Фонокорректоры — Gold Note PH-5

The Gold Note PH-5 is a phono preamplifier from Gold Note, a company based in Montespertoli near Florence in Italy, a compact MM and MC unit and the first Gold Note product designed with a touchscreen interface. Settings can be changed in real time, and the circuit is built from discrete audio-grade parts with sealed single switches. The design is new and places all the electronics on a single board. Although control is digital, the chosen settings operate relays that switch the analogue signal path directly.

Key specs that matter

Only one RCA input is fitted, a pair of sockets that serves both cartridge types, with sensitivity ranging from 0.1 mV for MC to 10.0 mV for MM. Input impedance is chosen from nine values between 10 ohm and 47 kohm, and MM capacitance is fixed at 220 pF. Base gain is 40 dB for MM and 60 dB for MC, trimmed by four options of 0 dB, plus 3 dB and plus or minus 6 dB. Frequency response is 20 Hz to 20 kHz within 0.3 dB, THD is below 0.05 percent at 1 kHz, noise sits 89 dB below signal and dynamic response reaches 105 dB. The case measures 200 x 80 x 260 mm and weighs 1.2 kg net or 2.2 kg boxed.

Engineering and use context

Three equalisation curves are stored - RIAA, Decca London and American Columbia - so older records cut to non-RIAA standards can be replayed with matching correction. Each curve has an Enhanced option, inspired by Georg Neumann of the Neumann disc cutting lathe, that extends the response to 50 kHz within the same tolerance. An infrasonic filter set at 10 Hz with a 36 dB per octave slope removes subsonic content from warped discs. Power consumption is 10 W, dropping under 0.5 W on standby, and the unit is supplied for either 100 to 120 V or 220 to 240 V mains at 50 or 60 Hz, protected by a 2 A slow fuse. The finish is Nero, a black varnished steel and aluminium case.

Pairing

Two outputs are fitted, one unbalanced RCA and one balanced XLR, both with an output impedance of 50 ohm, so the PH-5 feeds either RCA or XLR line inputs on an amplifier. The case is less than half the width of Gold Note's full-size components. With its MC gain plus the extra trim, the PH-5 covers low-output moving-coil pickups without a step-up transformer. Gold Note developed a dedicated external super inductive power supply for the model, and lists the PSU-5 and PSU-10 as compatible upgrades.

Alternatives

The Gold Note PH-10 uses the same case size but weighs 3 kg and adds a second independent RCA input and gain from 45 dB MM.