Voltage mode vs current mode phono stages

@drbond 

Firstly my Grail is the SB, not SE, sorry.  I have had it about two years.

The model range is Grail, entry.  SB, separate power supply on umbilical, but same amplification circuitry.  SE, separate supply for each channel.  SE+, some selected components.  SB and SE can be run balanced or single-ended but input and output must be the same mode.  One might have presumed the SE is single-ended and SB balanced.  Not so.

The reading of the literature you mention is a mis-reading.  In the vdH specs it is stated that the current operation provides automatic matching for cartridges in the 40-400 ohms.  On the SE and SB there is the additional possibility of changing the capacitance by hard-wiring capacitors into the back of an XLR socket.  vdH suggests this might be done in the case of moving magnet cartridges but doesn't see the need on moving coils.

I have listened to a wide range of top-end MC cartridges on the SB and it works well with all of them.  It is priced at c.£14k in the UK, but I believe cheaper in the US.  In my estimation it is at least a match for amps selling at double that.  For instance I tried the Boulder and found that to be dry and over-clinical, analytic rather than musical compared with the SB.  I found it noticeably better than the AR Ref 3 and lesser ARs.

Here is the vdH website on their phono stages:

https://www.vandenhul.com/product-category/electronics/

The way I read it, the SB offers balanced operation; the base model may only offer XLR inputs into an SE circuit. I don't know. The language is only a little less vague and confusing than what you find on the Channel D website. Clearthinker, I think you made the most cost-effective choice among the many Grail iterations, but it occurs to me that their statement about auto matching for cartridges in the 40-400 ohm range might mean that if the cartridge has an internal Z of 4 to 40 ohms, which covers just about all low output LOMC types, then the current drive stage will accommodate it.  It's a bit confusing and suggests that voltage drive is an option.  I cannot blame drbond for being confused. But you own one, so let us know.  Most reviewers don't have a clue.

@clearthinker If the Grail was ‘under-exposed’,  it certainly has caught my attention with the discussion here. 

What are some of the higher internal impedance LOMC you have tried? Presumably it was the Boulder 1008 that you made the compare to?

Yes it was the Boulder 1008.  I really didn't like it.  It sounded very 'transistory'.  I didn't move on to the 2008 mainly because of the price, but I felt it likely there would be a house sound that doesn't suit me.

I have Ortofons A90, Anna, Verismo; van den Huls Grasshoppers II and IV and Colibri.  Also Audio Technica ART1000, another sleeper, uses entirely difference suspension engineering.  These are all low impedence, between 3 - 7 ohms, the ART1000 is only 3 ohm, save the Colibri XGP which is 36 ohm.  I do not hear any artifacts that distinguish that but overall these vdHs have fallen behind a little.  The ART and the Verismo are the best I have.  Anna has a high mass that unfortunately doesn't suit my ultra low mass parallel tracking arm, so I use it in my second system where the amplification is vintage.

Clearthinker, that’s an impressive list of cartridges. Your colibri with 36 ohm internal resistance probably has a healthy voltage output. Do you run it into the Grail in current mode or voltage mode or does the Grail even offer that choice via separate pairs of inputs? Thx.