Now you guys mention it, and in the absence of rock solid evidence to the contrary, it may well be the case that the complaints about noise (hiss, as I recall, not hum) pertain to the JC3, and yes I do recall that the 3+ exists in part to reduce the noise. I am surprised that substituting a toroidal transformer helped to cure the problem, as toroidals do radiate.
Help.... I'm scared to 'upgrade'!
Help…. I’m scared to ‘upgrade’!
I’m an unrepentant audiophile. I love equipment; buttons, knobs, dials, beautiful design, meters. Of course, I’m enthralled by music. It’s a deeply enriching and important part of my life. This makes me the perfect mark for spending way too much money on gear. I know that, oh well. So I want to upgrade from my cheap phono-stage but I’m full of doubt and hesitation. Let me explain….
I have what I consider a pretty great system, the heart of which is an Accuphase E-470. My speakers are a pair of ATC HTS-40’s (same drivers and specs as the SCM 40’s), and a pair of JL Audio D-110’s. Streaming is through a Bluesound NODE and an RME ADI DAC 2 fs. Mostly that great digital front end is used for TV and podcasts. When I settle down to really listen to music it’s through my analog front-end. That’s what this post is about.
I’ve had four or five phono-stages over the years and in fact I just sold a very nice all-tube one for $4,200. It simply wasn’t as quiet as the AD-50 input board installed in my E-470. I want all of those ‘audiophiley’ qualities like a holographic soundstage, magical midrange etc., but those have to emerge from an extremely quiet background and with extra high resolution. That’s why I sold a Parasound JC 3+ years ago because of too much hiss. And it was easy to sell a Rega Aria because that thing was great at generating it’s OWN noise. Yes, I’m picky. The AD-50 in my Accuphase is nice but the allure of ‘the next level’ is always tugging.
Then I accidentally bought an iFi Zen Phono! I was helping my son-in-law with his first TT and found a great used one here on Audiogon. He lives far away and I wanted to install a nice cart I had and dial it in pretty close before sending it on to him. I recommended one of those based on ‘buzz’ and he ordered one immediately. I did too, thinking I’d send it along with his TT. Anyway, for less than $200 I decided to keep it for a nice back-up. The thing is, it sounds absolutely phenomenal in my system. It’s paired with an extremely customized and modded Rega deck with an Hana Umami Red. I also have a Luxman PD-171A with an Ortofon Cadenza Black. That combo generates some great sound too.
So here it is…. The iFi Zen Phono is just crazy good. I think it’s better than the JC+, the Rega Aria that I had, and even the Luxman EQ-500 that I recently let go. Has anyone upgraded from the Zen Phono and to what? My short list includes the Whest Audio PS.40RDT, the new Accuphase C-47 (which would mean selling as much gear from my stash as possible), or an FM Acoustics FM 122-MKII. What else should I consider? I’m very intrigued by the Thoress Parametric Phono Equalizer too. What scares me is that might spend 6 to 12 grand on a unit that barely outperforms the ‘lowly’ Zen Phono.
Thanks for Reading!
Cheers,
~Oran
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@tweak1 I've got most of my system plugged into a Bryston BIT 15, which is essentially a large Piltron isolation transformer with surge protection and some additional RFI filtering. It has seemed to have helped; my home's AC does have issues. A little update is that I've added a cable to take advantage of the Zen Phono's balanced out, and that in conjunction with an upgraded power supply really confirms that, at least in terms of noise, that little unit can really hold it's own against preamps in much more rarefied levels.
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Fremer's review stated: "The compact Zen offers a gain range of 36dB to 72dB with a claimed astonishingly low -151dBv noise floor, a useful switchable subsonic filter and a balanced output, something unheard of at this price point." So yeah, THAT's a quiet unit. The first question though is how does it sound? Also, I looked at a photo of the rear of the unit, and I see only ONE balanced output jack. Do you need two Zens for balanced operation? (That would not be unprecedented; the Einstein phono stage offered that option for balanced mode.) If the noise floor is -151dBv, I hardly think balanced mode would make an audible difference in terms of noise, because at that very very low level inevitably noise from something else in the system would dominate. |
- 50 posts total