Vincent PHO 701 Phono Preamplifier MM/MC w/Outboard Power Supply - Silver

I like the two box thing. Why not, I have room. And the lights around the tube in front is fun. Of course the tube is what attracted me to this amplifier, I prefer the open sound even though it usually comes at the cost of added distortion. Wood, brass and string instruments sound their best to my ears when I have the record player spinning wax. Ensembles seem like groups of insturments and not blurs of sound.A little pricey frankly, I'd think they could put this on the market for less than $300 pretty easily, two box design included. But I got it a great price on refurb and the condition was first rate, so I'm going to keep this one as my primary phono stage for my two channel system.I have a cheaper Schiit Mani for my headphone amplifier. At $90 it is almost as good as the 701.Until you roll in the correct tube. OMG the 701 becomes a BEAST when you ditch the stock tube and go NOS. Soundstage explodes into the room in all directions. Toss the cheapo JJ and put in some magic.

This phono pre amp sounds great out of the box. Invest $50 in a better tube and it sounds excellent. I love the design but power switch on the back is a little annoying.

And the Vincent 701 is a dream come true for me. I love music and audio and am so lucky to have champagne taste and a beer budget! My budget hit a home run with this unit. I stretched to order a fancy upgraded tube too, like the big guys. The stock tube is amazing and after 75 hours just keeps getting better. The upgrade remains in the drawer. This preamp takes my new Rega P6 into a new realm and makes me even happier I bit the bullet on both. Great sound that everyone would appreciate and enjoy. Do it!

Me too strong hiss/radio signal as other review..........still moving around unit to find right place noise hum issue.Try rolling tubes Mullard good for voice, string... Bugle Boy as you know...Rca riches bottom.. Syla fine... the stock tube just O.K.Material quality (Toshin Jovial capacitors) don't likehttp://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/a-new-capacitor-unknown-outside-japan.495059/The following ESR/Z graph contains two important conclusions:1) The TK Jovial performs (badly) as the 37 year Elna cap (or: bravo for the old Elna cap...)2) The Vishay BC scores as good as the best-of-class Nichicon KZ, the Elna SilmicII has 40~50% higher ESR than the Nichicon KZ/Vishay BC 021 ASM.Haven't play MC yet.

From the moment seeing the exterior of the packaging, I got the sense attention to detail was something to expect from Vincent. Both the power supply and the preamp were very easy to connect together and integrate into my sound system (replacing a more entry level unit). Granted I still need to allow more burn in hours to fully appreciate the dynamics of this preamp, but during an initial listening session it was clear how much of an upgrade this was - and worth every cent! The warm glow of the 12AU7 tube is appealing and can be accentuated with a built in back light (w/ 3 brightness settings). Some other reviews have mentioned a “humming”; but I have not experienced this phenomenon and hopefully it does not present in future listening sessions. In conclusion, the Vincent PHO-701 is the entry point for adding a high quality phono stage to your sound system.*Sound quality of the Vincent PHO-701 is superior to the phono stage compared to the Emotiva XSP-1 (internal) and the Pro-Ject DS (component)*Value is approaching but not quite touching the bottom end of where you begin to chase audiophile marginal gains. For me the Vincent PHO-701 provides matching performance to the other components in my sound system to complement and upgrade my listening experience.My components:-Pro-Ject RPM 3 Carbon w/ Ortofon Blue MM-Rolls SS412-Silk MC-100SE w/ Genelex Gold Lion KT88-KEF XQthree

No hum, buzz. Set-up the 2 units separately as recommended. Not stacked. Hooked up good quality audio cables and listened.I found the sound warm with no brightness to my listening senses. I am surprised about 7 hrs in that the China 12UA7 has good sonics. Although I’ll be rolling some tubes with this out of curiosity only. Could happily live with this phono pre-amp as is and will probably go back to the supplier tube at some point to judge the various tube sounds.I even like the light show.Regards

Nice warm sound but unfortunately a strong hiss/radio signal that I couldn't get rid of. Had to return.

Huge upgrade vs the built in phono stage in my AT-LP120X-USB. It’s amazing. I wish I would have had this from day one. Now I have to go back and listen to my whole collection to see what I’ve been missing.