![]() It uses high-quality parts like TKD COG ceramic capacitors, Panasonic ECPU capacitors, and custom OV Series Op Amps throughout with a focus on a low noise floor and low distortion. You normally don’t find this design in the more affordable audio products. Suffice it to say that this phono stage is a balanced symmetrical dual-mono design. I cannot remember the last time so much technical information was available on a component at ANY price, much less one that only costs $150. The amount of information I found when I researched this component surprised me. That’s affordable audio! I have a pair of RCA jacks that cost more than that! ZEN Phono Stage Details This team produced this affordable, fully balanced, and ultra-low noise phono stage that sells for a mere $150. I was even more intrigued when I learned that John Curl was a consultant on the design and worked with the iFi technical team headed by Thorsten Loesch. However, iFi really piqued my interest when they released their latest offering to the vinyl community, the ZEN Phono stage. Review: iFi Pro iCAN Headphone Amplifier.In fact, their new DAC has gotten some favorable press recently, and you may have seen these reviews of other iFi products on our website recently: Since then, iFi has expanded and offers home audio components. iFi was originally conceived to deliver portable and desktop audio products intended to address the growing trend of computer-based audio. Born in England in 2012, iFi is the sister brand of Abbingdon Music Research (AMR) based in Southport, UK. ![]() IFi Audio is now on my list of companies with affordable audio products that sound good. If you are an audio lover, these high-value products enable you to assemble a particularly good-sounding system at a reasonable price. I’m referring to high-value products from companies like Elac, Schiit Audio, Orchard Audio, Dali, NAD, Rega. I’ve been in the audio industry for 40 plus years, and I cannot remember another time when you could get so much sound for your audio dollar as you can right now. While I do understand that readers can feel this way, there is another trend of affordable audio that I have noticed over the last five years or so that I think counters this thinking. I can see why readers get the impression that you need to be a lottery winner to afford good sound. Admittedly, however, the trend in our industry of offering components for five and six figures has grown. The ever-increasing price of high-end audio equipment is a common complaint I get from readers time and time again, but there is such a thing as affordable audio.
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