As a die-hard LP lover, I can safely say that finding the right phono stage is absolutely central to getting the best from your collection. A good phono preamp will take the sound to the next platform, and leave you feeling like you’re hearing your records for the first time. I know this because my life-long love affair with Records underwent a renaissance, if you’ll pardon the expression, when I first bought a truly high quality phono amp.
I first got into records because my Dad had a small collection of old Juke Boxes with classic Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘45s. those amazing machines as they responded to the press of a clunky button – the arm snapping into action and lowering the needle perfectly onto the record – was one of my favourite things in the world. I loved it almost as much as I loved the sound. Not the sound of the music itself (though of course I loved that too, and I became a huge fan of Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis, and the whole category of Rock ‘n’ Roll, before I also got into blues and soul), but that crackle the needle makes when it first rests on the vinyl, and up until the point when the music starts. To me it was, and still is, the sound of exciting anticipation.
Of course, the phono amp and in fact the entire music world has changed since then, first with tape cassettes: they were considered attractive, compact and neat, at the time, and they had amazing recording possibilities, but on the downside they were also easily breakable and often frustrating when it came to fast forwarding or re-winding; then CDs, which were technologically sophisticated but, again, broke easily. Now they have made MP3s, which, suffice it to say, I’m not a fan of. For the sake of a digital format that is compatible with computers and laptops, a lot of quality has been lost.
Nothing, least of all a bunch of formless data in a hard drive, will ever better my beloved vinyl collection, which has always accompanied me as I grew up. When I got a promotion a few years back, I decided to treat myself to a new sound system, and I selected a beautiful Mono Channel Reference phono stage that looked fantastic in my lounge, and I rediscovered my vinyl. Listening through the phono preamp was an incredible experience, and I never looked back.
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