So can you share any measurement data on this?
Dear friend: that gentleman way before: 2018, posted similar statements in Agon and certainly did not have any measurements or true facts that proved those statements.
This one of his statements in this page: " 2) the loading causes the cartridge cantilever to be harder to move (stiffer). This could affect high frequency performance . "
I questioned he to prove with facts about and in that Agon thread and other thread and never did it because he has no single fact about but even that he continue insiisting in the same issue with out facts and for me is a surprise that here 2020 even that a gentleamn proved that statement was and is false he like to goes a head. This is a free world.
.
What is the general view on highest quality phono stage
Anyone here that listened to Accuphase C-47?
Mike
Yes i love the balanced circuit design without actually having balanced connections. And a sub rumble filter is a absolutely must on a high end productHave you tried the new ZEN Phono from iFi? I've heard great things about them and sounds like it could be what you're looking for https://ifi-audio.com/products/zen-phono/
Bravo, sir! What a huge amount of fascinating and excellent information, and I couldn’t agree more. When I listen to music, 99% of the time it’s vinyl, which does not have inherent pops n’ clicks. I believe you need a certain level of a phono section, but if ya do...it’s absolutely heavenly.One complaint I've seen the 'digital crowd' lay at the feet of analog is ticks and pops of the LP. This argument is the most common, moreso than distortion or even noise floor. But LPs are not inherently noisy!
As I pointed out earlier in this thread, not all phono sections are alike in this regard. A phono section, if poorly designed (and this has nothing whatsoever to do with cost) will generate ticks and pops, which sound for all the world as if they are on the surface of the LP.
This is caused by poor high frequency overload margin, and a lack of stability when confronted with RFI at the input of the phono preamp.
The RFI (or ultrasonic noise, if you have a high output MM cartridge) is generated by a resonant peak caused by the combination of the inductance of the cartridge and the capacitance of the tonearm interconnect cable and includes the input capacitance of the phono section itself. If you have a low output moving coil (LOMC) cartridge, this peak can be as high as a couple of MHz and as much as 30dB! 30dB is 1000x higher than what is not the peak, IOW the audio signal. If the phono section has poor High Frequency overload margin, this peak, when set into excitation by the energy of the cartridge (a resonant peak can be set into excitation by energy of another frequency), can cause a tick or a pop as the phono section overloads. for more on this see
http://www.hagtech.com/loading.html
In addition, many phono sections have stability problems, where they can oscillate briefly when confronted with RFI (or ultrasonic noise) this strong. This can cause tonality problems (usually brightness, brought on by distortion).
If the designer of the phono section is aware of this phenomena, its possible to design a phono section that does not react to the RFI and so ticks and pops are vastly reduced. A side benefit of this is that the phono section will appear to not need to be loaded to sound right when a LOMC cartridge is used. This in turn means that the cantilever of the cartridge will be more supple and more able to trace high frequencies, see my prior post as to why this is the case.
Most phono sections offered in budget amps and receivers made during the 1960s, 70s and 80s have this ticks and pops problem. And its also common in high end audio phono sections. If you see a phono section that has a switch on the front panel for loading a LOMC cartridge, then its a good bet the designer did not take these factors into account when designing their preamp. The act of bypassing the inductance of the cartridge and the capacitance involved detunes the resonant peak, but at the price of a stiffer cantilever.
Its a simple fact that due to the nature of tubes (which operate at high voltages and have low input capacitance, often orders of magnitude lower than solid state), they are far easier to work with when designing a stable, RFI-immune preamp that produces less ticks and pops. Opamps in particular have poor HF overload margins as they tend to run lower operating voltages and require loop feedback for their operation. There is a thing called 'Gain Bandwidth Product' that plays directly into this- at audio frequencies, the feedback is sufficient for very low distortion, but at high frequencies (especially those that are out of the audio band) the gain bandwidth product is insufficient to prevent overload and distortion. So one has to be very careful in the design to make sure that such preamp designs never see these higher frequencies, otherwise they can be quite annoying with the resulting ticks and pops.
So in this regard its obvious there is an acute advantage with using tubes. But there are good solid state designers out there that know their stuff (actually have an engineering background...) and do take this issue into account. Nelson Pass is one... Generally speaking, when you listen to an LP the grooves should be silent. I am very used to playing entire album sides without hearing any surface noise at all unless there is an actual scratch on the LP. I treat my LPs with care so this is rare. Even LPs I've bought used that are decades old are nice and quiet, even without being cleaned by anything more than a simple dust brush.
So, my opinion of course, but as I pointed out earlier on this thread, the best phono sections will not generate ticks and pops. IME about 95% of all phono sections made have this problem; we have an entire generation of audiophiles that literally think LPs are all about ticks and pops, when this is not a fault of the media at all. I run an LP mastering operation; when you send a lacquer out for pressing, you get a test press back and a form you have to sign off on- and in that regard, and one thing you are signing off on is the fact that the pressing is silent (if not it will have to be remastered). All LPs go through this process- so where did all the ticks and pops come from? Well now we see that its not the LP that is at fault.
I like to play LPs at audio shows and people might ask if I'm playing digital, because the background is silent. I just point them at the turntable.
One complaint I've seen the 'digital crowd' lay at the feet of analog is ticks and pops of the LP. This argument is the most common, moreso than distortion or even noise floor. But LPs are not inherently noisy!
As I pointed out earlier in this thread, not all phono sections are alike in this regard. A phono section, if poorly designed (and this has nothing whatsoever to do with cost) will generate ticks and pops, which sound for all the world as if they are on the surface of the LP.
This is caused by poor high frequency overload margin, and a lack of stability when confronted with RFI at the input of the phono preamp.
The RFI (or ultrasonic noise, if you have a high output MM cartridge) is generated by a resonant peak caused by the combination of the inductance of the cartridge and the capacitance of the tonearm interconnect cable and includes the input capacitance of the phono section itself. If you have a low output moving coil (LOMC) cartridge, this peak can be as high as a couple of MHz and as much as 30dB! 30dB is 1000x higher than what is not the peak, IOW the audio signal. If the phono section has poor High Frequency overload margin, this peak, when set into excitation by the energy of the cartridge (a resonant peak can be set into excitation by energy of another frequency), can cause a tick or a pop as the phono section overloads. for more on this see
http://www.hagtech.com/loading.html
In addition, many phono sections have stability problems, where they can oscillate briefly when confronted with RFI (or ultrasonic noise) this strong. This can cause tonality problems (usually brightness, brought on by distortion).
If the designer of the phono section is aware of this phenomena, its possible to design a phono section that does not react to the RFI and so ticks and pops are vastly reduced. A side benefit of this is that the phono section will appear to not need to be loaded to sound right when a LOMC cartridge is used. This in turn means that the cantilever of the cartridge will be more supple and more able to trace high frequencies, see my prior post as to why this is the case.
Most phono sections offered in budget amps and receivers made during the 1960s, 70s and 80s have this ticks and pops problem. And its also common in high end audio phono sections. If you see a phono section that has a switch on the front panel for loading a LOMC cartridge, then its a good bet the designer did not take these factors into account when designing their preamp. The act of bypassing the inductance of the cartridge and the capacitance involved detunes the resonant peak, but at the price of a stiffer cantilever.
Its a simple fact that due to the nature of tubes (which operate at high voltages and have low input capacitance, often orders of magnitude lower than solid state), they are far easier to work with when designing a stable, RFI-immune preamp that produces less ticks and pops. Opamps in particular have poor HF overload margins as they tend to run lower operating voltages and require loop feedback for their operation. There is a thing called 'Gain Bandwidth Product' that plays directly into this- at audio frequencies, the feedback is sufficient for very low distortion, but at high frequencies (especially those that are out of the audio band) the gain bandwidth product is insufficient to prevent overload and distortion. So one has to be very careful in the design to make sure that such preamp designs never see these higher frequencies, otherwise they can be quite annoying with the resulting ticks and pops.
So in this regard its obvious there is an acute advantage with using tubes. But there are good solid state designers out there that know their stuff (actually have an engineering background...) and do take this issue into account. Nelson Pass is one... Generally speaking, when you listen to an LP the grooves should be silent. I am very used to playing entire album sides without hearing any surface noise at all unless there is an actual scratch on the LP. I treat my LPs with care so this is rare. Even LPs I've bought used that are decades old are nice and quiet, even without being cleaned by anything more than a simple dust brush.
So, my opinion of course, but as I pointed out earlier on this thread, the best phono sections will not generate ticks and pops. IME about 95% of all phono sections made have this problem; we have an entire generation of audiophiles that literally think LPs are all about ticks and pops, when this is not a fault of the media at all. I run an LP mastering operation; when you send a lacquer out for pressing, you get a test press back and a form you have to sign off on- and in that regard, and one thing you are signing off on is the fact that the pressing is silent (if not it will have to be remastered). All LPs go through this process- so where did all the ticks and pops come from? Well now we see that its not the LP that is at fault.
I like to play LPs at audio shows and people might ask if I'm playing digital, because the background is silent. I just point them at the turntable.
Another landmark post!
Regarding "A side benefit of this is that the phono section will appear to not need to be loaded to sound right when a LOMC cartridge is used" - indeed, and I have been able to reach that level with my modified XP-25 and also enjoy zero hiss at a very high gain of 76dB with my A90
What is the output of the Ortofon A90?
Yes i love the balanced circuit design without actually having balanced connections. And a sub rumble filter is a absolutely must on a high end product
Suggesting it in a “best phono stage “ thread is probably something of a stretch By a new member in his first post ! HmIt is possible to have a balanced phono input with RCA's - but we have to check the tonearm cable wiring. Anyway the IFI Zen Phono is not targeted towards the high-end audiophiles - it is an interesting product for vinyl revivalists that want to have minimum quality phono preamplification at low cost. Many cheap (or vintage ... ) turntables will need a rumble filter. I loved the political correct way of avoiding insults to the prospective client turntable - calling the filter "sub-rumble"!
My question regarding gain is why use a high gain setting if you just have to attenuate the signal later at the preamp?
It is possible to have a balanced phono input with RCA's - but we have to check the tonearm cable wiring.
(...) For this reason any vintage turntable can be set up as balanced with great ease, as all you really have to do is replace the interconnect cable between the tonearm and the preamp. We have an older Kenwood turntable in the shop right now which has gotten exactly this treatment. Older machines like this one often have a 5-position terminal strip inside to which the interconnect is attached, making this an easy upgrade.
Well actually you don't need more than about 60dB to work with almost any low output cartridge. The issue is noise; if your noise floor is low enough you really don't need extra gain- and so the gain of the line stage actually becomes handy. I've always felt this is the best way to go because to get more gain often means you need more gain stages, and each gain stage contributes to distortion, loss of bandwidth and of course, noise. This is where differential circuitry is helpful, as it has theoretically 6dB less noise per gain stage as opposed to the same type of circuit that is single-ended.
Almost all tone arm wiring is balanced- cartridges are a naturally balanced source.
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