Phono Preamplifiers

With a gap of over £5000 between MoFi's UltraPhono [HFN Mar '20] and flagship MasterPhono [HFN Dec '23], it was only a matter of time before the US brand inserted a third model between these two phono preamps. On the surface, the new UltraPhono Pro (£2499) looks to be a stripped-down version of the MasterPhono [see boxout], effectively halving the price for a full-size, function-rich MoFi unit.

For a manufacturer that began life making boutique audio valves, EAT has gone from strength to strength in the last 20 years or so. With a portfolio that now encompasses turntables, arms, cartridges, phono stages, amplifiers, accessories and those staple valves, the brand shows no sign of resting on its laurels. The latest additions are two new phono stages, the £1299 E-Glo Petit 2 and £1799 E-Glo Petit B, which replace the original E-Glo Petit [HFN Feb ’19].

Although long ago settled by the declaration ‘We agree to disagree’, the tubes-vs-transistors (or if you prefer ‘valves-vs-solid-state’) debate continues to keep us busy. Grown-ups use both, the deliberately argumentative choose sides, and there are ample products to support or counter either stance. Grimm Audio, though a maker of not just solid-state gear but with a reputation for digital hardware, has given us in the PW1 ‘Phono Wizard’ (£4695) a chameleon of a product that will both delight and confound music lovers who are still fascinated by hi-fi’s greatest dichotomy.

With the HD Phono, Nagra has joined a rather select group. By my estimation, there are but a half-dozen manufacturers of phono stages costing above £50,000. At a heady £68,500, the all-valve Nagra HD Phono is about as expensive and exclusive as it gets, and for that amount of money you expect to get everything. And you do.

After ten faultless years of duty, my trusty reference phono stage, the EAT E-Glo, has been superseded by the E-Glo 2 (£7999). The changes turn out to be more than merely cosmetic, as I was first led to believe in a hasty conversation with EAT (European Audio Team) founder and CEO Jozefina Lichtenegger. She matter-of-factly explained that, due to customer demand, the company redesigned the look of the E-Glo in a number of ways.

When we reviewed Manley Laboratories’ long-lived Chinook phono stage [HFN Dec ’21] the reaction was ‘Wow!’ and it was deemed ‘irresistible’. The £2699 Chinook, a ‘stripped down’ version of the company’s flagship Steelhead, climbed to £3399 by the end of its run and has now been replaced by the Oasis at £4249. Manley has approached its successor with care, so as not to compromise the Chinook’s virtues.

Visitors to Henley Audio's room at the UK Hi-Fi Show Live at Ascot's Grandstand back in Sept '23 will already have seen three new items from Musical Fidelity, all partnering the Nu-Vista PRE and PAS amplifiers [HFN Mar '23]. The new M8xTT turntable [HFN Dec '23] has already premiered in these pages and this is followed here by the Nu-Vista Vinyl 2 phono stage and Nu-Vista DAC, both priced £9999.