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All in Analog
No sooner had the review been posted on Audiophilia of the splendid Allnic Audio H-1202 Phono Stage ($3750) when distributor David Beetles called to ask if I wanted to review Allnic’s $14,999 H-7000, the upgraded model of Allnic’s H-3000, all transformer-coupled, LCR phono stage.
Yes! Please.
After reviewing the H-1202 and ZL-5000 Power Cable, I was utterly convinced of designer Kang Su Park’s prowess and looked forward to a deep dive into his upscale analogue device.
It’s interesting to note that a $3750 phono stage is now considered, among some audiophiles, as entry level for delivering vinyl sound as it’s meant to be heard. Sure, there are relatively inexpensive examples that do a fine job—the excellent Rega Aria is priced at $1500—and some expensive models that don’t, but in my experience, higher priced analogue gear sounds better. You gotta pay to play.
My reference Sutherland Engineering DUO monoblock Phono Preamplifier was so good in review, I purchased the unit(s). The DUO is priced at $4000, slightly more than the subject of this review, the brand new Allnic Audio H-1202 Phono Stage at $3750. My DUO benefited from some serious trickle down goodies from Ron Sutherland’s $10,000 PhonoBlock Phono Stage. This new Allnic Audio ‘entry level’ phono stage benefits from the Korean company’s esteemed analogue lineage, with trickle down tech from its $39,000 H-8000.
Recently, I had the very good fortune to review the Shelter 501 III MC Phono Cartridge. No sooner than the review was published, a Shelter 5000 MC Phono Cartridge dropped into my lap. For my review of Canadian startup Pure Fidelity’s Eclipse Turntable, the designer John Stratton suggested he setup his Shelter 5000 as it had been so successful during the turntable’s beta testing. I killed two birds with one stone for that review and jotted down some thoughts about the 5000 once I got to know the Eclipse’s sound signature. The cart was mounted to an Acoustic Signature TA-1000 tonearm.
At an MSRP of $2245, the 5000 is a couple of steps above the $1295 501 III in Shelter’s ‘Legendary Line’ of cartridges and a couple steps below the top player, the $4195 9000. I’m familiar with the outstanding 9000 and really liked the 501 III. As I began serious listening, I wondered what another grand above the 501 III got you in Shelter rent.
In February of 2015, I reviewed the original PS Audio Sprout, the brainchild of Scott McGowan. It was a powerful, small, simple to use stereo integrated amplifier with DAC, analog preamplifier, headphone amp, phono stage, Bluetooth receiver and more; I was dazzled by its performance at $799. Now we step forward 3 years to the second generation for review here: the Sprout100—at only $599.
I ran into McGowan recently at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October 2017, where he pulled out a prototype of the Sprout100 from his backpack at the hotel restaurant for my perusal; my eyes lit up at what I saw—and hoped to hear soon after. As I will try to convey in this review, some serious thought by McGowan was clearly given to this new version, and by drawing upon the expertise of PS Audio’s engineer Darren Myers, PS Audio has produced a product of exceptional value—and substantially better than the original.
I've been an audio acquaintance of Ron Sutherland, head of Sutherland Engineering, from my earliest days visiting audio shows. Seems, charming, friendly Ron attends them all. He's a great supporter of our industry. Although a staple in high end audio for two decades, Sutherland gear flies under the glitzy marketing radar, but is very well known to discerning and knowledgable audiophiles looking for great sound tagged with some value.
I reviewed his very popular and inexpensive entry level PH-1 phono stage many years ago (under the brand name AcousTech). It was a solid piece that bumped up the quality from the usual phono cards found in receivers and integrateds popular at the time.
A reexamination of my Phasemation PP-300 cartridge review will be helpful in learning about Phasemation as a company, its info/philosophy, etc. I spent a few very pleasurable months listening to and writing about the gorgeous little nugget from the Japanese high end company.
Spring has been a bumper cartridge season here at Audiophilia—I reviewed Shelter's Model 501 III MC Phono Cartridge (another Japanese gem), as well as the 300. Now, Phasemation’s top of the line, $6000 PP-2000.
Serendipity plays a role in discovering new equipment. Lately my vinyl setup wasn’t sounding the way it should so I started to examine my components to see if there were any obvious problems. I then decided to do a little house cleaning and rearranging of my system. During this move there occurred a few rough interludes where equipment and bodies made unintentional contact. It became clear that my Shelter 9000 cartridge was badly damaged.
I called a few buds and they recommended I check with Peter Ledermann of Soundsmith. The man is a legend in the field of cartridge design and repair. After chatting with him, I sent my cartridge in for evaluation. It turns out that I had really done a number on the Shelter. The cantilever was twisted, the stylus was completely gone and there was a lot of dirt trapped in the body. Peter assured me that he could fix the cartridge and bring it up to full working order for $550.00. He also explained how his policy for repair and rebuild is rather unique—all Soundsmith cartridges can be rebuilt to new, forever, for 20% or less. According to Peter, the Soundsmith cartridges therefore have a far lower cost per play over the years.
Shelter has been hand making moving coil phono cartridges in Japan since 1986. It ships two series of cartridges, the ‘Ultimate Line’ and the ‘Legendary Line’. The 501 III moving coil cartridge is mid price point in the Legendary Line, at $1295. The original 501 was produced in 1990. The Mk. III under consideration has the combination of an aluminum clad boron cantilever and an elliptical diamond stylus.
I first heard of Shelter when my Audiophilia colleague Martin Appel purchased a 9000 moving coil (top of the Legendary Line) a few years ago. He uses it on his VPI Avenger turntable. It sounds wonderful. Detailed and vibrant.
The 501 III arrived at the office in tandem with a few other high end pieces and the superb Phasemation PP-300 moving coil cartridge, which is roughly the same price.
Japan’s Phasemation began life in 1970 as Kyodo Denshi System. The company name was changed to Phase Tech in 2002, morphing into Phasemation in late 2010. Much like Britain's SME and other precision analogue companies, Kyodo made its real money in more lucrative tech. In this case, developing measuring devices for the IT industry. It just so happens the company CEO is an audiophile.
I became aware of the company a decade ago after brief listens to sundry Phase Tech cartridges. The company was gaining some ground in the advance notice stakes; lots of analog buzz on the forums. In fact, they were splendid and for a reasonable cost. My local dealer went nuts for them.
[The fine print: The cartridge setup procedure described here is to be used solely as a guideline, and may not be applicable to all cartridges and tonearms. If the instructions here conflict with those provided by your cartridge or tonearm manufacturer (assuming you’re fortunate enough to get any), follow those from the manufacturer. Furthermore, Audiophilia will not be held responsible for any damage sustained by your cartridge, tonearm, turntable or anyone foolish enough to sneak up on you from behind while following these instructions.]
While spending more time using vinyl in my audio system, I came to realize the importance of a phono stage; in particular matching one appropriate with one’s turntable and cartridge. This is a huge grey area, and one in which passions are high. If you ask for advice you must be prepared to enter a mine field. Some will insist that all-tube phono stages are the only way to go, while others will insist on solid state. Not having any strong pre-conceived ideas of my own, I considered whatever advice I could get and then researched/explored further. I tried both types, plus the solid state one I own, the PS Audio NuWave Phono Converter, which has the unusual ability to convert to digital on the fly and send the output to my DAC--in addition to offering a purely analog path. As I gained a better understanding of what I did and did not like about sound quality revealed by different phono stages, I concluded that the reason my digital setup had the overall upper hand in sound quality was due to its superior components; the weak link in my vinyl setup was the phono stage. So, here we are; the raison d’etre for this review.
Being of a practical nature, I did not like the moving coil (mc) versus moving magnet (mm) dichotomy incorporated in the vast majority of phono stages. Why? Because the cart I liked so much as my reference was neither; it was a moving iron (mi) and had other unusual properties that were not accommodated by some of the most expensive and well regarded phono stages.
For the last decade I have been living happily with my upgraded AVID Volvere/SME IV turntable/arm combination, but ten years is a very long time and I got that itch. You know, that ‘itch’. The one that grabs hold and says I need to make a change, something new to satisfy that need for something better.
During this ten year period the fate of the LP has dramatically shifted. The LP has come back from the dead and a resurgence of sales has occurred. Demand for records has skyrocketed. New generations have ‘discovered what we oldsters have known about for a long time, the sound of the LP is still superior to that of digital and when played on a good system, absolutely breathtaking.
This rebirth of the LP not only impacts the turntable, tonearm and cartridge industries, but improves the health of all segments of the highend audio industry. This benefits all of us.
Recently, I had an unforeseen reason (disaster?) that offered me a chance to check out a new phono cartridge for my VPI Industries Scout turntable. Among the cartridges I focused on for review was the Grado Labs Statement v2 (reviewed here), but it was a much more serious and expensive cartridge than the one I had before (the very nice Ortofon 2M Black (MM)). As such it was considered by both Grado Labs and VPI Industries to be more suitable for a higher level turntable, so I used a Prime in my Grado review; I am grateful to VPI President Mat Weisfeld for allowing me access to the Prime for that review. Here, I review the Prime itself; after all, I have spent quite some time with it by now– and I am deeply impressed by it. A fine cartridge can’t show off unless it is mounted on a fine turntable, right?
Most audiophiles have a similar story to tell as the one I hereby offer as the lead to this review: One day some months ago, a friend came by excited to play on my turntable what he said was a very fine LP. When the tone arm dropped, all we heard was a loud screeching sound, no music. Close inspection revealed that ‘someone’ had meddled with the diamond tipped needle, and like an acrobat it was now in a most contorted configuration, bent 180 degrees with some cute wiggles too. The needle cracked off shortly after.
Although my 3-year old daughter admitted that she was to blame, she had such a logical and endearing explanation for her action that of course I could not take her to task except to make her promise never again to 'mess around with Papa’s stereo system'. [I introduce to you, fellow audiophiles, Karl Sigman, the most patient man on the planet - Ed]
Much of the technology incorporated in Rega's recent RP8 turntable transitoned up to the new flagship RP10. As such, a read of our RP8 review would be a good idea before reading the RP10 review. In addition to the new technology added to the RP8, the RP10 was designed with those and some truly new extraordinary design cues that set a new bar for Rega.
Just when I was about to begin serious listening for a serious review of Rega's moving coil Apheta phono cartridge, I got the news a 2nd generation was ready to go. Usually, these generational upswings are gentle, akin to composers changing a few notes here and there to stretch copyright length. But the buzz on the new Apheta 2 was different. Big changes. I'd wait.
This sub $1300 moving coil from Denmark's Ortofon is the entry level model of the 'Cadenza' colour series. Ortofon also offers a very popular colour series for its moving magnet cartridges. I had a chance to listen to the Cadenza Red at length on two different turntables, the Bergmann Audio Magne Turntable and the Rega RP8.
Phono stages are tricky things. They’re critical in the amplification of the very low signal output of cartridges. Better design and better parts equal better sound. You can buy phono stages, at least of the moving magnet cartridge variety for less than a hundred dollars at corner electronic stores. Hell, you can even get a quality NAD Electronics PP 2e Phono on Amazon for about $150.
This review has been some time coming. I’ve always been a fan of Rega products — we’ve been reviewing and listening to Roy Gandy’s kit for many years but getting a review sample has been like capturing a golden unicorn. Our Canadian distributor was out of stock. Always out. ‘I’ll get back to you’. We were not getting the run around — the distributor is a wonderful guy and always accommodating. Simply, a very popular item.
After completing my recent review of the VPI Industries Scout Jr. Turntable, I was impressed to move forward with some of its convenient upgrades to bring it more up to par with my reference system. I briefly report here what I did and the benefits thereof with some food for thought thrown in for good measure.
