Phasemation has a range of phonostages, with the EA-320 being a handsome sweet spot.
From a six-box phonostage to highly engineered MC cartridges.
Every time a new brand joins us, it's Christmas at Upscale Audio. We love gathering over early demo units, listening, poking, prodding, arguing about how it sounds and how it fits into our line-up.
The latest hi-fi jewel to join us is Phasemation, a high-end electronics manufacturer from Japan. Phasemation's history dates back to 1970, when Kyodo Denshi Systems was established as an electronic measurement instrument company. In the 1990s the company began making a moving coil step-up transformer, and a DAC for institutional use, so it wasn't long before the pivot to high-end audio. Under the brand Phase Tech, the company started making cartridges, CD transports, tube phonostages, and, by 2007, preamps and amps.
This deep expertise in engineering resulted in a design philosophy that focused on phase accuracy, and a realistic, expansive soundstage. Phasemation products thread the line between a warm, romantic presentation, and a hyperdetailed, analytical sound.
Listeners seem to agree that Phasemation doesn't shout out its presence; rather, it exhibits a masterful restraint. Like a lot of high-end Japanese hi-fi it is well-suited to jazz, classical, acoustic music, and any vocal-centric tracks.
The Phasemation SA-1500 is a 9 W class-A SET integrated with 300B tubes.
The star of Phasemation's line-up is an amazing six-box phonostage. Bringing the notion of separates to a whole new location in your signal chain, the EA-2000 features, for each channel, a passive step-up transformer, equalizer (RIAA, Decca, Columbia), and power supply. Further down the phonostage line is the two-box EA-550 ($8,675), the beautiful single-box EA-320 ($3,675), and the very affordable EA-220 at $1,975.
There is also a three-step range of step-up transformers from $11,975 to $895, and to match, a range of moving-coil cartridges in the $6,595 to $1,495 range. Even the entry-level PP-200 cartridge uses neodymium magnets, boron cantilever and diamond stylus, in a body carved from duralumin and machined aluminum. That's pretty amazing for a sub-$1,500 cartridge. Look for more in these in the near future.
An Audiophile Holy Trinity
For some of us, the highlight of Phasemation's products is the SA-1500 integrated amplifier and its 300B power amps. The SA-1500 is a 9 W class-A SET, using two 6SN7 and two 300B tubes in a dual-mono configuration. Combine SET, 300B, and high-end Japanese design and you have one of the most desirable amplifiers in the world.
We were able to experience Phasemation's 300B magic with their MA-1500 and MA-2000 power amps, and our product manager Ash N. was hugely impressed with the dimensionality of the imaging and the impressive soundstage, especially the height. "I have heard many different 300B single-ended triodes," he says, "and this is just magical. It's as good as SET can get."