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Gold Note PH-1000 and Gold Note PH-1000 LINE – The most advanced phono stage?

To raise the reproduction of records to a new level of quality through innovation and craftsmanship, this is the goal of the Italian high-end hi-fi manufacturer Gold Note for the latest offspring of the Gold Note Series 1000, the new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage. If you want an integrated Class A preamplifier, look out for the Gold Note PH-1000 LINE


The fact that in Italy one has a very special feeling for enjoying life, for something special, is well known and far more than just a prejudice. This does not only apply to the everyday things in life like food and drink, but also to artistic aspects like music, design, fashion… are almost celebrated in Italy. It is therefore obvious that Italian hi-fi companies have always had a special approach to the development of their solutions, such as Gold Note, whose products stand out from the majority of the market in many ways.

Gold Note always strives to offer excellence, combining technology and noble design with impeccable craftsmanship, whether in amplifier systems, CD players and D/A converters, streaming systems or even in the field of vinyl records. Not only do the Italians manufacture the finest record players, they also offer matching pickup systems and are dedicated to the development of the finest phono preamplifiers.

First and foremost, of course, there is the Gold Note PH-10 Phono Stage of the Gold Note Series 10, which offers high-end HiFi in a particularly compact form.

Based on the success of the Gold Note PH-10 Phono Stage, Gold Note is now expanding its range of phono preamps with a solution that belongs to the Gold Note Series 1000, namely the new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage. The new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage is the most advanced phono preamplifier in the world. It is designed to take record music reproduction to a new level of quality and flexibility.

These are the ambitious goals that Gold Note has set for the development of the Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage. However, this is entirely appropriate, since the Gold Note Series 1000 solutions are truly outstanding systems. A worthy phono preamplifier in this product line must have a lot to offer… And indeed, the Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage can do it.

Let us start with the very “banal” key data. Of course, the new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage also presents itself completely in the design language of the Gold Note Series 1000, so at first glance there is almost no difference to the Gold Note IS-1000 or Gold Note IS-1000 LINE or Gold Note P-1000 MkII. As there is a solution with a perfectly processed, solid aluminium housing, whose front is decorated with a display and a single rotary encoder. The front already has two milled grooves that serve as an attractive accent, while further milled grooves on the top and sides elegantly continue this design concept and serve – quite practically speaking – to dissipate heat.

The new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage thus conveys an extremely noble appearance and appears – especially for a phono preamplifier – extremely modern. It should be clear that exactly the same concept has been adopted here as was used for the “small” Gold Note PH-10 Phono Stage.

The user can thus adjust all parameters of the phono preamplifier with the rotary encoder alone, the so-called SKC or Single Knob Control Technology, with all relevant information being shown on the colour TFT display. And the new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage really has a lot to offer in terms of parameters that can be adjusted to achieve the best possible results.

First of all, it should be mentioned that the new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage provides no less than three independent inputs, so three pickup systems can be connected simultaneously, whereby MM and MC cartridges are of course equally supported. Two pairs of unbalanced RCA sockets and one pair of balanced XLR sockets are available for this purpose, although, for the sake of completeness, the XLR sockets are designed for MC cartridge systems only. In addition, there is a pair of RCA sockets as well as a pair of XLR sockets marked as Phono Load, which can be used either for external load plugs for even finer control of the load or as line inputs on the Gold Note PH-1000 LINE.

But the most striking feature of the new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage is that it provides no less than 40 different equalisation curves for each of the three inputs. RIAA, Capitol, Columbia/CBS, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca London USA, Decca London UK and Decca Mono 78rpm, Epic, HMW, Mercury, RCA Victor, Philips, Elektra, L’Oliseau-Lyre, Parlophone, and many, many more can be selected as presets. In addition, each preset can also be used as a starting point for your own adjustments and these individual curves can in turn be saved as presets. When editing, the display is of course particularly helpful here, as the curves are directly displayed graphically.

It goes without saying that the impedance and capacity as well as the amplification can also be sensitively adjusted to the respective pickup systems and last but not least to your own taste. For example, the impedance can be adjusted in twelve steps between 10 ohms and 100 kohms, the capacitance in six steps between 100 pF and 1,000 pF. The amplification is 65 dB for MC pickup systems and 40 dB for MM pickup systems, but can be finely adjusted in seven steps.

Of course, a subsonic filter can be switched on, you can choose between mono and stereo, and the left and right channels can also be swapped.

The output stage of the new Gold Note PH-1000 LINE is completely discrete in Class A, in a dual-mono design, so that analogue signals can be reproduced pure and unaltered.

The Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage is, of course, equipped with an integrated power supply unit ex works, but here, too, a modular concept is used, so that the user can upgrade at any time and thus further increase the quality of the solution.

This means that an external power supply can be used at any time, be it the Gold Note PSU-1250 /1000 External Inductive Power Supply, or even the Gold Note TUBE-1012 Class A Tube Output Stage or Gold Note TUBE-1006 Class A Tube Output Stage.

As if all this were not enough for truly outstanding equipment, the new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage even has an integrated headphone amplifier, which is also constructed in Class A and is directly accessible via a 6.3 mm stereo jack on the front. This allows vinyl lovers to enjoy music at a late hour without having to access additional electronics.

The new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage was already briefly discussed last year – our partner website sempre-audio.at reported – but in the end the development might have taken a little longer than originally planned. However, this solution is now much more flexible than originally and after all available these days.

The phono preamplifier is, how could it be otherwise, offered in three versions. By anodising the aluminium housing, a particularly noble finish is achieved, namely gold, silver and black.

The new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage measures 430 mm in width, 375 mm in depth and 135 mm in height. This means it weighs around 12 kg.

Getting to the point

Building on the success of the Gold Note PH-10 Phono Stage, Gold Note is now expanding its range of phono preamplifiers with a solution that is part of the Gold Note Series 1000 with the new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage. The new Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage is the most advanced phono preamplifier in the world. It is designed to take record music reproduction to a new level of quality and flexibility. And if you want more, there ist still the Gold Note PH-1000 LINE with integrated Class A Dual mono Preamp.

Manufacturer:Gold Note
Distribution:TAD Audiovertrieb GmbH
Price:Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage € 9.600,-
Gold Note PH-1000 LINE € 13.500,-

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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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