GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Analog Playback
In the Thread: What Is The Minimum for an "Acceptable" Phono Stage?

Post Subject: The concept of "good enough"Posted by rowuk on: 3/2/2013

Paul,I agree 100%. Well sort of.....
Can the idea of the overengineered, atomic reactor power supply with water cooling really offer someone just interested in great music a "better" solution?
I think for many, the technical superiority is at least as much of the real motivation as the audible results. That is not even necessarily bad as long as the confidence in the "overengineering" itself does not reduce the brains ability to translate what our ears really hear.
As far as batteries go, I will disagree about no dynamics. Just like any other power supply, the results are defined by the application, not necessarily the technology. What is the difference if a low impedance battery or a transformer feeds a PS cap - as long as they are both properly dimensioned. I have experimented with this extensively to be able to record concerts in difficult situations. I have had excellent results with LiPo batteries and ADC/DAC as well as solid state phono stages.
My problem with phono stages is that it requires a great understanding of the resonant structure (arm/cartridge/loading) to make sure that you are fixing the right thing. I always had the impression that solid state phono amps had no bass - until I started playing with mass and loading the arm/cartridge. It is so easy to back yourself into a corner and blame the wrong thing. Romys site is helpful with the ever continuing reality check.....
I see no real reason why it should not be possible to build a battery powered solid state phono pre amp with superior sonics. There are enough devices with essentially no distortion or measurable noise as well as great bandwidth and slew rate. I just am not sure if that is really what we want however. A phono cartridge is a musical instrument with a more or less defined resonant behaviour and perhaps the ability to leverage that is more important than the raw truth.................

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