Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Graham Slee Projects Era Gold V Phono Preamp by RM

Model:	Era Gold V
Category:	Phono Preamp
Suggested Retail Price:	AU$1210
Description:	Dedicated moving magnet/moving iron phono cartridge preamplifier stage, featuring high speed - four pole active RIAA equalisation. Precision engineered in England by Graham Slee Projects
Manufacturer URL:	Graham Slee Projects
Model Picture:	View

Review by RM on September 22, 2004 at 09:51:43
IP Address: 220.253.65.59

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What can I say that Mike Fremer hasn't already said about this remarkable phono stage in his STEREOPHILE Review (see product website). It has awesome bass - depth and articulation, first rate dynamics, it's clean and clear with great definition of leading edge transient attack, decay and detail retrieval. And remember, this kit is relatively dirt cheap.
After 2 hours of blissful listening, I realized just how much better this was than my E.A.R. 834P across all parameters (see my review elsewhere in AA). The only area where the E.A.R. held a candle to the Era Gold V was in the mids where its tubey midrange was a tad richer than the Era Gold V. Nevertheless, the Era Gold V defined the mids much better than the E.A.R. 834P and was certainly smooth enough to describe its sound as tube-like. For a solid state phono stage, that's an excellent achievement.
Comparing it again to the E.A.R. it was much more and better extended at both frequency extremes. Time and again I sat upright as I noticed musical details which my other phono stages simply failed to reproduce, from quivers and quavers in female vocals, to the detail in acoustic guitars, to the pin point imaging across a deep and wide sound stage.
Playing Patricia Barber's MODERN COOL and she was there in the room. A cliche maybe, but so what. This phono stage makes music alive and real, tuneful and coherent. There is no added brightness, glare or harshness, at least none I could hear with my tube power amp. At the same time though, crap recordings were exposed for what they were. This is one accurate RIAA!
My greatest compliment to the quality and excellence of this phono stage was that it made my original Quad II's sound really dynamic, alive and well, powerful, and with great tuneful bass. What more can one want? IMHO you would be mad to spend more on a phono stage, no matter what your expectations and standards.
My only minor quibble with the Era Gold V was that I could use a little more gain as I had to live in the upper reaches of my volume control to achieve realistic sound levels on a number of recordings.
I would also audition carefully if you have a bright, solid state amplifier. This is one ruthlessly revealing RIAA with none of the euphonic 2nd harmonic distortion of many tube stages.

Product Weakness: Not a weakness, but IMHO needs careful matching with SS amplification.
Product Strengths: Uniform excellence across all hifi parameters. Incredible value for money.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Original Quad II monoblocs
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Graham Slee projects Era Gold V phono stage + home brew dual mono volume control box using Noble pots
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Rega P9 + Garrott Bros Optim FGS MM cartridge
Speakers:	Tannoy Turnberry
Cables/Interconnects:	Nordost Red Dawn i/c + Blue Heaven bi-wire speaker with Eichmann bananas
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Simply Red PICTURE BOOK, Schubert DEATH & THE MAIDEN STRING QUARTET (DGG), Patricia Barber MODERN COOL, Tracy Chapman 1st Album, Pentangle 1st Album.
Room Size (LxWxH):	3.9 x 3.6 x 2.8
Room Comments/Treatments:	Herbies Audio Labs HAL-O tube dampers, tenderfeet, ball cups + ebony ball equipment support
Time Period/Length of Audition:	3 weeks
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	DBA Electronics Line Balancer + RC300 Voltage Regulator, Stealth Audio HAC power cords, PS Audio JuiceBar
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Not a weakness, but IMHO needs careful matching with SS amplification.
Product Strengths:	Uniform excellence across all hifi parameters. Incredible value for money.