New phono stage from SOTA

Dear @tablejockey.

The claim was not mine. There are certainly many compromises that need to be made in a commercial design required to sell for $300. However, the measured performance is remarkably good for a unit of this price- equivalent to or better than many that are far more expensive, and the subjective listening tests were extremely positive.

As Bruno Putzeys famously wrote, " the problem is not that there is too much negative feedback, but there is too little... This design was implemented to do exactly that- correct for there being " too little feedback", and it was deliberately intended to make a frontal attack on the usual audiophile tenets in an area- MC phono preamp design- that is notoriously difficult to do well.

Dear @wynpalmer4  : Here in México we say " free-lancer " to some experts that give support by free or through $$.

" Your perspective on the effect of feedback is, in my opinion, facile, "

I posted about only to say that no matter what and as any audio item has its own " color " not neutral. If that color is neutral for you fine with me.

R.

@rauliruegas 

Here is the recognized US definition of freelancer:

A freelancer is an independent contractor who earns wages on a per-job or per-task basis, typically for short-term work. Benefits of freelancing include the freedom to work from home or from a non-traditional workspace, a flexible work schedule, and a better work-life balance.

Sometimes in certain areas (such as journalism) free lancers evan work for free to build up a portfolio or a reputation.

This is not that. This is entirely a hobby. It is entertainment in these, my declining years, with no expectation of a reward of any sort, except, perhaps, to satisfy a degree of curiosity which, fortunately, has not declined with the passing of the years.

I got hold of a Pyxi and took it to a friend's place last night where a few others joined in.  One friend, Mike, isn't an audiophile, he has Sonos speakers around his house.  We listened to a track and then switched out the system owner's iFi iPhono 3 with upgraded power supply to the Pyxi, repeating the track.  The difference was stark, and Mike immediately said, "wow, there's a lot more detail with this one."  

The ear knows.  The system owner will be selling an iPhono 3 once he gets his hands on a Pyxi.  Mike was talking about getting a turntable and other decent components when I dropped him off at home.

If you read the thorough white paper written by @wynpalmer4 , one would not be surprised that this phono stage sounds excellent and competes with much higher priced phono stages.  

How do I know?  One of my phono stages uses opamps and it is fantastic.  Competes with the many discrete and tube units I have owned over the years.  The good designers of today will tell you that opamps have improved greatly over the years and I believe they are right.  I would like to try this phono stage.

https://sotaturntables.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sota-pyxi-whitepaper.pdf