2026 Awards – Phono Stage over £5k

While Vertere’s Phono 1 MkII pairs well with the British brand’s DG-1S turntable and more traditional versions of the MG-1 MkII, it is less suitable for the higher-spec decks in its arsenal. This is where the next-level Calon comes in. 

At face value, it appears almost austere; it’s simply a single input, moving magnet and moving coil phono stage. However, it offers adjustable gain and loading, and it sports both balanced and unbalanced outputs. But distinguishing it from other phono stages is its application of gain to the signal before processing the RIAA curve, which, Vertere says, avoids any under- or overcorrection that would result in significantly greater deviation from the theoretical ideal. The RIAA can therefore be applied to the amplified signal before and after the EQ stage.

Ultimate transparency

The craftsmanship evident in the Calon’s construction, alongside the tactility of the controls, implies that this may be the last phono stage you ever need to purchase. And so does the performance. The fact that the Calon is utterly silent when idling is immensely appealing, and that discretion is even more impressive in how little the Calon contributes of itself when playing music. “There’s no hint of embellishment or overemphasis,” remarks Ed Selley in his review. “The effect is to simply draw your attention to the music without any discernible sense of Calon’s involvement.”

While its reluctance to showboat may initially come across as sonic restraint, or even reticence, it soon becomes clear that, in a system where the desired balance is achieved, the Calon offers the rare and highly alluring opportunity to enhance performance without altering the overall experience.

Reviewed in Issue 240

Vertere Acoustics • vertereacoustics.com

Read more Vertere reviews here

Can a single-box phono stage design that is still priced in the four-figure range truly be considered the ultimate statement device? After going twelve rounds with the Ensemble Massimo Fonobrio, reviewer Eric van Spelde can answer that with a resounding “yes”. Urs Wagner, the driving force behind the Swiss company, has maxed out his Fonobrio design to a point at which he cannot think of anything to improve further, and the result is a component that Eric believes, without doubt or reservation, is reference-grade.

The Ensemble Massimo Fonobrio’s technical highlights include double-laminated, dual mono circuit boards with dielectric properties supposedly six times better than those typically used even in highly expensive devices, direct-coupled (capacitor-free) outputs, fourfold optimisation of the circuits to achieve the best possible operating point, and a mechanically isolated and extensively shielded design throughout. Ensemble states that RIAA correction is accurate to within ±0.2 dB between 100Hz and 16kHz, with the signal-to-noise ratio further enhanced to 80 dB. Those are impressive figures that indeed yield an impressive performance.

Invisibly transparent

“The Ensemble is a precision instrument, as you would expect from a highly developed, transistor-based amplifier designed and manufactured in Switzerland,” says Eric. “However, it is far from being an antiseptic, dull, mere reproduction device. It is [also] emotionally intense.” Ultimately, the Massimo Fonobrio, with its sheer levels of transparency, serves as a blank canvas for any music played through it, to the point that “it almost feels as if it isn’t there at all”. It’s little wonder Eric signs off his review calling the phono stage a “must listen”.

Reviewed in Issue 249

Ensemble • ensembleaudio.com

Read more Ensemble reviews here