![]() The rear panel has RCA inputs and outputs, and DIP switches to set the cartridge loading. An LED glows steadily when the unit is powered up, and blinks when the signal is muted. Mute comes configured as a 9dB attenuator, but can be changed to turn off the signal entirely. Front-panel controls are limited to buttons for power and mute. The Phono One is a versatile, lavishly constructed product, and matches the handsome cosmetics of SFI's current line-stages. Now, Sonic Frontiers International has joined in with their $1999 Phono One. The Audio Research PH3 ($1495), the Linn Linto ($1500), and the Acoustech PH-1 ($1200) are all great choices in the $1000–$2000 price range. This is a great time-perhaps the last chance-to fill out an LP collection and shop for the analog playback equivalent to that Healey or XKE.įuture preamps will be line-stage–only, so your ultimate analog system had better include a phono stage.įortunately, there are lots of choices. There's a thriving used trade, and in the specialty market new products are introduced daily. A true replacement-perhaps high-resolution digital-is still just over the horizon. CDs have driven vinyl from the mainstream racks, but they can't quite duplicate its performance and feel. I can't help but see parallels between the state of the LP today and that middle stage of the British sports cars' downhill glide. If there was ever a time to squirrel away a nice, low-mileage Austin-Healey 3000 or Jaguar E Type, it was then. Clean, low-mileage used cars were readily available at reasonable prices. Shops and products that catered to British sports cars were springing up everywhere you looked. On the other hand, the specialty market was thriving. The last of the classic sports cars were disappearing from the showrooms, the mainstream public had moved on, and modern alternatives like the Mazda Miata and BMW Z-3 were still decades away. I got my first driver's license in 1973, about when the middle stage of this evolution began. Triumphs, MGs, Healeys, you name it-right up to my current crop, a Triumph TR6 and roughly two-and-a-half Jensen-Healeys.īut in the years since that first MGB-GT, I've seen British sports cars evolve from a mainstream automotive option to being marginalized-if not actually replaced-by alternatives like the Datsun 240Z, and finally relegated to being little more than a nostalgic segment of automotive history. Since then, there's been a steady stream of ferocious little cars in my life. I've been in love with British sports cars ever since a visiting highway engineer brought a green MGB-GT to my tiny Nebraska town 30 years ago. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |