Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Elliott Sound Products. ESP P06 phono stage. Phono Preamp by fscerri

Model:	ESP P06 phono stage.
Category:	Phono Preamp
Suggested Retail Price:	$A 50? (complete product)
Description:	DIY phono stage for moving magnet phono cartridges.
Manufacturer URL:	Elliott Sound Products.

Review by fscerri on June 30, 2012 at 04:15:42
IP Address: 124.179.133.87 Add Your Review
for the ESP P06 phono stage.

I'm almost sure that I have reviewed this fine DIY MM cartridge phono stage before but it appears to be gone, so here comes another one! There are quite a few fine DIY phono stages on the market and I regard this as one of the best, if not the best. Over the years I've built many of these excellent P06 phono stages and it is my 'reference quality' phono stage.

I never tire of it and I have heard none better! The sound of the P06 can best be described as 'free, musical, clean and uncompressed'. It does have an 'extended' lower bass end and sounds the better for it. I have built other otherwise good quality phono stages but having excessive lower bass rolloff, and sound rather 'cold and sterile' as a result. The P06 sounds 'right'.

The RIAA uses passive (for the treble) and active (for the bass) equalisation, which I think sounds superb. The soundstage of the P06 is another highlight of this design. In all honesty, I was unaware of this attribute until the P06 was directly compared with a stock Cambridge 640P on a friends system. We were both floored at the enormously wide soundstage of the ESP P06.

This is an easy project to build with basically good electronics construction experience, and both the circuit board can be purchased along with full assembly instructions on the ESP website when the boards are purchased. If building the P06, the matching high quality P05B power supply is also worth building configured for plus and minus 18 volt output rails. The op amps in the P06 perform at their best at 18 volts, and this also maximises signal headroom. There seems to be a fashionable present trend in powering a phono stage off two nine volt batteries (or similar). Whilst this is pure DC and this does have obvious sonic advantages, the available output voltage is insufficient for maximum signal headroom and optimum general performance from the opamps, in my humble opinion.

I recommend using the best component quality, but don't go overboard with 'boutique' components. Metal film resistors, along with MKT capacitors and good quality polarised electrolytic and bipolar electrolytic capacitors are fine. For the opamps I recommend the excellent and very musical sounding OPA2134 dual op amp. An excellent construction article on this phono stage is here: http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/vinyl05.html

Other allied links : http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/vinyl05.html http://sound.westhost.com/project99.htm http://sound.westhost.com/project05b.htm

The P99 sub bass filter is optional but may be useful in some set ups to help deal with the effects of bad record warps etc. The P05B has other facilities apart from just an excellent power supply and the optional circuitry needn't be assembled if just a simple power supply is needed (my personal situation). The boards can be purchased via the 'Purchase' page on the ESP website.

Product Weakness:	None.
Product Strengths:	Superb sonic performance.

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Various 'chip' power amplifiers
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): P88 by ESP.
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Various.
Speakers: Various.
Cables/Interconnects: high quality DIY.
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Various.
Room Comments/Treatments: Carpeted floors.
Time Period/Length of Audition: 8 years.
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): None.
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner

Amplifier:	Various 'chip' power amplifiers
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	P88 by ESP.
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Various.
Speakers:	Various.
Cables/Interconnects:	high quality DIY.
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Various.
Room Comments/Treatments:	Carpeted floors.
Time Period/Length of Audition:	8 years.
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	None.
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner