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PS Audio’s new Stellar Strata MK2 amplifier looks – at first glance – identical to the original Stellar Strata [HFN Mar ’21], save the ‘MK2’ lettering now added to its fascia. The slender chassis, offered in silver or black and a feature of all Stellar series hardware, is retained, as is the slim text display, right-side volume rotary and headphone output of its predecessor. So from the off, it’s clear that any changes made for this second-generation design are under the hood.

As any experienced vinyl spinner will attest, your choice of phono preamplifier can have as great an impact on sound as the partnering turntable, arm and cartridge. Case in point, a few months ago Musical Fidelity’s Nu-Vista Vinyl 2 [HFN Feb ’24] made a big impression – and not only because of its bulk. The M8x Vinyl is closely related to that unit, albeit minus the nuvistor valve stage and equipped with a more practical housing. What the newest phono preamplifier from the company retains is a can-do attitude, offering support for a broad range of moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges. There’s also the dual-mono, fully balanced design, powered by a sizeable ‘Encapsulated Super Silent’ toroidal transformer. So while there are differences there are striking similarities too.

In the vinyl heyday of the 1970s and 1980s, differences between UK-designed turntables, and those arriving from Japan, were stark. The suspended subchassis belt-drive decks, popular among British audiophiles, showcased increasing refinement of a ‘traditional’ technology. Japanese corporations, on the other hand, were making use of large research departments and development budgets to produce decks that could correct for off-centre records, direct-drive motors with almost unmeasurable wow and flutter, and control systems with huge torque that would revolutionise DJ-ing.

Baffled by its name, I assumed Polish manufacturer ‘Fezz’ took it from its distinctive toroidal transformer covers, which reflect the shape of the famous Moroccan hat if not the city itself. Here was a valve amplifier with the full complement of toroidal transformers – not all that common with tubes – but there’s even more novelty to the Sagita Prestige preamplifier (£3499) and Titania power amplifier (£3495). Eastern European price advantages are just the start.