Elevate your moving coil to new delights!

Phono Preamp/Phono Stage Moving Coil Head Amp: Elevator EXP

The Elevator EXP does just what its name suggests: it elevates the tiny signal from conventional moving coil cartridges to moving magnet level, and at the same time gives it the EXPress Elevator treatment!

Best for MC!

"OK I'm going to nail my colours to the mast... (and I'm going to do the same with an arm next review...) Lucio has banned us from saying "best I've ever heard" "never heard anything as good" etc as it begs the question "compared to what?" and is often meaningless hype. But here I've listed the runners and riders, added the caveat "in my system and room" and finally "to my ears", so here goes. The Era Gold + Elevator EXP is the best phono combination for MC's I've ever heard - period... "

[Geoff Husband, TNT Audio, July 2002]

(the case styling changed in 2004)

Hi-Fi News 2005 award winner!

Along with the Era Gold V, our Elevator EXP thrilled Hi-Fi News to make us their 2005 award winner (click here for bigger image)

Stereophile AAA Rated!

"...it was among the most well-balanced phono preamps I've heard of any technology at any price. It got out of the way and let the music do the talking with great clarity and definition"

[Michael Fremer, Analog Corner, Stereophile, September 2007]

EnjoyTheMusic.com's "Joe Audiophile" puts it this way...

"...the Slee provides better and more natural dynamics. The leading edges of notes are sharper, crisper and more 'real'. The next item is the Slee provides better focus along with a deeper and wider soundstage. Though some may say the sound is more 'clinical' than a step up, I'd term it as more transparent. On the best recordings, you really do get the sense of 'being there'. Once you experience this sense, it is unmistakable and something that follows you around to every system you will ever experience."

[Scott Faller, "Vinylly Yours Virtually", EnjoyTheMusic.com, February 2010]

This Ultra Linear Treatment Is A Must Have!

Owners of our moving magnet sensitivity phono stage preamps and owners of valve (tube) phono stage preamps will need this step-up device between turntable and phono stage preamp to use a moving coil phono cartridge.

It provides 22dB of gain (amplification) which is approximately 13 times the output of the moving coil cartridge. Therefore for example, if you use a 0.4mV output moving coil cartridge it will deliver just over 5mV to your moving magnet sensitivity phono stage preamp. With a gain of 13 it can deal with cartridges of between 0.15mV and 0.8mV with ease, delivering the required input range required by our phono stage preamps and many others.

graph showing the good phase margin of the Elevator EXP

The graph shows the Elevator EXP is flat to nearly 1Mhz, and is stable, having 86 degrees of phase margin where it's gain reaches unity at just over 10MHz. The Elevator EXP is truly a wideband step-up amplifier, its stability ensuring it will not tune a radio station or other radio interference.

As for hum, it is not a transformer, it is not inductive, so it can't pick up any hum. The case is fully shielded and tested for ground continuity, so provided the interconnects to and from it are shielded, it won't amplify any other interference. It's power supply input is effectively filtered to remove interference too.

As with any other true-to-the-source amplifier stage handling such delicate signals, it cannot put source problems right, and success therefore depends on ensuring cartridge, and tone-arm signal and "earth" wiring is serviceable.

The Elevator EXP provides a choice of another six load resistances on its easily understood front panel switch matrix in addition to the standard 100 Ohm moving coil loading. Keen eyed technical observers will note a further two positions are possible on the matrix, these deliver 90 Ohms (left down/right up) and 29 Ohms (left up/right down) which are so close to other values as to be arbitrary - still they may be of use.

Specification

Input range: 0.15mV to 0.8mV

Output (for input range): 2mV to 10mV

Maximum input: 378mV rms

Maximum output: 4.914V rms

Gain: 22dB (13) 0.1Hz to 917kHz (-3dB points)

Input impedance: 23, 30, 100, 840, 1000, 5100 and 47000 Ohms

Output (driving/source) impedance: 300 Ohm

Recommended load impedance: 47k Ohms phono stage preamp input

Noise at output: -99dB CCIR Q-pk

Distortion: 0.02%

Frequency response: 0.1Hz to 917kHz (-3dB points)

Channel balance: 0.2dB

Channel separation: 64dB

Size: (approx.) W: 107 x H: 50 x D: 180 (mm) inc. jacks

Prices

£478.26 supplied with PSU1 power supply. Prices in GBP (pounds sterling) ex VAT/GST

Phono Preamp/Phono StageMoving Coil Head Amp