Following the success of their turntables, MoFi Electronics has launched a special edition of their flagship UltraDeck. Last year they even launched speakers, so is the next one going to be an amplifier?
Almost. The MoFi MasterPhono is a preamplifier for turntables, an RIAA or phono stage if you will.
It handles both moving magnet and moving coil pickups and is designed to be used with MC pickups that have abnormally low output voltage without causing annoying noise.
The MasterPhono was not designed by the recently deceased Tim de Paravicini of EAR Yoshino, as the other two phono stages from MoFi are. Instead, MoFi turned to the legendary Peter Madnick, who previously founded the best DAC company at the time, Audio Alchemy, and has worked for ELAC and Constellation, among many others.
He has given the MasterPhono three inputs, one of which is customised for MCs with low output voltage, and there are a total of 10 selectable load impedance settings, from 15 to 47 k Ohm. There is also an additional input for special impedance customisation.
Gain can be adjusted in four steps from 40 to 70 dB and the VU meters can be used to show if the pick-up is correctly calibrated.
There is also a USB input for updating software when necessary and available.
MasterPhono should be on sale during the summer; the price is estimated at 5000 USD and places MasterPhono directly into the high-end sphere, with Rega Aura MC and Gryphon Sonett.
