After surprising the audiophile community with its excellent turntables, the British manufacturer is now offering their logical extension, in this case a phono preamplifier. The Vertere Phono 1 is very compact, but full-featured and highly musical at an affordable price.
A great user of Plexiglas, Vertere has adopted a slice of it to adorn its Phono 1 with an original front panel. But apart from the purely aesthetic aspect, this material provides mechanical damping for the small case of this phono preamplifier. The rest of the case is made of aluminium. The front panel has a power switch as its only feature. The case rests on four small feet made of hard transparent polymer.
The British designer explains that designing the phono stage is difficult, because the circuit has to work with the tiny signal emanating from the cell, which is usually only a fraction of a millivolt. It has to be amplified properly a thousand times and equalised to the exact RIAA curve in order to faithfully reproduce the recorded music. The Vertere Phono 1 is designed to achieve this, even in very high quality vinyl playback systems. The compact footprint of the main circuit maximises dynamic range and delivers supreme detail resolution.
Inside, the cabinet is divided into two equal parts by a transverse partition. On the left-hand side is the power supply, based on a generous toroidal transformer encapsulated in a ribbed plastic film. Protected from radiation, it cannot pollute the fragile audio signals passing through the adjacent section.
These are implanted on high-quality gold-plated printed circuits. Vertere uses only discrete components that are bonded to the circuit tracks using a special soldering process, offering consistent, long-term optimum performance. The pure RIAA section is shielded by a small stainless steel housing.
The set up
The first part of the installation is extremely simple, since the Phono 1 has just two pairs of RCA sockets for input and output, and an IEC socket for connecting the mains cable. On the other hand, and this is excellent news, a ground selector offers the options of Hard Ground, Ground Lift or Soft Ground connection of the preamplifier and chassis, allowing optimisation of hum in the event of incompatibility with the associated amplifier.
When it comes to compatibility with different cartridges, the Vertere Phono 1 offers a multitude of settings via mini selectors located on the underside of the unit. Moving coil amplifiers can be adjusted from 78 to 1,450 ohms. Gain can be set from 45.4 to 61.4 dB. The capacitance can be adjusted from 0.22 to 1.02 uF.
For moving-magnet cells, the 47-kilo-ohm load is combined with a capacitance of 100 or 430 pF.
The sound
It’s amazing to see such a big sound emanating from such a small box. The Vertere Phono 1 gives analogue music pressed on vinyl an excellent breath of air. If we were to indulge in a little memory game, we’d almost have the impression of listening to old Naim electronics, which is totally paradoxical and ironic given the competition between the two manufacturers (Touraj and Julian) over 30 years ago. In fact, the Phono 1 offers us a wonderful ability to modulate at all levels so as to let the musicians express themselves, in the manner of a ‘live’ performance. This palette of nuances is no small part of the feeling of freedom that emanates from this electronic system, which is decidedly unlike any other. One of the great pleasures of listening to the Vertere Phono 1 is the feeling of airiness and ease it gives you, the sensation of modulation. Instead of coldly analysing the sound message, it adopts an exceptional musical perspective on interpretation. Fluid and harmonious, it offers a tonal balance at the very top end of the range, entirely expressive, which in the end seems to have little to do with its price tag. This is a device clearly designed for the eclectic music lover whose record collection outweighs the price of the system.
The high register is never overdone, transparent and perfectly in place. Without coloration, it is subtle without ever being harsh. The midrange occupies a central position, while displaying a clear presence. It demonstrates excellent homogeneity and can rely on a deep bass that is always impeccably controlled.
Our conclusion
From our own investigations, we know that this device has caused quite a stir across the Channel, in its native land. Local testers have not hesitated to compare it to products two or three times its price. It’s true that listening to the Vertere Phono 1 is totally surprising, with its absolutely sumptuous stereo image and innate sense of modulation. It’s a device that speaks almost more to the heart than to the mind, and that’s not to our displeasure. A stunning newcomer in a crowded landscape, the Vertere Phono 1 deserves your full attention. A genuinely interesting new proposition.
Author: Pierre Fontaine
Technical sheet: VERTERE Phono1
- Origin: United Kingdom
- Price: €1,069
- Dimensions: 210 x 55 x 235 mm
- Weight: 2 kg
- Gain settings: 40.2 dB to 62.8 dB
- Input impedance settings: 47k for MM – 78 to 47K for MC
- Capacitance: 470pF for MM – 100pF to 1.02uF for MC
- Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz +/- 0.2 dB
- Signal-to-noise ratio THD-N: < -78dB – AWD