IFI Phono Stage or ?

[dhemen]

Hello forum members

I used to have MM carts and recently I moved to Denon 103R MC and pretty happy with its sound. I see lots of members use or used that cart.

Mu issue is that I dont have a phono stage fits with MC carts. Currently I borrowed my friends PS and I am planing to buy a decent one and use it for the long run.

Whats in my mind is the ifi phono stage.I heard really good feedback from the people who tried this PS and almost all the reviews etc on the web is very promising.
Its just on the upper side of my budget and I want to get opinions of the members who used this.
Anyone had the chance to compare it with less\more expensive phono stages? Does it really delivers good value for its price and is there a cheaper alternative which can beat it? (IFI is around 350 pounds)

and finally does a good lineer power supply take this PS to a different league?

many thanks.

Doruk

[hifi_dave]

I've had a couple of iFi stages here and I thought it a bit stark and the plethora of dip switches were problemmatical.

I would suggest one of the Lehmann Black Cubes as being practical and sounding very good for a reasonable price.

[trio leo]

Hi Doruk,

I use the battery powered Albarry MCA11, (£500), it adds nothing and takes nothing away, it just lets the cartridge do the job, and it's removed from any little mains problems, hum, spikes etc, it's a fantastic unit IMHO, though I appreciate it's a bit dearer than some units.
Just my 2 penneth, hope you find something suitable.

Enjoy your music :)

cheers Al

[cvision123]

I'm using the iFi iPhono and very happy with it. I don't have much experiences like the other, i just compare the iPhono with the phono stage of my Marantz PM15S-1 and Yamaha Aventage 3030. With the iPhono, you have the options to try out various load settings to find the one that suits your cartridge and you the most. The Marantz has some warm and feels a little bit slow/smooth. The Yamaha in Pure Direct mode feel a little bit lean. The iPhono seems to be not there. It's very quiet and very transparent. Sometime I have the feeling that there is nothing between the cartridge and the amplifier.

About the power supply, I wouldn't worry about it. The supplied PSU is a high quality SMPS with very low noise floor. According to measurements, the noise floor is much lower than a normal linear PSU. Of course you'll can have better linear PSU but the price is... The iFi team is going to release their new, higher quality SMPS PSU soon. The measurement result is extremely impressive.

Another thing is the ifi customer support team. They're responsive and helpful.

Good luck with your phono stage quest :-)

[Ammonite Audio]

I have tried the iFi phono stage and found it to be quite good with MM but, as Dave states above, a bit stark with MC. The Denon has particular loading requirements, which the little Schiit Mani seems to be deliberately designed for (47 ohms being the only loading option). Based on MM performance, I'd rate the Schiit at least on par with the iFi and probably better sounding, but very much better value.

http://www.electromod.co.uk/schiit-audio.asp

[Andrei]

I have had the ifi phono stage and I ran it with a Denon DL110. I have also heard it with a Denon 103R. Good value for money. I would have kept it except I wanted a valve phono amplifier.

[cvision123]

I have tried the iFi phono stage and found it to be quite good with MM but, as Dave states above, a bit stark with MC. The Denon has particular loading requirements, which the little Schiit Mani seems to be deliberately designed for (47 ohms being the only loading option). Based on MM performance, I'd rate the Schiit at least on par with the iFi and probably better sounding, but very much better value.

http://www.electromod.co.uk/schiit-audio.asp

I am using the 103R with the iPhono and I like the combo. About the loading for this cartridge, Thorsten Loesch suggested to use 1k ohm instead of the popular advice of 50-100 ohm. Of course this is just an advice but the differences are interesting and worth a try :-)