Analog Gear News

Nagra knows all about recording — and Nagra knows phono too. The venerable Swiss manufacturer, initially known for making top-shelf portable audio recorders as far back as 1951, have just announced the introduction of their latest hi-fi product, the Compact Phono preamp.

Nagra made their hi-fi bones back in the day with their first hi-fi product, the Nagra PL-P preamp, which the company confirms was inspired by the microphone preamp in their classic IV-S reel-to-reel tape recorder. Since then, Nagra notes that the phono section of the PL-P has been reincarnated several times within the Nagra VPS, BPS, Classic Phono, and the relatively recent HD Phono.

While each of those products utilized different technologies and components, they are all said to be faithful to the original design that was centered around a Nagra-made, step-up transformer. According to Nagra, the signal path has been, quote, “simplified to the extreme to offer the quintessence of RIAA correction for the best MC cartridges” — and the latest iteration of such is the aforementioned Compact Phono.

Housed in the same chassis as the Nagra Streamer, the new Compact Phono’s solid construction protects it from unwanted vibrations. Nagra claims that “no compromises in sound quality” were made to enable it to fit in the compact chassis, though they did simplify the different settings and shortened the signal paths as much as possible.

The Compact Phono features vibration-controlled housing, is machined from a solid billet of aluminum, and offers MC input on a 10dB step-up transformer (same as with the earlier-mentioned Nagra VPS), selected transistors operating in Class A, all discrete-component topology, dual-mono layout, and a 100Ω load (additional loads, we’re told, are available from Nagra dealers).

The Compact Phono also comes with an external 12V DC power supply, and ultra-high rejection ratio regulators are coupled with dual-stage filter on the internal power supply. The Compact Phono can be upgraded with Nagra MPS or Classic PSU power supplies — but then, a Lemo-to-DC cable will be required. To minimize vibration, the unit can reside on a VFS or on its own Compact VFS, the latter of which is currently under development.

Other specs for the Compact Phono preamp include frequency response given as 20Hz to 50kHz ±1dB (within the RIAA curve), S/N ratio as >80dB, THD+N as <0.1% with lab power supply, crosstalk as >85dB, selectable gain as 62, and output impedance as <10Ω. (Note that the specs for S/N, crosstalk, selectable gain, and output impedance are all respectively given on the 47.5dB gain position.)

The Compact Phono’s dimensions are 185 x 41 x 166mm, w/h/d (7.2 x 1.6 x 6.5in, w/h/d), and its weight is given as 1.9kg (4.1lb).

Finally, the SRP for the Nagra Compact Phono preamp is $4,950.

For more about Nagra, go here.
To find an authorized Nagra retailer, go here.