Munich 2025

Alongside the plethora of turntables, tonearms, cartridges, parts, and accessories shown at High End Munich 2025 were — of course — all kinds of phono preamplification: standalone phono preamps, step-up transformers, onboard phono stages, and so on.

Germany’s AMG — a.k.a. Analog Manufaktur Germany — introduced a late-stage prototype of their new Ventus phono preamp. The Ventus comes with three inputs. Buyers can opt for any combination of three balanced/XLR or unbalanced/single-ended connections, each will have its own independent gain and loading. There are three different ground posts (but all will ground to the same point).

Michael Fajen of AMG’s North American distributor Sierra Sound, and Marco Borovac of AMG (seen above), who designed the phono preamp, shared more details about the Ventus’ design with me. AMG have made their name primarily as a turntable manufacturer who focus on precision CNC machining — also an advantage that applies to making an elegant and solid chassis that incorporates heat sinks. This unit will also have engraving on front for the various settings’ display text.

The prototype model shown had a glass top to show off its parts inside and dual-mono symmetrical construction, as seen below. The production model will have a machined aluminum top as well as other machined details: more curves and arches within the design. On the back panel, for example, there will be more space to allow easier access to plug and unplug cables.

Speaking of cables, AMG are now making their own cables in Germany now. (Previously, Cardas Cables made AMG’s cables that were sold under the AMG name. Fajen mentioned that those prior cables are still available, and are being sold under AMG’s North American distributor Sierra Sound’s own brand name.) Meanwhile, AMG tonearms can now be configured with silver internal wire as an upgrade for an additional $1,000; current owners of AMG arms can have them rewired in Germany for $1,500.

The Ventus prototype had three user-selectable gain settings (66dB, 60dB, and 54dB balanced (–6dB each for unbalanced/single-ended); the production model will have a few additional settings, possibly up to eight of them. The Ventus also has user-adjustable capacitive and resistive loading to suit MM and MC cartridges, a defeatable low-pass filter, and single-ended and balanced indicators on front for the production model. “Maybe not as many higher-end phono preamp customers will be using MM,” pointed out Fajen, “but we might as well include that to cover the bases.”

The Ventus, a Class A, open-loop design, draws from elements of both tubed and transistor-based topologies, designer Marco Borovac told me. Borovac, whose C.V. includes years of previous work for Audio Note UK and Clearaudio, said the Ventus also takes inspiration from earlier in his experience, too — his abiding interest in Pass Labs, for example.

“It is designed very simply, like the tube amps,” Borovac said. “It only has two gain stages but like the Pass Labs, I’m using discrete JFETs. The first and second stages are JFETs and the third it’s not a gain stage; it’s just an output driver. It’s a source follower with MOSFETs. So, it’s a very clean design.”

It will use an unregulated power supply — very similar to tube amps again, Borovac added, “because we have Class A, and it’s not changing the current through the power supply. [. . .] We use DC-input and DC-output-decoupled capacitors. In our interstage, we use an open Servo to control the output DC operating point.”

The AMG Ventus phono preamp uses zero negative feedback, and it is designed to be quiet. The different power supply elements will be housed in different chambers. Also, the Ventus production model will have two transformers, one for each channel. “For the final production, all these transformers and the AC part of the circuit is going to be mounted from below, so this is going to be closed,” Borovac explained. “So, we don’t have any AC power inside the area where the circuit is. It’s going to be completely built and milled from below, and built from the outside.”

Fajen also emphasized these points. “With only two gain stages, there’s not going to be any extraneous noise,” he asserted. “The way the power supply is situated and physically isolated, there’s zero AC line noise.”

The Ventus was connected to an AMG Viella turntable with a 12JT tonearm and outboard power supply; an AMHG Viella Forte turntable with three 12JT 12in tonearms was also shown passively nearby (and can also be seen below).

In F129, the large corner room in which AMG was stationed, was a shared space with a couple of other manufacturers. As such, this room setup mainly allowed for passive displays with only occasional opportunities to hear music in active demos — though in less-than-ideal listening conditions. So, commentary on the gear’s sound will have to wait — though hopefully not for too long!

Finally, the AMG Ventus phono preamp is anticipated to have an approximate SRP of $22,000, and the unit is expected to start shipping sometime in the fall.

Part 3 of my Munich 2025 show report is coming soon!

Author bio: Julie Mullins, a lifelong music lover and record collector since age 10 who takes after her audiophile father, is also a contributing editor and reviewer on our sister site, Stereophile, for whom she also writes the monthly Re-Tales column. A former fulltime staffer at Cincinnati’s long-running alt-weekly CityBeat, she programs and hosts a weekly radio show on WAIF called On the Pulse.

For even more High End Munich 2025 coverage, go here on our sister site Stereophile.