This is a review and detailed measurements of the Vincent PHO-8 Phono stage/preamplifier. It is on kind loan from a member. The PHO-8 costs US $249 on Amazon with free shipping.
The PHO-8 comes in a two-box configuration with separate linear power supply which I did not expect to see in this price range:
The package has an elegant, albeit small, presence that you don't usually find in budget audio components.
There is only one control for moving magnet and moving coil gain setting.
The back panel is as you would expect:
There is even a timed delay turn on in the phono stage with a relay activation after which the LED lights.
Everything here feels like a $500 device. That is with the exception of that likely phony "QC Passed" sticker.
Phono Stage Audio Measurements
Let's start with 5 millivolt, 1 kHz signal fed to the unit with RIAA reverse equalization in moving magnet setting:
Performance is dominated by the 60 Hz mains hum which is typical of phono stages. Ignoring that, distortion is buried below noise level. We can tease it out using signal processing however:
This is excellent and essentially distortion-less compared to the source (cartridge/LP).
Here is our dashboard using moving coil setting:
Don't go by SINAD as that is determined entirely by the mains hum which can be higher or lower in your system (I managed to reduce it a bit in my setting with playing with grounding).
So far so good until we get to frequency response:
Ah, this is a shame. We have a built-in EQ with slight boost in bass and more so in high frequencies. I upped the source impedance from 20 to 600 ohm and that made it slightly worse but the variation is still there. There is also slight channel mismatch.
Clipping point and hence overload is quite high:
This is twice as high as some other phono stages I have tested.
Finally, changing the frequency and level shows no frequency dependent distortion source in audible band:
You just lose some headroom but given how much you have to start with, it is not an issue.
Conclusions
The Vincent PHO-8 comes dangerously close to nailing objective measurements. Unfortunately it doesn't correctly implement RIAA equalization. Since that is critically audible, I can't look past it. Specification is for +--0.5 dB so maybe this is an outlier. But maybe there are some worse than this.
As it is, I can't recommend it but you have the data to decide if it fits your needs.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
As avid readers know, I have been planting a bunch of seeds indoors to transplant in our garden when the weather warms up. Well, one of the panthers came to me complaining that those seeds only produce vegetables and nothing they would want to eat. He is demanding that we also raise cattle for their needs. I am not going there but thought I take some classes in becoming a rancher. That costs money so please donate some using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The PHO-8 comes in a two-box configuration with separate linear power supply which I did not expect to see in this price range:
The package has an elegant, albeit small, presence that you don't usually find in budget audio components.
There is only one control for moving magnet and moving coil gain setting.
The back panel is as you would expect:
There is even a timed delay turn on in the phono stage with a relay activation after which the LED lights.
Everything here feels like a $500 device. That is with the exception of that likely phony "QC Passed" sticker.
Phono Stage Audio Measurements
Let's start with 5 millivolt, 1 kHz signal fed to the unit with RIAA reverse equalization in moving magnet setting:
Performance is dominated by the 60 Hz mains hum which is typical of phono stages. Ignoring that, distortion is buried below noise level. We can tease it out using signal processing however:
This is excellent and essentially distortion-less compared to the source (cartridge/LP).
Here is our dashboard using moving coil setting:
Don't go by SINAD as that is determined entirely by the mains hum which can be higher or lower in your system (I managed to reduce it a bit in my setting with playing with grounding).
So far so good until we get to frequency response:
Ah, this is a shame. We have a built-in EQ with slight boost in bass and more so in high frequencies. I upped the source impedance from 20 to 600 ohm and that made it slightly worse but the variation is still there. There is also slight channel mismatch.
Clipping point and hence overload is quite high:
This is twice as high as some other phono stages I have tested.
Finally, changing the frequency and level shows no frequency dependent distortion source in audible band:
You just lose some headroom but given how much you have to start with, it is not an issue.
Conclusions
The Vincent PHO-8 comes dangerously close to nailing objective measurements. Unfortunately it doesn't correctly implement RIAA equalization. Since that is critically audible, I can't look past it. Specification is for +--0.5 dB so maybe this is an outlier. But maybe there are some worse than this.
As it is, I can't recommend it but you have the data to decide if it fits your needs.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
As avid readers know, I have been planting a bunch of seeds indoors to transplant in our garden when the weather warms up. Well, one of the panthers came to me complaining that those seeds only produce vegetables and nothing they would want to eat. He is demanding that we also raise cattle for their needs. I am not going there but thought I take some classes in becoming a rancher. That costs money so please donate some using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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