Transimpedance phono- Van Den Hul - The Grail

L

Limberpine

Anybody else ever heard one of these or played around with a transimpedance phono stage?

I had to do a TON of work to buy this from a guy in Germany, including sourcing a person over there to procure it and then package it for shipping!

1 month after purchase it arrives.......

Simply put, it is a profound piece of gear.

If you want to tamp down noise coming from the vinyl it's the bees knees. Surface noise, pop, clicks, all of it, muted or reduced to little sounds in the background.

It also delivers some of the darkest backgrounds I've experienced on vinyl. With which the dynamics and the soundstage stand out right in front of you.

I am in awe.

So much so that I'm afraid to see how my digital setup compares, for fear of having to upgrade my DAC again.

I'm running it direct into the power amp and loving it.

Curious to hear what others, if any, experiences have been with transimpedance phono stages.

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L

Limberpine

Wntrmute2 said:
Was this purchase direct from Van De Hul or a second hand unit? Surprised that the purchase was so difficult.
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Second-hand unit. LOTS of rules and red tape sending something from Germany. There are weight restrictions and value restrictions on what can be sent from a personal person out of Germany to the US, as well as they always seem to be on Holiday, so the shipping locations are closed those days too.
 
analog.distractions

analog.distractions

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I’ve been using a Sutherland TZ Vibe with a Dynavector 20x2l for a little over a year. It’s far down market from the VDH but I second your assessment on the transimpedance design. Super quiet with excellent sound-staging and dynamics. I also love the simplicity. As long as you find the right cartridge it’s plug-n-play with it always being on and only high-med-low gain for settings. What cart are you pairing with it?
 
L

Limberpine

analog.distractions said:
I’ve been using a Sutherland TZ Vibe with a Dynavector 20x2l for a little over a year. It’s far down market from the VDH but I second your assessment on the transimpedance design. Super quiet with excellent sound-staging and dynamics. I also love the simplicity. As long as you find the right cartridge it’s plug-n-play with it always being on and only high-med-low gain for settings. What cart are you pairing with it?
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I'm pairing it with a Denon 103 re-tipped by Soundsmsith with the Ruby Cantilever / Optimized Contour Nude Contact Line Diamond stylus.

I was going to get a Sutherland, but the price of the VDH ended up being precipitously better than a Sutherland Little Loco mk2, so I jumped at the chance to get it.
 
D

Derek Nicholls

Hi, I have had two transimpedance phono amps, one from Dynavector, the other a Sakura clone with upgraded parts. the problem with them is you are limited to the carts that can be used with them. I now use a HypnoToad AD797 phono amp, which does not have that restiction & sounds better than both of them

Cheers
 
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