Phonostages — Perreaux VP4

The VP4 is a battery-powered phono preamplifier from Perreaux of New Zealand, sold in Australia for AUD 7,490 with a three-year local warranty. Its defining feature is BLACK mode, in which an internal lithium cell runs the audio circuits and the unit is galvanically isolated from the mains. Cartridge settings are made through an iOS and Android app over Bluetooth, which includes a cartridge database, instead of rear-panel DIP switches.

Key specs that matter

Two unbalanced RCA input pairs are fitted. The MM input offers gain of 36, 40, 44 or 48 dB for cartridges producing 11.9 mV down to 3.0 mV, and the MC input offers 56, 60, 64 or 68 dB for outputs from 1.2 mV to 0.3 mV. MM loading runs from 1 kohm to 47 kohm with capacitance from 22 pF to 470 pF, while the MC input spans 10 ohm to 47 kohm. Input overload margin is 16 dB. Rated output is 0.75 Vrms and maximum output 4.6 Vrms, with an output impedance of 30 ohm on the XLR pair and 100 ohm on the RCA pair. THD+N is typically 0.002% at 1 kHz and below 0.05% from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, the RIAA curve is held within 0.5 dB from 50 Hz to 20 kHz, and unweighted signal to noise is 87 dB for MM and 82 dB for MC. The case measures 426 x 344 x 82 mm and weighs 5.3 kg.

Engineering and use context

The Li-ion battery has a capacity of 3.2 Ah and an internal impedance of about 150 milliohm, and one charge gives up to 30 hours of playback. By default the VP4 charges in standby and not while playing, although a Charge mode lets it run from the external 24 V supply at some cost in noise. Bi-stable relays set the loading and gain, so once switched they draw no current and add no relay noise to the signal path. The board is laid out in full mirror fashion for channel separation. Normal RIAA or IEC RIAA equalisation can be chosen for each input, a mono mode is available, and most 78 rpm cartridges are supported. The app keeps as many as 10 named cartridge profiles as favourites. Front buttons cover standby, input choice, mono and the Charge or BLACK setting, and a rear switch disconnects the battery for transport.

Pairing

Because the two inputs can be configured independently, one turntable with an MM or high-output MC cartridge and a second with a low-output MC can stay connected together. Separate buffer stages drive the balanced and single-ended outputs, so both can feed different amplifiers at once, and the XLR pair is the natural choice where the following amplifier has balanced line inputs.

Alternatives

Perreaux also offers the Audiant VP3, a mains-powered MM and MC phono stage with a toroidal transformer, a machined aluminium monocoque chassis and both XLR and RCA outputs.