Fluance PA10 vs Ifi Zen

Fluence has released their first phono preamp, the $80 PA10. The wood grain is unique and the rumble filter is rare in this price range, but I'm not o...

The price is phenomenal for the performance, versatility, and build quality. If you're trying to build a moonshot audiophile system, you're probably going to have to up the price and get something more powerful, but for $149 you're going to listen to this thing and wish you had bought it sooner, trust me.

I auditioned this preamp along with an Emotiva Xps-1 and the Ifi Zen Air model. This one has no punch to it. Compared to the other 2 it makes the music sound lifeless. Hi's are veiled, midrange is ok and bass is not punchy

So finally settled on the much more affordable Ifi Zen phono. I was blown away. Great sound, no distortion, clean spectral, Extremely flat frequency response. Everything youd want in your signal path

Deducted one star. I purchased a Fluance TR83 Turntable along with a set of Fluance Ai61 powered speakers. The system is fabulous. Initially, I also purchased the Fluance PA10 Hi-Fi Phono Preamp

It still has a lot of details, but that's its character. If you expect upfront jumping at you sound, you will not get that, at least out of the box. B...

Overall the PA10 created an excellent immersive soundstage. with no audible hum of any kind which suggests that it’s well-insulated. I listened to Jazz, Rock, Metal, Classical, New Wave, and Pop music with this preamp and the Fluance PA10 impressed me every time. What you need to know and possible caveats : It has a subsonic filter which is awesome at this price range, and works with Moving Magnet cartridges ONLY

.night and day. The sound was open, crisp and detailed with a bigger soundstage and firm, quick bottom end, and sounded so much cleaner and clear

On the output side of the preamp, you've got 38 dB coming out for gain. The result of designing the PA-10 in this way is we get 38 dB out gain on the ...

The reason I gave it only 4 stars is because the moving magnet cartridge setting of only 36db gain is too low, IMO. The only time that it matters is when you want to crank up the volume. I have to turn my amp up to at least 90% which is a bit much. I tried the MC high setting of 48db with my 4mv output cartridge and got popping and distortion during hot sections of the recordings