Phono Preamp Reviews

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Phono Preamp Reviews
Pass Aleph Ono phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 06, 2005
If compact discs are so damned dynamic and vinyl is so dynamically limited, why do they sound just the opposite? Why do LPs sound so "live," so explosive, so "there," and CDs so dead? Even the best CDs usually sink to second-rate when you switch to their vinyl versions. I've heard it, you've heard it. Only those in deep denial, those who refuse to listen, don't. They'd rather read the published specs and consider the actual listening some kind of mass delusion among Luddite LP fans.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
EAR 834P phono preamplifier Michael Fremer on the EAR
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 10, 2005
Michael Fremer wrote about the EAR 834P Deluxe in August 2003 (Vol.26 No.8):

I've been meaning to review this Tim de Paravicini design for years. Finally, egged on by readers, here goes.

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Phono Preamp Reviews
Sutherland PhD MC phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  May 15, 2005
The $3000 moving-coil (MC) PhD, available from Chad Kassem's Acoustic Sounds operation, is a monumental achievement that, for me, sets new standards for the cleanness and transparency possible in a phono preamp—and I've had a lot of experience with phono preamps.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Audio Research Reference phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 03, 2005
Audio Research's long-promised "final statement" phono preamplifier has finally arrived, and its price is $3500 less than the originally rumored $10,000. That's a pleasant deviation from the audiophile norm, but at $6495, the Reference phono still boasts a steep ticket. That's more than twice the price of the $2495 PH3 SE, AR's previous best—a class sonic act itself.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Graham Slee Era Gold Mk.V phono stage
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 30, 2004
I don't know Graham Slee from Gram Parsons, or which House he was in at Harry Potter's Hogwarts School, but let me tell you: If you'd just been listening to a bunch of budget phono preamps, as I had, then came upon the GSP Audio Era Gold Mk.V, you'd think someone had switched out not just the phono preamp but your entire system. You might think you were listening to a different pressing or a different cartridge. How can this be?
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Boulder 2008 phono preamplifier & 2010 preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 14, 2002
It's not every Consumer Electronics Show that someone introduces a $29,000 solid-state phono preamplifier—and I miss it. The 2002 CES was one. My show report in the April issue made it seem as if I'd found out about it there, but the fact is, someone clued me in after I'd returned home. I needed to come clean on that.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Manley Labs Steelhead phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 05, 2001
The Manley Steelhead tube MM/MC phono preamplifier was first demonstrated at the 2001 Consumer Electronics Show. Nine months later, my long-promised review sample of Eveanna Manley's new baby was delivered. While Ms. Manley may have given birth to the audacious product, it was conceived by the company's chief hi-fi designer, Mitch Margolis.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Herron Audio VTSP-1 preamplifier & VTPH-1MC phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 19, 2000
This is an era in which products and websites are "launched," but in the past two years Herron Audio has sort of oozed its way into the public ear. With little visible promotion or splashy advertising, Herron is now spoken of within an ever-widening audiophile circle.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Conrad-Johnson Premier 15 phono preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 03, 1999
At a hi-fi show in Germany a few years ago, an audio club had set up a room filled with a dozen well-known turntable/tonearm combos. I recall seeing the Clearaudio/Souther, Immedia RPM-2 and arm, VPI TNT Mk.IV/JMW Memorial, Basis 2500/Graham 2.0, Oracle/Graham, Linn LP12/Ittok, SME Model 20/SME V, and some others I can't remember, including a few not exported from Germany.
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