Aural Thrills Audio Tube MM/MC Phono Amplifier Audiophile Model Includes the best of everything
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Condition | NEW |
Payment methods | |
Contact seller after sale to pay viaCertified check, Personal check or Wire Transfer | |
Ships from | Garland, TX, 75042 |
Ships to | Worldwide |
Package dimensions | 22.0" × 14.0" × 6.0" (110.0 lbs.) |
Shipping carriers | USPS or UPS |
Shipping cost | Free |
Original accessories | Box, Manual |
Average | Research Pricing |
All Tube Stand Alone Phono Stage MM/MC
Made in USA
Phono stages are very special to me. I have a large
record collection and never made the switch to digital. I had a field day when
everyone was selling their record to Goodwill. $1 each. I fear these good old
days are over as others are discovering the magic of vinyl. I have been building
phono amps for many years and have tried many and built many others. I like the
low output moving coil cartridges best, as do most people. It has the most
detail and you are there feeling for my ears. Unfortunately low output
cartridges need extra gain over Moving Magnet cartridges. Many people use a step
up transformer. It steps up the voltage at the expense of losing current. It is
known to be very
quiet
but in my opinion sounds flat and loses much of the beauty. Other designs with
only two tubes use a
small solid state amplifier chip for the extra gain that a moving coil needs and
the tubes only flavor the sound.
These usually sound worse than the transformer. My favorite is to use tubes for
all of the amplification. The main downfall of this approach is that tubes can
be noisy. Phono amps multiply the signal many times over. Much more than other
types of amps. Noise is multiplied as well. So what is the solution? I have
found that there are a few ways of making an all tube phono stage quiet.
You can buy capacitors and resistors that range from $1 to over $200 for the same values. These
prices are outrageous, but you can hear a big difference. The higher priced
components are richer, fuller, and just more beautiful sounding. I have chosen a
proven design and then carried it out with high end parts. The result is what a
record should sound like. Made in USA!
Here are the latest customer reviews:
06/17/2015
Just wanted to let you know I received the unit
in great shape. I am leaving in the morning on vacation and won/t get to
listen much until I get back. From what I have listened so far, all I can
say is awesome, awesome, awesome. I will just rotate my Moving coil
cartridges. I have some older preamps for MM. Other cartridge I have is Low
output moving coil Grado Sonata. Haven/t tried it yet. Thanks for
everything. Don/t know what brand of tubes are in it, but they sound
excellent to me. David.
Here is another one.
Hi Tom
I changed the setting back to M C @ 100 ohms after trying a higher setting,I
took the sot out of the configuration, I warmed the amp up with one side of Bach
and then I played my reference album, Dark side of the moon.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD this would equal the most discerning systems at any cost,
the separation and darkness of the sound stage just blew my mind I am not
changing the cartridge, it could use a little more mv output to be perfect but
it is not worth the effort as this turntable is a bear to change. Thank you for
leading me away from the H O M C, I did buy the denon 103 r and I am going to
install that on a Thorens 160 that is being refurbished and up graded with
todays technology or possibly a VPI classic if I can get the right price on that
and sneak it into the house so my wife doesn't see it.
At any rate I could not be happier with this very fine pre amp you would be hard
pressed to find one that functions as flawless at any price. It is a great
product and you are a absolute pleasure to deal with.
I will send you the tracking # when I go to the post office, but now It is
Beatles time
Thanks
Douglas Robert Hounsell
Fri, Oct 17, 2014 at 2:25 PM
To: Tom Kenny
Good afternoon Tom,
The preamp is here and I must say I am quite impressed with the
build quality and construction of piece. First rate and it looks
great in the rack. However looks aside after plumbing it up into
system the real proof of your Phono pre with the balanced outs is
what really matters to me! After listening to a MFSL Rolling
Stones “Let it Bleed” I was quite pleased, then on to Stealy Dans
“Aja” I was rapidly becoming an Aural Thrills Audio fan big time.
The punch combined with a subtle smoothness is magnificent. Lower
register notes on piano are outrageous clean, tight and dominate.
I am fully aware how difficult it can be to accomplish this as I
worked my tail off with Leon Russell’s engineer one evening
getting this very thing “right” at a show I produced and
engineered some years ago. Thank you for your devotion to what
matters in your craft. Perfection takes its toil on the less
passionate but their always will be folks like me that understand
and appreciate folks like you. Now on to the Beach Boys “Pet
Sounds”
Thanks Again
Doug Hounsell
[Quoted text hidden]
Hi Tom,
Yes I received the pre amp in good condition and I sent you a response on Ebay
for your product.
I set it up and it sounds great! I've invested in an affordable LP vinyl washing
system, and with a modified vac system, my record collection has been given new
life!
The Marantz SR8001 amp and Technics SP15 turntable/Grado cartridge are sounding
really clean with your phono stage.
Thank you for your excellent workmanship.
Best,
Phil
Tom,
Received the amp and plugged it in to the CD input of my Yamaha A-S700 amp. I
have a Yaquin MC-100B that’s been modified by a tech in Australia and a pair of
Sonus Faber Concertinos, but all unfortunately still in storage.
I am listening to some Australian country music, the hairs on the back of my
neck are standing up - I’ve honestly never heard it sound so clear, present and
detailed.
Can’t wait to spend some quality time with your preamp. Maybe I’ll just plug the
headphones in and kick back for a couple hours….
Thanking you, sir.
Shawn.
Picked it up this afternoon. I've attached a picture of the phono
section opened that Tom sent me while it was still on his bench.
I'll do more pics and the power section later. I have to say, even
not being broken in at all, the sound is really impressive and a
perfect match for the rest of my set up. Running analog direct, the
level of detail, the air around each instrument, the extension, the
tightness of the bass, the depth of the sound stage, all are
incredible. It was a real bargain at the price I paid, too. All I
need now is an Emission Labs 274B and time to break it in.
-
Now that I'm getting a few hundred hours on the caps and other
components, it's time for a bit more of a review and a few more
pics.
First, Tom at ATA was great to work with. He answered all my
questions and helped me make decisions on a completely custom,
hand-built, phono stage. As you can see in the first pic, the
signal path consists of Mundorf S/O as the output coupling, along
with Sonicaps and silver mica caps in the passive RIAA section,
with Mills resistors. Electrolytics are used only for the radio
frequency filtering, which is outside the signal path. Everything
except the Mundorfs are part of the standard 100 dollar upgrade
(normal price for the stage is 899, 999 for the upgraded version).
Those ran an extra 200 on top of the upgrade. I also decided to go
with a choke input on the 274B rectified power supply, and a
linear power supply instead of a switching after talking to Tom
about the pros and cons of each. I'm also now running his
recommended Amperex 12AX7s, which I really like. Into this, I'm
running an Empire 2x8 fitted with a Rega arm that's been heavily
upgraded and a Shelter 501 Mk II cart using a Baerwald (sp?)
alignment for Rega arms. The phono IC comes from the Cardas DIN to
custom solid silver cables w/ WBTs, and out from the pre via a
custom cable that's a single silver and a single copper 28 ga. OCC
strand twisted together w/ DH Labs RCAs and cotton insulators.
That feeds out into my Pio SC-05 and out via analog direct into my
Mackie's then to my RTi12s @ 850 wpc. So that's the setup.
The sound is very balanced, with many good qualities, and no bad
ones that I can hear. The sound stage is quite wide and deep, and
instruments have a very nice space, but they sound neither big nor
pinpoint. Instead, instruments sound life-sized. Vocals have a
good weight to them, and it's very easy to count the number of
singers when multiple vocalists come in. A good example of this is
the 2nd track on Jackson Brown's Running On Empty, where there's a
close harmony between 3 male vocalists. On my old Parasound, I
thought it was a weird mix where Jackson's voice was spread all
the way across the sound stage. After hooking up the Aural Thrills
Audio stage, I was able to discern that it was actually 3
different vocalists in close harmony, with Jackson mixed center,
and one voice mixed into the left channel, and one into the right.
Female vocals also receive very good treatment. Ella and Aretha
are even more engaging than ever. It's especially fun picking out
which vocalists have good mic technique, and which one's tend to
lean into and away from the mic while singing. Cymbals ring for a
ridiculously long time through even the densest tracks, and have
plenty of that brassy shine to them that you hear if you strike a
cymbal yourself. It's even easy to discern where on the cymbal
it's being played, down to how far from the bell the drummer is
striking it, and exactly which type it is (ride, china, etc.).
Drums have amazing slam, with a deep, tight bass. I find myself
listening to Rolling Stone Under Cover just to listen to the
drums. Also easy to hear is the ring of the drum head after being
hit, as well as the transient from the strike. Bass guitars and
bass violas, whether plucked or bowed, sound fantastic. Deep, lots
of overtones, just like they're in the room. Acoustic guitars (and
all wood-bodied instruments) again sound very realistic. Picking
out a small bodied acoustic, or a dreadnought, etc., all are quite
readily distinguishable. Violins and other stringed classical
instruments have a very slight sweetness to them, but again, the
wood of the body is clearly distinguishable especially during solo
passages, but also during denser passages. Horns all have their
own proper sound, and the breath of the player can easily be heard
when wind or reed instruments are present. It's especially fun to
listen to pieces with both flutes and piccolos present, since the
tonal differences are so readily apparent. Finally, piano pieces
sound excellent, right down to the hammer striking the strings. So
in short, this pre wasn't cheap, but it's an excellent value. I
can't wait to see how it sound after another 200 hours.
I have designed this unit for optimum sound and ease of
use. It is capable of delivering stunning performance in both MM and MC mode.
The reason, it is an all tube unit. No step up transformer needed. I have tried
all types of MC step up transformers and solid state amplifier devices for the
critical first gain for a MC cartridge. I have tried a high output MC cartridges
so I did not have to have the extra gain. Nothing sounded as good as a low
output moving coil amplified by tubes.
A phono stage amplifies such a small starting signal
that any outside interference becomes a hum or other distortion. RFI/EMI becomes
real problems at these signal levels. Tube rush can also be a problem. I have
worked years to overcome these obstacles. The result is an amplifier that is
dead quiet, has great detail, and can play just about any type of cartridge
made. Choose between 50 or 60 db of gain. Cartridge loading is 47K MM and
adjustable for MC.
All traces on the board are made of Silver for detail
and power. All tube sockets are Gold plated for trouble free service. All parts
are hand selected to insure a large soundstage. Transformer is a shielded,
custom made which can run on 120/230/240 volts. Unit is completely regulated
for quiet operation. It has that you are there quality.
HOW CAN THIS AMP BE ANY GOOD AT THIS LOW
PRICE?
I have used commercially available blank boards
of a proven design to keep cost down. I have used a standard chassis instead of
paying hundreds for a custom job with printing. This allows me to buy superior
parts and still keep cost down. You will not find this unit anywhere else. It
may be the best deal in the audio business.
-
Completely tube regulated voltage supplies
-
Strong, American made Steel chassis
-
Custom r-core Shielded transformer for quiet operation
-
RIAA circuit built in (radio industry association of America
-
MC/MM
-
Adjustable loading
-
4 X 12AX7 JJ Gold Pins
-
Wima film capacitors.
-
Sonicraft Capacitors
-
1% PRP resistors
-
Best sounding unit around
-
Gold tube sockets
$1999.99
MC
MM
Vacuum Tube Complement
4 x 12Ax7
3 x 12AX7
Inputs
1 pair single-ended RCA
1 pair single-ended RCA
Outputs
1 pair single-ended RCA
Gain (Total 62dB)
60 dB
50dB
Output Impedance
425Ω
Frequency Response +0 -1 dB
10Hz – 50kHz
Maximum Output Voltage <1% THD
20V
Cartridge load impedance
Variable: 100Ω, 500Ω, 470Ω, 1.2k 1.8k
47kΩ,
Minimum Recommended Cartridge Output
0.2 mV
1.5 mV
Signal to Noise Ratio
50 dB
56 dB
Channel Separation
> 50dB (20 Hz – 20 kHz)
Power Consumption
20W
Dimensions W x D x H
21x 12x 3.5″
Weight
16 lbs pa
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