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iFi Zen Phono 3 Preamplifier Review

Rate this phono stage:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 5 4.3%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 30 26.1%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 76 66.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 4 3.5%

  • Total voters
    115

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the iFi Zen Phono 3 phono stage and preamp. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $224.

ifi zen phono 3 stage preamplifier unbalanced RCA review.jpg

The desktop design of iFi products has been "agricultural" as Brits would say. It is nice to see them refine it in Phono 3, bringing some elegance. I thought the round porthole was a display but it is not. It just has white LEDs that light up to show the current setting. Not bad but dreams dashed. :) There is good flexibility as far as loading and inclusion of subsonic filter. Back panel shows a distinguishing feature of iFi phono stages:
ifi zen phono 3 stage preamplifier RCA moving magnet moving coil variable gain balanced review.jpg

Balanced output but oddly, it is 4.4 mm so you need an adapter or two to convert it to XLRs. One gain setting is provided for Moving Magnet and three for Moving Coil which is nice. Note that when you change the switch, it takes a good 5 to 10 seconds for the unit to output anything. This threw me off at first, making me think the other settings did not work. There is a blinking light in the front showing you that it is doing something.

iFi Zen Phono 3 Measurements
I was pleasantly surprised that I did not have to do any playing with grounding other than connecting my analyzer to the grounding lug to get a clean response:
ifi zen phono 3 stage preamplifier unbalanced RCA MM measurement.png

No distortion is visible which is nice. Noise level dominates SINAD (as it usually does for phono stages) and despite company marketing material, is not that exceptional. It lands Phono 3 in the middle of our chart:
Best balanced phono stage preamplifier review.png

I was hoping balanced output would improve things but other than increasing gain, I didn't not notice anything:

ifi zen phono 3 stage preamplifier balanced MM measurement.png


Here is moving coil response:
ifi zen phono 3 stage preamplifier balanced MC high measurement.png


I do like the random nature of noise spectrum.

Frequency response/RIAA equalization is perfect which is a rarity:
ifi zen phono 3 stage preamplifier balanced MM frequency response subsonic filter measurement.png


Subsonic filter is very mild. Company talks about something dynamic about it. So maybe it works better in practice.

Distortion is very low:
ifi zen phono 3 stage preamplifier balanced THD vs frequency measurement.png


Headroom is "good" at 1 kHz:
ifi zen phono 3 stage preamplifier balanced THD+N vs level measurement.png


But reduces with increasing frequency as many phono stages do:
ifi zen phono 3 stage preamplifier balanced MM vs frequency distortion measurement.png

Sharp ticks and pops are rich in high frequencies so this is unfortunate.

Conclusions
Measurements are very close to that of the original iFi Zen Phono but feature set is much expanded and Phono 3 is much prettier. I think the premium of just $30 is very well justified. The heavy case helps in this case in keeping the cables from pulling the device off the shelf. So overall a well executed device and generational improvements.

I am going to recommend the iFi Zen Phono 3.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

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Specs:
  • MM/MC with 36-72dB gain range
  • Independent loading adjustment
  • Super-silent -151dBV noise floor
  • Precise RIAA with balanced output
  • Intelligent subsonic filter
  • High-tech 1.2MHz clean power supply
 
Why does it have to look like a boat? All I want to do with it is try and see if it floats.
 
Subsonic filter is very mild. Company talks about something dynamic about it. So maybe it works better in practice.
Going by the graph, I'd say that subsonic does almost nothing. If the device really has dynamic filtering it should be well specified.

Update: I looked on their web site and found the following.

Super Smart. Super Subsonic.
Standard subsonic filters aren’t intelligent and are typically loathed by audiophiles. They filter not only the bass rumble from warped records but also the bass of the song.
Our intelligent subsonic filter knows the difference between the two and only filters the warp, leaving the song completely intact, and without adding group delay.
Since the very first iPhono launched in 2012, we have used our own in-house Subsonic Filter. As there is only minimal vertical modulation remaining at very low frequencies with an actual cut LP that is playable, we know that “vertical modulation” at low frequencies must be warp.
By understanding fully how LP’s are cut and replayed, it is possible to filter record warp strongly without at the same time attenuating low bass or adding group delay.
The iFi-designed subsonic filter will intelligently detect whether a subsonic frequency is a warp or a bass note. It will eliminate the warps and let all the bass and mid-range frequencies pass through untouched. Therefore, it will not affect the sound quality.
1729080471573.png



I don't understand.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the review Amirm.

I quite like the form factor of this (I own the previous version). Looks decent - shame that there is no benefit from using the balanced output, and that filter does seem to be very "mild" indeed. It's OK though
 
Is this the best frequency response from a phono amp? Can't remember seeing better.
 
Thanks for the review Amirm.

I quite like the form factor of this (I own the previous version). Looks decent - shame that there is no benefit from using the balanced output, and that filter does seem to be very "mild" indeed. It's OK though

The balanced output has an advantage in certain situations. MM setting is 36 db, fine for a 5 MV cartridge. A lower output MM, say 2.1 to 3 MV will benefit from the extra 6 db gain of balanced without losing headroom.
 
That board looks over-populated to me and for such small signals, especially MC ones, isn't it all a bit too neatly laid out involving extra signal track and so on. Maybe it's not important as the basic performance is okay EXCEPT for hf overload, right where surface ticks and splats may overload it with a more 'exuberant' cartridge with an hf rise, as is common these days.
 
Interesting review (Thanks Amir) for a multitasking phono preamp. I particularly like the RIAA correction and the sufficient noise performance in MM mode. The headroom is acceptable for an entry/mid-range camera. The inclusion of a subsonic filter is a good idea but it seems too slow. On the other hand, on MC cartridges, the noise penalty is too high. In fact, it should be reserved for MM cartridges (or even high-level MC?). The brand would benefit from offering a phono stage dedicated to MC cartridges, provided that it seriously improves the noise performance.
 
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