AUDIO HUNGARY QUALITON PHONO PREAMPLIFIER - PREVIEW
Qualiton Phono Preamplifier
Audio Hungary made quite an impression on us with their X200 tubed integrated amplifier. We were eager to hear more of the company’s products. The Qualiton tubed phono stage arrived to satisfy that desire. Our review unit came smartly finished in polished stainless steel, and features an outboard power supply. The unit retails for $5000.
The tube compliment consists of 4 x ECC83; 2 x E88CC NOS, hand chosen by Audio Hungary. A Moving Magnet card is installed by default, and an option Moving Coil card can be installed either by the user, or at the factory. Ours had the MC card preinstalled. According to Audio Hungary, the preamp should work with virtually any cartridge.
A full review is in the works, but a a teaser, we can say that the Qualiton phono stage elevates vinyl playback with its holographic presentation, impeccable timing, and it’s wide soundstage. We found ourselves creating stacks of records across numerous genres to play through through the Qualiton, and we rediscovered some buried gems, and also enjoyed many new pressings of classic recordings. We even had a few new all analog records to play. Stay tuned for a full review of this solidly built, silky sounding phono stage.
