Фонокорректоры — Clearaudio SMART PHONO V2

The Smart Phono V2 is a small phono stage handling both MM and MC pickups, made by Clearaudio in Erlangen, Germany, which the company places in the entry class of its electronics range. It ranks one step over the Nano Phono V2 and comes in a solid aluminium case. A second version, the Smart Phono Headphone V2, adds a headphone socket on the front panel.

Key specs that matter

Amplification is 34 dB with moving-magnet cartridges and up to 54 dB with moving-coil types, both at 1 kHz. In MC mode the input resistance can be set to 50, 100, 500, 1,000 or 5,000 ohm, and in MM mode it is 47 kOhm. In both modes capacitance is selectable at 150, 250 or 400 pF. RIAA equalisation holds within 0.3 dB between 10 Hz and 100 kHz. Clearaudio gives distortion below 0.004 % in MC mode, channel separation above 90 dB and A-weighted noise figures of 85 dB for MM and 72 dB for MC. The overload margin is 18 dB in MC mode with gain at maximum, and the stage can deliver up to 10 V RMS through an output impedance of 75 ohm. Connections are unbalanced RCA in and out. The unit is about 95 x 125 x 34 mm, weighs roughly 620 g with its plug-in supply of plus and minus 18 V DC at 300 mA, and is covered by three years of warranty.

Engineering and use context

Rather than one circuit with switched gain, the Smart Phono V2 contains two separate SMD circuit designs, one for moving-magnet and one for moving-coil cartridges. The choice is made on the underside of the case, where a subsonic filter can also be switched on. Because the resistive load and the capacitance are chosen independently, the stage can follow the load a cartridge maker specifies instead of relying on a single default. Equalisation uses the RIAA time constants of 75, 318 and 3,180 µs. Maximum power consumption is 2.7 W, and the stage draws nothing when switched off. The Headphone V2 variant keeps the same circuit and aluminium housing and adds a 3.5 mm output for direct listening.

Pairing

A low-output cartridge such as the 0.5 mV Clearaudio Stradivari V2 or Talisman V2 Gold can run into the MC input with a load chosen from the five resistor values. Moving-magnet models such as the Clearaudio Performer V2 go into the MM input with the lowest capacitance setting, which is the closest option to their 100 pF load once cable capacitance is added. The line output feeds any amplifier or preamplifier with an RCA input.

Alternatives

The Clearaudio Nano Phono V2 is the smaller phono stage below it, measuring 85 x 106 x 25 mm and rated at less than 0.04 % distortion.