Schiit Skoll: New Balanced Phono Preamp

[ban25]

Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California

www.schiit.com

Balanced and unbalanced phono inputs/outputs, plenty of gain settings for MC and MM cartridges, remote control, all for $400. Looks like a great value!

 

[Chester]

Agree, will be interesting to see how this measures.

 

[DVDdoug]

40 years ago I would have been VERY interested! And the price seems reasonable for what you get.

...In the real world, I don't think a balanced phono connection really helps with anything. A phono cartridge is "balanced" and I don't think grounding one side of the coil connections hurts anything (you shouldn't get ground loops there). And a balanced connection won't eliminate hum pick-up by the coil.

The balanced outputs could help with some nose & ground loop problems with that connection.

 

[AaronJ]

Schiit's own APX: https://www.schiit.com/public/upload/PDF/Schiit APx Report for Skoll.pdf

Performance seems fine. If I'm reading correctly it clips around 80mV for MM carts which is decent. Won't perform better than any other competently designed phono stage in the class - you're paying for all the additional architecture to allow you to tweak from the listening position. There is certainly value there. Not having any loading option between 150 and 47k ohms is a shame, and really wish the PS was built in for $50 to $100 more.

 

[Digital1955]

That 3rd order harmonic. Yikes.