Phono Preamplifiers

Although long ago settled by the declaration ‘We agree to disagree’, the tubes-vs-transistors (or if you prefer ‘valves-vs-solid-state’) debate continues to keep us busy. Grown-ups use both, the deliberately argumentative choose sides, and there are ample products to support or counter either stance. Grimm Audio, though a maker of not just solid-state gear but with a reputation for digital hardware, has given us in the PW1 ‘Phono Wizard’ (£4695) a chameleon of a product that will both delight and confound music lovers who are still fascinated by hi-fi’s greatest dichotomy.

With the HD Phono, Nagra has joined a rather select group. By my estimation, there are but a half-dozen manufacturers of phono stages costing above £50,000. At a heady £68,500, the all-valve Nagra HD Phono is about as expensive and exclusive as it gets, and for that amount of money you expect to get everything. And you do.

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.

Is it my imagination, or are more hi-fi products steadily adopting greater functionality? Now, it's highly unlikely that Germany's resolutely 'analogue' Lehmannaudio brand will succumb to networking its phono stages any time soon, but the new £2599 Phonolith does wrap a trio of roles into one - an MM/MC phono stage, line level preamplifier and headphone amplifier. That said, it's not quite strictly rolled into 'one' as it's a two-box design, with the second unit being the standalone, dedicated power supply.

Visitors to Henley Audio's room at the UK Hi-Fi Show Live at Ascot's Grandstand back in Sept '23 will already have seen three new items from Musical Fidelity, all partnering the Nu-Vista PRE and PAS amplifiers [HFN Mar '23]. The new M8xTT turntable [HFN Dec '23] has already premiered in these pages and this is followed here by the Nu-Vista Vinyl 2 phono stage and Nu-Vista DAC, both priced £9999.

MoFi Electronics has gone from strength to strength in the last few years, helped by the roster of designers drafted in to create its products. Spiral Groove's Allen Perkins worked on its UltraGold MC cartridge [HFN Jan '22] and MasterDeck turntable, while ex-TAD/ELAC Andrew Jones is responsible for its SourcePoint loudspeakers [HFN Apr & Aug '23]. Now comes the £5999 MasterPhono, a flagship phono stage from the pen of Peter Madnick, a designer best known for the iconic Audio Alchemy brand and his work as part of the Constellation Audio team.