OH, one other comment on the AT20ss and 47K ohm... I have a NOS stylus installed with probably not much more than 50 hours use. Its very fresh, so it has a lot of upper end compared to a well used stylus, that probably is playing into some of why I like it at this setting.
New Gold Note PH 10
I had posted a question a while ago about hearing from anyone with experience comparing the Gold Note PH 10 vs. the Bryston BP2 or Clear Audio Smart V2 phono preamps. I never heard anything back about this subject, so I decided to just simply purchase a new PH 10 and compare it against my Clear Audio preamp.
First impressions: As much as I love my Clear Audio Smart V2 and in particular its sound stage and imaging qualities, I have to say that the PH 10 was considerably better at detail and picking out the instruments, especially the low and mid range ones. The Clear Audio seemed to be a little better at the upper end imaging and the sound stage. But keep in mind this was with the PH 10 new right out of the box.
I was told the PH 10 needs at least 50 hours of run in time to open up, so I used it for two nights and left it on for several days. After allowing it to settle in and enjoying a lot of music, I still thought the Clear Audio had a leg up on it in the sound stage/imaging department. So I decided to listen to a well known record to me with excellent recording and a lot of dynamic range on the PH 10, then switch the wires over to the Clear Audio (which I had not heard in several days by this time), and replay the record. YIKES!!! it was like a blanket was draped over my speakers. I had become so gradually accustomed to the new PH 10 that I had not noticed the slight changes going on with the break in. When the Clear Audio was swapped back into the system (it took me about a minute to do this), it was night and day the differences.
The PH 10 was by far a much more detailed, pronounced signature with a superior sound stage and the imaging was hands down better. I am using it with the Audio Technica AT20ss vintage MM cartridge which has an extraordinary frequency range of 5-50K hz, so I was able to take advantage of the Enhanced RIAA curve the PH 10 has. It is pretty outstanding. Make sure you break things in! I love this phono preamp.
First impressions: As much as I love my Clear Audio Smart V2 and in particular its sound stage and imaging qualities, I have to say that the PH 10 was considerably better at detail and picking out the instruments, especially the low and mid range ones. The Clear Audio seemed to be a little better at the upper end imaging and the sound stage. But keep in mind this was with the PH 10 new right out of the box.
I was told the PH 10 needs at least 50 hours of run in time to open up, so I used it for two nights and left it on for several days. After allowing it to settle in and enjoying a lot of music, I still thought the Clear Audio had a leg up on it in the sound stage/imaging department. So I decided to listen to a well known record to me with excellent recording and a lot of dynamic range on the PH 10, then switch the wires over to the Clear Audio (which I had not heard in several days by this time), and replay the record. YIKES!!! it was like a blanket was draped over my speakers. I had become so gradually accustomed to the new PH 10 that I had not noticed the slight changes going on with the break in. When the Clear Audio was swapped back into the system (it took me about a minute to do this), it was night and day the differences.
The PH 10 was by far a much more detailed, pronounced signature with a superior sound stage and the imaging was hands down better. I am using it with the Audio Technica AT20ss vintage MM cartridge which has an extraordinary frequency range of 5-50K hz, so I was able to take advantage of the Enhanced RIAA curve the PH 10 has. It is pretty outstanding. Make sure you break things in! I love this phono preamp.
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- 79 posts total
Slim loading MMs is about both C and R. Optima are different for every cartridge or certainly every brand of cartridge. So for sure I would not say that every single MM cartridge will sound better at 100 K ohms. I have found that my old Grado TLZ and my Grace cartridges definitely do sound better with 100 K load and no added capacitance, over and above the cable capacitance and the input capacitance of the phono stage. Testimony from others like Chakster and Raul leads me to believe that 100 K might be best for the majority of MM cartridges, but certainly I do not know that for a fact. Also, it’s not only about opening up the high end. The entire audio frequency bandwidth comes through with a greater clarity for cartridges that prefer 100 K to 47K. Like I said if you keep lowering resistance below 47K there is the risk of rolling off your high frequency response. Even your own testimony suggests that the beneficial effect you perceive at 22K may be related to rolling off hf. Like a tone control. Thanks for the clarification regarding your grounding system. Even with your more detailed description, however, I am not sure it’s a good idea to attach your phono stage ground and your general audio ground to the ground system you use for your other devices. I guess only your experience can vouch for that. |
I've mention At 20SLa just because it is the closest to your SS which must be better )never had that one). However, i have AT-ML180 OFC and OCC and both are fantastic with 100k Ohm. Grace F-14, Grace LEVEL II and Victor X-1II are superb at 100k Ohm, but all of them are also OK at 47k Ohm, so no problem with that. All those carts have extremely wide frequensy response and the most advanced cantilevers/styli. I'm just trying to say that adjustable MM phono stage is a good idea, fixed MM phono stage is not as good as adjustable for those who own too many cartridges. |
I totally agree with both of you; adjustable input for MM is critical. As said above, I have found for the AT20ss the 200 pf range just works out great (again with my audio cables) and the 22K or 47K ohm input is also very nice. Just that from what I am hearing, I am not sure I'd go much higher than 47K as I can definitely hear a little too much accentuation on the upper range. I might have to send a note to Italy and inquire if I can get a schematic of the boards and see where I could couple a series 47K resistor in line which would put things up near 100K just for fun. Or perhaps I could use one of the loading resistors on the input RCA's which might do the same thing. It could be fun to play with. As far as grounding goes, I just want to make sure that my ground is a top notch earth ground and no worries, I do not run the audio system while running the on air transmitters :) |
- 79 posts total