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ART Precision Phono Pre Review

Rate this phono stage:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 6 4.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 33 27.0%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 67 54.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 16 13.1%

  • Total voters
    122

abdo123

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I expect that is the manufacturing tolerance and the value will differ from unit to unit. How will you know your cartridge’s balance level and how can you then compensate such a small difference using a much wider range balance control?

Finally, why was not that a thing when we only listened to vinyl?

PS. I’m trying to learn, not rebuke.
Well i guess Test records are perfect for this (with an accompanying osciloscope or ADC).

My Cambridge audio duo has a knob spanning -4 to +4 dB with like 270 degrees of movement. Sure it won’t be digital accurate but with some patience I guess you can get pretty close.

I know for sure that my Ortofon 2M blue has audible channel imbalance, it’s not the most expensive stylus but it’s not the worst either.
 

sarumbear

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Well i guess Test records are perfect for this (with an accompanying osciloscope or ADC).

My Cambridge audio duo has a knob spanning -4 to +4 dB with like 270 degrees of movement. Sure it won’t be digital accurate but with some patience I guess you can get pretty close.

I know for sure that my Ortofon 2M blue has audible channel imbalance, it’s not the most expensive stylus but it’s not the worst either.
When you have a calibration disk…but the percentage of people having one is virtually nil. Similarly, almost all integrated amplifiers from the pre CD era, pre 80s, had a balance control with a much larger range then +/- 4dB.

What I’m saying is cartridge stereo balance was not a “thing”. I was commenting on the comment of a poster who said they will never buy a phono preamp without balance control. Obviously, it can be done and a very small number of people did.
 
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sergeauckland

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Another member suggested that channel imbalance is inherit in the stylus and is not a property of inevitable tracking bias (thus the channel balance specification)

Do you have anything to add to that?
Channel balance has nothing to do with tracking bias, that only affects the tracking ability in terms of recorded velocity. The Stylus itself doesn't have much bearing on channel balance either, it's the symmetry of the generator, either the position of the moving magnets (or induced magnets), or in the case of moving coils, the symmetry in winding and positioning in the magnetic field. The orthogonality of coils or magnets will also affect channel separation, as crosstalk is very dependent on both coils/magnets being exactly aligned with the grooves.
Finally, how vertical the stylus is will affect distortion, especially end-of-side distortion for anything other than a conical stylus.

S
 

SuicideSquid

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I have a few ART devices - DI box, reamp box, etc. that all seem to use the same enclosure. Their stuff is inexpensive but reliably decent.
 

abdo123

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When you have a calibration disk…but the percentage of people having one is virtually nil. Similarly, almost all integrated amplifiers from the pre CD era, pre 80s, had a balance control with a much larger range then +/- 4dB.

What I’m saying is cartridge stereo balance was not a “thing”. I was commenting on the comment of a poster who said they will never buy a phono preamp without balance control. Obviously, it can be done and a very small number of people did.

I meant more like now that i have the feature and experienced how handy it is i would not want a device without it.

By the way you can always do the unthinkable *queue scary sound effect here* and tune it by ear.
 

abdo123

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Channel balance has nothing to do with tracking bias, that only affects the tracking ability in terms of recorded velocity. The Stylus itself doesn't have much bearing on channel balance either, it's the symmetry of the generator, either the position of the moving magnets (or induced magnets), or in the case of moving coils, the symmetry in winding and positioning in the magnetic field. The orthogonality of coils or magnets will also affect channel separation, as crosstalk is very dependent on both coils/magnets being exactly aligned with the grooves.
Finally, how vertical the stylus is will affect distortion, especially end-of-side distortion for anything other than a conical stylus.

S

Thank you for all your input! These things (understandably) aren't discussed anymore so it was cool to actually know what causes what :)
 
OP
amirm

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Why do the measurements for phono amps include only a 1 kHz tone? Wouldn’t it be useful to see distortion vs. frequency?
It was in the review:

index.php
 

617

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If I was looking for a phono amp today I think I'd prefer one that offers a few choices of capacitance for the MM input.
My last PS Audio PS III offered 50, 150, and 300 pf.
Surprised we see so little of that today, they also should be loaded a 47k ohms.
I guess if you don't run the audiophile baby MC your needs don't count today?
Pro-ject makes phono preamps with a myriad of loading, capacitance, balance, gain and eq options. If I wanted a fully featured phono I'd be looking at them.

 

audiopile

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If I'm reading the graph right ? For the more or less industry standard 1 kHz @ 1% distortion -it looks like about 18 or 19 mV for the MC input and about 160-170 mV for the MM input. These are both very respectable figures for phono overload. I did send ART a query about how their Max Input Level was "built" -but they list 44 mV for MC and 440 mV -both at 1 kHz. Amir's numbers make more sense to me. BTW-excellent timing for this review (for me) -ordered Sat night -came in Monday. Quick look -OPA-1612 op amp -I think I can guess where the 100 pF input caps are -might cut those off the board and relie on cable capacitance or caps from my dB Systems loading kit as needed (Note to self: Excellent rationalization for buying a second unit :) and I could remove the level knob and it's Pot -substitute a couple of fixed value resitors since my favorite MI cart (Ortofon M20FL Super) won't drive the ART Precision into clipping -don't need it. Don't care what it looks like -not willing to pay a nickel for looks.
 

jhaider

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If I was looking for a phono amp today I think I'd prefer one that offers a few choices of capacitance for the MM input.
My last PS Audio PS III offered 50, 150, and 300 pf.
Surprised we see so little of that today, they also should be loaded a 47k ohms.
I guess if you don't run the audiophile baby MC your needs don't count today?

As mentioned ProJect has some. IfI iPhono has all the loadings, and multiple compensation schemes (RIAA, Decca, etc.)

Puffin (probably my last phono pre ever, replacing the aforementioned iFi) can do pretty much anything too.
 

Angsty

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Pro-ject makes phono preamps with a myriad of loading, capacitance, balance, gain and eq options. If I wanted a fully featured phono I'd be looking at them.

Yeah, but that’s US $2000 - not at all in the cost league of the ART or Schiit. For $2000, there are a number of alternatives with adjustable capacitance.
 

audiopile

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Actually with Version 1.30 of the Parks Audio Puffin software installed -you can fine tune the Left channel in +/- .3dB increments - so if the main menu 2 dB steps aren't fine enough for you -that's another option. I don't know if Shannon Parks has thought of everything -but damm close.
 

Thomas_A

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Really? I mean most Ortofon cartridges advertise 1.5dB. How much should you be spending for 0.25 imbalance?
I’ve had several JICO SAS stylii for ny Shure V15Vx and all have been better than the original stylus (around 1 dB imbalance). The best one was the first SAS boron stylus with 0.25 dB. My current one is around 0.5 dB.
Clearaudio MM, which are AT bodies do the selecttion for you and price them after that.
 

Newman

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Turntable designer Pierre Lurné (Audiomeca) has a trenchant discussion of the engineering problems with tangential arms here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/lurne_air_bearing_e.html

This is the key point:

“The major error concerns the Mass Distribution and therefore the Dynamic Properties: clearly an Air Bearing arm behaves like any other arm in the vertical plane only. The head moves up and down, the tube less and the bearing stays about still. In this plane, the Effective Mass is usual, deals correctly with the cartridge compliance and the resonance frequency is kept under control.

On the other hand, the “entirety” of an Air Bearing arm moves on the horizontal plane. The Effective Mass increases a lot, up to 10 times and even more (!), as a result that another frequency of resonance is created. Things are already complicated enough with one single general resonance so close to the troubles of record eccentricity and warp that adding a second one is an open door to tracking problems. The new resonance rings very low in the worse region and far from the well known safe area (9 to 12 Hz approx). More, two working planes are affected because of the 45x45 engraving. Manufacturers consent and EVEN call the attention of the user in their manual! To keep the arm mass low enough, light cartridges and the choice of the smaller counterweight are strongly recommended.”
Very biased and trenchant discussion, though. Beware the self-appointed expert! I find that the high-end TT world is full of boutique 'designers' who spread myth and misinformation with endless enthusiasm and over-confidence. On practically every single aspect of TT design. It's tragic.
 

Sal1950

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That’s a really annoying way to go around it because your other sources will not have the imbalance.
Not really.
In fact imbalances are most often found on the recordings from all sort of media.
On a stereo only rig is very handy to have a balance control, too bad they're not as mainstream as they used to be.
 

abdo123

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Not really.
In fact imbalances are most often found on the recordings from all sort of media.
On a stereo only rig is very handy to have a balance control, too bad they're not as mainstream as they used to be.
I meant the imbalance your cartridge produces will not be there when you’re using any other non record based source.
 

Multicore

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Very biased and trenchant discussion, though. Beware the self-appointed expert! I find that the high-end TT world is full of boutique 'designers' who spread myth and misinformation with endless enthusiasm and over-confidence. On practically every single aspect of TT design. It's tragic.
Priests have been curating esoteric knowledge that confers authority since for ever. The tragedy, if any, comes from the influence that authority has on peoples' lives. When money changes hands then it might qualify as tragic if, say, a child were to go hungry as a result. But when the money is surplus to the affected household's material needs, as, I'd wager, is often the case in the cult of high-end turntables, it's probably not tragic.
 

Newman

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That is a truly pathetic interjection. Naturally I am referring to the audiophile level of tragedy, not the world war level of tragedy or the child abuse level of tragedy.

The informal use of the word tragic is defined by Wiktionary to include “cringeworthy; tryhard; unhip; embarrassing; hopeless”. As if you thought I used the word any other way.

Golly Gee Willakers.
 
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