ifi iPhono 3 "Black Label" Anyone?

errata

Hey guys please forgive some of my missed commas and typos, i.e. “there instead of their”, “through instead of threw”, etc. “It is because I have heard many so-called reference level stages that” should have been: “It is reference level in the sense that I have heard many so-called reference level stages that”.  blah blah blah as my old girlfriend used to say :)

Listening to the iPhono 3 BL tonight, I can say confidently this may be the best solid state phono stage I’ve yet to experience. I say may because I have listened to the Grail SB and REALLY liked that unit but I don’t have one for direct comparison. Fortunately my audiophile buddy does own the Grail SB and lives near me. I am taking it to his home for a direct comparison soon as the current plague situation eases. Of course the Grail costs more than 15 times as much :) 

I am finding this unit to possibly be more dynamic than the SPL Phonos. The lack of capacitors in the signal path is really eye-opening in the way it delivers information, musical flow and naturalness. Sometimes I still have a hard time believing this unit is producing the results I’m hearing.

I literally just saw and read the Analogplanet review of this unit. Check it out.

What does the iFi DC iPurifier do? Is it essentially adding more capacitance to the filter stage of the PS?  Fremer loved the iFi2, so I am guessing he will have even more love for the iFi3.

Never mind on the DC iPurifier.  I see that it is to be placed between the SMPS and the device itself, in line. A noise filter.