Hanss acoustics and Audio Consulting from left to right: Jean Hiraga, Nicolas Kong, Benoît Beauvé,Serge Schmidlin Audio Consulting
Speaker Hiraga JH-MS15 Reference, Tube Phono Stage, Silver Wire Gain Line Amplifier and HP MIPA 120 W of Audio Consulting, Turntable Hanss acoustics.
“This superbly crafted Swiss unit uses twin lead-acid battery power supplies (one for each channel) and twin, silver-wire, toroidal-core step-up transformers, followed by active solid-state circuitryfor RIAA and a toroidal-core output transformer, to generate 70dB of gain—quite enough, it would appear, to avoid the usual pitfall of transformer-based phonostages (to wit, dynamic compression). Though no fan of transformer-based phono preamps (or of units without capacitive loading) in the past, JV finds the Silver Rock to be an exception. Paired with CH Precision’s M1/L1 (or other high-qual- ity tube or solid-state electronics), the thing simply sounds like the absolute. While not quite as hard-hitting in the bass as phonostages without transformers, it is so neutral and natural in timbre ev- erywhere else, so extraordinarily high in detail, and so quick on transients JV doesn’t care. Nor should you. Perhaps the highest-resolution phono preamp JV has auditioned—and in the midband one of the most fool-you realistic—the Audio Consulting Silver Rock richly deserves the second of TAS’ 2017 Phonostage of the Year Awards. “ - Jonathan Valin -
