Vertere Phono 1 MKII – MM/MC phono amp

The company's name conjures up images of the French-speaking globe. But that's not the case. They live in west London, close to Wembley Stadium. Touraj Moghaddam is the mastermind. A man with a braid and a story to tell. He founded the cult vinyl brand Roksan, among other things. And his Vertere Phono 1 MKII is likewise a hammer: at 1450 dollars, it completely destroys the middle class of phono amps.

The special features of the Vertere Phono 1 MKII

The turntables are flat flounders with acrylic layers, yet they come with everything, from cartridges to tonearm cables. Of course, there are phono amplifiers, but just one, the Phono 1, which is currently in MKII form. Behind a strong aluminum, the front is a lovely tiny box. There is simply one switch in the center of the front - on or off. Everything else is done behind the scenes.

Of course, the Phono 1 MM and MC can both accomplish that. It is not necessary to unscrew it in order to access the mouse piano for fine-tuning. However, if you flip it over, you'll find that all of the information is on the backside. The gain, for example, is adjusted in twelve steps. Everything is neatly labeled next to the switches. Anyone who finds the job too difficult should refer their in-house pickup to the dealer, who will then take over the service work.

The back is quite peaceful - it goes in and out exaggerated by the cinch. Grounding to the left. To the right of that, though, is a switch and a second screw knob. Strange. Vertere refers to it as a Phono Ground Switch. There are three options: hard ground, no ground, and soft ground. When it is delivered, the amp is in the soft-ground configuration.

The Phono1's ground is tuned to practical levels. It's evil if it buzzes. The entire housing is grounded in the first setting, everything is disconnected in the second, and only the inner circuit board is connected in the third.

We examine behind the hood: Ah, clever - the case is divided into two workspaces. On the left is the whole power processing. The short path leads to a power board containing an encased transformer. The steel wall is then breached, and the current flow is transferred to a circuit of transistors and resistors on the right side.

Then there's the real phono circuit board, which is totally encased and situated right at the input and output with the shortest possible paths: "extremely straight."

Conclusion

For a reasonable fee, you can have a prospective Olympic champion. The sound is exquisite, delicate, and British, and the adaptability to the appropriate pickup is quite sensitive. The sales department for Germany just called: the pricing is still $1,450. This is rather inexpensive, especially given the extremely fine adjustments between gain and sensitivity. We would have gladly paid $3000 for this sensitivity and power.

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