Vertere Phono 1 Phono Amplifier. Yours for £1,000, this box handles Moving Magnet and Moving Coil
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- Опубликовано: 1 апр 2021
- Relatively small and neat in form factor, Paul Rigby reviews this MM and MC-devoted phono amplifier from Vertere
Check out my website at: theaudiophileman.com
FEET INFO
The Vertere feet are called Iso-Paw and are priced at: (Set of 3) £95 (Set of 4) £115.
SETTING UP YOUR PHONO-1 AMP
To set up, have your main amplifier gain on loud-ish but not blaring. Put the capacitance, gain and loading on mid way. Then spend the afternoon using your ears to hear which figures suit you best. Compare each old setting with the next setting up. Then flip back down again. Then go up again to make sure. And continue to do that with each and every setting.
If the initial mid-way setting is too high, work downwards instead and do so for the following settings, below.
I start with the gain and increase slowly from the minimum figure. I stop when I hear any sign of ‘shouting’ from voices or bass crescendos, for example.
Then I move to loading. When the space and air around the soundstage starts to reduce and the midrange becomes tight and forced, then I back off.
If capacitance is available, to quote the manual, “…inadequate capacitance can cause some harshness, shouting and loss of fine detail…” This is because this setting helps to remove a frequency response lift above 10Hz caused by the mechanical resonance produce by the coil and cantilever.
Once you’ve set the figures, don’t be afraid to tweak a bit here and there. Fine tune. Under cook your settings, then overdo them, then find the sweet spot in the middle. Don’t rush this but once you’re sorted, you won’t have to look at these setting again. Unless you buy a new cartridge, that is.
I have to say here that the Vertere manual offers advice along my own thoughts on sound testing. It does not demand that you follow the spec sheet. It encourages you to use our ears. This rather enlightened level of advice is refreshing to see in a phono amplifier manual and is particularly recommended on those terms.
PATREON
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Old Bossa by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution
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REFERENCE
Origin Live Sovereign turntable
Origin Live Enterprise 12″ arm
Van Den Hul Crimson XGW Stradivarius Cartridge
Funk Firm LSD Turntable
Benz Glider MC cartridge
Ortofon Cadenza Bronze MC cartridge
Icon PS3 phono amplifier
Aesthetix Calypso pre-amp
Icon Audio MB845 Mk.II Monoblock Amplifiers
Quad ESL-57 Speakers with One Thing mod
Tellurium Q Statement cables
Blue Horizon Professional Rack System
Harmonic Resolution Systems Noise Reduction Components
CAD GC1 Ground Controls
Air Audio AC-2K Balanced Transformer
Russ Andrews RF Router Mk.II 
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Great review paul. Interesting phono amp.
Amazed to see team doyobi get a shout out. Even Darko doesn't get that niche.
I really appreciate your treatment of phono stages (I don’ dare call the phone pre-amps after watching another of your reviews 🙂). I’m using a Schiit Mani with a moving magnet cartridge (a Stanton 500 Mark II), and while it is a work-horse, I think the ‘kit’ could be improved upon. I plan to upgrade the cartridge first, but I’m fairly certain the phono stage will need to be upgraded as well. Saving my pennies and watching reviews; enjoy most all of yours. 👍
Hey man, I'd recommend trying the iPhono3 and reviewing it.
@kjk1422 - did you resolve your problems using a 0.5mV MC cart with the Vertere (asking as I'm thinking about buying one and am concerned)? Did it have insufficient gain even when dip switches correctly set?
I see one dealer in the USA and they're in Colorado. Have you ever heard of CiAudio 's PEQ•1 MKII MM/MC Phono Preamplifier with the optional (a must) dual power supply or I should say not hear it? By that I mean it has almost no sound artifacts that I have heard from other preamps that are not really expensive and it's soooo quiet with MC cartridges that no tube preamp(they all hiss) at any price can perform. When I first auditioned it compared to a $6500.00 tube phono preamp and a $4000.00 dual mono solid state design both well known brands, I was floored at how the CiAudio's stage dimensions simply disappeared. The floor fell away; it just expanded in all dimensions. It looks so simple too. Priced about the same as the Vertere with the dual power supply.
That's new on me - I often don't get to see/hear US-based hardware because the companies have no representation in this territory, which is a shame.
Just got this and it has a problem with .5 mv cartridge. Any suggestions aside from SUT's?
Hi Paul.. How do you think the Phono 1 compares to the Eastern Electric Mini Max tube phono stage amplifier ?
In the UK that would mean spending a third more to find out so I'm not sure the comparison would be wholly fair. I would also be looking at products like the Icon Audio PS1 as a better, more equal comparison too and I do love the PS1.
Hi paul is it because a phono amp is designed to amplify low frequency noise , that it is prone to such noise it’s self? I must admit I’m not up on the technical aspect of this problem. But have heard you regularly pay particular attention to this phenomenon on other hifi equipment. Best wishes as always 😀👍👍
Yep, absolutely.
Really very interesting, thanks. Great content, I love the diverse choices of test vinyl, obviously a serious audiophile. Are you running a music store Paul, seeing varied vinyl behind you makes me wonder, I had The Reflex "Politics of Dancing", and I've noticed others. I like your delivery and content, well done for talking to the audience offering useful information, I am saving for a Phono Stage to sit with my Audiolab 8300A and 8300CDQ which at 53 years is the best combination I've had. I kept my Epos Elan 10s and my REL T-3 and currently play from a Pro-ject 1Xpression Carbon with an Ortofon 2M Silver Cartridge. Music covers 36 years, 2 vinyl records of note, George Benson's "2020" album and Dave Grohl's "Play". Keep up the good work, thanks.
Thanks for your comments and no, that's just my vinyl collection :)
Hello Paul, I see in the list that you didn't try any MM cartridge with it. I am a bit worried about capacitance since it's only 100pf or 430pf which is quite high. I have Goldring 2500 cart and I am worried about absence of 200pf load capacitance. Second thing is that cart has high output 6.5mV, phono lowest gain is 40.2 dB. So I am a bit worried about clipping and distortion. What do you think, can it be a problem, should I contact Vertere to check it out before purchase?
My mistake and apologies - I was reasoning that most people spending £1k on a phono amp would be using a MC cart but, of course, there are high-end MM and moving iron designs out there.
I did do some brief tests with a suped-up Trichord Dino as a reference and didn't hear capacitance issues with my similar-ish Goldring 1042. The latter has a narrower capacitance range of 150-200pf. Your 2500 is more forgiving at 100-200pf. So you should be ok, I reckon.
My 1042 has the same sensitivity figures too and I found no issues there either.
But look, you need to be sure on this so, if you're at all nervous, contact Vertere for confirmation.
@@TheAudiophileMan No need apologies! I am very grateful for this review :-) Yes, currently I am using Goldring 2500 but I consider to go for Goldring Ethos later, so I would like to buy some phono which can handle it and show full potential of the cart. I will maybe contact Vertere because I have some "hot" records in my shelf. If you compare Trichord (+ battery power supply) vs Vertere, which one is "the one"? Both are superior, but I have no chance to listen to it in direct comparison, because any of the two is available in Czech Republic, so your opinion is very welcome!
@@mrrx Thanks :) Probably the Vertere in terms of space and air around the mids. The Dino remains an excellent performer though. If you did go for the Dino, you wouldn't be disappointed.
@@TheAudiophileMan Thank you a lot! :-)
I’m looking at this phono amp or at least the current version MK11 and the Chord Huei, I am not a fan of dip switches hence I like the Chord as it’s easier to make adjustments. How would you compare the Chord to the Vertere as you have reviewed both?
Lol 1000 pounds for a nice silver box with 100 quid at best of decent parts.....
Well you could always build it yourself, in another colour perhaps.
"Stop trying to make Fetch happen." - Mean Girls
It's a preamp and always will be. Sorry.