Фонокорректоры — Chord HUEI

Huei is a compact moving magnet and moving coil phono stage developed and built by Chord Electronics in Kent, England. It was announced internationally in May 2019 and reached UK buyers in November of that year at GBP 990. Its casework, machined from aircraft-grade aluminium billet, shares design elements with the Qutest converter, and microprocessor control with a memory function looks after the main settings.

Key specs that matter

Moving magnet cartridges see a fixed 47,000 ohm load. In MC mode twelve loading options are available - 100, 150, 320, 470, 1,000 and 3,700 ohm, each also selectable with an added 2.2 uF capacitance. Gain has eight steps per mode. Through the RCA output MM gain runs from 21 to 42 dB and MC gain from 49 to 70 dB, and the balanced XLR output adds 6 dB, reaching 76 dB at the top MC setting. Input noise is 1.1 nV per root hertz, RIAA accuracy is within 0.1 dB, and the equalised response extends from 12 Hz to 25 kHz. Maximum output is 20 V RMS and output impedance is 520 ohm. The case measures 41 mm high, 160 mm wide and 72 mm deep, and it weighs 657 g.

Engineering and use context

The internal circuit is fully balanced, which is why Chord suggests the XLR output where the partnering amplifier offers it, and it advises using one output at a time. Settings are chosen with three front buttons - MM or MC, gain and impedance - while colour-coded control spheres behind a viewing glass show the current choice, and their brightness has high and low modes. The 2.2 uF option is intended to damp ringing with lower-impedance MC cartridges and reduce distortion. A switchable rumble filter with a Rauch slope cuts at 24 dB per octave below 50 Hz. A grounding post sits above the RCA inputs, and power comes from a supplied external 12 V, 2 A adapter with a rocker switch at the back. Chord gives three years of parts and labour cover after online registration.

Pairing

Huei has one pair of RCA inputs for a single turntable and must feed a component that can attenuate its output, such as a preamplifier or integrated amplifier, never a power amplifier directly. The wide MC gain span covers low-output coils, while the lowest MM steps accommodate high-output cartridges and hot recordings. Because the unit stores its settings when switched off, set-up normally needs repeating only after a cartridge change.

Alternatives

The Chord Symphonic is a dedicated moving coil phono stage with fully balanced circuitry, 40 to 80 dB of selectable gain and loading choices of 4.7, 33 and 100 ohm.