Gold Note PH-1000 LITE - The little sister

Gold Note praises the Gold Note PH-1000 as an outstanding phono preamplifier, which now has a little sister, the new Gold Note PH-1000 LITE. The Italian high-end hi-fi manufacturer places special emphasis on the fact that the two siblings are very similar and can thus meet the highest demands, even of audiophile vinyl enthusiasts.

With the new Gold Note PH-1000 LITE, however, they do not offer quite the unique flexibility that the Gold Note PH-1000 can boast. Nevertheless, the company speaks of a solution that offers the highest level of quality and three independent inputs, two of them as unbalanced RCA, one as balanced XLR, the possibility to select EQ curves and the playback of stereo and mono LPs.

Gold Note PH-1000 – One of the most advanced phono preamplifiers

The Italian HiFi manufacturer Gold Note is convinced that the Gold Note PH-1000 is simply one of the most advanced phono preamplifiers. The Gold Note PH-1000 is simply the best phono stage ever developed, a unique piece of audio technology that is innovative in every respect, they enthused about this solution at its market launch.

Subsequently, the Gold Note PH-1000 LINE was offered, which, as the name suggests, has an integrated preamplifier.

And now it is the new Gold Note PH-1000 LITE, which expands the Gold Note Series 1000 and whose name once again indicates what the developers had in mind, namely, as already mentioned, to launch the little sister of the Gold Note PH-1000.

Foto © Gold Note | Gold Note PH-1000 LITE

Foto © Gold Note | Gold Note PH-1000 LITE

Foto © Gold Note | Gold Note PH-1000 LITE

Many similarities

In fact, the list of features of the new Gold Note PH-1000 LITE has a lot in common with the Gold Note PH-1000, starting with the appearance as a noble hi-fi component with dimensions of 430 x 135 x 375 mm of the solid, yet elegant aluminium housing, which is optionally available in gold, silver or black and weighs a proud 12 kg.

The front is adorned with a display and a rotary encoder, which also has a push-button function and thus functions as a central control element.

At the rear, as already mentioned, there are three inputs that can be used independently of each other: two unbalanced RCA inputs and one balanced XLR input.

As for the outputs, the new Gold Note PH-1000 LITE also offers an unbalanced as well as a balanced option, i.e. one cinch pair, one XLR pair, whereby the output stage is designed in Class A. The new Gold Note PH-1000 LITE also offers a balanced output stage.

The new Gold Note PH-1000 LITE can also be upgraded via separate connections, for example with a tube output stage, which Gold Note offers in the form of the Gold Note TUBE-1006. An optional power supply is also available, the Gold Note PSU-1000.

But let’s get back to the fine standard equipment: an integrated headphone amplifier, which is available via a 6.3 mm stereo jack, should not be missing either.

The new Gold Note PH-1000 LITE offers the possibility to choose from 18 EQ curves, whereby the user can of course also make fine adjustments via Enhanced Option, resulting in a total of 36 EQ curves. The gain is 40 dB for MM pick-ups and 60 dB for MC pick-ups, but can also be fine-tuned. According to the manufacturer, the gain is between 31 dB and 74 dB, depending on the cartridge. The capacitance or resistance can also be individually adjusted to the different cartridge systems (10 Ohm to 100 kOhm or 100 pf up to 1,000 pF) and an infrasonic filter as well as a mono/stereo switch complete the possibilities of this phono preamplifier.

Foto © Gold Note | Gold Note PH-1000 LITE

Prices and availability

According to the manufacturer, the new Gold Note PH-1000 LITE will be available in specialised shops within the next few days. The recommended retail price is listed at € 6.500,-. The optional Tube Output Stage Gold Note TUBE-1006 would cost € 4.480,- and the optional upgrade of the power supply unit would cost € 3.790,- for the Gold Note PSU-1000.

Getting to the point

This is already the third version of a phono stage that the Italian high-end hi-fi manufacturer Gold Note is launching in the Gold Note 1000 Series. The basis for this is once again the Gold Note PH-1000, which, according to Gold Note, is the most advanced and flexible phono stage they have to offer. After the Gold Note PH-1000 LINE, a special version with an integrated preamplifier, the Gold Note PH-1000 LITE follows, which does not offer quite the same sophisticated customisation options as its big sister, but still offers outstanding versatility compared to many other solutions on the market.