Perpetuating a long legacy of excellence in phono stages since the Nagra PL-P, the new Nagra Compact Phono offers the greater part of its predecessors’ quality and performance in a compact and elegant housing. The signal path has been simplified to the extreme to offer the quintessence of RIAA correction for the best MC cartridges.
Phono reproduction was at the heart of our very first Hi-Fi product, the Nagra PL-P.
Inspired by the legendary microphone preamplifier in the Nagra IV-S reel-to-reel tape recorder, the phono section of the PL-P received accolades from around the world.
Since then, the phono section of the PL-P has been reincarnated several times with the Nagra VPS, the BPS, the Classic Phono and recently the HD Phono. While they use different technologies and components, they are faithful to the original design, centred around a Nagra-made, step-up transformer.
The latest iteration is the Compact Phono. Housed in the same chassis as the Streamer, its solid construction protects it from unwanted vibrations. No compromises in sound quality were made to enable it to fit in the compact chassis. However, we have simplified the different settings and shortened the signal paths as much as possible. As a result, the Compact Phono offers amazing performance for a fraction of the cost of its competitors.
The Compact Phono features:
- Vibration-controlled housing, machined from a solid billet of aluminum
- MC input on 10 dB step-up transformer (same as Nagra VPS)
- Selected transistors operating in class A
- All discrete-component topology
- Dual-mono layout
- Selectable gain of 62 / 47.5 dB
- RIAA curve
- 100 Ohm load (additional loads available from Nagra dealers)
- External 12 V DC power supply
- Ultra-high rejection ratio regulators coupled with dual-stage filter on internal power supply
The Compact Phono can be further upgraded to achieve even greater performance using the Nagra MPS or Classic PSU power supplies. In this case, a Lemo to DC cable is required.
To minimise vibrations, it can also be based on a VFS or on its own Compact VFS, currently under development.
The Nagra turntable and cells have given us a new reference for designing the Nagra HD Phono and now the Compact Phono.
Although its size and price, for a Nagra product, may mislead you, it is a very ambitious device and fully deserves the Nagra logo engraved on its front panel.
Specifications
Frequency response
20 – 50 kHz +/- 1 dB (withing RIAA curve)
Signal to noise ratio*
> 80 dB
THD+N
< 0.1 % with lab power supply
Crosstalk*
> 85 dB
Output impedance*
< 10 Ω
Weight and dimensions
1.9 kg (4.1 lb.) 185 x 166 x 41 mm / 7.2 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
* Specs on 47.5 dB gain position