Hagerman Piccolo ZERO – phono step up
If you happen to be a moving coil cartridge enthusiast or are thinking about stepping up (pun intended), you’ll need a way to raise that signal to a level that your current MM stage can handle.
Inexpensive ($400 and under) cartridges usually sound dreadful, with only a few exceptions. However, there are a handful of great $300-$500 MC cartridges. Two of our favorites are the Denon DL-103R ($499) and the Ortofon Quintet Red ($399).
Another interesting option is a Step-Up Transformer (SUT), but again, good ones tend to be between $1,000 and $2,000. For these ears, the SUT option always presents a slightly softer (not that that’s a bad thing) presentation than an active gain stage because there is a lot of wire for that tiny signal to go through. Every approach has its fans.
Recently, some great trans-impedance phono stages have come to market that work in current mode instead of voltage mode. If you’re not super geeky about vinyl, what this means is the current stage frees your MC cartridge from impedance matching and associated resonance effects. The bottom line is that they sound cleaner and more alive. The bad news is that it’s usually a pretty expensive solution.
Jim Hagerman is a clever guy known for bringing high-quality, reasonably priced preamplifiers to the world of audio. He keeps costs to the bone by using simple, elegant circuits and casework to a minimum. No one will ever accuse his products of being “audio jewelry.” But we want performance. Right?
$269 gets you a current mode first stage that certainly is the equal or better of all the SUTs I’ve had the pleasure of auditioning. (But I only have so many data points, so keep an open mind)
Plug this into your MM phono preamplifier or MM phono section of your preamp/integrated and get ready for a major audio experience. The PZ is big, dynamic, and quiet. We tried this with the above-mentioned MCs and had amazing results, yet this thing is no slouch with higher-buck cartridges either, plugged into a couple of other tube MM preamplifiers, as well as some vintage gear. Or perhaps, a Hagerman MM phono stage.
Definitely a TONEAudio Exceptional Value Award Winner. You won’t be sorry.
Here’s a link to the Hagerman site, where the shopping cart is. We do not get any compensation from this. Jim is a cool guy, and deserves all the business he gets. We’re happy to pass the good word along!
https://hagerman-audio-labs.myshopify.com/collections/phono-preamps/products/piccolo-zero-mc-headamp