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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.
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sksos1
387 posts
 
@slimpikins5 if I was the dealer you were referring to yes originally I told customers that the PSU-10 at $1100 retail was a LOT of $$$ and IMO was not worth the asking price, better to spend on more records, again IMHO. We have now sold 9 of these power supplies (at well below 1k) and every customer thinks they are worth the price.

As regards of noisy PH-10's we only had one customer that had an issue with noise, it was an early PH-10. We sent it back to Italy and they updated some op amps and the customer is now a happy camper and then bought the matching PSU-10.

(Dealer disclaimer)
cardani
160 posts
 
So the Ph10 use opamps and if so have anybody tried opamp rolling, I just recently put some Burson opamps on a Roksan reference phono stage with a significant overall improvment.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
The Gold Note PSU-10 is not $1100 if you know where to buy it, directly from Italy (for non EU buyers) it’s just $740 (660 Euro) brand new and last summer it was even cheaper ! This is how i bought mine and i do not think it was a waste of money. This is obsious an improvement for fair price for such a nice power supply. But i would never buy it for $1k, again i paid about $700 including shipping from Italy for a brand new PSU-10 in the box. 

The Gold Note is not noisy at all, even without external power supply.


lohanimal
659 posts
 
@lewm  and @slimpikins5I actually have their original phone stage - the ps.02
It's good to know that other people have heard the same things I did when I bought mine - perhaps more so than now with the later models.
It's a crying shame that Whest don't do a multi-input/multi EQ stage. I did a review about 15 years ago and compared it to several other stages around £2000 and it bettered the competition which included the Tom Evans Groove. All said and done I prefer my Vendetta SCP2a - it's just more compelling and - dare i say it - chocolatey
slimpikins5's avatar
slimpikins5 OP
191 posts
 
@lohanimal 
The PS.02 from what I have read is a really nice entry level unit from Whest.  It is probably similar to the Whest Three only it has a one box approach vs. the dual chassis design of the Three.  I know that with each step up in the Whest line, you get a corresponding increase in detail and response.  The Three is definitely a step up from the PS.02, but when you get into the realm of a late version PS.30 RDT SE or even higher, such as the PS.40 RDT, things really take on another level of incredible detail, response and amazing realism.  If you ever have the opportunity and stumble upon one of these preamps, you should bring it in to try against what you are currently using.    
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