The reason I auditioned these phono amplifiers this time is because I recently added a set of cartridge/tonearm and Thrax only has three inputs. In order to solve the trouble of plugging and unplugging, I decided to add a new phono. Choosing the audition target is a more troublesome thing, because there are not many phono amplifiers that meet my rigid requirements. The following are my requirements
1. Tube phono amplifier (personal preference, if the transistor sound is good, I can accept as well)
2. Quiet, the noise floor should be low
3. at least 2 inputs
4. Gain above 68db, because my cartridge, or the cartridge I consider in the future, is around 0.2 mv output
5. Impedance and gain control should be convenient, not the kind that needs cover open up all the time
If all the above conditions are met, most of the excellent products on the market have actually been eliminated. This is why I finally chose the following equipment.
1, CH Precision P1/X1
2, Ear Yoshino 88PB/MC4 SUT
3, Thorres Phono Enhancer
4, Phasemation 350/ MSL 1030 SUT
The first one that came in, and the one I was most interested in, was Thorres. I love the appearance, the 6 sets of inputs (impedance can be customized), and the single box design saves space. When the connection was completed and the sound was turned on, my dealer and I were both disappointed. The noise was very loud and could not be used normally. The reason is also very simple, because the power supply of my two turntables has quite bit of noise. This noise will be transmitted to any phono amplifier without galvanic isolation circuit design, and many phono amplifiers do not like to add this isolation for so called best sound, such as Thorres and RCM. So their products cannot be used on turntables with noisy power supplies. For this reason, I actually don’t recommend audiophiles to choose turntables from Acoustic Signature and Dohmann (at least mark 1, I don’t know if they gave fixed their power supply in the recent models). In contrast, the power supply of Techdas does not have this problem. These are all things I didn’t know before buying the turntables.
Let's talk about the second one, ch p1/x1. This is the first set of Swiss equipment that came into the room, because Swiss audio equipment is not really my cup of tea. Their sound has never impressed me, and the price is the highest in the world, just because it is made in Switzerland. I remember a few years ago in Munich, a small Swiss brand that had just entered the industry asked for 60,000 euros for a tube preamplifier. The owner's words were basically, I have always loved hifi, this is my well thought design, made in Switzerland……….. Back to p1/x1, this is an excellent phono amplifier. The background is extremely black, just like my digital sound source, and there is no background noise even when I put my ear close to the driver units. As for the sound, I think it can only sound good if it is equipped with an x1 power supply. The sound of a single p 1 is still too sharp for me. An external power supply will bring more texture and smooth out the overly angular edges. The performance of the mid- and high-frequency is similar to that of thrax, dense and rich. But the low frequency of CH is obviously much better, with extremely fast speed, more energy and more details. When listening to many modern pop music, this one brings a better experience, such as Billie Eilish's record. But when listening to Pink Floyd, I prefer Thrax and Ear. In term of Details, CH is also stronger in this aspect. Objectively speaking, the sound is indeed excellent, but it just can't impress me. Listening to CH reminds me of a restaurant in Switzerland that I visited a few years ago, which was honored with three stars. The ingredients of the dishes were top-notch, the cooking time was perfect, the consistency and seasoning of the sauce were accurate, and the garnish were exquisite and harmonious. As soon as you eat it, you can tell that the chef has a high level of professionalism and a lot of experience. But this extremely precise thing always lacks a kind of relaxed and natural humanistic beauty, lacks a unique taste memory rooted in the local area, and lacks the kind of surprise that comes unexpectedly. This precision and accuracy of Switzerland can perfectly produce watches and machinery, but it is always bit strange with aesthetics (I consider sound reproduction is aesthetic issue after certain technical parameters have been reached). Although ch failed to impress me in the end, I still say that if you have enough budget and like accurate, musical, and easy-to-operate phono preamplifiers, you should still try this set. Maybe you will like it.
Ear Yoshino 88pb, this phono preamplifier is the biggest surprise in this audition. Although I have read the praises of it in various forums before, I still feel that I should not expect too much when I actually saw such a small box. Until the moment it was turned on, all my doubts were dispelled. This is a truly magical phono preamplifier. Its voice is passionate, rich, and dynamic, and it can immediately bring people into a dreamlike state. Listening to this phono preamplifier is like eating a bowl of rich tomato rosemary rabbit stew with pasta that an Italian grandma has made for a lifetime, and eating spicy Thai cuisine full of young ginger, chili and galangal. It is a simple and local passionate taste. The depth of this taste comes from the precipitation of time and the simple understanding of the ingredients. The background noise of the phono preamplifier is very, very low. My ears can only hear the noise when they are about 20 cm away from the speaker unit. It is completely quiet at the listening position. I didn't know the designer Tim at all before, but after reading him designing equipment for Pink Floyd in his early years, it's no wonder that this phono preamp sounds good. You know, this kind of sound designer who has really worked with the most important musicians of the era, his understanding of sound will be closest to the expression of the music itself, and this experience is priceless. This phono preamp has 2 inputs, one MC and one MM. If you want to input 2 sets of MC cartridges, you need MC4 SUT, and the performance of this SUT is also very good. First of all, it is completely quiet, neither thrax nor msl SUT can be completely quiet. Secondly, it is highly adaptable, with 4 different levels of amplification, it can be said that it can work with most of the cartridges. In terms of sound, it is a perfect match with 88PB.
Phasemation 350, I will briefly talk about it at the end. This is a good phono preamp, the sound is natural and easy to listen to. Although it is a transistor unit, it has the soft characteristics of the tubes. But the gain of 64 is still a little low for my cartridge, there is a little noise, the music is not so lively and emotional. The matching MSL SUT is disappointing, there is noise, and there is an unmatched strange way of sounding. So this SUT is not recommended with this unit. After listening to the performance of ear88, 350 really has no chance.
In the end, my heart was completely captured by ear 88. This is a device that I always want to go to the listening room. It is a product that can be compared with phono amplifiers of any price. I can say that it is likely that everyone who has heard of this phono amplifier will like her sound. In today's crazy hifi world, ear yoahino 88pb is the only magical device with a reasonable price tag that I have ever heard so far.
Richness of music
88 >thrax>=ch>phasemation
Details
ch>=thrax>88>phasemation
Low frequency
ch>>thrax=88>>>phasemation
Operability
Ch>>>>thrax=88=phasemation
