It’s not often the world’s most respected reviewer within a product category heaps praise on a company’s products, but when that happens, it’s time to celebrate.
Stereophile’s Michael Fremer has been at the forefront of vinyl reproduction for as many years as I care to admit to. He’s a tireless advocate of the art of turntables and record playback. So, when Mikey Fremer gets excited about a new phono stage and proclaims in the January 2020 issue of Stereophile:
“The midrange on this phono preamp is as open, uncongested, transparent, and revealing as that of any phono preamp I’ve heard at any price.”
It’s an exciting moment.
When you realize he’s referring to the PS Audio Stellar Phono that retails for $2,495, it gets even more exciting, especially because he was comparing it to units that cost 20X more.
“I spent a great deal of time listening to and enjoying this $2500 phono preamp—not enjoying it “for the price” but just enjoying listening to music, oblivious to price or that of the product it stood in for—be it the Ypsilon VP100 (silver edition) phono preamp/MC16LSUT step-up transformer combination or the CH Precision P1 phono preamp/X1 power supply combination, both of which cost 20 times as much.
I left the Stellar Phono in the system far longer than needed for me to draw conclusions because I found listening to it pleasurable, particularly its midrange clarity, transparency, textural and tonal richness, and accurate and generous spatial performance. It’s a preamp you want to listen to.”
What a great way to start the new year.
(ht to Bob Wood for the great spoof on Nipper) |