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New Gold Note PH 10

I had posted a question a while ago about hearing from anyone with experience comparing the Gold Note PH 10 vs. the Bryston BP2 or Clear Audio Smart V2 phono preamps.  I never heard anything back about this subject, so I decided to just simply purchase a new PH 10 and compare it against my Clear Audio preamp.  

First impressions:  As much as I love my Clear Audio Smart V2 and in particular its sound stage and imaging qualities, I have to say that the PH 10 was considerably better at detail and picking out the instruments, especially the low and mid range ones.   The Clear Audio seemed to be a little better at the upper end imaging and the sound stage.  But keep in mind this was with the PH 10 new right out of the box.

I was told the PH 10 needs at least 50 hours of run in time to open up, so I used it for two nights and left it on for several days.  After allowing it to settle in and enjoying a lot of music, I still thought the Clear Audio had a leg up on it in the sound stage/imaging department.   So I decided to listen to a well known record to me with excellent recording and a lot of dynamic range on the PH 10, then switch the wires over to the Clear Audio (which I had not heard in several days by this time), and replay the record.   YIKES!!!  it was like a blanket was draped over my speakers.  I had become so gradually accustomed to the new PH 10 that I had not noticed the slight changes going on with the break in.  When the Clear Audio was swapped back into the system (it took me about a minute to do this), it was night and day the differences.

The PH 10 was by far a much more detailed, pronounced signature with a superior sound stage and the imaging was hands down better.  I am using it with the Audio Technica AT20ss vintage MM cartridge which has an extraordinary frequency range of 5-50K hz, so I was able to take advantage of the Enhanced RIAA curve the PH 10 has.  It is pretty outstanding.   Make sure you break things in!   I love this phono preamp.
slimpikins5
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Very interesting how this thread has developed.
I have had my ph10 for a couple years now, love the convenience but I know there is better out there.
Couple people have suggested Whest and now I read similar here.

Only have a couple older mm carts, at15ss and Shure ml140he and newer mc carts but I have always thought the one area lacking a little was bass and bass definition,
rsf507
2,440 posts
 
You should try the external power supply for the PH10. It gives you more refinement, control and detail. Bass definition is much better but not saying it will give you more slam. IMHO I'm happy with the bass.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
And that is the problem I have been having for over a year.... Do I blow another grand on a PS or put that grand and the proceeds of sale of ph10 towards a Whest?

Still not convinced 1k on a PS is going to make THAT much difference.....
lewm
13,722 posts
 
 Slim, thank you for your detailed explanation of the whest  phono product line. When you first used the numeric designation 40, I thought you had simply mistyped “30”, because I was unaware of the latest update. I can understand that if you have dual mono chassis’ as in the upper end of the whest product line, you would not necessarily need to have a power supply on a separate chassis, which would give you at least three or up to four chassis’ to contend with. If you recall, the Einstein phono stages work that way, and I don’t know how people find the shelf space for the balanced version.

Uber, I would say that you may well be happy, that is happier, with the outboard power supply on your gold note. I can conceive that would make a big difference. In fact I wondered whether slim was using the outboard power supply with his Gold Note.On the other hand, if there is something fundamentally about the sound quality that bugs you, that may not be cured by the outboard supply, and in that case you would be better off moving on.

Now that I know that the gold note has 220 pF of capacitance at its input, different peoples impression of the SQ could well be related to how that person’s cartridge reacts to the capacitance.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Lewm
Just to clarify.
I would say I am and have been very happy with my ph10 but you know how audio is, always truly something might be better synergy.
Reading this thread latest posts and having heard only good about Whest just got me thinking.

Would be nice to have both to compare but that is not likely to happen.

I have to say the ph10 sounds really sweet with the Nagaoka mp150 on the Notts TT, I prefer that combo right now to either of the higher dollar MC carts I have to hand, Scheu SL and Ortofon Cadenza Black.

Just loathe to potential waste a grand as would never recover that for sure.
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