Decca DDV2120

Advantages: Superb sound quality
Disadvantages: hard to find

..., dynamics and signal-to-noise ratio. While Audible Illusions' decision to incorporate a hybrid moving-coil phono stage in the Modulus might raise the hackles of the tube purist, doing so has resulted in a device with an imperceptibly low noise floor. Indeed, even at high volume, the only "hiss" emerging from the 3A's phono stage was that which originated on the analogue master tape itself. Perhaps owing to its extremely high gain, the 3A's low-output moving-coil phono stage possessed dynamics of a superior sort, both on a micro and macro scale. Dynamic contrasts on the finest of analogue LPs (a list of which must surely include the brilliant Decca reissues, as well as many members of the Classic Records and Analogue Productions catalogue) oft-times startled in their uncanny imitation of life. The 3A's faithful depiction of the abrupt pianissimo... Read review

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