MCRU Phonostage Bake-Off - Huddersfield 06/08/17

[Bigman80]

Phonostage bake off


Not long back from the bake-off and i have to say, it was really good. Lots of very expensive kit but equally as impressive were the performances.

The reference unit used for the BO was a MFA MM phono stage with a SUT. All designed and built by Nick Gorham. The Amps were LDA monoblocks (Nicks again) and a prototype TT. A VDH retipped DL103R performed the cartridge duties. Yamaha N1000M speakers.

So, here is how the various stages sounded to me.

Longdog JFET phono stage: £2000 (Nick Gorham design and build)

I am afraid i didn't manage to get too much info other than the cost but i kid you not, It was fantastic. Solid, full of attack, sustain, silky smooth, delicate, i could go on and probably should! . Everything was just as i would want it to be, tonally accurate, slamming bass, great leading edge to a note, Huge sound stage, precise imaging. WOW. It just hit everything with pin point accuracy. Hard to describe but you'd want one if you heard it.

Firebottle Vivant (provided in a KIN preamp): £1100

Hugely impressive performance. Lots of air in this presentation. Liquid treble, smooth midrange with loads of detail and a wicket 3D image. Scale and depth in abundance and excellent channel separation. It really sucks you in to the performance. The transparency is divine and its ability to deliver the intricacies of a track, really to shine through. One area i felt the Longdog exposed was the weight of the sound. The Vivant is airy, free and delivers a wonderfully insightful and unfatigued performance, I think if the weight was added to the sound, it'd be hard to beat at this price point.

NVA Phono 2 with extra power supply: £680 - £700

Well, if i had £700 to spend on a phono stage, this is what i would buy. Energetic, powerful, engaging, precise, detailed and a whole lot of musicality. I am really pleased i have had the chance to hear this. It started well and got better, the snare was sharp, twangy and had real snap. The drums really stood out due to the attack and the tonality was excellent. It was crystal clear and pin point. It never lost focus in the busy areas of the songs and the bass was delivered with heft and grip. I am incredibly impressed with this phono stage. Excellent.

Firebottle OTP MK2 : £300

Another typical Firebottle sounding device! Somehow, this unit is very similar to the Vivant in voicing. There is a similarity in space, soundstage, liquidity of the treble and midrange and the bass is very well held together and delivered with impetus. Timing and rhythm are easy to follow and the tonality is spot on. Plenty of scale and it digs very low. I think this Phonostage is incredibly accurate with tonal realism. This is a very smooth performer. Opamp rolling is an option here so fine tuning the sound is at the owners discretion and i really like this.

NVA Phono 1: £280- £300

A very good sounding unit but for me, it sounded a bit lost trying to deliver the cymbals on the test track. Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of jazz but the timing of the test track seemed hard to follow. It also seemed the treble was slightly overpowering and i found myself not listening to the song but rather trying to follow the cymbals. It shares a lot of the good qualities from the Phono 2 which is very impressive and its very enjoyable. There wasn't a lot between this and the OTP MK2 but in terms of overall clarity, I felt this lost out a smidgen.

I've only heard this unit once and it was with a track i didn't really like, so it may be a victim of the track. I'd prefer to try this again with a few familiar tracks before passing final judgment.


Furutech MDL £400

To me, this was awful. Thin, toppy and splashy. Next to no Mid randge and hardly any bottom end. Narrow soundstage and absolutely no depth. AVOID


There were a couple of other stages, but as they are not commercially available to buy i haven't included them.