stevoz Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 (edited) I took delivery of my new Vincent PHO-8 phono pre amp two days ago now, and while I could 'cut to the chase' and say I just came out of the lounge laughing maniacally with joy at how good 'Crush' off Grace Jones 'Inside Story' LP sounded, well, that would be getting way ahead of myself! Let me settle a bit. First thing I noticed was a higher output, ie: to achieve the same volume as before I didn't need the amp volume up near as high (eg: 15dB instead of 8dB on the reverse scale, I like it loud!) which was nice........ . . . . . . .Oh what the hell, this little gem is a cracker! To say it has taken my analogue system to another level is an understatement. I have tested this beauty with all three of my cartridges (see below), and the improvement is obvious and amazing. Tonight it is my best cart, the Grace F8C's turn and I am beyond happy with what I am hearing. I was previously running a QED Discsaver phono, which I thought lived up to what one review described as "intriguingly musical". It's fine performance did belie it's somewhat low quality appearance. The Vincent on the other hand looks the goods and performs superbly. Refinement of overall sound, more open, airy, increased instrument separation, acoustic guitars and other stringed instruments are astounding, fuller bodied bass, cleaner more defined mid's and high's, IMHO this is an astounding phono stage and a bargain at the price ($359 w/free shipping at AudioTrends atm...I am not affiliated!) NB: It does need some burn in time, for awhile I was thinking 'what the', but once it sweetens up, you will know it! Astounding! I highly recommended for those looking at this price point and above! Apologies for that ridiculously large top pic. Edited April 20, 2016 by stevoz 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okitoki Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 I piced up a lightly used PHO8 last week...and i have to agree with you... nicer than my emotiva at a decent price i paid 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astormsau Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Has anyone compared the Vincent PHO-8 to the Rega Fono? Sounds like there could be some good fun in this price bracket. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Anyone compared it with the MF X-LPS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jebediah Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Nice review, thanks. Would love to give this a run and also it's big brother the 700 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronin6 Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 The amount of times I keep putting this into my cart and then removing has done my head in.... That's a great price, I am so tempted, wish finances were a little more abundant atm Thanks for the review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 Nice review, thanks. Would love to give this a run and also it's big brother the 700 Yes, the PHO-700 looks lovely with it's valve 'window', but I suspect at twice the price, it may not represent the bargain that the PHO-8 is. Still, I'm sure it's brilliant and worth owning as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Has anyone compared the Vincent PHO-8 to the Rega Fono? Sounds like there could be some good fun in this price bracket. I compares favourably with the Rega Fono Mini, I don't know the standard Fono, but I suspect the PHO-8 would be better plus it has MC capability as well. It is well built and uses full sized components, not computer grade surface mount, and OPA37, OPA134 chips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Elliott Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Yep, good little budget Phono pre. Set one up in a mate's system and he's very happy with it. Like nearly all Vincent components I've heard, outstanding performance to price ratio. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Just a quick update on the Vincent pho-8 regarding 'warm up/ burn in'. The first time I turned it on, I left it on for two days to ensure it burned in. It was sounding sweet, so the next night I turned it off. The next day the music sounded less sweet , like it did when I first used it, until about two hours later when it hit the sweet spot again. I have left it on 24/7 ever since. The manual does say in the 'Burn in/Warm up' section, "Higher and homogeneous sound quality is achieved while keeping the device switched on." I now realise they meant perpetually........not just during first time operation, result being......it still sounds sweet! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 Thread update.......... It's nearly a year later and I am still in love with the PHO-8........BUT, yes there is a but and I thought I'd fill you all in on my experience. IT BROKE!! I was noticing the left channel was fading/dropping out occasionally and on checking, found the L input on the Vincent was a bit faulty and 'wiggling' the plug a little bit returned it to full sound/output. Unfortunately this was always short term and it continued to 'drop out'. I checked the invoice and found I had about two weeks left on the warranty, contacted Audiotrends who told me to send it to Filatronics in Melbourne for checking and repair. To cut a long story short, after consulting with Vincent they replaced the RCA inputs under warranty, returned it and it is functioning perfectly and sounding beautiful again. Interestingly, they wrote on their summary that the RCA inputs had failed due to 'wear'.....well, that 'wear' involved initially fitting the leads and letting them and the unit sit undisturbed for nearly a year! Hardly 'wear and tear' but I suppose they needed to come up with something. Anyway, all is now well, I am happy and I have no urge to change from the Vincent. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Happy endings are always good to hear Steve, especialy when it concerns something a few of us have and are happy with them 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okitoki Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Mine was a dogy PSU power connector between psu and pp. Local tech made me a new cable and up and running again 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chigurh Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 I bought one of these a while ago and used it for a short time until I upgraded to an amp with an excellent phono stage. It always sounded really nice once it was warmed up so I just left it on most of the time. One of the white LEDs would fail after a while seemingly not affecting the sound at ll. I probably should have sent it back but I never got around to it. It just makes me think that perhaps the build quality is slightly dodgy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rantan Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 3 minutes ago, Chigurh said: I probably should have sent it back but I never got around to it. It just makes me think that perhaps the build quality is slightly dodgy. The strong impression I am getting from this thread is that the PHO-8 is a decent performer but not exactly the last word in reliability or build quality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Chigurh said: I bought one of these a while ago and used it for a short time until I upgraded to an amp with an excellent phono stage. It always sounded really nice once it was warmed up so I just left it on most of the time. One of the white LEDs would fail after a while seemingly not affecting the sound at ll. I probably should have sent it back but I never got around to it. It just makes me think that perhaps the build quality is slightly dodgy. I leave mine on 24/7 and it always sounds sweet. The manual basically instructs this but the translation makes it less than clear. 33 minutes ago, rantan said: The strong impression I am getting from this thread is that the PHO-8 is a decent performer but not exactly the last word in reliability or build quality I hope not but it seems we've all (except Grumpy) had some form of issue, albeit minor, so maybe. Fingers crossed. While it sounds this great, I'm prepared to be patient and optimistic. Edited May 13, 2017 by stevoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okitoki Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Well... i did buy it second hand from ebay... For the price ive paid for it... it was a great upgrade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppaul Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 I've not had any issues with my PHO8 it's used around 6-10hrs weekly, (over 12 months now too) I've never felt the need to upgrade it, I'm happy with the way my system sounds RAWK \m/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 3 minutes ago, ppaul said: I've not had any issues with my PHO8 it's used around 6-10hrs weekly, (over 12 months now too) I've never felt the need to upgrade it, I'm happy with the way my system sounds RAWK \m/ Do you leave it on all the time? It's recommended in the manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppaul Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 No, just turn it on when required Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 1 hour ago, ppaul said: No, just turn it on when required As long as your happy but I find it has a warm up period of approx 1-2 hrs before it sounds optimal, so I leave it on 24/7. The manual does recommend this, although as I said in an earlier post, the manuals explanation gets lost in translation somewhat......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jebediah Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 This is also recommended by Graham Slee. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 I play vinyl every day and the PHO8 is **** hot. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spider Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 German company...made over there? (shocked by the QC if it is!) Seems to be good local support/techs around here for repairing everyone's little issues! Just read that all Rega amps (brio/elex/Elicit) have Rega mini quality phono stages (and I went out and sold my Rega MM phone after buying my Elex-R amp thinking I was doubling up). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Misterioso Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 5 minutes ago, spider™ said: German company...made over there? Is this a serious question? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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