Фонокорректоры — Wattson Audio Madison Phono

The Madison Phono is a compact phono stage from Wattson Audio, a Swiss company based in Preverenges that works alongside its sister brand CH Precision. It had its first public showing at High End Vienna in June 2026 and was officially announced on 10 September 2026, with a US price of USD 5,495 or EUR 5,240 including VAT with one input board. It joins the Madison Amplifier, Madison Streamer and Madison Power S in the same series and is designed and manufactured in Switzerland.

Key specs that matter

The unit is modular, and the buyer chooses one of three input boards when ordering. The Voltage board suits MM pickups and higher-output MC designs through RCA inputs with 47 kohm loading for MM or 470 or 100 ohm for MC, and gain of 34 or 40 dB for MM and 54 or 60 dB for MC, with input noise of -134 dBu A-weighted. The Current board presents a virtual ground below 1 ohm to low-impedance moving coils and offers 48 to 66 dB of gain in 6 dB steps at -139 dBu. The Optical board is made for DS Audio photo-electric cartridges, with 58 to 76 dB of gain and -128 dBu of noise. Further boards cost USD 500 each, so the stage can be reconfigured later if the cartridge changes. The analogue output delivers 2.0 V RMS at full scale with THD+N under 0.001 % and SNR exceeds 120 dB A-weighted.

Engineering and use context

After a fully linear analogue gain stage, the signal is digitised at 32-bit and 384 kHz DXD resolution, and equalisation and filtering are carried out in the digital domain. Five playback curves are available - RIAA, Columbia, Teldec, EMI and Decca - with a stated accuracy of 0.1 dB, and a first-order subsonic filter acts at 15 Hz. The current-sensing board uses an active transimpedance amplifier derived from CH Precision designs. Next to the RCA analogue output, a coaxial S/PDIF socket and an optical TOSLINK port pass the digitised signal on at 192 kHz or downsampled to 96 kHz. The case measures 175 x 185 x 52 mm and weighs 1.7 kg. Power comes from an external 5 V DC supply rated at 18 W, and consumption is 0.5 W in standby and 4.0 W in normal use.

Pairing

The digital outputs let the stage feed an external DAC or the Madison Streamer directly, so vinyl can enter a streaming system without an extra conversion step. The analogue output suits any conventional line input, including the Madison Amplifier. Wattson offers the optional Madison Power S external supply as an upgrade over the standard adapter.

Alternatives

Wattson Audio offers no second phono preamplifier, so the Madison Phono stands alone in its catalogue for this type of product.