PHONO-1 - MC | MM Preamplifier - Phono Stage

Discontinued Replaced by Vertere PHONO-1 MKII

PHONO-1

MC | MM Preamplifier PHONO-1

Enjoy the full musical experience from every track and every album with PHONO-1, the perfect interface between your record player and your amplifier.

MC | MM Preamplifier PHONO-1 gets the best from any high-quality record player, with maximum dynamic range and supreme detail resolution.

With more than 10 gain settings, 15 resistance and 9 capacitance settings, PHONO-1 leaves nothing to chance.

It makes the perfect match for almost any Moving Coil or Moving Magnet cartridge.

Why MC | MM Preamplifier PHONO-1?

Realise the potential of any high-quality record player

Superb dynamics and detail with extremely accurate RIAA eq

Perfect level and load matching for Moving Coil and Moving Magnet cartridges

Brings continuous enjoyment when playing records, without exception

Phono stage design is rather challenging, as the circuit has to work with the minuscule cartridge signal that is typically only a fraction of a millivolt. That tiny signal has to be cleanly amplified a thousand-fold and equalised to the exact RIAA curve in order to faithfully represent the original recorded music.

Vertere’s PHONO-1 is designed to achieve just this, providing the full enjoyment that is so often missing even in very high-quality vinyl playback systems.

PHONO-1 has more than 10 gain settings to match the level perfectly for almost any cartridge. An extensive choice of 15 resistance and 9 capacitance settings ensure correct frequency balance even for most Moving Coils that commonly exhibit a frequency response lift above 10kHz.

Compact foot print of the main circuit and the use of highest quality components, maximise dynamic range and deliver supreme detail resolution. Utilising only tight tolerance components for PHONO-1’s accurate IRAA circuit ensures a refined, natural timbre that brings the music to life.

Our use of the best components guarantees optimal performance from the double-shielded internal circuits, while a 3-way phono PCB Ground Management switch allows achieving lowest ‘earth hum’ in almost any installation.

This level of attention to detail, performance and design execution is only found in much higher price products.

Vertere PHONO-1 redefines the standard for entry level High-End phono stages.

Gold Plated PCB Assemblies

Separate high-quality gold plated PCBs for the main phono circuit and the mains power transformer ensure that any unwanted interference is kept well away from the audio signal.

These PCBs, combined with the use of high-quality components and special solder, guarantee consistent optimum performance for the long term.

Double Shielded Main PCB

Vertere’s PHONO-1 MM | MC Preamplifier utilises stainless steel shields to further enhance isolation of the RIAA and preamplifier circuits.

All power supply components and circuits are outside of the main cover shield and away from any signal path.

Switchable Input Loading

PHONO-1 has two internal switch banks that allow 15 resistance and 9 capacitance settings for left and right channels.

Perfect load matching is crucial to maximising performance, for both Moving Coil and Moving Magnet cartridges – and in this respect PHONO-1 leaves nothing to chance.

Switchable Gain Setting

Another switch bank offers no less than 10 gain settings to provide the best level matching, within the gain range provided.

This ensures minimal level change between different sources used in the system.

Chassis Ground and PCB Earth Switch

A 3-way switch provided at the back of PHONO-1 gives the options of ‘Hard Ground’, ‘Ground Lift’ or ‘Soft Ground’ connection of the preamplifier and the chassis, to minimise any hum that may be introduced between the PHONO-1 and the main amplifier.

The PHONO-1 is also available in a silver finish to match other partnering equipment.

Vertere PHONO-1 specifications

Type	MC/MM Preamplifier Main Phono Circuit on Separate Gold Plated PCB
Power Supply	Linear Transformer on Separate Gold Plated PCB
Gain Settings	45.4dB to 61.4dB In 12 Steps – See Manual
Input Impedance Settings; Resistance	47k Ohms for MM 78 Ohms to 1.45k Ohms for MC In 14 Steps – See Manual
Capacitance	100pF & 470pF for MM 100pF to 1.02uF for MC – In 9 Steps – See Manual
Frequency Response	20Hz – 20kHz +/- 0.2dB
Noise	< -78dB – AWD
THD+N	0.03%
Dimensions	210 x 235 x 55mm W x D x H (Incl. Switches & Feet)

Brand

Vertere Acoustics

Vertere Acoustics Reducing engineering to its fundamentals, to get you even closer to the original recording

When aiming to reproduce the complexities of music, it’s all too easy to introduce even greater complication in the engineering of audio equipment, putting in place one element to solve the problems of another until the whole design escalates into something fiendishly intricate – and expensive!

That’s not the Vertere way: coming at the whole problem with decades of audio and mechanical engineering experience, plus close collaboration with the recording and mastering industry, they step back, take a long hard look at the fundamentals, and look for simple, elegant solutions.

That may sound like a simple ‘less is more’ philosophy, but they prefer to look at it this way: the best audio equipment shouldn’t add anything to the original recording. Rather it should affect it as little as possible; bringing the listener ever closer to what the artist, producer and mastering engineer wanted you to hear.

Working with music industry professionals, they have access to master tapes and the acetates made in the production of records, and can compare the way the engineers heard them with the way they sound on their record players and via their cables. Vermeer Acoustics are constantly learning about how records are mixed, mastered, cut and pressed, and applying that knowledge to the way we design and build Vertere products.

The fundamentals of a record player are pretty much set in stone, in that a record needs to turn at a certain speed, and the stylus needs to follow the groove and allow the cartridge to convert its undulations into electrical signals with what is literally microscopic accuracy. However, just because those are the basics, that doesn’t mean there’s only one way to achieve them – which is why we take a long hard look, apply our ‘do no evil’ way of thinking, and endeavour to develop simpler, innovative solutions.

That’s why you’ll find their record players look different, both outwardly and in some of the engineering solutions you’ll probably never see. It’s all a matter of stripping down the engineering to those fundamentals by considering the absolute essence of how a record player works – from re-examining the way a cartridge gets its energy to ensuring it extracts maximum information from a groove that’s trying to throw it off track over a thousand times a centimetre.

So yes, the way they design and build their products is unique, but it’s not all about being eye-catching (even if we have to admit we think they look rather good): we hope you’ll find they sound just as unique, too, simply by bringing you even more of the music