| Print Page | Adjust Font Size:

Free Home Theater Review Weekly Newsletter.

Enter your e-mail below to get Home Theater Review's weekly newsletter with the latest equipment reviews and home theater news sent directly to your inbox.


*Required

Continuing to revert exclusively to vinyl usage for my 'pleasure', as opposed to 'reviewing' listening, I'm ecstatic about the flood of killer phono stages available today. My absolute references, but beyond my means, are the Manley Steelhead and the Audio Research Reference Phono, while I adore the EAR 324 for its unbelievable flexibility and quietness - a masterpiece. EAR's 834P remains my sub-£500 all-tube reference, while I can't recommend too highly either the Pro-Ject Tube or the NAD PP2 for sheer value for money.

But it's time to get selfish. I try to treat myself to a piece of hi-fi each year, having bought London and Koetsu cartridges, the Denon DVD-2900 universal player and other bits and pieces since the change of millennia. Now I'm after a phono stage with three specific requirements, beyond sublime sound. They are, in ascending order of importance, 1) a price I can manage, 2) valves inside and 3) ultimate suitability for the two cartridges I love best: the aforementioned Koetsu and London. Which makes it so tough, because one's an MC and the other's a high-output freak of science.

Enter a new phono stage from Audio Research, with trickle-down technology from the REF. ARC explained the arrival of the PH5: 'The PH3 series had been in our line some nine years and needed replacing. Discussions with our retailers and importers indicated that a well-performing product around US $2000 was what they and their customers were looking for. So, our task was to give them a phono stage that was a clear sonic advancement upon the previous products, with enhanced features, a little more gain (+3 dB), at a lower price (some $600 lower than the previous SE). Thus the PH5.' Not an easy task, as the PH3 and PH3 Special Edition have been major successes for ARC, and had remained unchanged, for nine and six years, respectively.

Their response? The new PH5, replacing both the PH3 and PH3SE, with a retail price of £1799. Its 19in front panel layout matches the SP16 and CD3 Mk II, with green LED indicators on the left side and four soft-touch buttons on the right. The buttons control Power, Mute, Mono and Loading for 47K, 1000, 500, 200 or 100 ohms through press-press scrolling. Here's the irresistible kicker for analogue addicts: the PH5 comes with a remote control for all functions, so you can listen to the adjustments from your hot seat. [But see the sidebar, 'To Load Or Not To Load'.] Handles are a £70 option.

PH3/PH3SE owners will recognise the layout of the rear panel, with one pair each of phono-socket inputs and outputs, an earthing post and an IEC three-pin mains socket. Alas, due to the prohibitive cost, balanced output is not available, but ARC will consider it for a dearer variant if there's enough demand.

Like the PH3, the PH5 is a hybrid, using a high-gain, 5-JFET per channel, non-inverting input stage with constant-current stabilisation and no overall feedback. A direct link to the flagship REF is new RIAA circuitry, patterned after the Reference Phono's RIAA stage, with passive high frequency and active low frequency equalisation. ARC believes that this results in an improved margin of stability under the most demanding conditions.

Four 6922 twin triodes make up the non-inverting gain and output stages, with high-stability power supplies and four separate regulators for all valve heaters, plate supply and microprocessor logic. Bandwidth is 0.7Hz-400kHz (-3dB), while gain has been increased to 57.5dB. The latter was a revelation: for the first time, I had to trim the phono stage output down to match the line sources. The PH5 pumps out plenty of signal, resulting in a lowered noise floor for most installations. And it was consistent with the McIntosh C2200/MC2102 and Musical Fidelity kW combinations, and the PrimaLuna Prologue One, Audio Analogue Maestro and Audion Lo Sfizio integrateds. I doubt that even an Audio Note Io or early Ortofon SPU could stump it.

Regardless of how hard I made the system work - Apogee Scintilla, Wilson WATT Puppy 7, LS3/5A, Sonus Faber Guarneri - and irrespective of my hunger for level, the PH5 never failed to deliver sufficient oomph. Main listening involved four wildly differing designs fitted to the SME V/SME 30/2 front end: the London SuperGold and Grado Prestige MM/MI/MF cartridges, and Koetsu and Transfiguration MCs.

No question: the PH5 met all three of my criteria, caressing the Koetsu and preserving its warmth and sheen, while opening the window for the peerless frequency extremes of the London, especially the snappy bass. Treble? Crystal clear and - above all, when you're dealing with Londons - scarily fast, the transients snapping without smearing, without hindrance. With so much gain, background noise was never an issue. With so much transparency, everything else profited.

It was a litany of superlatives: massive soundstage, wide and deep to the point where there was no doubt of the presence of specific sounds beyond the outer edges of the speakers. Front-to-back depth turned into an added benefit especially for mono listening - all those wonderful Capitols and RCA and Columbias I've been enjoying - so now I'm on the hunt for a mono cartridge to maximise the experience. And the vocals! Natural, detailed, with sibilance that sounded really rather than spitty. I implore you: audition this with some Peggy Lee!

But there is one area where the PH5 nears the REF Phono and the Steelhead at three or four times the price: retrieval of low level detail. I simply heard 'stuff' that I hadn't before, including the very artefacts that make a listening experience more real, regardless of the recordings' age or mono/stereo status: Keely Smith's breathing while Louis Prima was mugging about, greater separation of voices amongst the Hi-Los and the Crew Cuts, more subtlety in the harmonic overtones on acoustic guitar (try Doc Watson on Cisco), dazzling tastes of mallet and drumstick and pedal in well-recorded percussion tracks. Microphone fetishists will want to dig out test discs that tell whether they used Neumanns or AKGs.

Simply the most 'real-sounding' phono stage I've experienced below £2000, the PH5 is a natural upgrade from the delightful EAR 834P. My only gripe? I can't choose between the Koetsu and the London, and the PH5 only has one set of inputs....

Had I more patience, I might have waited before buying, for there are two phono stages due soon that should also tempt me: EAR's valve version of the 324, and the long-awaited all-valve Quad phono stage to match the QC24, which I've used in 'beta test' form - a stunner at under £1500, believe me. But I've always had a soft spot for Audio Research. But now I actually own a piece.

Absolute Sounds 020 8971 3909

SIDEBAR: To Load Or Not To Load
There's nothing as rewarding as learning something new, and the PH5 completely altered my understanding of moving-coil cartridge loading. Like most audiophiles who lived through the Great Moving Coil Renaissance of the 1970s, I thought of loading to be as important as driving sober, safe sex and paying VAT. Boy, was I wrong. What happened was this:

After carefully installing the PH5, with the Koetsu Urushi in place, I was not merely surprised but distressed to hear absolutely no level changes whatsoever when scrolling through the PH5's impedance settings. I freaked - was it a dud? So I entered a phone-and-e-mail exchange with Terry Dorn of Audio Research.

He told me, 'Ken, don't worry: so did I. Our techs explained that with low-impedance cartridges, the actual impedance differences between 100 and 47k ohms work out mathematically to be almost negligible. However, with a cartridge having an internal impedance of, say, 500 ohms, the difference becomes much more audible. "On a higher output cartridge," one of our techs explained, "the different loading options will act like a very subtle tone control, mainly affecting the high frequencies and reducing overall volume slightly as you load the cartridge down."

'At most we're looking at subtle differences, not radical ones, and it is possible that, depending how the record was recorded and cut, one setting may be preferred and on another record another loading option might be preferred. We have also found that some cartridge manufacturer's loading recommendations do not accurately reflect the actual internal impedance of the cartridge. But, again, they may feel that most users will find their recommended loading the best-sounding option for most systems and most recordings. So, as it is with so many things in this industry, cartridge loading is a combination of measurement, subjective preference and system synergy. Not a "black art", perhaps, but certainly as much art as science.'

Keywords

Audio Research PH5 Phono Preamp Reviewed

Subscribe to the Newsletter
Subscribe to HomeTheaterReview.com's Weekly Newsletter to get the latest news, reviews and insight on the world of home theater, HDTV and audiophile equipment. Subscription is 100% FREE!
*Required
Email Marketing by VerticalResponse
subscribe to rss Subscribe with RSS
Follow home theater equipment reviews and daily news via our RSS feed.
Related Source Component Reviews (Classic):
  • Comment on this article

    0
Post a Comment

Please answer the following question (required) before posting to help us prevent Spam.


enter to win

Today's Top Story

California Passes Anti-Flat-HDTV Legislation To Try To Save Energy

California Passes Anti-Flat-HDTV Legislation To Try To Save Energy -

As a resident of California who owns a "green home" complete with new windows, high efficiency air conditioners, space-age insulation and drought tolerant planting on over two acres of hillside - today's decision to toughen standards on HDTVs is a... Click for more...

Latest Source Component Reviews (Classic)

Theta Chroma Digital to Analog Converter Reviewed -

Given that Theta's sublime Pro Gen V is a device which consistently astounds me with its transparency, speed, coherence and freedom from digitalia, there should be no surprise that it's my reference converter. Much as I adore the Marantz DA-12... Click for more...

Meracus Imago CD Transport Reviewed -

No, I don't know what 'Meracus' means, and I stopped playing around with anagrams after I reached 'ear scum'. How about 'US Cream'? No way: Meracus is so decidedly, unabashedly a German company that it couldn't possibly apply. Oh, is... Click for more...

Marantz CD-63II K.I. Signature CD Player Reviewed -

On the surface, it's just another set of modifications, right? Another way to sell CD-63s, eh? I suppose that a cynic could look at it that way, but - after hearing the 'K.I. Signature' - the cynic would have to... Click for more...

Bow Technologies ZZ-Eight CD Player Reviewed -

It could have grown out of the ZZ-One integrated amp, a Siamese twin just itching to use its amplifying sibling as a plinth. Whether or not it should be 'stacked' is doubtful, given the ventilating properties of the ZZ-One's end... Click for more...

YBA CD3a Player Reviewed -

Blame the end of the Millennium, the coming of DVD, the arrivals of HDCD/20-bit remastering/XRCD, what-have-you. All I know is that we're experiencing a flood of deliberately off-the-wall CD players, and if this is anti-digital backlash, then it's over a... Click for more...

Wilson Bensch Circle Turntable Reviewed -

No puns about 'squaring the circle', 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken?', 'circle jerks' or any of that stuff: the most-obviously named turntable since the Revolver is exactly the dream Wilson Benesch watchers hoped it would be. Its shape, its simplicity,... Click for more...

Theta Pro Gen V-A Digital to Analog Converter Reviewed -

Not keeping tabs on other reviewers, I can't say if it's normal practice to use as a reference something which members of the public cannot purchase. Hot-rodded hardware, prototypes which never made it into production - there are plenty of... Click for more...

Rega Planet Turntable Reviewed -

Buying into certain 'schools' of audio thought requires the same kind of metaphorical lobotomy as becoming a slavish football supporter or joining a religious cult. In real terms - if you let the mind-set supplant part of your personality -... Click for more...

Quasar LE Turntable Reviewed -

'Gorgeous.' That's the word I kept hearing, every time someone noticed the Quasar LE turntable in for review. And one of the first to utter it was the owner of a Michell Orbe, itself no canine. What these individuals cooed... Click for more...

Linn LP12 Turntable Reviewed -

Military manoeuvres come no more complicated. Merely considering a 'top secret' review involving a panel of seven or so listeners is to court disaster, as 'secrets' and 'journalists' are mutually incompatible. But we knew, as the only British hi-fi magazine... Click for more...

Latest Source Component Reviews (Classic)

Theta Chroma Digital to Analog Converter Reviewed -

Given that Theta's sublime Pro Gen V is a device which consistently astounds me with its transparency, speed, coherence and freedom from digitalia, there should be no surprise that it's my reference converter. Much as I adore the Marantz DA-12... Click for more...

Meracus Imago CD Transport Reviewed -

No, I don't know what 'Meracus' means, and I stopped playing around with anagrams after I reached 'ear scum'. How about 'US Cream'? No way: Meracus is so decidedly, unabashedly a German company that it couldn't possibly apply. Oh, is... Click for more...

Marantz CD-63II K.I. Signature CD Player Reviewed -

On the surface, it's just another set of modifications, right? Another way to sell CD-63s, eh? I suppose that a cynic could look at it that way, but - after hearing the 'K.I. Signature' - the cynic would have to... Click for more...

Bow Technologies ZZ-Eight CD Player Reviewed -

It could have grown out of the ZZ-One integrated amp, a Siamese twin just itching to use its amplifying sibling as a plinth. Whether or not it should be 'stacked' is doubtful, given the ventilating properties of the ZZ-One's end... Click for more...

YBA CD3a Player Reviewed -

Blame the end of the Millennium, the coming of DVD, the arrivals of HDCD/20-bit remastering/XRCD, what-have-you. All I know is that we're experiencing a flood of deliberately off-the-wall CD players, and if this is anti-digital backlash, then it's over a... Click for more...

Wilson Bensch Circle Turntable Reviewed -

No puns about 'squaring the circle', 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken?', 'circle jerks' or any of that stuff: the most-obviously named turntable since the Revolver is exactly the dream Wilson Benesch watchers hoped it would be. Its shape, its simplicity,... Click for more...

Theta Pro Gen V-A Digital to Analog Converter Reviewed -

Not keeping tabs on other reviewers, I can't say if it's normal practice to use as a reference something which members of the public cannot purchase. Hot-rodded hardware, prototypes which never made it into production - there are plenty of... Click for more...

Rega Planet Turntable Reviewed -

Buying into certain 'schools' of audio thought requires the same kind of metaphorical lobotomy as becoming a slavish football supporter or joining a religious cult. In real terms - if you let the mind-set supplant part of your personality -... Click for more...

Quasar LE Turntable Reviewed -

'Gorgeous.' That's the word I kept hearing, every time someone noticed the Quasar LE turntable in for review. And one of the first to utter it was the owner of a Michell Orbe, itself no canine. What these individuals cooed... Click for more...

Linn LP12 Turntable Reviewed -

Military manoeuvres come no more complicated. Merely considering a 'top secret' review involving a panel of seven or so listeners is to court disaster, as 'secrets' and 'journalists' are mutually incompatible. But we knew, as the only British hi-fi magazine... Click for more...

All Source Component Reviews (Classic)

Latest Equipment Reviews

Rotel RA-1520 Integrated Amplifier Reviewed -

Rotel has been creating audio components for more than 46 years that have all been designed with the goal of bringing high-end audio technology to the more discriminating audiophile. Rotel's RA-1520 integrated amplifier retains the same focus, as this amplifier... Click for more...

Parasound 5250 Five Channel Power Amplifier Reviewed -

As an audio manufacturer that is very proud of its ability to design high-end audio components for the very discerning ears of Hollywood's engineers, Parasound is also insuring that their power amplifiers for the consumer market are second-to-none. The 5250... Click for more...

Vizio VSB210WS Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer Reviewed -

Sound bars have always been a bit of the redheaded stepchild of the home theater world for me, a replica of sorts for those unable to accommodate or afford a proper home theater. Of course I jumped to this conclusion... Click for more...

Definitive Technology Mythos 7 On-Wall Speaker Reviewed -

When it comes to perfect replication of professional theater sound, the most important component of any home theater's speaker configuration is the center channel speaker. This speaker not only has to deliver a movie's dialogue with crystal-clear audio imaging, it... Click for more...

Benchmark DAC 1 HDR Reviewed -

While analog reproduction of audio is all the rage these days, most, if not all of us have our music in some digital form. Be it on a hard drive, iPod, Compact Disc or server, we all need high quality... Click for more...

Definitive Technology UIW 75 In-Wall Speaker Reviewed -

One of the primary functions of a first-rate in-wall speaker is its ability to disperse superb high-end audio to every part of the room, no matter where the speaker itself is placed. The design team at Definitive Technology knows just... Click for more...

Outlaw Audio ECS-10 Subwoofer Reviewed -

A major problem in the past with small and compact subwoofers was their inability to deliver strong and deep low-end to the average soundstage. Outlaw Audio's design team was well aware of this challenge when they started developing the ECS-10... Click for more...

Toshiba REGZA 46SV670U LED LCD HDTV Reviewed -

LED backlighting is the way of the future for LCD televisions. Most of the top-selling LCD manufacturers now offer at least one line that uses LED backlighting. Some of these models only place the LEDs around the edges of the... Click for more...

Energy ESW-V10 Subwoofer Reviewed -

Energy is an audio manufacturer that is fairly well known for developing quality speakers at a mid-range price and now they are slowly getting into producing a more high-end subwoofer product line starting with the ESW-V10. The list price for... Click for more...

JVC LT-42X899 42-Inch LCD HDTV Reviewed -

If you have been looking for an HDTV that eliminates pesky motion blur while viewing action-packed Blu-ray discs, you should be very interested in what JVC is calling their "Clear Motion Drive III" technology. That technology is integrated into their... Click for more...

Read All Reviews