Phono Preamp Reviews

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Phono Preamp Reviews
Leben RS-30EQ phono preamplifier
Art Dudley  |  Nov 08, 2011  | 
The Leben RS-30EQ phono preamplifier ($2695) incorporates a pair of common dual-triode tubes (12AT7) for phono gain, but breaks with tradition by using a CR-type equalization circuit rather than the more common negative-feedback type. Total gain is specified as 23.5dB, which is sufficient for moving-magnet pickups; an external transformer is recommended for use with moving-coil types. A silicon full-wave rectifier supplies heater voltage, while the rail is supplied by a 6X5GT rectifier tube.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Parasound Halo JC 3 phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer, Brian Damkroger  |  Oct 24, 2011  | 
According to Parasound's founder and CEO, Richard Schram, the Halo JC 3 began as a phono-preamp retrofit for the JC 2 line stage, with separate small circuit boards for each channel. The smaller the board, the better, Schram says, so as to attract less noise than do larger boards, whose many copper traces can act as antennas.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
LFD Phonostage LE phono preamplifier
Art Dudley  |  Jun 17, 2011  | 
Far be it from me to surrender these column inches to the whims of a manufacturer.

That said, there's ample reason to break with tradition and offer the thoughts of an obscure English company called LFD, whose products may already have tripped your surveillance wires. In their "Charter to Product Commitment and Traditional Values"—which can be read in its entirety on Frohmusik's website and is signed by Bews and Hawksford (see below)—the people of LFD suggest, in so many words, that they will not manufacture goods outside of their native England; that their design work is guided by listening as much as by engineering theory; that they believe some component parts sound better than others of identical numeric value, depending on their specific role in an audio circuit; that their philosophy of circuit design is decidedly minimalist; and that they advocate the enjoyment of music on vinyl LP. That the principals of LFD have thus far avoided being burned alive as heretics is a source of wonder.

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Phono Preamp Reviews
Sutherland Engineering 20/20 phono preamplifier
Brian Damkroger  |  Feb 25, 2011  | 
Why no batteries?

It seemed a simple and obvious question, but I couldn't get an answer out of Ron Sutherland. Why did his new 20/20 phono preamp use an AC power supply instead of batteries? I asked directly, I asked repeatedly, I tried framing the question in different ways, all to no avail. Did the AC supply make it sound better? Was it less expensive to build? Were potential customers turned off by having to replace batteries once every year or two?

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Audacious AudioPhono Preamp Reviews
Abbingdon Music Research PH-77 Phono Equaliser
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 07, 2010  |  First Published: Jul 07, 2010  | 
Why bother with three phono preamps most of us can't afford? For the same reason the enthusiast automobile magazines cover the newest Ferraris and Lamborghinis: just reading about them is fun.
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Budget Component ReviewsPhono Preamp ReviewsComputer Audio Reviews
NAD PP 3 digital phono preamplifier
Robert J. Reina  |  Oct 18, 2010  | 
Even Mikey Fremer is surprised at vinyl's current popularity. Some pundits postulate that eventually CDs will die out, and we'll be faced with the choice of LPs or downloads. (I hope not. I'm just getting used to CDs.) With abundant sources of new pop releases and a wide range of reissues on vinyl, and a variety of used LPs, every audiophile should own a turntable. And with the availability of affordable turntables such as the Pro-Ject Debut III, which I reviewed in the February 2010 Stereophile, the cost of entry to VinylLand is not very dear. The problem is that so few entry-level integrated amplifiers and receivers available today include phono stages. (The Marantz PM5003, which I reviewed in the January 2010 issue, is a notable exception.)
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Audacious AudioPhono Preamp Reviews
Vitus Audio MP-P201 Masterpiece Series phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 23, 2010  |  First Published: Jul 23, 2010  | 
This massive, two-box beauty from Denmark costs $60,000, and I wish I could tell you it wasn't really better in most ways than the already outlandishly priced and sonically superb Boulder 2008. I can't.
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Phono Preamp ReviewsPhono Accessory ReviewsComputer Audio Reviews
Pure Vinyl LP recording & editing software
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 19, 2010  | 
As long as you're spinning an LP for your listening pleasure, and if digitizing it at a resolution of 24-bit/192kHz is transparent to the analog source, why not record and store the LP on your computer at that high sampling rate for future convenient playback via iTunes or for iPod use, or for burning to CD-R? And, while you're at it, why not record the LP unequalized and apply the RIAA curve in the digital domain, where you're not dependent on capacitors and resistors that are imprecise to begin with, and can drift over time? With no drift of phase or value, the virtual filter's results should be better than with any analog filter. And in the digital domain, you can program in any curve known, and select it at the click of a mouse. Aside from the sweat equity invested in programming it in the first place, it wouldn't add a penny to the program's cost.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Seta Nano phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 19, 2010  | 
The minuscule electrical output of an analog signal from a moving-coil cartridge needs to be boosted before it can be converted to digital and equalized in the digital domain. Of course, you could use your current phono preamplifier and record an equalized signal to hard disk, but then you wouldn't get to experience Pure Vinyl's digital RIAA correction—nor would you be able to avail yourself of all the equalization curves provide by Pure Vinyl, of which there are almost too many to count.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Seta Model L phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 19, 2010  | 
The minuscule electrical output of an analog signal from a moving-coil cartridge needs to be boosted before it can be converted to digital and equalized in the digital domain. Of course, you could use your current phono preamplifier and record an equalized signal to hard disk, but then you wouldn't get to experience Pure Vinyl's digital RIAA correction—nor would you be able to avail yourself of all the equalization curves provide by Pure Vinyl, of which there are almost too many to count.
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Audacious AudioPhono Preamp Reviews
Boulder Amplifiers 1008 phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 06, 2010  | 
Why bother with three phono preamps most of us can't afford? For the same reason the enthusiast automobile magazines cover the newest Ferraris and Lamborghinis: just reading about them is fun.
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Art Dudley ListeningPhono Preamp Reviews
Listening #90
Art Dudley  |  Jun 28, 2010  | 
The best result of mathematics is to not need it.—Oliver Heaviside, 1850–1925
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Budget Component ReviewsPhono Preamp Reviews
Musical Fidelity V-LPS Phono Stage
Sam Tellig, Michael Fremer  |  Feb 02, 2010  |  First Published: May 02, 2009  | 
Not being fond of self-flagellation, I don't usually do analog. I am not a fuddy-dudley, nor am I especially fremerous.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Nagra BPS phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer, Fred Kaplan  |  Sep 24, 2009  |  First Published: Jun 24, 2009  | 
This tiny, lightweight, battery-powered jewel is loosely based on Nagra's VPS phono stage that I reviewed in October 2008 but uses bipolar transistors instead of tubes. The bottom of the company's familiar brushed-aluminum case has a grippy rubber material die-cut to spell Nagra. It's intended to keep the preamp from sliding, but stiff cables will have the BPS hanging in the air if you're not careful. The BPS costs $2399.
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Audacious AudioPhono Preamp Reviews
Lamm LP2 Deluxe phono preamplifier
Art Dudley, Michael Fremer  |  Sep 18, 2009  |  First Published: Dec 18, 2002  | 
In an ideal world, I'd have every phono section I've reviewed in the past 16 years on hand to compare with these three and with all that arrive in the future. But because I have a life, I don't, and I wouldn't even if I could, though some readers (and one retailer) have insisted that that's the only way that I could possibly be of any use to them. Ha! And for those who are concerned that I've neglected the Manley Steelhead, not so! It's still my reference.
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