Phono Amplifiers

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

We employ a "minimalist" philosophy. This means that we do away with anything in the signal path that will color or affect the music. The Second Edition is a no-compromise design. There are no bells, lights, LEDs, or switches of any kind.

These features distract from the true purpose of music playback - accurate sound. We want you to hear the music the way it was actually recorded. Our goal is to surprise you with the level of detail that is hidden in audio recordings.

To achieve the most accurate and revealing sound possible, we design our products using the least materials possible to carry the music signal. We select our parts to eliminate the skin and dielectric effects and we extensively test the parts we use for their sonic merit.

PHONO AMP FEATURES

The chassis is 9 x 6 x 4 ¾ inch hard maple fitted with three 1.5-inch Valid Points and four ½-inch Valid Points resonance control discs are supplied. Mostly component-to-component connected and point-to-point wired with ultra-pure, deep-cryo’ed, Teflon-insulated, solid core, directionally configured silver wire.

1. The phono stage is directly coupled. There are no selector switches, jumpers, capacitors, transformers, or servos in the signal path - only one proprietary precision nude foil resistor and one aerospace ceramic amplifier. There are no digital circuits, LEDs, lights or on/off switches. Nothing to degrade the sound.

2. All resistors are proprietary nude foil on ceramic backing. There are no carbon or metalized epoxy resistors used anywhere.

3. The RIAA (phono) equalization utilizes superior grade Teflon capacitors, which do not cross the signal path. The chips used to regulate the circuitry and the power supply were designed for military aerospace applications.

4. True point-to-point with ultra-pure solid core silver wire - Teflon insulated. Direct coupled, only one resistor for cartridge loading in signal path. Input and output signal path is less than two inches.

5. RCAs are custom silverplated, special polystyrene insulated screw terminals – the very best!

6. The output section is directly coupled, (no capacitors or transformers). The DC offset is nulled using the supplied volt meter. Adjustable controls are easily accessible externally. Other means to eliminate the DC offset compromises the sonic performance.

7. Adjustable gain of 40 – 66 db. MC phono S/N > 90 db, THD < 0.0015%.

8. Chassis is constructed from one-inch thick Select rock maple finished in a hand-rubbed tung oil and bolted to a seven piece Valid Points resonance control system.

9. The entire Reference Phono Amplifier is given a deep cryogenic treatment. A process that takes seven days.

Remote Power Supply

A true dual mono power supply with dual solid core Torroidal transformers, the very best (and expensive) Blackgate capacitors. Fully regulated. No circuit boards. Component-to-component connected and point-to-point wired with ultra-pure, deep-cryo’ed, Teflon-insulated, solid core, directionally configured silver wire. All resistors are special proprietary nude .005% foil. No carbon or metalized resistors used anywhere. The umbilical cable is Teflon with ultra-pure silver and the best Limo connectors - all of which is cryogenically treated.

The chassis is 18.5 x 7 x 6 inches and constructed of ¾ inch thick hard maple with a premium, hand-rubbed tung oil finish. Three 2-inch Valid Points cones are bolted to the chassis and five ½-inch Valid Points resonance control discs are supplied. The Power Supply is fitted with two IECs so premium power cords of your choice may be used.

FOR THE PROSCENIUM TURNTABLE

Because the phono amp is small, it can be placed behind the tone arm. The tone arm wires can then be fitted with optional matching locking silver RCAs and directly coupled to the phono amp. This interconnect, more than any other, affects the sound of the system. Eliminating the most critical and expensive interconnect in the system makes a vast improvement in the sound.