No, it does not convert analog into DSD. Too soon? MoFi Electronics did not make the decision to enter the turntable category without some careful planning or just to capitalize on the resurgence of vinyl; they were planning on doing it for awhile and it’s important to note that they could have made things for less money in Asia but decided to keep things in the United States.
The late-Tim de Paravicini (EAR Yoshino) was hired to design their affordable range of phono preamplifiers and did a rather excellent job with the two models that were released.
Would Tim have been tasked to create a reference grade phono stage for MoFI Electronics? We will sadly never know, but it is unlikely that he would have created products that competed directly with his EAR Yoshino designs.
The new MoFi Electronics MasterPhono Preamplifier will be unveiled at High-End Munich 2023 and just based on the specifications, it appears to be a highly adjustable phono stage designed to work with the world’s best phono cartridges.
The designer will be well known to those who have listened to Audio Alchemy or Constellation Audio products over the years.
The all-analog, fully discrete Masterphono was designed by Peter Madnick, a highly esteemed audio engineer with a long and stellar track record in the high-performance audio industry. Featuring a dual chassis design housed in a single enclosure, the MasterPhono can effortlessly accommodate any Moving Magnet (MM) or Moving Coil (MC) cartridge in today’s marketplace, even ultra-low impedance MC’s thanks to a “current input”.
Furthering the stature of this exceptional device are separate inputs, both balanced and single-ended outputs, and a plethora of user-configurable settings, all accessible via the front panel. The multi-function meters exude MasterPhono’s true analog nature. Finally, a USB input allows for new features and software updates as they become available.
The goal for the MasterPhono was simple; reproduce music that equals the sonic integrity achieved by the world-renowned MFSL vinyl reissues. This required in excess of a full year of R&D and prototyping and has been high on the company’s wishlist since the inception of MoFi Electronics nearly a decade ago.
“The MasterPhono exhibits remarkable clarity and smoothness that feels master-tape-like! I am pretty sure you will agree that it is a remarkable product which can give you a new sense of what a good piece of vinyl actually contains, but has been hidden from you until now. Yes, it’s that good!
Peter Madnick, Masterphono Designer
Features:
- Both standard signal input (“Voltage Input”) via RCA & XLR and “Current input” for use with low source-impedance phono cartridges, via RCA or XLR, utilizing “Trans-impedance dynamic loading”.
- Dual-chassis construction that isolates power supply and audio circuits, featuring a separately isolated chassis and signal grounding post for the lowest overall system noise.
- 4 switchable gain settings of 40db, 50db, 60db and 70db.
- 10 switchable impedance loading adjustments, including a “Custom” via RCA plug on rear panel.
- Fully discrete circuitry from input to output including fully balanced, DC coupled and servo controlled circuit from the high pass filter to the output jacks.
- Passive RIAA exclusively using stringent parts selection; NOS polystyrene and polypropylene film/foil capacitors with better than 1% precision, as well as all critical resistors with tolerances 0.1% or 0.5% for precise filtering and voltages.
- Cascaded voltage regulation stages to help achieve the lowest possible noise floor.
- Remote control operation for input selection, gain adjustment, mute, mono operation, meter operation and subsonic filter.
- Left and Right meters for output monitoring and calibration purposes.
- Extreme RIAA accuracy of ±0.05db and frequency response of 10Hz–50KHz ±0.20db.
- Maximum S/N Ratio (A-weighted) of 93dB for MM cartridges and 85dB for MC artridges
- Dimensions (w x h x d): 17 x 3.5 x 15.75” / 43.2 x 8.9 x 40 cm
- Weight: 15 lbs. / 6.8 Kg.
Price & Availability
The MoFi Electronics MasterPhono will be available in June, 2023 with an MSRP of $4,995.00 USD and will be on display at MUNICH HIGH-END 2023 – Atrium 4.1, F126/F127 – May 18 – 21.
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