Cambridge Audio Solo Phono Preamplifier Review

[EJ3]

Yes.

That's why it's so fun.

Yes, it's the challenge to make it sound pretty good as opposed to "that sounds like cat litter boxes smell".

 

[watchnerd]

Yes, it's the challenge to make it sound pretty good as opposed to "that sounds like cat litter boxes smell".

Indeed.

Digital is EZ Mode.

 

[cistercian]

I'm 6' / 102 kg / 224 lbs. I do okay with bricks.

View attachment 79807

American Open 2020 coming up on Sep 20, still working on my qualifying total.

It just goes to show...everybody has different taste. I also tend to bash thick watches on stuff.
I am out of shape but 6' 4" and 200 lbs. My wrists are smallish though. So a heavy watch slides all over
the place and it drives me nuts! Once I got a titanium watch I was ruined!
Eco drive is even more ruinous in terms of power reserve too...8 months.

So...I like uncool watches best now!

Guys that can wear the bricks are lucky. They look cool as heck, but I can't.

 

[EJ3]

It just goes to show...everybody has different taste. I also tend to bash thick watches on stuff.
I am out of shape but 6' 4" and 200 lbs. My wrists are smallish though. So a heavy watch slides all over
the place and it drives me nuts! Once I got a titanium watch I was ruined!
Eco drive is even more ruinous in terms of power reserve too...8 months.

So...I like uncool watches best now!

Guys that can wear the bricks are lucky. They look cool as heck, but I can't.

I'm 5"8' & 220 (not fat, although getting down to 200 would be better). My ENICAR (RACINE in the west) Swiss Watch is about 3.5 quarters thick and of a healthy diameter so I'll be able to read it later in life. I mostly don't wear any watch (or my wedding band) for the same reasons as cistecian has mentioned. Wife says that I only should feel a need to wear the watch & wedding band (both are from her) if we are going out together with friends or they are coming over.

 

[watchnerd]

My wrists are smallish though.

Unfortunately, mine are big enough that I need to have shirts custom made.

8.25" wrist size, with a watch allowance on a custom shirt, that adds another .5" to the cuff.

Big neck, too, so have to get custom ties, too.....

 

[watchnerd]

My ENICAR (RACINE in the west) Swiss Watch

The ENICAR Sherpa 24 hour watch is one my favorite vintage watches.

If I ever find one in good condition, I'll snag it.

 

[EJ3]

The ENICAR Sherpa 24 hour watch is one my favorite vintage watches.

If I ever find one in good condition, I'll snag it.

That is sweet. I had not seen that one. I did not know of them at all until my wife bought me one. Later she said that it is the most expensive thing that she has ever bought a man.

 

[Urushi]

Is the Cambridge Duo (or Solo) worth buying of the Art DJ Pre II? I am using a OMe5 MM stylus.

 

[EJ3]

In my opinion the Cambridge Duo is worthy of the price difference.
My problem is that I want to archive what records I have to CD-R & Digital.
I have records that date from 1927-to now. Many (if not most) where/are not available in other formats.
But I am not enamored or invested into the ritual that is "the vinyl experience". Therefore I am willing to transfer what I have to digital, so that I may listen all the way through an album or a series of albums.

 

[Ingenieur]

I have a question, not sure if I'm looking at this right. The Duo was tested at 11 mV vs 5 for the Solo. So if S is reduced wouldn't S/N increase? (Same gain ~39 dBv).
The ratio in dBv 6 or 7 dB, either added to one or subtracted from the other. I realize some is distortion. That puts them pretty close?

The other question is freq response/RIAA deviation. 0.5 dB in a V ratio 1.06, in power 1.12 more power relative to 0. In SPL we get back to the 0.5 dB SPL.
Is that noticeable in a room with +/- 5 dB ranges plus nodes? What is the smallest deviation a person can discern? Not A/B, but with music, not comparing. 3? 1?

wth? Someone posted a picture of their butt crack?! For the love of all that is good and holy, why!?
lol

 

[hawkster27]

"The Cambridge Audio Solo is an attractive, well-designed phono stage. Alas, it is not a defeatured Duo. "

I am in the market for an inexpensive phono preamp, so I have read a number of these reviews, which all seem quite authoritative. Unfortunately, I'm not an audio engineer, so most of the details escape me. However, I couldn't see why Cambridge Audio would develop a different (inferior) MM circuit for the Solo, since the Duo is so similar. I contacted them and was assured that the MM circuit is indeed identical in both units.

"The MM preamp in both units is identical - the only difference between the two units is an additional moving coil preamp in the Duo." --Chris from Cambridge Audio

So, what accounts for the frequency response deviation, making it not a defeatured Duo?

 

[milosz]

"The Cambridge Audio Solo is an attractive, well-designed phono stage. Alas, it is not a defeatured Duo. "

I am in the market for an inexpensive phono preamp, so I have read a number of these reviews, which all seem quite authoritative. Unfortunately, I'm not an audio engineer, so most of the details escape me. However, I couldn't see why Cambridge Audio would develop a different (inferior) MM circuit for the Solo, since the Duo is so similar. I contacted them and was assured that the MM circuit is indeed identical in both units.

"The MM preamp in both units is identical - the only difference between the two units is an additional moving coil preamp in the Duo." --Chris from Cambridge Audio

So, what accounts for the frequency response deviation, making it not a defeatured Duo?

Could be unit-to-unit variation. Resistors and capacitors used in the circuit do not exactly match the design values, as these parts have a tolerance range- so no two preamps coming off the production line will be exactly the same. I think, also, that ICs and other solid state devices also vary in terms of gain, bandwidth etc from part to part.

You would have to measure a number of these preamps to see if sample-to-sample variation accounts for the differences, or maybe the Solo is electronically quite different from the Duo in some way - if the MM gain stages are the same maybe there is a difference in the output buffer stage.

 

[MCH]

"The Cambridge Audio Solo is an attractive, well-designed phono stage. Alas, it is not a defeatured Duo. "

I am in the market for an inexpensive phono preamp, so I have read a number of these reviews, which all seem quite authoritative. Unfortunately, I'm not an audio engineer, so most of the details escape me. However, I couldn't see why Cambridge Audio would develop a different (inferior) MM circuit for the Solo, since the Duo is so similar. I contacted them and was assured that the MM circuit is indeed identical in both units.

"The MM preamp in both units is identical - the only difference between the two units is an additional moving coil preamp in the Duo." --Chris from Cambridge Audio

So, what accounts for the frequency response deviation, making it not a defeatured Duo?

Why then a different spec for RIAA deviation?

 

[valrak66]

Is the Cambridge Duo (or Solo) worth buying of the Art DJ Pre II? I am using a OMe5 MM stylus.

I have both preamps, here a recording I've done with both of them. If there is a difference, it's barely noticeable

 

[EJ3]

I have both preamps, here a recording I've done with both of them. If there is a difference, it's barely noticeable

While one of my APT/Holman Preamps (after being resto-modded by Peter Williams of QuirkAudio) was with Amirm being tested, I was using the ART USB PHONO PLUS for my DUAL 1229 TT, running it into an AUX input on the first APT/Holman Preamp that I had done by Peter (I have my TECHNICS SL-M3 TT running into the phono section of that APT/Holman Preamp).
I believe (but don't know for a fact) that the DJ Art PRE II & the ART USB PHONO PLUS have the same phono circuitry. Ay any rate, it sounded very good to me. Now that I have both APT/Holman's back in the house, perhaps I'll rig the ART USB PHONO PLUS to convert my LP's to digital. I am currently in the process of renovating the home that my wife & I will be moving into (hopefully by sometime in March) so it will be a while before I can start the digitizing project.
Thanks for the video recording! Wonderfully done.

 

[LTig]

I have both preamps, here a recording I've done with both of them. If there is a difference, it's barely noticeable

No audible difference with my aging ears when played from my tablet using Bluetooth connection to AKG K371bt (no EQ yet). There could be slightly more slam with preamp B.

 

[bilzebubba]

Thinking of "stretching my dollars" on the Duo (but spending them!) to replace the bad-testing Hagerman box reviewed here or possibly this Solo unit, but need to ask the obvious: am I just spending money cos I have upgradeitis, or is there likely to be an audible difference between either Cambridge unit and the Hagerman (which was audibly MUCH better than the internal phono stage on my 40 yr old Quad preamp tho)?

Also, I was going to ask my question in the Cambridge Duo review thread, but neither it nor the Hager man review will load for me for 2 days now...hmmm

 

[EJ3]

Thinking of "stretching my dollars" on the Duo (but spending them!) to replace the bad-testing Hagerman box reviewed here or possibly this Solo unit, but need to ask the obvious: am I just spending money cos I have upgradeitis, or is there likely to be an audible difference between either Cambridge unit and the Hagerman (which was audibly MUCH better than the internal phono stage on my 40 yr old Quad preamp tho)?

Also, I was going to ask my question in the Cambridge Duo review thread, but neither it nor the Hager man review will load for me for 2 days now...hmmm

Personally I would step up to the DUO. I am pretty sure that you will be able to tell the difference. On the other hand, some of us have lost enough hearing (in my case, if there is some background noise [like my wife in the house]), due to things like small arms to towed behind Howitzers, race cars, rock concerts, etc, that I may not be able to tell the difference.

 

[Angsty]

The Duo was removed from the top of the rankings because it was tested at a different input voltage than other phonos. Any idea of if it would be ranked higher than the Solo now?

See https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/art-precision-phono-pre-review.34927/ , https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...precision-phono-pre-review.34927/post-1217441

 

[Bob from Florida]

Thinking of "stretching my dollars" on the Duo (but spending them!) to replace the bad-testing Hagerman box reviewed here or possibly this Solo unit, but need to ask the obvious: am I just spending money cos I have upgradeitis, or is there likely to be an audible difference between either Cambridge unit and the Hagerman (which was audibly MUCH better than the internal phono stage on my 40 yr old Quad preamp tho)?

Also, I was going to ask my question in the Cambridge Duo review thread, but neither it nor the Hager man review will load for me for 2 days now...hmmm

Ifi Zen at $199 is a bargain. Get it from Crutchfield and you have 60 days.....