Phono Preamplifiers

Hi-fi is unique among what our US cousins call 'specialty consumer electronics' for no other sector is seemingly as diverse, as flexible or as innovative in seizing the opportunity to reach into new or expanding markets. You'll never get the photo business interested in a range of USB cables that improve the quality of pictures passing between cameras and computers, for example! But the audio biz is different, so just as the fashion for donning full-sized headphones outside of the living room became a 'thing', so the hi-fi brands jumped on board and offered us far higher quality cans for music on the move. And this, in turn, was the engine that kick-started the burgeoning market in headphone amplifiers and, in particular, the USB DAC/headphone amplifiers that we regularly review in HFN. The fashion for vinyl also gifted hi-fi's artisans with a new lease of life, so we now enjoy a greater variety of turntables than at any time in the past. But not just decks, for we are also seeing a real, if less explosive, uptick in the release of new phono cartridges alongside partnering MM/MC phono preamps, most recently from Parasound [HFN Feb '18], Exposure [HFN May '17], YBA [HFN Oct '18], Bel Canto [HFN Jun '18] and, quite naturally from vinyl's most successful machine shop, Pro-Ject, and its partner brand, EAT [HFN Mar '17]. PM