Total overachiever. It's really good and what is more: easily upgradable. Standard it's already really good, even on MC it's quiet and full sounding. Yes, you can really use the MC input on this one. Its not just a sales gimmick. For who doesn't understand the two potmeters: gain is for the first set of opamps, how hard they need to work for the MC. Less is better! The 2nd set of opamps take care of RIAA and the main amplification. The volume pot throttles the signal so you can directly feed it to a power amp like Ayimas mono's. So first set the volume to max, then turn up the gain to where it's loud enough and then use the volume for feeding the amps. I've also upgraded it with discrete SC52b dual opamps (not as expensive as Sparkos but equally good in this one, $15/pc). I also tried OracleII 02 opamps (only $7). It is a real big upgrade. Totally worth it. I have many phono preamps and this one is the cheapest ever with a discount on AE. But only my expensive Gold Note Ph10 beats it on MC. I'm keeping it for my third arm. Get this one, put some better opamps in and get your first MC cartridge. PS, big opamps get in the way of the extender inside that holds the right screw in the back. Just unscrew the rod and leave it out.
Great Video Matt !!! I like your style !! A few technical points the 1. impedance matching inputs when selected properly will make a difference 2. Changeable OP-AMPS especially discrete is the opportunity to completely change the tonal character of a turntable. Maybe you can make that a future video on this product .
I still use my vintage Kenwood and Dual turntables and even a linear tracking Yamaha over my Fluance and Pro-ject tables that I own, I have owned the Kenwood for more than 43+ years and that’s my daily driver and it has not let me down once. I recently tried playing some 45s on the Fluance RT85 and it was given me a problem with erratic speed at the end of the record, turned out with some research to be the auto stop setting feature with that turntable when playing 7” 45s. Never had an issue with any of my vintage turntables playing my old 45s!
@@MattCoykendall1 I was gifted a Dual 1019 from my brother-in-law a few years back that he purchased when he was stationed in Germany in 1966, took a little bit of elbow grease to remove the old grease and re-lubricated it and has worked flawlessly. I was really impressed how the idler wheel has held up without any deterioration after all these years.
I love vintage tables. I’m vintage so they speak to me. I had a Thorens way back when. I also had a beautiful Dual 1229 and Sony PSX-70. Unfortunately, what you said is exactly right. They are usually far too expensive and far too broken. You have to pay top dollar, then have to pay for maintenance. So, I ended up with a Fluance RT-85. I replaced the 2M Blue with a VM95ML. It’s just good enough for my crappy records.
They generally say everything works but rarely is it the case. The last one I picked up I bought from the original owner at a rummage sale, fun to hear the stories. Thanks for sharing
I pretty much had the same questions, challenges, and conclusions due to T3 Pro having both a gain and volume control. In the end, I decided to to put the volume control at 3/4th of the full dial and be done with it. I still feel like I need a lot more days with the this preamp before decided if I keep it as a primary or as a secondary preamp.
Volume to max, adjust gain until it's loud enough for you, then use volume to adjust later if needed. Gain sets how hard the first set of opamps must work. Less is better.
I'm thinking these are for use with a fun-fi amp, where perhaps having a volume knob would be somewhat helpful. Turn the gain to 3/4 or full on the amp, and control volume from the preamp.
Absolutely not! It is a serious piece of kit. Listening now with an MC cartridge and upgraded discrete opamps. The gain decides the 1st pair of opamps, to match your MC output. The less gain, the less stress on the opamp. The 2nd pair of opamps does the RIAA plus gain. The volume throttles the output. So preferably leave it full open. Now direct in to a pair of Fosi ZA3's sounding incredibly good for a very low budget.
Radio Shack sold a German (I think) made turntable the Benjamin Miracord which was a changer! It was built like a tank. Used a Shure 91 as it was affordable and worked and sounded really good.
Great video Matt . Can you compare Aiyima T3 Pro vs the Ifi Zen Air Phono Stage they both run for $99 on Amazon but i will like to know wich one is best in your opinion. Thanks .
Just got mine for €75 incl 21% tax that is. Discrete opamps +60 leaves anything near this price in the dust. Listening on MC now! Silent and sweet with real depth and width.
I got a Sure M97xe cartridge on close out for under $100. Also picked up an OEM replacement stylus for $50. Don’t spin vinyl much since getting my first Bluesound Node a few years back. Just for the heck of it, checked out the cost of NOS, i.e. unsold sitting gathering dust M97. Holy decibel! Priced at the 3x the cost of a competent new cart from Grado or Ortofon.
A note of caution here ... The power input for this device is 12 volts *AC* -- not DC -- and it comes with a special power brick to feed it. Plugging in a conventional 12vdc supply will almost certainly produce undesirable results.
I have the original here, it performs well in my opinion. I could likely reach out and get a review sample on the 3. I am mostly confused where the 2 is… did they go from the iFi Zen directly to the 3?
Total overachiever. It's really good and what is more: easily upgradable. Standard it's already really good, even on MC it's quiet and full sounding. Yes, you can really use the MC input on this one. Its not just a sales gimmick.
For who doesn't understand the two potmeters: gain is for the first set of opamps, how hard they need to work for the MC. Less is better! The 2nd set of opamps take care of RIAA and the main amplification. The volume pot throttles the signal so you can directly feed it to a power amp like Ayimas mono's. So first set the volume to max, then turn up the gain to where it's loud enough and then use the volume for feeding the amps.
I've also upgraded it with discrete SC52b dual opamps (not as expensive as Sparkos but equally good in this one, $15/pc). I also tried OracleII 02 opamps (only $7).
It is a real big upgrade. Totally worth it. I have many phono preamps and this one is the cheapest ever with a discount on AE. But only my expensive Gold Note Ph10 beats it on MC. I'm keeping it for my third arm.
Get this one, put some better opamps in and get your first MC cartridge.
PS, big opamps get in the way of the extender inside that holds the right screw in the back. Just unscrew the rod and leave it out.
Great Video Matt !!! I like your style !! A few technical points the 1. impedance matching inputs when selected properly will make a difference
2. Changeable OP-AMPS especially discrete is the opportunity to completely change the tonal character of a turntable.
Maybe you can make that a future video on this product .
I have yet to open this one up yet but I certainly have discrete Op-Amps available, thanks for watching!
I still use my vintage Kenwood and Dual turntables and even a linear tracking Yamaha over my Fluance and Pro-ject tables that I own, I have owned the Kenwood for more than 43+ years and that’s my daily driver and it has not let me down once.
I recently tried playing some 45s on the Fluance RT85 and it was given me a problem with erratic speed at the end of the record, turned out with some research to be the auto stop setting feature with that turntable when playing 7” 45s.
Never had an issue with any of my vintage turntables playing my old 45s!
Vintage tables are fantastic once you work out the bugs, and thats usually just a little maintenance.
@@MattCoykendall1
I was gifted a Dual 1019 from my brother-in-law a few years back that he purchased when he was stationed in Germany in 1966, took a little bit of elbow grease to remove the old grease and re-lubricated it and has worked flawlessly.
I was really impressed how the idler wheel has held up without any deterioration after all these years.
I love vintage tables. I’m vintage so they speak to me. I had a Thorens way back when. I also had a beautiful Dual 1229 and Sony PSX-70. Unfortunately, what you said is exactly right. They are usually far too expensive and far too broken. You have to pay top dollar, then have to pay for maintenance. So, I ended up with a Fluance RT-85. I replaced the 2M Blue with a VM95ML. It’s just good enough for my crappy records.
They generally say everything works but rarely is it the case. The last one I picked up I bought from the original owner at a rummage sale, fun to hear the stories. Thanks for sharing
I pretty much had the same questions, challenges, and conclusions due to T3 Pro having both a gain and volume control. In the end, I decided to to put the volume control at 3/4th of the full dial and be done with it. I still feel like I need a lot more days with the this preamp before decided if I keep it as a primary or as a secondary preamp.
Volume to max, adjust gain until it's loud enough for you, then use volume to adjust later if needed.
Gain sets how hard the first set of opamps must work. Less is better.
@@Jeep_on_audio Thanks! Through trial and error I came to about the same conclusion but it's nice to have someone else confirm.
I'm thinking these are for use with a fun-fi amp, where perhaps having a volume knob would be somewhat helpful. Turn the gain to 3/4 or full on the amp, and control volume from the preamp.
Absolutely not! It is a serious piece of kit. Listening now with an MC cartridge and upgraded discrete opamps.
The gain decides the 1st pair of opamps, to match your MC output. The less gain, the less stress on the opamp.
The 2nd pair of opamps does the RIAA plus gain.
The volume throttles the output. So preferably leave it full open.
Now direct in to a pair of Fosi ZA3's sounding incredibly good for a very low budget.
Radio Shack sold a German (I think) made turntable the Benjamin Miracord which was a changer! It was built like a tank. Used a Shure 91 as it was affordable and worked and sounded really good.
Thanks for the info, I just looked these up it appears Benjamin Miracord was the US importer of German made ELAC turntables.
Great video Matt . Can you compare Aiyima T3 Pro vs the Ifi Zen Air Phono Stage they both run for $99 on Amazon but i will like to know wich one is best in your opinion. Thanks .
I can reach out, I haven't had any IfI products in for a bit.
Just got mine for €75 incl 21% tax that is. Discrete opamps +60 leaves anything near this price in the dust. Listening on MC now! Silent and sweet with real depth and width.
I got a Sure M97xe cartridge on close out for under $100. Also picked up an OEM replacement stylus for $50. Don’t spin vinyl much since getting my first Bluesound Node a few years back. Just for the heck of it, checked out the cost of NOS, i.e. unsold sitting gathering dust M97. Holy decibel! Priced at the 3x the cost of a competent new cart from Grado or Ortofon.
Its true, NOS prices are insane right now, more than I am willing to pay in most cases anyways.
An MM sans stylus is worthless. A new stylus is 90% of the price of a new cartridge.
Get this T3 Pro and a nice MC (AT OC9) and be amazed.
A note of caution here ... The power input for this device is 12 volts *AC* -- not DC -- and it comes with a special power brick to feed it.
Plugging in a conventional 12vdc supply will almost certainly produce undesirable results.
Yes, we dont want to let the magic smoke out here.
@@MattCoykendall1
It's strange how things stop working when you do that. 🤔
Yes, I found that out. I had a 12V DC line already from another one. Nothing happened. It just didn't work.
Might be a good Idea to also review the IFI Zen phono 3. Most reviewers seem to ignore it
I have the original here, it performs well in my opinion. I could likely reach out and get a review sample on the 3. I am mostly confused where the 2 is… did they go from the iFi Zen directly to the 3?
@@MattCoykendall1 I think they wanted to give it the same serial number as the ifi zen DAC 3
Yep, that must be it
tried change opamps?
Yes, just did. Audience SX52b @$15 a PC. Incredible upgrade, even MC is quiet and dynamic, fluid and deep.
@@Jeep_on_audio MC is bad on this item 😊
@@andrews4379
No it's not. I'm listening to it and it works almost as well as my main phono, the $3K Gold Note PH10.
@MattCoykendall1 Thank you for the time-space displacement public service announcement. Another top notch review. Thank you!
No problem, didn’t want anyone to lose their dog ya know