Rating:

A catastrophic accident occurred late one night when replacing the pickup arm on its rest. Let's just say the cartridge was terminal. I consoled myself by the fact that it was eight years old so perhaps it was due for renewal. I decided to complete the upgrade by purchasing a new phono stage as the old one was of similar age to the deceased cartridge. Just over one month later I collected the Trilogy 907 phono stage from Analogue Seduction. This time gap between purchases had the advantage of allowing me to evaluate the new cartridge before installing the 907.

Cartridge specification gives the resistance value and voltage output, but not the capacitance figure. Terry, of Analogue Seduction advised on the appropriate figure to use and informed me that optimum listening is achieved by experimentation. This allayed my concerns about doing harm by setting incorrect levels. I started by setting the capacitance at 200pF; the resistance at 70 ohms and the gain set for the moving coil range 0.25-0.7mV.

Immediately one is aware of pin point imagery and tighter bass. There is a sense of spaciousness around the instruments and a feeling that you are experiencing the real performance. This was especially true in the case of the live recording of Joan of Arc on Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard Cohen with Jennifer Warnes (CISCO Limited Edition 45r.p.m.). As the audience applauded her entrance, there is a great sense of the vastness of the venue and the atmosphere is tangible. My system produces a very deep sound stage, but clearly there is now a greater separation between instruments and they sound more realistic, Jennifer being forward and the drums well behind her.

Antal Dorati's recording of the Stravinsky's Ballets for Mercury Records is an excellent production, the replay being so much better with the 907. The trumpets in Petroucika produce a tremolo that leaves you wondering, how do they do that? - an effect I don't recall from previous listening sessions.

Tullio Serafin's recording of Verdi's Requiem with the Rome Opera House Chorus and Orchestra for EMI had not been out of its record sleeve for 20 years so I decided to try it out. I left the room for coffee in the conservatory after lowering the pickup only to be drawn back on hearing the lush voices of the choir. Everything sounded under firm control and I felt I could reach out and touch soloists so realistic was their presence. The bass drum boomed as it should and the post horn solo is heavenly. There is some distortion, but I suppose that can be expected in a recording made in 1959/60.

I am not a great rock fan, but as soon as Stevie Ray Vaughan struck up with Love Struck Baby on And Double Trouble Texas Flood the response was not just foot tapping, but legs and arms moved with the beat. I will let that speak for itself.

The output of the 907 must be greater than my old phono stage as I had to reduce the volume control from 10 o'clock (normal setting) to 7.00 o'clock.

The experimental stage came next when I adjusted the load setting. The manufacturers recommended load for my cartridge is 70 ohms – 1K ohms (optimum determined by listening). I took it full scale and set it at 1K ohms while maintaining the capacitance at 200pF. I soon reverted to the 70ohms2 setting after the opening bars of the Mercury Stravinsky Rite of Spring as the higher setting appeared to enhance hum from what I assumed to be the valve amplifiers of the old recording, though perhaps that is incorrect and I am open to correction.

It's difficult finding things to dislike about the 907. The switches for configuring the unit are on the underside and some might find this a nuisance. Provided there is sufficient space on your rack, however, the unit can be turned over without disconnecting the interconnect cables. Let's face it though, once set up, the configuration will not be changed that often. The unit gets very warm, but this, according to the manufacturer, is normal.

Post review: I had a long and fruitful conversation with the designer of the 907, Nick Poulson. He prefers a higher load setting on the grounds of musicality. I experimented once again with higher settings and now maintain the load at just under 1k ohms. Nick also said that capacitance settings are not so criticial with moving coil cartirdges as with moving magnet and that the figure is largely down to personal preference.