Фонокорректоры — Gryphon Audio LEGATO LEGACY XLR

Gryphon Audio Designs, the company based in Ry, Denmark, makes the Legato Legacy XLR phono stage. It is offered either as a module that installs inside the Gryphon Pandora preamplifier or as a stand-alone unit in a slim line cabinet, and both versions share identical circuitry. A module can be ordered factory-installed or retrofitted, and the price was EUR 16,000.

Key specs that matter

The circuit accepts MM or MC cartridges and offers two gain levels, 38 dB and 68 dB, with all gain produced by active devices instead of step-up transformers. Six stock load values are provided - 10, 40, 80, 300, 800 and 47,000 ohm - and the maker lists a custom impedance load option on top of this range. Phono inputs use three-pin LEMO connectors only. Outputs are available on balanced XLR and single-ended RCA sockets, and the XLR outputs add 6 dB of gain over the RCA ones. Gryphon gives a five-year warranty covering both parts and labour.

Engineering and use context

Every stage from the LEMO sockets to the outputs runs balanced and discrete, with no op-amps or integrated circuits anywhere in the path. It runs with zero negative feedback and DC coupling throughout. The stand-alone version is a dual-chassis, dual-mono construction with separate channels and separate power supplies, carrying right and left modules in each chassis, joined by two umbilical connections and fed by two power cords. The sensitive low-level signal is fully shielded in a dual-mono environment without internal wiring. Circuit boards are fully sealed, double-sided and made to mil spec, with 75 micrometre copper traces, and the external supplies use custom C-core transformers. Load is chosen through a Swiss precision attenuator that can be bypassed once the owner has settled on the correct value, which removes it from the signal path.

Pairing

The LEMO inputs call for a tonearm cable terminated with that connector type. The higher gain setting handles low-output moving coil pickups with no step-up device, and the lower one covers moving magnet models at the standard load. In modular form the phono stage draws its power from the Pandora preamplifier supply, while the stand-alone unit runs from its own dedicated supply, identical to the one in the Pandora, or from a compatible Gryphon preamplifier supply. Balanced XLR outputs connect directly to any line stage or integrated amplifier fitted with XLR sockets.

Alternatives

The Gryphon Siren is the newer phono stage of the brand, with three balanced inputs and MC loading from 20 to 1,600 ohm.