Фонокорректоры — Vincent PHO-500

The Vincent PHO-500 is an MM and MC phono preamplifier laid out as two boxes, with its supply circuitry moved into a dedicated second enclosure. Vincent describes low-noise playback as the core task of a phono stage and pursues it with the external supply, while DIP switches let the owner adapt the input to the cartridge in use. Finish options for the two matching cases are black and silver, applied to both units alike.

Key specs that matter

Input sensitivity is 58 mV on the MM setting and 6.8 mV on the MC setting. The MM input presents 47 kOhm with capacitance adjustable from 15 pF to 350 pF, while the MC input has a fixed capacitance of 15 pF and a load selectable between 100 and 1000 ohm. Frequency response is 10 Hz to 20 kHz within 0.5 dB and 10 Hz to 50 kHz within 2 dB. Total harmonic distortion stays below 0.05 percent from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Vincent rates the signal-to-noise figure above 83 dB in MM mode and above 70 dB in MC mode. The output stage has an impedance of 250 ohm, and maximum power consumption is 10 W.

Engineering and use context

Separating the transformer and supply circuitry from the gain stages is the main structural choice here, since it keeps the mains section physically away from the very small cartridge signals the amplifier stage handles. The two chassis share an identical footprint of 130 x 95 x 205 mm each, so they can be placed side by side or stacked. The supply unit is the heavier of the two at 1.4 kg, while the amplifier box itself weighs 1 kg. All loading and capacitance changes are made through DIP switches rather than plug-in resistors, which lets one unit serve a wide spread of cartridges without soldering or opening the case. Connection is kept simple with a single stereo RCA input and a single stereo RCA output. Alongside the analogue output, Vincent also fits a USB output, so a record can be passed straight to a computer in digital form for archiving vinyl collections.

Pairing

The RCA output goes to an unused line input of the following amplifier, and the adjustable MC load lets low-output moving-coil designs be matched as well as common moving-magnet types. The USB port adds a direct route to a laptop or desktop for digitising records without a separate converter.

Alternatives

The Vincent PHO-701 uses valves in its circuit and, like this model, accepts MM and MC cartridges.