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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.
128x128slimpikins5
slimpikins5's avatar
slimpikins5 OP
191 posts
 
Lew, yes I did use it with the PH10.   In fact its all I use!  My AT20ss (which was an AT15ss prior to this past winter when I swapped out the stylus for a NOS AT20ss stylus) has been in use since 1976.  I like it too much to migrate over to any MC carts.  In fact a friend of mine who has an Ortofon  Windfeld Ti recently put an AT15ss with a NOS Stylus I sold to him into service.  He's having a hard time determining if his $4500 Windfeld Ti is better than the old vintage MM :)

I really enjoyed the PH10 a lot.  It had very nice mid range, it was dynamic and very clean.  

The Whest Three doesn't use any capacitors in the output stage I am told and the input is "trimmed" as James says for 91pf on the input.  He suggested that I change out my 120pf phono cable for something along the lines of 50 to 60pf to dial in the total capacitance to near the 150pf range for the AT20ss.   James at Whest is very familiar with the AT20ss, he said it's a "GREAT CARTRIDGE", that is a direct quote.  He loves it and said that its a perfect match up with the Whest Three phono stage; especially if I lower the input capacitance with a input cable change.

A friend of mine sent me a link to some Mogami pro audio cable which is 14pf per foot.  A meter or so of this cable would really dial this in if I have a cable made up for the SME IV tonearm to the 
lewm
12,449 posts
 
Reading between the lines, you seem to be saying that despite the high capacitance at the input of the gold note, you are very happy with the combination of the AT20SS with a gold note . It would be interesting to see if you like the combination of AT20 SS and the whest phono stage better. Or to learn how it changes the total balance.

I own several expensive low output MC cartridges and several rare vintage moving magnet and moving iron type cartridges. Price, technology, and year of manufacture  are not guidelines to sonic excellence. If I were moving to a deserted island and could take only one cartridge, it would probably be one of the older vintage models.
slimpikins5's avatar
slimpikins5 OP
191 posts
 
Actually I was 'sort of happy' with the Gold Note.  The Gold Note had some software control issues in terms of the relays controlling the Gain and Loading settings.   I was told by the factory to do a firmware update which came out late spring.  I honestly didn't wish to deal with this as I wanted something much more simple to keep in operation.   Plus I found the Gold Note in my system tended to have ground loop issues, which I did eliminate with experimentation, but again I am looking for simple.

As far as performance goes, the Gold Note has a very nice mid range, but compared to the Whest Three with its outboard power supply and dual mono power line feeds (each is a 5 conductor XLR), there is no comparison.... the Whest is hands down far better.   The Gold Note cannot compete with the Whest in terms of low end dynamic output and the upper end is far smoother with a substantial advantage in sound stage and 3D imaging.   The mid range in the Whest is also excellent; so in essence, it has it all.   In addition, the Whest has a very pronounced superior level of detail.   I am very anxious to try out some new low capacitance phono cables shortly just to hear what that does.   


As far as noise goes, the Whest is extremely quiet, I don't even know if it is on when I switch over to the phono input on the system.  The Gold Note was not nearly as quiet.  But you pay for all of this as the Whest is almost 3 times the price point; but in my eyes well worth the cost.
lewm
12,449 posts
 
Exactly which of the many versions of the west phono stage do you have? I know it is a Whest three, but there seems to be more than one version of the three. I am open minded to the whest , as well as to the gold note. If I were to go ahead and make a purchase.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@lewm you can buy two, compare them, return one and report which one you like the most, haha :)) 
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