of purchasing a phono-stage, whatever the price.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Excellent construction and use of quality components throughout. Add to this versatility of operation and design, this is great product.
Sound Quality: A detailed and honest portrayal of the music, far exceeding this price point.
Value For Money: At £1315.20 this is terrific value considering sound quality and features.

Pros:
Well controlled sound and fast delivery
Excellent noise floor and frequency range
Transparency

Cons:
Not quite such a front-to-back soundstage as I would hope, but well within expectations for any phono-stage south of £5000.
Nothing more

Price: £1315.20

Janine Elliot

Features
Equalization Curve control: 3 selectable curves [RIAA – Decca-London – American-Columbia] with enhanced option for each

Frequency response: 2Hz – 200KHz @ +/- 0.3dB
THD (Total Harmonic Distortion): <0.002% MAX
Signal to noise ratio: -102dB
Dynamic response: 122dB
Output impedance: 500Ω
Phase response: linear phase, absolute phase inverted

Audio Outputs
Line output level (fixed): stereo RCA @ 2Volt and balanced XLR @ 4Volt
Audio Inputs
Analogue inputs: 2 separate independent stereo RCA
Input sensitivity: 0.1mV MC up to 7.0mV MM
Input impedance: 9 selectable options [10Ω 22Ω 47Ω 100Ω 220Ω 470Ω 1000Ω 22KΩ 47KΩ ]
Gain: 65dB MC – 45dB MM with 4 options [-3dB 0dB +3dB +6dB]
Power
100V to 245V ▪ 50/60Hz (depending on market destination, not convertible)
Power consumption: 30W super linear power supply
Modular Upgrades
External Class-A tube output stage
Dual-Mono External Inductive Power
Curve Equalizer Extender unit
Class-A Tube Output Stage
Gain Stage Enhancer
External AC filter: Gold Note Lucca AC distributor
Gold Note Lucca Power Cord

Size, Weight and Finishes
Dimensions: 220mm L | 80mm H | 260mm D
Weight: 4Kg
Available in Black, Silver, Gold or Red (special edition)

The recent revival in vinyl and explosion of new turntables has spawned an equal number of new phono stages from the bargain basement models to the highly specialised audiophile units costing thousands. Nick Gorham from Longdog Audio noticed that the market was short on quality budget units, so he decided to design one to appeal to most newcomers to vinyl or those on limited funds. The result is a very straight forward moving magnet only unit costing £199. Ian Ringstead takes a listen.

CONSTRUCTION

As a budget unit the PH1 arrives in a simple cardboard box but well packaged to protect it and has a standard plug top switch mode 12v dc power supply. The unit is compact and comes in a nicely made aluminium case with very good quality phono sockets for the input and outputs. Nick usually designs very high-quality products with higher price tags than the PH1 but his experience in electronic design has allowed him to eek as much as he can out of the limited budget to produce a truly bargain-basement unit. Nick uses a combination of isolated and regulated power supply technology, along with second stage inductive filtering and a third stage of active regulation. No electrolytic capacitors are used as Nick believe they can impair the sound quality, instead film capacitors are used for the filtering and smoothing. Quality precision components are used throughout the unit to achieve a highly accurate RIAA equalisation curve. Noise and distortion is extremely low, and hum is negligible. I can testify to that.

One end of the case has the two phono socket inputs with an earthing post and a blue power LED. The other end has the two output phono sockets and the 12v dc power input socket. There are no facilities for adjusting level or capacitance due to the unit’s budget, so the fixed level is a good compromise and keeps everything simple for the user.

SOUND QUALITY

As a budget unit moving magnet is the affordable option, I dug out my trusty Goldring G1092 and AT95E with paratrace stylus. That’s the beauty of my Jelco arm as it has a detachable headshell making comparisons so much quicker and easier. I tried out a complex album first, Yes’s Tales from Topographic Oceans, an album I know very well and one that I heard recently at their 50^th anniversary concert. If you are into progressive rock, then this album is a real treat and deserves higher recognition than it got when it was first released in 1973. It was very brave of a band then to release and then perform live the whole album which consisted of four sides all twenty odd minutes long. I queued for three hours outside the Sheffield City Hall with a school mate in my sixth form wagging it from school to get tickets for that concert. Fortunately, we got the last tickets and it was a great concert. Being progressive rock the mix on this album is very dense at times when all the musicians are playing and really going for it, so it requires a good turntable, arm, cartridge and phono stage to clear away the dense layers and portray them accurately.

I know what my Luxman, Jelco and cartridges can do but what about the PH1? The great news is that it performs remarkably well. There was no hum and the noise floor was very quiet through my speakers. I was greeted with a very clear and articulate soundstage. Jon Anderson has a very clear and distinctive voice which is very pure and high-pitched, and this came through beautifully. Chris Squire, the bassist, plays very complex rhythms and unless a system can produce these correctly then the result is very disappointing. I love tight fast rhythmic bass guitar which Chris Squire excels at and it was easily heard acting as the backbone to the music along with Alan Whites frantic drumming.

The PH1 was more than capable of casting a clear image with depth and all the musicians came over as a cohesive unit. Rick Wakeman on keyboards showed his flamboyant style and deft ability to change the pace instantly like a rally driver hurtling down a forest road going hell for leather. When hearing this music live I marvel at the musician’s ability and if my system can get near to the real thing then I am satisfied. Steve Howe, a fabulous guitarist who has an amazing collection of many acoustic and electric models, including slide guitar, sounded sublime with his precision clearly portrayed through my Audio Physic Avanti’s and sounding holographic, a trait they are famed for. The PH1 didn’t let me down here, coming up trumps once again.

Randy Crawford is a fabulous singer well known for her singles “You Might Need Somebody” and “Street Life” with the Crusaders. I played Secret Combination, an album I have loved since it came out in the late seventies. I spent many a happy hour listening to this album in my bedroom when still living at home and even now it sounds fresh and thrills me. It’s a laid back album compared to my progressive rock collection, but it allows me to chill out and relax when I don’t feel like rocking. The arrangements are simple, with a horn section and superb backing musicians from the likes of Jeff Porcaro on drums, Steve Lukather on guitars and a whole host of who’s who session musicians. No wonder it’s a great sounding album. The album oozes quality and the PH1 lapped it up bringing out all the nuances of the different performers skills and touches. I love to be transported to the studio and wish I could have been in the recording sessions on the mixing desk grooving to the beat of the music. This album does that in spades when reproduced properly, and emotionally I was moved. Another album that transfixes me is the Crusaders “Rhapsody and Blues”. Here were three jazz musicians at the top of their game, who are as tight as a drum when they performed together. The arrangements flow seamlessly and are truly magical to my ears. The PH1 again conveyed the inner beauty of the tunes and allowed the spacious recording to really reach out in my living room and let me drift away (no drugs were involved in this listening session !!). This album always amazes me whenever I play it on a good set up and this set up did just that. I listened to other albums of course but the three listed stood out for me.

Even in my system costing £15000 at face value prices, the PH1 did not disgrace itself. I would be normally using a much more expensive phono stage (Gold Note PH10) which has the performance and versatility I need, but buyers on a tight budget with a moving magnet or high output moving coil won’t be let down.

CONCLUSION

Is the PH1 a giant slayer? Maybe not, but for such a restricted price I can’t help but admire its verve and joie de vivre. Keeping it simple has paid dividends in its performance and the money has been spent wisely on the components inside the case to extract maximum benefits.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Excellent for the money with a nice case and good socketry.

Sound Quality: Clear with a very low noise floor and no hum.

Value For Money: Excellent when compared to similar priced alternatives and well worth trying out. The designer has made the compromises where it matters so giving maximum value for money.

Pros: Great build and performance.

Cons: Only moving magnet with no adjustments but what do you expect for the low price.

Price: £199 direct from Longdog Audio.

Ian Ringstead

Ian Ringstead checks out the £200 moving coil and moving magnet phono stage from Polish manufacturer TAGA Harmony.

I’ve reviewed TAGA Harmony speakers in the past and when I visited the Polish Hifi show last year I was told by the company that they were bringing out some exciting new products, one of which is this phono stage the TTP-300. The vinyl revival has really caught the imagination of companies in the last couple of years and there is a plethora of new turntables and associated products being produced now to attract old and new enthusiasts to spin their vinyl on and with.

CONSTRUCTION

The TTP-300 is neat and small in a very solid aluminium case that is well styled with nicely rounded corners and rubber feet on the base to protect any surface it is stood on. The unit is clearly labelled with the company name proudly shown on the top plate and on the front, there is a selection switch on the left side for the input between moving magnet and moving coil cartridges with a corresponding green led for which one the user has selected on the right of the front panel. On the rear at the top left is the power rocker switch with the 12v dc input socket below for the plug-in mains adaptor. In the centre of the back panel is the earth terminal to ground your arm cable and finally to the left are the two phono input rca sockets and rca output sockets being gold plated of course. All beautifully neat and simple. I couldn’t resist taking the top off the box to look inside where I found two well-made circuit boards for the input selection switch and selection led’s and the main circuit board for the power input and RIAA equalisation and amplification of the signal. The unit is designed and engineered in the EU and made in China to keep costs down so maximising the value for money to the customer. Set up was a doddle (quick and easy) and I left the unit powered up for a few days to run in.

SOUND QUALITY

Noise level was very good on first using the TTP-300 with no hum and just the usual surface noise inherent with vinyl records solely dependent on the quality of the record of course. I recently attended the annual Record Store Day at a local dealer in Sheffield as it was a great opportunity to hear some new equipment and buy a lot of second hand vinyl. Of course, I came away with a fair few classic albums, some of which I had had before plus many new ones to delight in. One of these was the Sheffield Labs “James Newton Howard and Friends” direct cut from the legendary US label started in the 1980’s. For those of you not aware of this technique, direct cut meant the whole recording of one record side was done in a single take direct to the cutter to make the master lacquer. The musicians were under immense pressure to play perfectly or sing as any mistakes made couldn’t be edited out later. The benefit of this technique was superb dynamics and quality on the recording. Musically this album will not be to everyone’s taste, but I love it and it sounded great via the TTP-300 in my system. The musicians are legendary with James Newton Howard, David Paich and Steve Pocaro on synthesisers and Jeff Pocaro on drums and Joe Pocaro on percussion. All top session musicians meant that the end results would be spectacular, and it is. Putting the musical genre to one side the dynamics are breath taking for a record that you only normally hear in a live situation. My system certainly sprang into life (rather like eating a chilli or hot curry for the first time and catching you by surprise) and the TTP-300 did a very creditable job of conveying these dynamics with excellent clarity of each instrument. The sound stage had good depth and width with precise location for its price range and although not on a par with my reference phono stage (a Gold Note PH10 which costs nearly seven times as much) it does a sterling job.

I then tried another favourite group of mine Acoustic Alchemy who are superb guitarists and I have many of their albums. “Natural Elements” is one of their earlier efforts dating back to 1988 and like all their albums is beautifully recorded. The concept for this album was conceived in a cottage in the New Forest in Southern England using two acoustic guitars and a battered cassette deck. The title track will be familiar to anyone in the UK who is an avid gardener and watches Gardner’s World on the BBC. It was for years the theme tune to this iconic programme and on a good hifi system sounds sublime. The TTP-300 conveyed the artistry of the two guitarists Greg Carmichael and Nick Webb with great aplomb and the accompanying synthesisers and percussion were all laid out well in the sound stage showing good depth and subtlety. In contrast to the airy and dreamy sound of the title track the track “Evil the Weasel” is far more upbeat and has a persistent drum beat throughout with the guitars duelling along with the synthesisers. The TTP-300 had no problem with the fast pace of this track and unravelled the complex interplay between the instruments very well.

As a contrast from instrumental albums I switched to Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine and the 1989 album “Cuts both ways”. She has a beautiful voice as well as looking great and the classic Cuban- American style of her song writing is infectious. I defy anybody not to want to get up and dance to her music. The album is a mix of ballads and upbeat numbers with that Latino vibe running throughout it. Again, a well recorded album the track “Here we are” a well-known single had me transfixed by its simplicity and subtle arrangement. I am a sucker for beautiful women and their voices (I would have no chance if tempted by sirens !!) and music like this is what makes a good hifi system a joy to listen to. Vinyl is a medium that has always had me in its grip and when a product like the TTP-300 can aid me on this journey I’m happy.

CONCLUSION

As you will have gathered I really enjoyed the TTP-300. It’s a great plug and play product that is honest and simple. The fact it has both moving magnet and moving coil is a real bonus and it worked so well in my reference system that this is a real attribute to the design. Compared to my reference Gold Note PH10, of course it lacks the magic that a much dearer design brings, and the main differences were that the PH10 added flesh to the bones of the music and made it just that more real and enjoyable. You must bear in mind though that this is not a criticism of the TTP-300 as it ranks highly in its modest price range of £199.95.

I used both my Goldring 1092 mm cartridge and Ortofon Quintet Black mc to compare both types and no problems were encountered with either. The Ortofon won out for greater depth and detail but the Goldring is no slouch.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Excellent solid build

Sound Quality: Clear and articulate with good stage depth

Value for Money: Excellent value compared to others in this budget range

Pros: Hum free and low noise design offering mm and mc.

Cons: None really given its price

Price: £199.95

Ian Ringstead

Review Equipment: Luxman PD300 turntable with Jelco SA 750 tonearm and Goldring 1092 and Ortofon Quintet Black cartridges, Gold Note PH10, Goldmund copy pre amp, Job 225 power amp, Audio Physic Avanti iii speakers, TQ Ultra Black speaker cables, Way and Missing Link silver interconnects , Hifi Racks Podium Slimline rack.

Key features:

Front MM/MC selector for easy switching
Very rigid and luxurious steel-aluminium casing provides perfect shielding of the phono stage
Very accurate RIAA equalization
Integrated Circuits with very low noise level
Extremely low output impedance
Gold-plated RCA sockets

Specifications:

Input Impedance:	MM: 47Kohms/120pF MC: 100ohms/120pF
Gain:	MM: 40dB MC: 60dB
THD:	MM: 0.01% MC: 0.05%
Output Voltage:	MM: 300mV at 3mV/1kHz MC: 300mV at 0.3mV/1kHz
Noise Floor:	MM: 86dB (94dB – A weighted) MC: 68dB (75dB – A weighted)
Max Output:	9.5V/1kHz
RIAA Equalisation:	20Hz – 20kHz / max. 0.5dB
Inputs:	RCA Phono (MM/MC)
Outputs:	RCA Pre-Out
DC Power, Power Consumption:	DC 12V, 2W
Dimensions (H x W x D):	5.4 x 11.3 x 11.3 cm
Weight (net):	0.7 kg / pc.
Finishes:	BLACK

Janine Elliot takes a listen the SweetVinyl SugarCube SC-1, a device aimed at removing the clicks and pops from your vinyl collection and costs £1500.

I first got interested in the idea of scratch removal equipment when a child playing some damaged records and not able to enjoy them to the full. I would record them onto reel-to reel-tape and manually remove them using a razor blade and splicing tape. In 1978 I was introduced to a very clever click reduction system under development by a major turntable manufacturer of the time, Garrard, their MRM101 Music Recovery Module (in 1979 priced at £130.78). Later employed at the BBC in the record library I was again introduced to this device, copying LPs, EPs and 78s onto reel to reel tape or cassette for use on air or for producers’ offices. However, the limited design technology of the day meant clicks and scratches were never totally removed, especially those below the peaks of the musical content, though it was a brave attempt. It even included a built-in MM phono-stage. This early digital design was being developed by the company at the same time as they were looking into designing players for Laser discs, both ideas sadly being dropped almost immediately. Later, digital models by SAE and Marantz bravely attempted to resolve a menacing characteristic that has existed since Edison’s first cylinder player. Today, with the use of improved digital technology for processing of sounds things are much easier, and filtering of clicks is common practice on computer based audio recording software. However, a standalone device for your Hifi has been absent for far too long and I was excited to find out about this American product and requested a review from UK distributors Henley Audio.

SweetVinyl is a Silicon Valley-based company, founded, by Dan Eakins and Leo Hoarty, both of whom have successfully created a number of other hi-tech companies. With a team of staff, Dan (who plays the guitar and races cars) took the idea of SweetVinyl from concept to reality, and Leo (who flies planes) and another gentleman Roger (who like me loves caffeine and music) do the digital designing of the SC-1, and the soon to appear top model the SC-2. Their first product, Sugar Cube SC-1, was first shown in the UK at the end of 2017. Coming in at £1550 the unit has a total of three processors in operation; the first a Linux CPU and the rest developed by them. Indeed, the major work is done with the software designed by them, using sophisticated proprietary algorithms to detect, isolate and remove only unwanted noise whilst not affecting the musical performance. What makes SweetVinyl SC-1 unique is that it has an updatable database of already understood clicks and pops from which to identify and remove from your damaged LP. Using an ADC (Asahi Kasei AK5572) to convert the analogue signal to digital so that it can be processed, and then a DAC returning it back to analogue (ESS Sabre ES9018K2M) the SC-1 is easy to install, requiring output from your phono-stage (i.e. line-level EQ’d audio rather than the output directly from your cartridge) and then feeding back to your amplifier via a spare line-level input. Alternatively, if your integrated amplifier has a phono-stage section one can connect it via the tape loop or aux in/out sockets if your integrated amplifier is so equipped, or perhaps between the pre and power stages of the integrated jumpers, if it has jumpers. To use the machine you simply need to press a button to initiate the 24-bit/192kHz digital clean-up process, and then turn a dial to adjust the strength of the process from 1 to 10, with “5” being standard setting. It also has a bypass mode whereby a high-quality internal relay isolates the audio signal from any digital process to make sure that you only hear the original audio, just in case you have a perfect LP. Indeed, it is simply connecting the ‘in’ RCA to the ‘out’, as it still works whether the SC-1 is switched on or off.

I must be old fashioned in being happy to get up to press buttons, but if you are the kind of person who needs to use their Android/iOS device to see the inside of your fridge or controlling your lights, then these guys have thought of everything so you can operate the device from the comfort of your armchair using LAN or Wi-Fi. Indeed, the unit is supplied with a USB fob and has a socket to connect to your wired Ethernet so that you can calibrate, adjust and switch the SC-1 process ‘on’ or ‘off’ from your PC as well as iOS and Android devices, via a downloadable app. The unit is supplied with a 7” record (note it is 33⅓ rpm) from Dr Feickert Analogue for automatically configuring the correct level setting, as well as to ‘tune’ up your arm/cartridge.

CONSTRUCTION

The unit, whilst only 54mm high, is actually deeper than its 304mm width, coming in at 350mm including the rear RCA’s and front knob. It is carefully manufactured from aluminium, available in anodized silver or black, looking very well thought-out for both looks as well as ease of use. It was good to see it included substantial feet, being metal with rubber O-rings, though I would rather have seen more rubber. It uses good quality chassis-mounted, gold-plated in/out RCA jacks with the on/off toggle switch on the rear plus socket for an external AC power adaptor, two USB2 and RJ45 LAN sockets plus a ‘pairing’ button to connect with your Android/OS device. At the front are the “bypass”, “Click Remove” and “Click Mon” buttons with indicators so you know when they have been pressed. The latter allows you to just listen to the crackles on their own if you missed them, and to help set up the best amount of processing. Next to these is the very prominent adjust button to select the strength of control of click reduction. On turning on the unit the screen to the right of the knob goes blank for a short while whilst its clever algorithms sort themselves out, but I wished it would perhaps indicate “setting up”, “please wait” or even tell me a joke on switch on, as the first time I turned it on I did worry that the review sample didn’t work! The user manual is not helpful in this respect, concentrating on showing you how to connect to your hi-fi and setting up the Wi-Fi and Ethernet. There is nothing to help you set up the device, though I worked out that it was best to use the enclosed 7” LP, playing side-one 3.15kHz (-10dB) tone on first use of the unit so that the electronics are optimised from the output of your phono-stage. This record is also handy for checking out wow and flutter, crosstalk and phase. After a minute and 10 seconds it all came to life telling me it is “SweetVinyl”. Phew. I wanted to set it up initially as if the user didn’t have the ability or desire to connect Wi-Fi or Ethernet, though I did the latter options later in my review. It can be done either way; setting up via iOS or Android gives you the option to “calibrate” on the main screen of your device, so perhaps a pushbutton for “calibrate” on the front panel of the device would be useful. Once you have done it for the first time you won’t need to do it again unless you use a new cartridge or phono-stage. If you do use it connected to the Ethernet it will automatically update the drivers to improve the performance as new algorithms become available, particularly for computer sounds which can look like crackles and pops. Nice one. Their more expensive model SC-2, at around £1000 more when it comes out later in the year, will allow you to play and save your LP onto 192kHz/24bit external storage, and the Android/iOS app automatically tags metadata as you are recording the LP, including track splitting, somewhat like the Convert Technologies Plato system I reviewed in 2016.

The design is far superior to noise and click removing software from the 20^th century, such as DNL, Dolby B and C, which simply work on specific frequencies to reduce the offending material, and the digital ‘peak detecting’ Garrard click remover. Very simply put, the SweetVinyl “algorithms” identify the clicks and pops before you would get to hear them, and then removes that section via it’s known database of pop/click symptoms, and “edits” the sound either side of the ‘gap’ that would have arisen, and smooths the join. A bit like clone stamping in photo editing to remove moles and wrinkles, and indeed, how I removed offending sounds as a sound engineer at the Beeb. As Dan, from SweetVinyl informed me;

“The SugarCube algorithm instead of identifying frequencies or bands of audio with problems looks for events in the time domain and then corrects the audio to remove them by interpolating the slope of the preceding audio. These repairs are so small and distinct that humans can’t perceive them and is actually how a sound engineer would remove them manually”.

Generally clicks and pops have a quick transient and easy to identify on a computer screen for you to remove them, as they look so different to longer musical and vocal interjections, but percussion instruments such as the rim of a snare drum and digital drums have very quick starts and not so easy, perhaps, for a digital algorithm to identify, though in my testing the algorithms on the SC-1 weren’t confused in any way.

“Clicks and Pops are distinct from music in that musical sounds typically have an attack and decay that look quite different over time than clicks and pops. (Music has repeating patterns while clicks and pops are isolated impulses that stand out in duration and strength.)

Our algorithm hunts in real time for candidates to repair and then applies pre-defined rulesets on these to make sure they are not music. This is pretty straightforward for most instruments – but some things can look like clicks and pops. For instance; a drumstick on a drum rim, a muted horn, where the attack and decay are roughly symmetrical. We have identified many of these and update the software rules as we find corner cases”.

Indeed, I decided to use good quality percussion based LPs in my reviewing to see if they were affected in any way. Dave Brubeck’s ‘A Cut Above’ direct cut disc has some great percussion from his son Dan. Listening just to the “Click Monitor”, all I heard was a few scratches and no drum sticks. When setting up the ideal setting for your LP it is useful to listen just to the crackles, so you can adjust it to not include anything other than a clear undistorted click, pop or crackle. I also listened to complex synthesiser music with square waves that have sudden transients similar to crackles to see if that confused the unit. It didn’t!

SOUND QUALITY

I was a little worried that after praising analogue vinyl over the years above digital replay systems I might find this 192kHz/24bit crackle crunching contrivance somewhat of a disappointment, but actually the overall quality was surprisingly good as I attempted to scratch the surface of this hi-tech tackle. My first listening was to After the Fire ‘Laser Love’ album from 1979 complete with much square and saw-tooth wave forms from the synthesisers, as well as electronic drum-sounds that can look like clicks on a computer screen. It handled them with surprising ease, and even set to “REPAIR – 10 max” none of these waveforms get missed.

Next I listened to albums that I knew had lots of annoying crackles. Firstly was my copy of David Bowie’s final album ‘Blackstar’. Where side 1 is totally clean the second side starts to sound bad after the first track. I did take the LP back to my local HMV shop and exchanged it, but even the replacement suffered. The SugarCube can do great things but not miracles. The SC1 could remove the odd crackle, but not the constant bed of noise that so spoilt my listening on the right channel. Only EQing the audio would mask some of that. Turning to Saint Saëns Piano Concertos 1,2 and 3 (Aldo Ciccolini, Orchestre de Paris EMI), the openness in much of this lovely album is so spoiled by clicks and pops, and the SC1, set at the nominal “default” level of 5 carefully removed all of these, creating an as-new record with no hint of change to the musical performance. With 192kHz processing, the frequency response from the Audio Technica AT33sa cartridge wasn’t hindered in any way. The included SC-1 manual quotes 15Hz – 80Hz (-3dB), missing out the very important “k” in the higher frequency range, though 80kHz will be more than you will need and not far from the Nyquist requirement of removing everything at or above half the sample rate. Only the 24bit ADC/DAC could cause some concern from die-hard analogue fans. However, in my reviewing never did I consider I was losing out listening to the music, and only A-B comparison occasionally gave me hints of slight change, something you shouldn’t do whilst relaxing to your music! In some music the very deepest bass sounded slightly attenuated. I was very impressed with the processing as well as how quiet the unit was in operation. Only on widely panned music did I perhaps hear a slight narrowing of the soundtrack. That is my only real observation. However, in some of my listening I noticed a much more controlled and musical mid-range, slightly more prominent actually making me feel that the presentation and dare I say musicality, improved.

Turning to one of the first records I was given as a young child learning the piano, Grieg’s piano concerto played by Maura Lympany, someone who I actually got to meet before my teens, this record is mono and nothing is more annoying than listening in mono with stereo crackles. OK, I could switch my Manley phono-stage to “mono”, but that would mean getting up off my chair. With the SC-1 all the interference was removed, just leaving the background noise of the recording itself. What could have been assumed as a very slight reduction in the very top end was actually the fact that violins were sounding clearer and more forward in the soundstage. Using the device switched to “Click Remove” creates a very slight delay in audio due to the digital processing required, which meant lifting off the stylus at the end of the playing continues for a few milliseconds, and which I found entertaining!

Listening to the excellently engineered Dave Brubeck ‘A Cut Above’ album and the track “Forty Days”, the music starts with a very quiet ambient piano. With the SC-1 switched in I could now just concentrate on the music rather than the occasional crackles. The wide soundstage of the drumming that then joins in is slightly narrowed but lower bass was still as strong and the top ride cymbals sizzled away with no loss of top. Rachmaninov 2^nd Symphony (Previn and the LSO, EMI) has a beautiful slow movement including luscious clarinet solo which was slightly more forward and improved my listening experience. Only the fact that a really bad scratch on the record that caused the music to continually repeat the same groove without the offending “pop” being audible, and sounding rather Steve Reich’ minimalism, I wondered if my stylus might get damaged if I were to continually play really bad records and not be able to hear that they were really too bad!

Mark Williamson Band “Get the Drift”, recorded in May 1980 was next on the list. This album sounds like it was recorded over a very short time, though I do love the Yamaha CS80 and PolyMoog synthesisers. This album tries but is not exciting at the best of times, one reason I played it, and also because it has a lot of scratches and wide soundstage. This was a band trying to sound “fashionable” but failing in my view. The music has lots of phasing and the SC-1 very slightly reduces this as it becomes marginally more central. What very little excitement there is in the music is very slightly lost in the process. I am not trying to belittle what the SC-1 can do, as I very much enjoyed using it, and the fact that the algorithms are able to be improved with connection to the Ethernet makes this product even more desirable.

Finally to be played was one of the favourite groups from my youth, Supertramp ‘Breakfast in America’, and I am happy to own a demo version sent out to important broadcasters and reviewers just after being recorded in 1978 before being released the following March. Unfortunately my copy has been well played and played-about-with by all accounts judging by the scratches on it, particularly side two. Luckily the SC-1 could turn it into a brand new record. Unfortunately I did notice the top end wasn’t quite so bright and whilst Roger Hodgson’s incredible vocals were clearer I did sense the music as not being quite so brilliant, including a very slightly reduced bass. Levels were matched exactly between no-processing/processed, something I made sure during my review, but it just didn’t quite sound so energetic and the stereo width was slightly narrower. I found this latter point puzzling in my testing because a phono cartridge itself has only ~35db channel separation. However, one has to sum up the pros and cons, and I quickly came to the conclusion that the SC-1 would be the very best investment for my record collection.

CONCLUSION

Would I want to suffer playing vinyl through a 24bit DAC to get brand spanking new playout? Absolutely. SweetVinyl have hit upon a problem that no one has successfully yet remedied and come up with a product that magically maintain the analogue performance, particularly vocals and violins, and gets rid of those horrible pops and crackles with virtually no detriment to the overall musical performance. Indeed, some music actually sounded better. And, for those virgin LPs that don’t need any processing, well, you can just switch off the digital technology.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Well made, all aluminium construction and good use of components such as ESS DAC and gold plated RCAs.

Sound Quality: Whilst most of the music I played was as good as the original source, some complex music very slightly narrowed the soundstage. Some vocals and mid frequency instruments actually sounded warmer. Surprisingly good for 24bit/192kHz.

Value for Money: Priceless if you value listening to your records without the interruption of pops and clicks.

Pros:

Improves your scratchy records admirably
Doesn’t make records sound “digital”
Has a defeat switch for you to use without processing

Cons:

Can very slightly narrow soundstage on some records
I wish the front panel button was a push-button to allow users to configure easily without using your phone/tablet
The manual needs improving for set-up

Price: £1550

Janine Elliot

Review Equipment: Pre Audio t/t, AT33sa cartridge, Manley Steelhead Phono-stage, Krell KAV250a and Leak Stereo20 amplification, Graham Audio LS5/9 speakers with Townshend Supertweeters, Ecosse, Townshend and Nordost cables, Townshend rack.

The Devialet Expert 220 Pro is an integrated amplifier, but also a whole lot more to boot. Janine Elliot takes this £6990 French Fancy for a whirl.

Devialet is one of those companies that you just go “wow” whenever you look at their products and, having heard such great things about them over the years, I really wanted to get the opportunity to find out for myself what the excitement is all about. Devialet began in 2007, set up by three friends; engineer Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel, entrepreneur Quentin Sannié, and designer Emmanuel Nardin. Later it was added to by Franck Lebouchard as CEO. They all had a vision of making a revolution in audio, and with one goal; to make it possible for large numbers of people to be able to listen to perfectly produced music using everyday sound devices. In order to meet their objective this Paris based company has registered over 160 patents covering many different areas of sound construction. Their Expert 220 Pro is just one of a series of very clever fully integrated amplifiers using Devialet’s own operating system based a Linux kernel. It is rated at 220WRMS (at under 6Ω) or can be bridged with a second machine to give 440WRMS. Their top Expert 250 Pro can be bridged to go from 250W to 1000W.

CONSTRUCTION

The laptop-sized/shaped Devialet is pure chromed heaven and includes a circular OLED display screen on its shiny top panel, the whole looking not too dissimilar to my bathroom scales, though significantly more expensive and more useful. The rear includes a plethora of connections and facilities including Wi-Fi and Ethernet via the AIR app for Mac and Windows (see later), asynchronous USB, S/PDIF and Toslink, RCA, which can be configured as line-level or phono inputs, and a further pair of RCAs that can be either L/R analogue or a pair of digital inputs. Access to the sockets is by sliding off the rear of the top panel and then replacing it after your pluggery to hide the unsightly plugs and cables; a clever idea. The digital inputs support PCM signals up to 24-bit/192kHz (AIR® universal streamer, UPnP, AES/EBU, Coaxial), Toslink 24-bit/96kHz, USB input handling up to PCM 32/192, and DSD64 from USB and coax inputs. All operation is through a Devialet designed operating system built on a Linux kernel with an ARM 1GHz Quadcore Processor (Freescale iMX6), 1GB of DDR3-RAM and 4GB of Flash memory. The fact that all analogue sources go through an ADC before being processed and then returned as with the digital sources to analogue before working their way to your speakers impressed me, as the sound from my analogue sources during my evaluation showed no sign of lacking musicality or depth of reality as can be the case from digital processing.

This is quite a monster of an integrated in shiny chromed aluminium clothing. It even comes with a pair of white gloves so that you don’t get your fingerprints on the lovely chrome. The only control is the tear-drop shaped on/off button at the front with visuals from a circular display panel on the top. The rear is festooned with the programmable analogue and digital sockets. Only omitted are balanced analogue XLR inputs, though there wasn’t much space for them! It also comes with the most original and beautiful remote there is out there, which is as unique to Devialet as the design of the Pro itself. Carved out of a single aluminium block, the Expert Pro Remote is both very responsive and precise, using as it does zero latency radio transmission technology, and being fully omnidirectional means you don’t need to pick it up and point it at the amplifier. I only wish that it had a LCD display – as the idea of a remote is to sit and be lazy on your chair but should you actually wish to change source and need to see if you have selected correctly you will need to get up and view the display on the top of the main unit, which defeats the object of a remote. However, of course this might be a ploy to persuade you to actually get up and view and adore the beautiful shape and shiny chromed aluminium top; this unit is simply too gorgeous for you to be sitting away on your armchair, nor should the unit be hidden away in a shelf. Certain functions can be altered via the LCD display, such as treble, bass and balance, but can only be done with the remote in hand.

If one 220 isn’t enough for you, you can join two together in dual mono to create effectively an Expert 440 Pro, achieving no less than 2 x 440 Watts of power, should you need it, as well as an improved performance (You can actually daisy-chain up to 8 amplifiers, should you own a stadium). Streaming services also permit UPnP, Airplay®, Roon and Spotify Connect, though for my review I used sources I was familiar with; notably laptop and DAP, SACD/CD and phono.

Inside the Devialet is where all the fun lies. It all started in 2004 with the development of ADH, a hybrid technology embracing both Class A and D technologies in a single unit. The aim was to give the best of both worlds; the musicality and linearity of the Class A voltage amp with all the power and efficiency of the class D current amplification. It also allowed the unit to be compact with no need for massive toroidal power supplies, coming as it does with a built-in special switch-mode power supply to take you from absolute silence to loud dynamics instantly. This power supply also has a very high-efficiency rate of about 90%. The 220 Pro uses the 2nd version of ADH, the ADHV2®. The class A amplifier – directly connected to the speaker – drives the output voltage, and as the master, it sets the sound of the whole ADH core. The Class D amp, or rather several Class D amplifiers, are added in parallel to provide the speaker with the current it requires and acts as slaves to the master class A amplifier. The Class A section also needs to be able to output a high current over a short period of time and absorb the ripple current of the other amplifiers. The Class A section basically supports the Class D amplifiers and is freed from the task of delivering lots of power. According to Devialet the Class A is improved by the presence of the class D amplifiers in the ADH architecture and in my testing I did find the amplifier very open and musical, as I would expect a Class A, and fast and precise as I would switch mode and class D designs. I was able to listen for considerable periods without fatigue, something I cannot always say with Class D with switch mode supplies. Indeed, Devialet found the Class A amplifier works even better with the aid of the Class D section, something I would have to agree with. At loud volumes, the sound was quick and detailed with exceptionally low distortion levels.

Ahead of the ADH amplification stage is the “Magic Wire” DAC. This is placed before the first amplification stage in order to reduce noise and distortion, utilising the very able Texas Instruments PCM1792 chip. The design enables Devialet to ensure the world’s shortest path between the DAC and speaker connections of just 5 cm and what they refer to as the dream of every audiophile: “a straight wire with gain”, that famous phrase first instigated by Harman Kardon with their Citation line of electronics.

The most exciting part of the design for me is the Speaker Active Matching (SAM®) section that enables the user to adapt the sound signal to match the specifications of their speaker model. Every speaker sounds different and with different pressure levels. What SAM does is adapt the signal to the characteristics of the speaker you wish to use. Laboratory work carried out by Devialet in their factory enables them to identify sixty or more different parameters per speaker model. The results of this hard work are made possible by the powerful DSP at the heart of each Expert Pro system with an impressively large database of loudspeaker options, now over 800, created by real-time listening to actual speakers. For my review, I selected the Wilson Benesch Vertex speaker as the closest link to my elderly Arc. I could hear different settings do affect the overall sound, and the Vertex was the best setting for my chosen speaker for the review.

Also on offer from Devialet is their AIR® (Asynchronous Intelligent Route) high definition streaming system, enabling the listener to enjoy up to 24 bits / 192 kHz via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, regardless of the format, multimedia player or streaming service. Setting up for your designated phono-stage is equally advanced. Thanks to RAM® (Record Active Matching) technology, your phono stage can be programmed not only to select either MM or MC, but one can also alter load impedance and capacitance to concur with your chosen cartridge as well as different equalisation curves, adding up to over 250 combinations.

Programming of all the parameters including those discussed above is very easily done from their website (see accompanying screenshots). Once you have selected/created your profile (I created one called “HifiPig”, surprise surprise) you can save it by right-clicking and selecting “Save Target as” in order to save your personal settings as file dp_cfg.txt (for windows users). Unfortunately, Chrome doesn’t give you this option, so I had to use IE for the first time! Oh, and the SD card is supplied by Devialet and plugs into the rear of the unit once you have set it up as you wish.

SOUND QUALITY

This is an exceptionally quiet amplifier whatever source is selected. Only when using the phono-stage did I ever hear any noise, though that is to be expected. All sources go through a choice of 24bit/96kHz or 24bit/192kHz digital stage, the heart or “intelligence” of the Pro as they refer to it, though at no time in my listening did I even consider this could degrade the sound. First listening was digital via the excellent Krell KPS20i CD player. Vincent Belanger “Pure Cello” is a beautiful CD, produced by Audio Note. This was an engaging performance. The solo cello playing was a positive and forceful performance without being over-powering or tiring. Indeed, all analogue sources I connected into the line input gave a positive performance in terms of accuracy of sound and covering all frequencies with a flat response. Listening to ‘Live at the Citadel’ from my friends The Enid was deep in bass yet top frequencies were equally detailed and clean, with a good sense of being there in the audience. I originally heard the band in the 1970’s and fell in love with the references to Rachmaninov in much of the music as well as the use of synthesiser. The soundstage was large and detailed, without sounding clinical. Listening to sources via USB and SPDif was equally detailed and spacious giving some of the best performances whether FLAC, WAV or DSD. Pat Metheny ‘The Way Up’ and the second track confusingly named “Part One” had a great top end and bass that was relaxed but authoritative. Similarly, Muse Resistance album and “Uprising” has a deep bass at the start which was clean and clinical, though no less enjoyable. Listening to Supertramp ‘Breakfast in America’ on CD the sound was noticeably digitised than when I play my vinyl version of the album. Interestingly, playing it from vinyl, which still goes through a 24/192 ADC, sounded superior. The Devialet performed well in all I played, whether analogue or digital, though vocals and mid-frequencies were more forward in the presentation. Indeed, whilst the Expert 220 Pro worked great with all types of music and instrumentation my only slight concerns as a critical reviewer was a very slight sibilance with some vocals (mainly female), and the sound lacking some warmth in performance.

Feeding via USB from my notebook music was quick and precise with a good grip on detail and fast initial transients, just lacking that warmth I would like to hear. Turning to Vinyl was the biggest surprise for me. Bearing in mind all sources end up going through an ADC, the sound was particularly well defined and pleasurable after I matched ohms and microfarads. Devialet claims this to be the world’s most advanced phono-stage, and for an integrated ten pounds short of £7000 with built-in phono-stage plus DAC and streamer, it was powerfully impressive. Listening to the 25^th David Bowie album released two days before his untimely death from Liver cancer, “Legacy”, this album contains many of the Tony Visconti produced technicalities that I never feel sound good on Hifi, though are very effective in what they are trying to convey. This phono-stage gave a musical and defined performance offering a good insight into the top frequencies and with good bass extension. After this was my chance to listen to an album kindly supplied and produced by Devialet, part of a legacy of lost recordings put together jointly with Fondamenta from a selection of great artists such as Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, and my hero Dave Brubeck. These are a series of recordings “on the verge of extinction” and using cutting edge technologies bringing them back to life. The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s ‘Live at the Kurhaus’ album recorded on 24^th October 1967 was particularly enjoyable since this includes my favourite track “Forty Days”, beautifully produced later in ‘A Cut Above’ with his sons playing. This track is almost an oratorio, featuring biblical references and themes from the great blockbusters. Whilst stereo-spread was rather lacking in this recording, it was nonetheless a memorable performance and production, and jazz fans should look out for these beautifully produced and limited-edition LPs and CDs, restoring the performances using Fondamenta’s unique Phoenix Mastering® technology. Turning to Dire Straits live ‘Alchemy’ album I could really start to take in the extremes in frequency and dynamic attributes; this album does them all. Lots of bass drum and high-frequency synthesiser, plus everything in between including audience noises. Always a good album to play in reviews as it can often sound a bit contrite in performance if in the hands of the wrong gear. Whilst this phono-stage coped admirably I felt the sound was just a tad too clinical, again lacking some three-dimensionality, and I preferred my choice phono amplifier though that is much more expensive. “Private Investigation” had a larger soundstage, especially with the guitar riffs, but everything was just too tidy for me. That said, as part of an integrated, and a very clever one at that, it was one of the best phono-stages I have heard. I altered the phono R/C and settings to get a slightly better bass end, though doing so meant I needed to switch off and get back on my computer. Playing my favourite Beethoven piano concerto (The Emperor Concerto No5, Zubin Mehta/Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, DECCA) the sound had a grand bass and excellent soundstage showing the phono-stage working well and effortlessly on all types of music. The performance from this 1979 recording of his last piano concerto was well balanced from all instruments, with the amplifier having enough welly in reserve if I ever needed it, particularly when the piano fortissimos warranted it. Detail from piano mechanics in trills in the second movement gave the performance some needed realism making the performance more engrossing.

I listened to a considerable amount of music for this review as I really wanted to get a good insight as to musical qualities and technicalities of this unit. The soundstage was large as I would expect with lots of details on midrange and above. Having said that, the bass was full but not as decisive as I would like. The detail in the portrayal of the music means that if your music had any faults then it would show them off; something as a sound-engineer I really like. Some might, however, find the sound just a little too perfect and clinical, and lacking some depth and warmth.

CONCLUSION

This is a highly original adventure in integrated audio design. The price might not be as low as some integrated amplifiers out there but let’s look at the evidence; a beautiful construction and design including that lovely remote, a built-in DAC, Phono stage, Wi-Fi and ethernet. It recreates music with a clarity and transparency that surpasses many out there, perhaps only just sounding a little clinical to some listeners. However, I was still highly impressed, and it is well worth having a listen to, as well as a looking at.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Beautifully constructed and gorgeous looks

Sound Quality: Fatigue-free listening with an accurate presentation of all frequencies, and excellent noise floor. Distinctive Devialet signature sound

Value for Money: £6,990 is very good value when you consider what it can do.

Pros:

Advanced design and capabilities

Detailed coverage from lows to highs

Fatigue-free

Lovely remote with large knob puts others to shame

Cons:

Some might find sound too clinical

Slight sibilance in vocals/mids if they are overbearing

Price: £6990

Janine Elliot

Review Equipment:

Krell KPS20i CD, Pre-Audio turntable/AT33sa cartridge, PC FLAC/DSD files, Wilson Benesch Arc/Torus speakers with Townshend Supertweeter

Specification

PERFORMANCE

Power : 2x220WRMS 6Ω
Signal-to-Noise ratio : 130dB
THD – 130W/6Ω : 0,0005% / -106dB
THD – 10W/6Ω : 0,00025% / -112dB
Output impedance : 0,001Ω
Damping factor : 8000
Thermal distortion : Below measurement threshold
Technologies : ADHV2®, SAM®, AIR®, EVO®, DAC Magic Wire®, RAM®

PHONO STAGE

Type of supported cartridges: MM/MC
MM sensitivity from 1mVRMS to 15mVRMS
MC sensitivity from 100 μVRMS to 5000 μVRMS
256 combinations for the resistive/capacitive loading of the cartridge
Stereo/mono/left/right mixing
13 equalisation curves available
Specific menu for dynamic adjustment of all these settings

PREAMPLIFIER & MAIN DAC

Patented Magic Wire Digital / Analogue Converter, D/A T.I. PCM1792
Unique high-precision Master Clock with very low jitter: 2ps rms
Conversion of all inputs into 24-bit/192 kHz
Built-in DSD / PCM conversion
SAM profile via configurator allowing the precise adaptation of the sound signal to the specifications of your speakers
Available active filtering on all analogue outputs via configurator
Volume control in increments of 0.5 dB
Volume adjustment range: -97.5 dB to +30.0 dB
Bypass/pass-thru mode available input by input
Balance adjustment
Tone control: bass +/-18 dB, treble +/-18 dB with variable frequency cut-off via configurator

GENERAL

Finish: Chassis carved out of a single aluminium block
Colour: Dark chrome finish
Dimensions: Length: 383mm | Width: 383mm | Height: 40mm
Weight: 5,9Kg
Installation: Horizontal or vertical installation with automatic tilt detection
Synchronisation: Up to 8 units

A valve amp at 1300 Euros sounds like a bit of a bargain. Add to the package an onboard phonostage and DAC and this Italian package starts to look even more attractive. Adam Billingham takes this latin beauty for a spin.

When Hifi Pig Towers sent me my first HiFi mission of reviewing an Italian valve amp I received it with a mixture of both excitement and slight trepidation. I’ve never actually owned a valve amp, though I’ve listened to rather a few at various HiFi shows and other people’s homes, but I always thought them to be expensive, a little fussy and rather too esoteric for a modern music listener like myself. While I found many of these amps to be undoubtedly beautiful, there is surely nothing more beautiful in the electronics world than the soft glow of beautifully created tubes, I think I probably rather unfairly thought that valve amps were probably owned by the older HiFi listener who enjoyed craft ale and discussed what was the best von Karajan recording. Synthesis’ beautiful little Soprano amp was about to put a bullet to the head of my rather ignorant pre-conceptions.

If you haven’t heard of Synthesis, they are an Italian company set up in 1992 by Luigi Lorenzon with over 20 products in their portfolio of amps, CD’s, DACs and headphone amps. Now having owned a couple of Italian motorbikes I know that the Italians know how to create something of beauty and the gorgeous little Soprano amp is no different.

BUILD AND FEATURES

Unpacking the packaging to reveal a rather hefty black box (10kg) I was surprised of its relatively small dimensions (310*295*150mm). On the right hand side, you have the guts of the amp that houses the power supply and has the large volume knob, power switch and input selector switches. The left half of the amp contains the 4 Electro Harmonix EL84 tubes with a 7 layered grill that protects the tubes, disperses heat and gives the amp a rather sexy look. On the rear of the amp you have a pair of speaker terminals, RCA line in, moving magnet phono input and a Coax, Optical and USB input. So that’s a great start and for me the perfect combination of inputs for the heart of any modern music system. One thing that did worry me, however, was that the large volume control felt rather badly made, with a rather too soft feel on turning and also it was slightly askew (to be fair this was a review/demo amp so might well have been knocked a little) and also the remote was serviceable but rather cheap feeling. Had corners been cut elsewhere I wondered as I plugged her all in, turned her on and gave her a good few hours warm-up time?

SOUND QUALITY

So, I thought I’d start her off slowly with a bit of Richard Hawley’s Late Night Final album on CD, an album full of reverbed atmospherics, 50’s guitar, sparse percussion, and Richards splendid voice. Straight away I sat up in my chair, the Soprano started to deliver. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful balance the Soprano managed to convey in the music; everything just sat in the right place in the mix. Richard’s voice seemed to be conveyed with even more warmth and the highs of the jangly guitars avoided any shrillness and had a beautiful clarity, sitting nicely forward in the mix, the drums had great attack but weren’t in your face and the reverberated FX surrounded me like a warm blanket, showing off the imaging this amp could deliver. Precious Sight is one track with lots of deep, synthesised bass all the way through and the Soprano delivered it beautifully, giving plenty of depth, as well as a fabulous tone without muddying the rest of the mix. I was impressed already.

Next up to was First Aid KKit’sdebut album, The Big Black and The Blue, another album I thought would suit the tonal qualities of a tube amp. There is a beautiful refinement that the amp brings to the Swedish Soderberg sister’s folky pop. Again, there is that fantastic balance in the sound that this little amp manages to bring; nothing stands out strikingly in the mix yet everything has its own space, with great dynamics. Vocals and guitars are definitely a thing the Soprano deals with with such finesse that it should be wearing a dinner jacket. There is no lack of excitement and clarity in its delivery though so don’t mistake its finesse for dullness.

So, I’d broken her in with some laidback music, next was to see how she handled something a little more dynamically challenging. James Blake’s self-titled debut is all analogue synthesisers, heavy bass, and electronic percussion, with fantastic production that I thought might prove a bit of a challenge for the little Italian but once again she shone. James’ vocals still sat perfectly against the tight drums and the filtered Dave Smith Prophet 8. One track, Limit To Your Love, is one of my go-to tracks when reviewing kit for myself, with its beautiful piano, haunting vocals, and thunderous sub bass. Even the bass didn’t put her off her step and she remained calm and composed, delivering the sub with warmth and without a hint of fatigue.

Throughout these tracks on CD I compared the analogue output from my Primare CD32 and the optical output. The DAC also performed very well for an inbuilt bit of kit and still retained excellent detail and warmth. The highs were probably a little more pronounced but in no way were they shrill or over the top. On some of the less quality recordings it perhaps wasn’t quite as forgiving as my CD player but for an inbuilt DAC it performed sterling work.

PHONO STAGE

Finally, I thought I’d put the inbuilt phono stage to test. I started her off with Tom Mischs’ excellent debut Geography. Again, for an inbuilt phono stage, the little Italian cutey performed excellent work, delivering the crisp synthesised drums with plenty of energy and Toms’ fabulous George Benson like guitar work with fluidity and gusto. Later on a bit of Zep also showed that while not the first word in sharp dynamics the Soprano was more than able to give plenty of excitement, animation, and fun to the thundering foursome. She may have not been quite as detailed as my Primare R32 stage but she would be more than satisfactory to those with a mid-range deck.

CONCLUSION

Throughout my time with the Soprano the one thing I loved about her the most was just her beautiful sense of musicality she bought to everything I listened to. I know that one shouldn’t judge power by watts (The Soprano is rated at 12w per channel) but my LS50s, while beautifully accurate, are a little harder to drive than most but at no time did the amp get flustered at volumes that were more than plenty for my listening room. There were several times while listening with her that I got goose pimples and a big smile on my face from music that I have heard dozens, if not hundreds of times before and this is the best thing a good bit of kit can offer. I started my journey being a little bit of an inverse snob about what this tube amp could offer but I came out the other side wanting to keep her. With a name like ‘Soprano’, with her italic writing you can see why I might have thought this is an amp for the past but actually, I couldn’t have been more wrong this is an amp very much in the present with an analogue heritage as well as a digital future. If you have ever dreamed of an affair with a beautiful Italian and are in the market for an amp around the £1000 mark you absolutely owe it to yourself to give the little Soprano a listen. I for one will be very sad to part ways with her.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Very well built except for that irritatingly cheap volume knob!

Sound Quality: Excellent throughout. Warmth, precision and detail in equal measure.

Value For Money: Outstanding. A great sounding valve amp with inbuilt DAC and phono stage, what’s not to love.

Pros: Great selection of inputs and a wonderful warm sound.

Cons: Some might be put off by the apparent lower power rating. That volume knob!

Price: 1300 Euros

Adam Billingham

Review Equipment: Kef LS50, Primare CD32, Michell Gyrodec, Audiomods arm, Ortofon Black cartridge.

Janine Elliot has previously reviewed the EAT C Sharp turntable, but now it’s available in a supercharged package with its own phonostage and power suuply. The combo is £6494 in the UK, but is it worth the extra lolly?

I reviewed the EAT C Sharp turntable (distributed n the UK by Absolute Sounds) a while back, giving it a glowing report for the price, so was delighted to be offered it again but this time combined with a linear power supply and matching hybrid phono stage. At £2798, £1198 and £2498 respectively the whole combo comes in at £6494, not a lot for the complete vinyl kit of this quality. EAT (European Audio Team) is a Czech company run by Jozefina Lichtenegger, the lady married to Heinz Lichtenegger, who many will know as the CEO of Pro-Ject. Many will not know that EAT actually started out as a maker of high-quality audio valves and accessories. Then they introduced their first turntable, the Forte, which still remains to this day their flagship deck, complete with the E-Go 12” tonearm. Since their beginnings, the range of products has grown to include a large line-up of turntables, tonearms, phono preamplifiers, cartridges, power supply and vacuum tubes, plus the famous EAT valve cooling damper. They have even started a range of candles and perfumes “for our senses”, though I’m not sure if they actually improve the audio.

There are certainly links between EAT and Pro-Ject, such as the use of carbon fibre and MDF, but this is a completely different company and I particularly liked the raked aluminium edged platter and carbon-fibre arm of the C Sharp turntable when I originally reviewed it. Now with the LPS power supply added and the E-Glo S phono stage the products looks even more upmarket. Both these additions are available with piano black or Makassar wood cheeks and matt aluminium front and top. Makassar is a very dark and gorgeous wood finish, in-case like me, you didn’t know.

THE KIT

THE C SHARP TURNTABLE

The C# comes complete with the C-Note tonearm carbon fibre/aluminium uni-pivot arm, not bad for under £2800. For £3,298 it even comes complete with the excellent Ortofon MC Quintet Black cartridge, as used in this review. The Carbon fibre in the construction means it can be an extremely low table by virtue of its strength; indeed, it is quite challenged in height department, especially when sat next to the Forte. This low-profile base chassis is made out of highest density MDF. On this base the motor is mounted, as well as 10 damping feet made from energy absorbing (and therefore damping) TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomers). All the rumble of the platter or bearing is therefore directed in the TPE columns where it is absorbed so that it doesn’t get as far as the arm and cartridge. Finally, the cone-shape TPE columns carry the Carbon Fibre suspended plinth. The bearing is an oversized and inverted bearing shaft with a ceramic ball atop on which is placed the sub-platter, and the main heavy platter being placed on top of that. There is a 700g mass point at this bearing so that all the energy is sucked up and converted to heat. The platter itself was disconcertingly close to the carbon plinth, though free from any friction. The motor is attached to the lower chassis so that no vibrations make their way to the platter bearing and to the arm. As this top platter has angled edges it is not easy to hold, and therefore the record clamp is screwed into it and used as a handle to lower carefully onto the sub-platter. Obviously, you previously will need to affix the belt to the motor and the sub-platter. Many turntables seem to charge extra for record clamps, but this one comes gratis, largely because it is a necessity in setting up the deck. I am a fan of record clamps since my original free “Richer Sounds” plastic clamp I obtained in the 80’s. Whilst that one has long gone to meet its recycle bin in the sky, the EAT aluminium affair is a forever necessity and is really good looking. EAT recommend you don’t screw the clamp down when playing records, but rather that it just sits on the record. It is heavy enough to work well in holding records securely to the platter.

I did love the ease at setting up the unit, the review sample coming complete with Ortofon Quintet Black S cartridge. This cartridge gave an effortless playing of the music, and was particularly good with vocals. The tonearm itself includes a combination of cardan and uni-pivot bearings, immersed in special damping fluid designed to damp the tonearm and cartridge resonances by more than 50%. The cardan or universal joint was coined by Gerolamo Cardano, an Italian, and this tonearm, by combining both friction-free pivot simplicity and cardan flexibility makes it very steady and robust. This arm is actually quite complex in design, with cardan joint for the horizontal and two ball race ABEC7 bearings for vertical and uni-pivot damping pin to complete the setup. The whole isn’t perhaps as beautiful as some tonearms, it being fairly large in size, but it is very practical and a doddle to set up; Only the clever bias compensation caused me yet again a few moments brain searching. I had the same problem last time affixing it to the arm. The manual doesn’t explain it in enough detail to confirm the path of the thread. Similarly, the counterweight is very loose on the arm which did make me nervous that it would move about and change the cartridge load, but it stayed glued to the same spot for the few weeks of my review, set at 2.35g for the Quintet Black S cartridge.

Speed selection and control is via a tasty looking black box connected to the rear of the turntable, which flashes the speed you have selected until it has reached stable velocity, in around 2-4 seconds depending on whether 33 or 45rpm. Normally a small wall-wart power supply feeds this, but for the purpose of this review the substantial LPS power supply was deployed.

E-GLO S

The E-Glo S phono-stage is one step up from the E-Glo Petit and below the excellent E-Glo model topping the family. Common to all in the range are the use of vacuum tubes. The E-Glo S is a hybrid design with ECC83 tubes (twin triode) in the first and second gain stages. This not only achieves good gain but also low noise. In the first stage is a cascade connection of tube with two parallel-connected low-noise J-FET transistors to keep noise down. The RIAA equalizer is passive and split in two steps in order to achieve excellent impedance matching between the gain and equalization stages. The E Glo S is a work of art and dual mono design. Beautifully constructed and very minimalist in looks and matching the LPS linear power supply. The E-Glo S is mightily big in features, working with both MM and MC cartridges. There are 6 load impedances for MC (10, 30, 50, 0, 100 and 1000Ω) plus 47,000Ω for MM. Similarly, there are a total of 7 load capacitance choices for your MM cartridge (50, 150, 270, 370, 520, 620 and 740pF) plus a variable output gain setting for the RCA output to your amplifier (45, 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 dB). With the more sensitive MM cartridge output is set at 45dB. It also has a subsonic button should you wish to use it. A series of blue LEDs at the front indicate the settings you have selected, and all settings are operable from four top-grade metal toggle switches on the top of the unit at the right, plus an off/on switch at the left. I am so pleased that they have not put that switch at the rear. Those familiar with my reviews will know I have a dislike for switches at the rear. Protruding out of the top of the unit are two ECC83’s valves with the excellent EAT cooling damper and all protected by two pairs of doughnut-shaped aluminium covers. Therefore, no other units can be placed on top, not that you would want to. The rear is sparse with just in/out RCA sockets plus an earth connection. The top-of-the-line E-Glo phono-stage is a two-unit affair, with a power supply sitting underneath the 4-valve phono-stage. For this review rather than using the supplied wall-wart power unit I was supplied with the matching LPS power supply turning this “S” model also firmly into a 2-box affair.

LPS POWER SUPPLY

EAT has always believed that the power supply should be a major part of the signal path as it can significantly contribute to the sound quality. Whilst the supplied power supply works well, having a more advanced product that not only feeds the turntable but also the phono stage was an obvious step to take. There are predominately two types of power supply, switching and linear mode. The LPS is a regulated linear power supply, or rather it is actually two independent power supplies in one box, with a 15v DC output for EAT turntables (and Pro-Ject 15v turntables) plus 18v DC to power EAT phono stages (and most of Pro-Ject phono stages). It comes with full bridge rectifying circuitry using ultra-fast diodes followed by an 8800uF filtration bank. Voltage regulation is fully-discrete and no operational amplifier is used. The Voltage reference is TL431, a three-terminal programmable shunt regulator diode. Aimed at producing a fixed voltage irrespective of the loading on the device, power supply variations, temperature changes, and the passage of time, this all results in very low noise and excellent regulation. In many respects, it works as an over-performing battery power supply. Ripple voltage is lower than 1 microvolt with voltage accuracy better than ±0,05%. EAT claim the “temperature drift is beyond every level of standard power supplies”. The LPS can deliver the 15v and 18v simultaneously via the choice of three (2.1mm, XLR 4pin and 2.5mm) cables that are included. The on/off switch is conveniently located at the front of the unit with a blue LED to the right.

SOUND QUALITY

The idea of this review was for me to see what improvement there was using these three products together. I have already written a glowing report on the turntable itself, particularly the arm. Therefore, my listening time was spent looking at the complete kit rather than evaluating each unit separately. It did become apparent right from the start just how good that power supply was, not just in controlling the turntable speed, but giving the E-Glo S more headroom and dynamics. I didn’t expect to hear much improvement from the turntable itself, but overall control of the music I listened to was actually notably improved. Since the stylus picks up the slightest motor speed variation alongside the music and amplifies it some 8000 times through your speakers, that includes any weaknesses from the power supply driving it. It was a number of years ago that I realised just how important good power supplies were in turntables, and a number of manufacturers have up-rated supplies to improve their turntables, as well as changing from AC to DC motors. Changes I heard in the E-Glo S were more obvious; as well as improved noise floor and increased dynamic range over the wall-wart plug, even the soundstage improved. Listening to the usual rather bland remastered Genesis “Selling England By The Pound” the E-Glo S gave a detailed and tightly controlled rendition but a very gentle performance. Turning to Supertramp ‘Breakfast in America’ it was clear to me that the power supply was improving the noise floor, particularly the long fade-up at the start of the album. Similarly, the phono-stage provided a richer and more musical sound as well as lower distortion. Don’t misunderstand me, the supplied wall-wart cable is adequate, but switching over gave increased depth to the sound and lower floor as well as freedom from RF. The music sounded faster, though that is, of course, impossible; it just had more purpose to it. The piano in the title track was secure and detailed.

Turning to Julian Bream’s ‘Guitarra’ album this gave me a chance to check speed accuracies and control of the music. This album is a mixture of Renaissance, Baroque, classical and Vihuela guitars performing music from Spain. This was a delicate and tightly controlled performance delivered impeccably by both Julian and the EAT combination. Noise floor from both turntable and phono-stage was impressive. Boccherini’s ‘Fandango’, here arranged for two guitars, was spectacular through my Krell/Wilson Benesch setup. The musical performance was well controlled with both instruments well separated in my room. Turning to ‘Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ the instruments were again given wide stage in my listening room with tight drumming from Art and the trumpeter reaching far more forward than the other instruments when the latter took to blowing solo. This heavy-weight vinyl was highly infectious and the combination of turntable, cartridge, phono-stage and power supply working as well together as were Art and his band. I couldn’t possibly moan listening to the famous opening track “Moanin’”. Only the badly mic’d piano let the performance down. Everything else was just right, tightly controlled and delicately delivered, an almost silky performance. I am always in love with valve amplification, and the mix of valve phono and transistor Krell made for a compelling combination. The LPS and E-Glo S added to the C Sharp turntable took the performance from the turntable to a whole new level. Timing was perfect along with the decays and reverb in “Along Came Betty” which were allowed to decay to the very end. As mentioned earlier, the E Glo S comes complete with a subsonic filter. This removes the very lowest frequencies by 18dB/octave, caused by warped records operating below 20Hz. I have to admit I didn’t notice any benefit from it, largely because my records were flat, though I appreciate its inclusion.

Turning to my brilliant Brubeck “A Cut Above” direct cut disc that I bought in 1978, the C Sharp played admirably with only the odd difficulty coping with the occasional initial transients as well as it does on my own choice of phono-stage. The phono-stage did, however, give an excellent performance covering all frequencies and dynamics in a way that should please anyone looking for a phono-stage even up to £4000. It is exceptionally quiet, the only noise being the surface noise from the record. Whilst choice of load settings is less than is on the top-of-the-range E-Glo, the “S” is a fine product and I was able to get the best out of the Ortofon cartridge.

Manuel de Falla’s ‘Love the Magician’ (Chandos, London Symphony Orchestra) is one of the composer’s best works and my favourite, a ballet composed between 1914–15 and sometimes referred to as “Wedded By Witchcraft”. It always gives a magical performance for the audiophile. There is everything in this work, from depth of soundstage, dynamism, choice of instruments and vocals, and frequencies from bass bite to cymbal sizzle. The E-Glo S gave this performance a characteristically silky finish that was highly seductive. Being able to adjust impedance easily, was a great feature to achieve the best from the cartridge. Some phono-stages I have reviewed have dip switches, often at the back or underneath, which is not only highly inconvenient but also don’t give the user a chance to alter parameters on-the-fly. All components in this set-up were a pleasure to operate, working so well together, as they should. I could see why Pedro from Absolute Sounds, who supplied the combination for review, wanted me to listen to them. The more I played the more I liked. The C Sharp is a great turntable with an impressive arm, working well on both low and high-end cartridges. The E-Glo S is an impressive phono-stage; full of features to enable it to drive any cartridge, very quiet and giving a detailed portrayal of the music with a silky-smooth sheen. The LPS power supply livened up the music still further, and on its own is a very valuable upgrade. Just see how many upgrade power supplies are being offered these days. “Wall-wart” supplies are like the cables that come with your hi-fi; just about adequate and cheap. Just as we wouldn’t want to be seen using a 50p cable on our expensive equipment, so, too, we need to consider the adequacy of our power supplies.

CONCLUSION

This is a really good trio of components. The turntable is highly recommended, as is the E-Glo S, but using these together with the LPS set all components onto a new level, and therefore has to be Highly Recommended bordering on Outstanding. The effects are subtle but very real, and both the phono-stage and the power supply should be considered if you buy the C Sharp. What is useful is that if you upgrade the turntable to a Forte, you can still use them.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: The LPS and E-Glo S are beautifully engineered simplicity

Sound Quality: Silky smooth but detailed phono-stage, and a power supply improving dynamics and detail from the phono-stage as well as controlling the turntable taking it to a new level

Value for Money: £6,494 is a good price when you consider it is for all three products making a complete vinyl section

Pros: Detailed and well-rounded sound, working well on all types of music. Long listening sessions without fatigue. The phono-stage, not too far removed from the more-pricey E-Glo.

An excellently engineered power supply. Combined they take the C Sharp to new levels (C Double-Sharp?)

Cons: Not at these prices.

Price: £6494 total (including C Sharp turntable)

Janine Elliot

Review Equipment:

Krell KAV250a, Music First Audio Baby Reference Pre, Wilson Benesch Arc/Torus speakers with Townshend Supertweeter, Manley Steelhead/Pre-Audio turntable/AT33sa cartridge.

SPECIFICATION

Input impedance	MC 10,25,50,75,100,1000 Ohm
Load capacity	50,100,150,200,270,320,420 pF
Output impedance	100 ohms
Load capacity	50,100,150,200,270,320,420 pF
Gain MM	45 dB
Gain MC	45,50,55,65,70 dB
RIAA accuracy	within 0,5dB/20Hz – 20kHz
Subsonic	18 dB / Octave
Input	RCA
Output	RCA
Power supply	DC18V/1
Dimensions W × H × D	435 × 90 × 270 mm

The melto2 from Lab12 has different equalisation curves, mono and stereo options, three inputs, balanced outputs and on paper at least looks like an interesting proposition. But does this flexibility come at the expense of great sonics? Stuart Smith finds out when he listens to this €3750 phono-preamplifier.

Lab12 are a Greek company headed up by Stratos Vichos and based in Athens. I first became aware of their products a few years ago whilst attending the Munich High End show where I got to have a look at their products and subsequently we’ve reviewed a couple of their products. Indeed, their gordian power conditioner and pre 1 pre-amplifier are key components in our mid-priced system. Most of their products (obviously not the power conditioner) are valve based and feature a distinctive and attractive retro look to them. The retro look, however, belies the complexity and usability of their products. Adding to the appeal of the Lab2 products, they come with a full five-year guarantee, which to me suggests that Stratos and his team have a good deal of confidence in their designs and the longevity of their products.

What we have here with the Lab12 melto2 is a fully adjustable phono-preamplifier that will handle up to three cartridges of either MM or MC design. Adjustments can be made on the fly and you can choose to change cartridge type, gain, impedance, capacitance, equalisation curve and whether you want mono or stereo output. So, a pretty flexible unit on the face of it, it would seem. One of the features mentioned here that will interest collectors is the ability to change the equalisation curve and you get the normal RIAA curve, but in addition both Decca and Columbia curves. Most readers will be aware of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) curve that has been the industry standard since the mid-1950s. Before this standardisation it was standard practice for different record companies would use their own equalisation – obviously something of a problem for collectors and radio stations. It’s not the purpose of this review to go into the technical side of the curves, suffice to say that different curves have different pre-emphasis on certain frequencies at recording and de-emphasis on playback, with the RIAA curve the recording made with low frequencies being reduced and high frequencies boosted, whereas on playback the phonostage does the opposite and boosts low frequencies and reduces the high frequencies. So, with that in mind, the melto2 will be an interesting proposition for serious collectors of vinyl whose collections span many decades and different labels. Here’s a link we published explaining the different EQs.

I mentioned also that input impedance can be adjusted and we have a range of 50 ohm to 47Kohm available with input capacitance being adjustable from 0 to 300pF. Gain for Moving Magnet is 38dB and for Moving Coil cartridges 64dB. This would suggest then that the target market for the melto2 is not only the serious record collector but also vinyl aficionados who use more than one cartridge for playing different records, something that seems to becoming increasingly popular amongst audiophiles.

I mentioned this a valve/tube design and the complement inside the melto2 is 2x E88CC dual triodes and 2x 6n2p-EV dual triodes. The design of the circuit is a no feedback design and Lab12 use two proprietary implementations – SRSG and Fine Symmetry. The step-up transformer inside the unit is by Lundahl who have been making transformers in Sweden since 1958.

Build-wise the unit continues the high standards of other Lab12 products I’ve had the pleasure to review and the front panel is made of 5mm Aluminium which is available in matt black or frozen silver – the review unit arrived in frozen silver. On this panel you have a large and easy to read OLED display, a knob for turning the unit on (or to mute it) and another knob that allows you to navigate the different settings. The latter sounds pretty complex, but, like their gordian power conditioner, it’s all pretty straightforward and you can do it all from the comfort of your armchair with the simple but effective remote control. All in all, the melto2 looks very attractive on the rack and certainly has a retro feel to its design.

Dimensions of the melto2 are 43x11x29cm (WHD) and it weighs in at a reasonable 8Kg. It arrives in simple but well-done packaging.

Round the back of the melto2 you have a total of three RCA inputs with each having its own grounding post. Output to your pre-amplifier of choice is either by RCA (unbalanced) or the increasingly popular balanced XLR. This is a nice touch and from a marketing perspective a sensible decision on the part of Lab12. Other than the AC mains IEC input and the master on/off switch that is your lot. Everything is well spaced and there is plenty of room for your cabling – some products seem to space their sockets so close together as to make it all but impossible to get all your cables in there.

So that’s the physical aspects of the melto2 taken care of but what about the sonics – expectations are high given the features and build so let’s hope it delivers!

IN USE AND SOUND QUALITY

OK, I’m not a serious collector of older vinyl and I use only MC cartridges, having given my only MM away some time ago and so for the purposes of this review I’ll be using just the Gold Note Tuscany Red that is bolted onto the Origin Live Zephyr tonearm mounted on their Resolution record deck. This vinyl front-end has been our reference for a good while now and takes pride of place in our main system which comprises Merrill Audio Thor power amps along with a Music First Baby Reference II pre-amplifier. Cabling for the purposes of this review is all Tellurium Q, other than power which is by Atlas and Tellurium Q. Speakers are our Avantgarde Duo XDs but, as these have active bass, I also auditioned the melto2 using a pair of Xavian Perla stand-mounters with Franc Audio Accessories slim footers added.

Switch the melto2 on and you are presented with a screen that says “melto is warming up” and a countdown from sixty seconds. The screen is clearly legible from my sitting position about 3 or so metres away which is a good thing. You can then scroll through the settings using the remote. First up, set the input you will be using, then the cartridge type, then high or low gain, then the equalisation curve, capacitance is locked at low, impedance is set to 25ohms (you can scroll through 25, 27, 34, 40, 60, 66, 73, 79, 88, 100 and High Impedance) and you can set whether you want a mono or stereo output. Finally, you can change the contrast of the OLED display but I kept it on full brightness as it made it easier to read. All this set up took a matter of a couple of minutes and, as I said, was all achievable from the comfort of my listening chair – I like this. I’m a bit of a prat when it comes to remote controls and never seem to get the hang of them with Linette being the guardian of remotes for television, satellite box etc, but this experience was hassle free and very intuitive. Good work Lab12 as I really hate the whole having to learn a new product thing – In a world of plug and play (and let’s face it laziness) there’s no excuse for over complicating things.

First up, and it was the first record that I came to, was John Martyn’s Solid Air (Half Speed Master) which regular readers of my reviews will know I reckon to be one of the finest recordings out there. The first thing I notice is the that there is absolutely no noise that I can hear being put into the system by the melto2 – it is silent between tracks other than the odd crackle and pop that are on this very well-played record. The second thing I note is the width of the soundstage, which I’m aware is a characteristic most influenced by the speakers, but it is wider than it was previously for sure. Thirdly I note the clarity and purity of tone in Martyn’s voice and instruments. First impressions of this phono are VERY encouraging and I find myself sat listening to the whole record, only pausing to take the odd note and to turn the record over at the end of side one. Imaging also feels somewhat sharper than I’m used to, again a characteristic influenced mostly by speakers, but the melto2 is definitely doing something positive to the whole and I’m liking it…a lot!

Next up I dig out a copy of Handels Messiah (Decca LXT 2921), a mono recording from 1954 giving me the opportunity to switch between RIAA curve and Decca and mono and stereo outputs, again from the comfort of my listening position. Now I don’t know this record particularly well but switching to the Decca curve and mono did seem to bring the recording to life a little more, with a perceived improvement in top-end and low-end definition when switching to the Decca curve. I’m in no way an aficionado of this style of music and it is pure coincidence I picked up this particular version at a second-hand shop some time ago, but it does show that for people who do go out and search this stuff down, the melto2 is a useful tool to have in your artillery.

Another delve into the record shelves and I pull out Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, again a record that gets a lot of play here at Hifi Pig Towers. It really is a tour-de-force in what can actually be achieved with electronic music, which, let’s be fair, does have its fair share of detractors in the audiophile world. I’m particularly enthralled here with the perception that there is more air around noises and “instruments” on the track Motherboard and the open-spaciousness I’m hearing on Fragments Of Time. I’m also aware again of the very low (imperceptible) noise-floor of the system allowing me to delve right into the recording and pick out little nuances previously veiled (“ oh, no he’s going to use the phrase “a veil has been lifted” I can sense it!”) to an extent. Again, I’m aware that the track feels to have more space – this is not a clinical kind of thing and the word I’d use is, perhaps, organic…or natural. Whatever, it’s a nice sound that feels very unforced, and whilst there is masses of detail coming through the speakers I’m not feeling overloaded by the detail, a characteristic that over the days led to me spending more and time listening to the system without once feeling fatigued. I know that is a bit of a cliché too but the melto2 really does produce a sound that is easy to get on with without sacrificing detail and (oh god he really is going to use it!) …micro-detail. I really am able to pick a record to pieces should I choose with the Lab12 in place but equally I’m able to just sit and enjoy my records. This is a good sign to me.

CONCLUSION

In the time I’ve had it in the main system and in the mid-priced system I’ve fallen in love with this phonostage and what it brings to the music that I’m hearing, so much so that it now sits in the main system having replaced a unit costing somewhat more than the asking price of the melto2. Yes, I bought it. I’ll rarely if ever use the different curves, and chances are that that particular setting option will never again move away from RIAA, but some will find this feature invaluable – in my Decca experiment outlined above it certainly works! Likewise, the mono setting, though I’m sat looking at the rack and thinking “I could add another turntable to the set up now, or add another arm and cartridge to the Origin Live record player.”

Sonically this is the easiest to get on with phonostage I’ve heard in our system. It is quiet to the point of silent in operation, allowing me to really get into a recording’s detail, but at the same time it is relaxed, unhurried and natural sounding in its delivery. There is a definite feeling to music having more space around individual instruments and those instruments sit in the soundstage with a solidity that is uncanny.

I’ve outlined a few records I listened to during the evaluation process but the melto was completely unfazed at whatever style of music I played through it, being equally at home with Dutch gabber from the early 90s to Miles Davis and everything in-between.

There is little to criticise here: set up is simple, build is great, sound is wonderful and perhaps all I could suggest to Lab12 is they bring a more basic version out without the mono function and without the different curves, though I fully understand why they have chosen to include them.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Simple and elegant styling allied with good build quality and materials. The OLED is easily visible from your sitting position.

Sound Quality: Exceptionally good sounding with an organic and mellifluous presentation that manages to still have all the detail present in the recording. Very low noise-floor and very un-fatiguing sounding.

Value For Money: Even with the features I’m unlikely to use very often I feel the asking price is exceptionally fair for the sound I’m enjoying.

Pros: Good looks. Simple set up. Super sound. A bit of a Swiss Army knife of a product for those that need or want those EQ curves. Remote set up is very useful.

Cons: For me, some of the features are superfluous.

Price: 3750 Euros

Stuart Smith

Much as Stuart has said, this phonostage from Lab12 delivers what it promises. I’m not a technical kind of person and the features like Columbia and Decca curve are not going to be of use to me other than the very rare occasions we come across something rare and old in one of the many Brocantes here in Brittany, but I understand that they may well be of use to serious collectors.

Looks-wise the melto2 is understated and looks great on the rack, with a retro kind of feel to it, and build is solid.

Sonically is where I concentrated my attention on the melto, and this is where it shines. I found it easy to listen to and as Stuart has mentioned above it is packed with detail, whilst at the same time sounding honey smooth, with a rich sound that I found quite addictive. With every kind of music I listened to, be it Def Leppard or Daft Punk, I thoroughly enjoyed the melto, finding it dynamic and thoroughly enjoyable. Phonostages are one of the bits of kit that kind of play a supporting role in a system and, when they are right, they just make everything sing. This one is definitely right…I’d go as far as to say it’s deserving of a Best Supporting Actor Oscar!

If vinyl is your passion and you are looking to upgrade your phonostage, and whether you feel you need all the features it offers or not, then the melto2 from Lab12 should certainly be on your audition list. Definitely an Outstanding Product in my eyes.

Linette Smith