Phono Preamplifiers

Given that Michell Engineering is not exactly known for its breakneck pace in launching new models, the announcement of a new product at the beginning of 2025 got many a vinyl fan’s pulse racing. With the wraps now off, Michell marks a return to electronics manufacturing in the form of the new £3500 Apollo phono preamp with its matching Muse power supply.

Audio electronics is nothing new for Michell, although its heyday for pre, power and phono amps was back in the 1980s and ’90s. The Delphini was its last phono stage before electronics manufacturing stopped in 2001 when founder, John Michell, fell ill [see boxout].

After this, the Delphini’s designer, Graham Fowler, continued to make the preamplifier for a number of years under his Trichord Research brand. Graham was a major player in most of Michell’s electronic designs and, as is often the case in hi-fi, the situation has now come full circle. How? Because the Apollo and Muse were born of Trichord’s Neo phono stage and CM-PSU pairing, unveiled in 2024 but never put into production. The Apollo and Muse leverage the Neo’s design, but Michell has put its own stamp on the product.

Pick-up partner

There’s a good range of adjustments here to suit a wide selection of cartridge models. Gains of 40dB, 50dB, 60dB, 68dB and 73dB are specified, though these values turn out to be a little understated [see PM's Lab Report]. As a result, Michell claims the Apollo will suit cartridges from standard MMs down to the very lowest output MCs. Resistive load settings of 33, 100, 430, 1k and 47kohm can be dialled up but capacitance is fixed at 100pF, so cannot be tweaked to adjust the high-frequency response of particular moving-magnet cartridges.

Changes to all settings are made via the usual infernal DIP switches, but at least Michell supplies a little widget to assist you. Options are screen printed on the Apollo’s base in an ink colour that’s easy to read against the black case paint. Both chassis are beautifully machined, the brass ‘Michell’ badges are a stylish touch, and I was pleased to note that their power LEDs are white and subtle in their illumination – a welcome respite from the brilliant blue lighthouses that still adorn much of today’s electronics.

Above: Inside the Muse linear PSU with discrete rectification and regulation, feeding 2x DC supplies to the Apollo

Connectivity is basic – just two pairs of unbalanced RCAs are provided for the turntable input and equalised line output. An earth terminal is fitted and the only other connector is the 5-pin PSU socket.

Specifically, the Muse PSU is a linear design based around an encapsulated toroidal transformer with discrete diodes for rectification, capacitance multiplier circuitry and low-noise regulators to generate a very stable DC feed. The Muse’s ±24V DC output is then passed to the Apollo phono stage, which includes further DC regulation to ensure a low-impedance, very low noise supply for the highest value gain blocks. To aid in this, the PSU and phono stage are encased in full metal enclosures that act like a Faraday cage, providing comprehensive screening. The clamshell cases are machined from solid aluminium and fit securely together with no gaskets to interrupt the metal-on-metal contact. Even the DIP switches underneath (more on this...) have a screw-on metal cover to maintain full enclosure shielding once they have been set.

DC power is transferred between the two boxes using a proprietary cable. This uses silver-plated OFC conductors, Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP) insulation, plus aluminium foil and Mylar separators for screening. Michell simply states that the cable is manufactured by a partner in the UK but the mention of ‘High Quality ChorAlloy Plated XLR Connectors’ reveals the supplier – The Chord Company.

Above: Inside the Apollo can be found additional regulation [left], switchable loading and gain [top right], and RIAA network [right]

The Apollo’s passive RIAA eq network is sandwiched between multiple gain blocks. All capacitors are individually measured and paired to achieve the best channel matching, and carefully applied feedback in each stage ensures stability, consistency and low noise. The IC op-amps are THAT Corporation 1512 and Texas Instruments Burr-Brown OPA1656 types – both optimised for audio use.

Put it in neutral
With the Apollo and Muse pairing connected to my regular Yamaha C-5000/ M-5000 amplifiers [HFN Aug ’20] and fed by a Michell Gyro SE [HFN May ’99], SME 309 tonearm [HFN Aug ’89], and both Clearaudio MC Essence [HFN Aug ’17] and Ortofon 2M Black [HFN Mar ’11] cartridges, I soon discovered these units are very worthy of the Michell name – and a fine partner for the company’s vinyl spinners.

What I loved about the Apollo from the start is that it is a fundamentally neutral performer. We’ve all heard phono stages that lend some of their own character to the music and while, very often, this isn’t any less enjoyable, I’d still always choose one that sounds like it’s neither adding nor taking away. The Apollo really scores here – it’s the proverbial window onto the music and the source.

For the same reasons, my choice of Ortofon MM and Clearaudio MC cartridges is driven by their individual balance of qualities, ones that I greatly appreciate. The Apollo amp did nothing to deflect from this, but was also very effective at highlighting the essential differences between the two cartridges. The 2M Black offers a little extra sparkle while the MC Essence wafts some extra warmth and richness across the midband. Not every phono stage will reveal these character traits, but the Apollo didn’t miss a thing. The unit lets your chosen cartridge shine, whatever its sonic temperament.

Home sweet home

Its flat low-frequency response also pays dividends in deep bass performance, though it will also let any record warp or arm/cartridge subsonics escape into your amp and speakers. I detected no sonic issues, though I’ll admit to seeing the bass drivers of my loudspeakers getting something of a workout when spinning less than perfectly flat pressings.

Above: A single MM/MC input and equalised output are offered on RCAs while the external Muse PSU [right] connects via a 5-pin socket and screened umbilical

The upside is obvious, though – lots of lovely bass and plenty of detail and impact. The bassline on ‘I’ll Take You Home’, from The Silvertones’ Silver Bullets LP [Trojan Records 538389851], romped along heartily, driving the track forward with weight and gusto. Each note was rich, rounded and beautifully separated from its neighbours. If you like music with propulsive rhythms then you need to audition the Apollo – I can’t think of much else that comes close at the price.

Fortunately the Apollo is not a one-trick pony, so if you’re not into Jamaican harmonic reggae it’s good to know it’ll also beguile with more relaxed material. Hans Theessink’s Live At Jazzland album [Sommelier du Son SDS 0016-1] is a very different prospect, being the man himself recorded live with his acoustic guitar in Vienna’s Jazzland venue, while benefitting from precious little accompaniment. However, as the sleeve notes point out, Theessink is a ‘foot tapper’ and this was clear to hear through the Michell phono stage. Tracks such as the slide-guitar-heavy ‘Minibelle’ were underpinned by a subtle yet solid beat, with everything seeming perfectly timed.

Painting a picture

Another notable aspect of the Apollo’s rendition of Theessink’s set was the sense of atmosphere and space in the recording. Again, the phono stage wasn’t performing sonic somersaults by throwing things far and wide. The impression was that I was seeing a brilliantly accurate ‘picture’ of the venue – nothing more, nothing less.

Consequently, the baritoned bluesman appeared positioned within an authentic three-dimensional space, whereas a more modern recording, like ‘People Do Bad Things’ from The Ting Tings’ Home album [Wonderful Records WRLP01], sounded clean and pleasingly detailed, but rather flat and two-dimensional in depth perspective. This is how this pressing sounds, though, so the Apollo was not attempting to gild the lily.

Above: Separate L/R DIP switches enable user-selectable loading (33, 100, 430 and 1kohm for MC and 47kohm for MM) alongside 40dB, 50dB (MM) and 60dB, 68dB and 73dB (MC) gain options

Give it something a little more polished to work with and the Apollo’s performance blossoms. ‘Magic Smile’, from Rosie Vela’s 1986 Zazu album [A&M records AMA5016], filled the space between and around my loudspeakers, skipping along with an intoxicating delicacy and lightness even as Jimmy Haslip’s bassline drove it along with precision and rock-solid timing. Donald Fagen’s synthesisers were rounded, warm and precise.

Message received

Here’s the thing: during my audition of the Apollo I didn’t find one LP that came even close to unsettling its even-handed performance. This phono amp has an uncanny knack of finding the beauty buried in the murky depths of poor recordings, while affecting an ease in capturing absolutely everything to be found in higher-quality pressings.

Seldom have I heard the soft but insistent electronic percussion effects in Lanterns on the Lake’s ‘Lungs Quicken’ [Gracious Tide, Take Me Home; Bella Union BELLAV300] remain quite so prominent. Usually they are something that you hear and then tend to gloss over, but the Apollo refused to let this happen. It will have you rapt, relishing every detail within a recording, while never relaxing its grip on the overall musical message.

Hi-Fi News Verdict

The Apollo phono stage and Muse PSU mark a welcome return to electronics design for Michell. Exquisitely engineered, this pairing is a fitting partner for the company’s turntables and turns in a captivating performance by taking your chosen cartridge and making sure that its character shines through. Don’t let the Apollo’s compact dimensions and elegant casework fool you – this is one heavyweight performer.

Sound Quality: 89%