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It's Been A Long time Coming.
It's always been our preferred method to pre-pre-amplify the tiny output
of a low output moving coil cartridge and then apply it to the input of
a moving magnet sensitivity RIAA phono stage (see the Elevator EXP).
This makes perfect sense because there are precious few ways of
providing the 60dB plus of gain required, with low noise, low distortion
and the level of performance we know you want. Until now.
The Gram Amp 3 Fanfare uses studio tape head preamp technology to bring
you the extreme fidelity captured in the groove. Because of our wideband
design capabilities we are able to utilise op-amp characteristics that
are beyond current hi-fi understanding, so, at last, your budget moving
coil cartridge can deliver its full glory. The Fanfare is not limited by
the slow low noise techniques that bedevil competing moving coil
amplification, and as such it will deliver real musicality while at the
same time having a perceived noise floor lower than many moving magnet
designs.
Two Into One Won't Go.
Unfortunately the industry has been pushing the concept that one circuit
can be optimised to do the two jobs of moving magnet and moving coil
pre-amplification at the flick of a switch. If science were that easy
then Michael Shumaker could win - at the flick of a switch - Formula 1
in the car he drives to the track in! |
At the same
time you are told that hi-fi separates are the only way to go for the
performance you're after. Isn't it time for the hi-fi salesman to make
his mind up?
 The truth is that one amplifier stage can only be optimised for one
narrow range of gains. Hence the negative feedback argument used to
explain why one amplifier sounds better than another. With 20dB
difference between low output moving coil and high output moving magnet,
it is immediately apparent that the universal phono stage is going to
let you down on one of its settings. That's usually the moving magnet
one, so why bother spending over the odds for something that's going to
end in disappointment?
That is why the Fanfare is dedicated to low output moving coil and
stages such as our similar looking
Gram Amp 2 Special Edition are
dedicated to the higher output moving magnets and high output moving
coils. When you look at the prices of these two units, it is obviously
cost effective to opt for one or the other, or even to buy both if
you're going to be using both high and low output cartridges. You may
end up paying a tiny bit more for a great deal more in musical
performance.
Graham Slee
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