Phonostages are the toughest of all things in the hi-end market to buy right. Unless you have $7300 for a Manley Steelhead, or $6000 plus options for a BAT VK-P10SE. But if you have less than $1000 or maybe a few hun more that than, you’re going to get one of two things: Either something that looks super-cool but sounds like an old pioneer receiver, or something that sound slightly better but you wouldn’t want people to see, kinda like something you brought home in a drunken stupor and you woke up with it and said "I did WHAT????"

So leave it to Uncle Kevy to come up with something we have done that will SMOKE phonostages that cost many times as much, looks super bitchen’ too. (Yes... I still use that word bitchen’... cut me some slack). Oh... and it's made by Cary Audio. Bring in the Audio Electronics PH-1 DJH Ultimate. We have them in four different flavors, and two colors, all in stock, so scoop one up before they raise the price.



So what can you get?
The basic PH-1 DJH is a killer phono stage. It has passive equalization, two 6SL7 tubes, and one 12AU7. This gives it a sense of space and incredible bandwidth that you will rarely get from any solid state phono stage. When you buy any tube product from us (with the exception of used gear) you get Bought the Gear Here privelages on THAT unit only for as long as you own it, at a very nice discount. You then will have available to you most any tube we have here, no matter how hard it is to find. I will even sell you tubes from my personal stash just to get your system just the way you like it.

Now what else did Cary put in the AE PH-1 DJH Ultimate model?
First...we have the factory replace the standard capacitors with the fabulous Jensen Oil and Copper capacitors. These are the gold standard, and are the same brand caps used in the Formula One series of Cary components we have made for us.
Next, the factory installs Hexfreds in the power supply. This keeps the music defined and under control when itgets fast and complex.

Both of these options are in every PH-1 Ultimate. The standard PH-1 Ultimate has 37dB of gain, suitable for most any high output moving coil cartridges and moving magnet cartridges of 2.5mV or higher. But what if you have a regular moving coil cartridge? One with say, around .5mV of output voltage? There are three ways to get the gain:
  • (1) An op-amp, which is fine, but not the most human if you have other options.
  • (2) More tubes, but then you have to find a way to get rid of the noise because we are amplifying very very small voltages.
  • (3) Step-up transformer. The best are made by Lundahl or Jensen, but they're expensive, and typically reserved for the most expensive phono stages.

    • The PH-1 DJH was originally designed only to be used with a MM or high output MC. So for those of you who need the extra gain for your low output moving coils, we negotiated a deal to use Lundahl step-up transformers for a total gain of 57dB! Worried about noise? It's still dead quiet. Excuse me while I pat myself on the back...

    Nobody else anywhere can offer you something like this.

    Lastly... the finish. Standard is the flat black. We made a special deal for black anthracite chassis, leaving the tube cover in standard black. FYI... whether or not you HAVE to leave the tube cover on depends on the area you live in. The faceplates come in your choice of black or silver, so the PH-1 DJH Ultimate will mix beautifully with other Cary or Audio Electronics gear.