VIOLECTRIC PPA V790 PHONOSTAGE REVIEW

Violectric PPA V790 Phonostage is a well-featured phono preamplifier that offers a solution for those using Moving Magnet or Moving Coil cartridges, those looking for different EQ curves, and, with its multiple inputs, those with more than one tonearm. Janine Elliot takes a listen for HiFi PiG.

As a musician, I have heard about Violectric products for the music industry, many of which appear on online music sales sites such as Thomann. This is a German company set up in 2009, a sub-brand of Lake People, which are a producer of professional audio equipment such as studio headphone amplifiers. Lake People was set up in 1986 and both names are based in Constance, Germany. All development and production is done there, and the name “Lake People” is inspired by the nearby Lake Constance.  Both are the creations of chief engineer and CEO Fried Reim. They also operate the ‘Niimbus’ brand which is represented by a high-end headphone amplifier (the US5 and US5 PRO). The first products from Violectric were headphone amps; the Violectric V200 which was an advancement of the almost identical-looking Violectric V100, which in turn was based on the Lake People G100 professional headphone amplifier. The £3490 PPA V790 phono-stage up for review here was launched in 2021. This might not be a brand-new model, but wow, it’s a product I wish I had heard of much earlier. 

BUILD QUALITY AND FEATURES OF VIOLECTRIC PPA V790 PHONOSTAGE

This is a full-feature MM and MC phonostage. Not only will it work well with any cartridge, but it will also work with nearly any type of record, having a selector for LP-Columbia and NAB EQ’d records, and the conventional RIAA. When records are cut the bass frequencies are reduced and top frequencies boosted so that information can go onto the grooves, and then EQ’d in the phono-stage to get it back to normal “flat” response. Whilst there have been over a dozen different EQs in the past, the most common today is RIAA, which is the default setting on this machine. This phono-stage has more features per inch than any I’ve seen. There are no less than 6 inputs (three unbalanced and three balanced XLR) and both balanced and unbalanced outputs. The PPA V790 doesn’t have conventional switches or buttons or even inconvenient dipswitches to select your cartridge setting, it simply has up and down buttons and lots of LEDs (37 in total) to select the correct impedance or capacitance plus gain and boost. What’s more, when you have selected the correct ohm or pF and gain level, it will memorize it for the next time you turn on your record deck. Now, I might have more than six turntables in my house, but I certainly don’t have them all sitting next to each other on my rack, but if I was able to fit two or three arms on my turntable with totally different cartridges then this would be a really good phono-stage to have. 

Whilst it is great having all these settings available to me, I found with the sample machine that after a few seconds all LEDs went out apart from the input selection LED. However, Violectric has thought of everything, offering three settings so that I can have all the information visible some of the time or all the time. To have them on all the time you need it selected to “mode 0”, which is what I wanted. In “mode 1” and “2” when you press the input selector it will illuminate the settings for 7 seconds or 15 seconds respectively, and if you press any other up/down button it will illuminate everything for 15 or 30 seconds. So, everyone will be happy, especially those who think that permanent LEDs affect the sound quality.

Those settings include from left to right; the input selector, impedance, capacity, gain, EQ, subsonic (20Hz) filter and boost. The input selector has 6 inputs (balanced 1-3, unbalanced 4-6). I used selector 4. Next is impedance. MM cartridges should be selected to 47KΩ and MC have a selection from 10-1000ohm. I selected 250ohm for my Audio Technica AT33sa cartridge to get a brighter sound than 100Ω, which is what I used for my Ortofon Kontrapunkt b. Next is capacitance in pF. This is only for moving magnet cartridges, and the 8 selections go from 22-1000pF. Gain is next with a range from +30 to +66dB with a mute LED if it overloads. The EQ button selects LP, NAB and RIAA, the three most common record equalisation settings, with a subsonic 20Hz high pass/rumble filter placed beneath this, which worked well when I tried it. Lastly is the boost circuitry to give it all an additional 6 or 12dB gain if the main gain control is not enough.

All plugs at the rear are gold-plated and well-made. There are 3 XLR Neutrik balanced and 3 RCA inputs and a balanced and unbalanced output. There is also a single earthing connector from your turntable. If you connect 6 turntables, just be careful how you daisy-chain all these up! The circuitry uses a DC-coupled signal path, with high-quality OP-Amps and MKP capacitors. There is a 0.2dB accuracy in the RIAA EQ, giving a highly accurate rendition of my records. The power supply is built-in and uses a toroidal transformer, making for hum-free and very quiet operation.

Finally, the front panel is 8mm black anodized aluminium, laser engraved, and the unit comes with two instruction books, both well written, especially the “Users Manual”, so you can’t fail to know how to set it up.

SOUND QUALITY

This is a very complex processor-controlled SS device when compared to my 6922/7044 valve Manley Steelhead phono-stage. These are as different as chalk and cheese. My Manley is very forgiving and highly musical and as such I can listen to it for hours. I thought I wouldn’t be able to say the same with the Violectric but I was so wrong. It might be lightning-fast and clinical in terms of retrieval of the music, but I found myself compelled to listen to the music for hours and hours. The dynamic range was excellent with great extension in the top frequencies. Miles Davis Quintet ‘Freedom Jazz Dance’ LP side F had excellent separation of the musicians with pin-sharp cymbals. Indeed, both channel circuits are completely separated in order to obtain optimum crosstalk rejection. The music was highly engaging and more 8K than my Plasma 2k Manley. Musicality was good, though not quite the up to the Manley. Pink Floyd’s ‘The Division Bell’ had extreme detail, particularly the top frequencies, especially when I set the impedance at 250ohm. The Violectric has more settings than my Manley, and I tried not only the MC Audio Technica 33sa but also my Ortofon Kontrupunkt b moving coil and also Ortofon VMS20e and Shure V15iv moving magnets. It was easy to select the ideal setting. In all of these, the Pink Floyd was highly detailed and with excellent noise floor, though I did find it sounding a little gritty at times. That detail could sometimes take over the musicality. 

Bartók’s Konzert fur Orchester is a brilliant work to test out the phonostage. This work, played by the Philadelphia Orchestra, starts with a mysterious opening like a foggy morning in the countryside, all sounding weak and sad. Indeed, Bartók wrote this work after suffering a fever and being very weak, having left Hungary and leaving for to America. This disease turned out to be Leukemia, turning his life into a long battle for survival. The V790 performs this work brilliantly; plenty of reserves when needed and still with a sensitivity that many more expensive phono-stages yearn for. Brass bursts are powerful and violin melodies are played with a sensitivity that keeps you wanting to listen to more of the music, even if Bartók isn’t your cup of tea. This album was an early digitally recorded LP recorded using the Soundstream system sampling at 50kHz/16bit. Soundstream manufactured 18 digital recorders over the years renting them out to record companies, nearly all very successful albums, particularly on the Telarc label.

Not only was the top-end clear and quick with this phonostage, but the lower frequencies were equally detailed and precise. Pat Metheny’s ‘Road to the Sun’ is an excellent album of guitar music from the jazz legend. Performed by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet the music had extremely good bass especially the 7-string guitar played by John Dearman. Indeed, there was excellent clarity across the whole frequency response, with lots of space between the instruments. The preamp had all the detail and sensitivity you would hope for but also very quiet electronics and plenty of amplification in reserve for those ultra quiet MCs. Side D of this 2-record set is Pat Metheny playing a 42 string guitar. Yes, 42 strings in a highly unusual-looking, almost Photoshop-drawn, guitar. Again, this recording of Arvo Pärt’s ‘Fü​r Alina’ has extreme depth and clarity. The silences and meditations in the music were crystal clear and made listening to the work a great pleasure.

Finally, to the new Yes double album ‘Mirror to the Sky’. Side 2 is my favourite. Everything was there in the right places from the guitars to the vocals, keys and drums. It only slightly lacked the energy I get from the Manley, but the cymbals were so pin-sharp that you could almost touch them. The soundstage was excellent, wider than the positions of the speakers, and the guitars were so clear that you could easily hear the harmonics and mechanical noise. 

QUIBBLES

At £3490 it is not an entry-line product, but to be honest I couldn’t find any quibbles even at this price. I just prefer knobs to up/down buttons, but as you only need to set them up once that should be no bother. There is no externally accessible fuse. According to the instructions you need to get inside the box and unsolder it.

CONCLUSION

All in all, I really felt the Violectric was very special in operation, and indeed well above my expectations with all its LEDs. The electronics inside this really clever box work a treat, from the lowest frequencies to those only bats can hear. This is also a very quiet unit, and you really had to put your ears to the speakers to hear any noise. You know, if I didn’t already have my phono-stage, I might even put my hands in my purse and buy one, now that really is a good review.

AT A GLANCE 

Build Quality and Features:

Excellent sockets

Overall this is a well-built and designed unit

Lots of adaptability for lots of different cartridges and EQ curves

Sound Quality:

Well-extended bass and pin-sharp top-end

A very quiet phono-stage

Value For Money:

£3490 gets you a lot of music per pound, so it is highly recommended if you have the need for such a sophisticated player

We Loved:

Bass extension

Features

Quiet in operation

Distortion-free top end

The user manual has enough information to do a degree!

We Didn’t Love So Much:

Some might prefer lots of old-fashioned knobs

Elevator Pitch Review: Violectric might be a relatively new name to many in the UK, but this German company is part of Lake People, which has been producing equipment for the pro-audio industry since 1986. Want a fully featured phonostage that will work well with just about every cartridge and record, then this RIAA/LP/NAB compatible box might be all you should ever need. It also sounds mightily good.

Price: £3490

Janine Elliot

SUPPLIED BY ELECTROMOD

Pre-Audio GL-1102N/Audio Technica AT33sa (turntable/cartridge), Townshend Rock 7/Rega RB300/Ortofon Kontrapunkt b, Michell Transcriptors Hydraulic Reference/SME/Shure V15iv and Ortofon VMS20e (turntables); Music First Audio Baby Reference pre-amp/Synthesis Roma 98DC (amplification); Esprit, Ecosse and Townshend cables, Coppice Audio stand and Townshend rack.

SUPPLIED SPECIFICATION

3 Balanced stereo cartridge inputs via XLR

3 unbalanced stereo cartridge inputs via RCA

7 selectable impedances from 10-1000 ohm for MC cartridges (10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1k); 47kohm for MM

8 selectable capacities from 22-1000pF for MM cartridges (22, 47, 100, 150, 220, 330, 470, 1k)

7 gain steps from +30 to +66dB (30, 36, 42, 48, 54, 60, 66)

Clip indication to visualise incorrect operation

3 EQ filters; RIAA, NAB, Columbia-LP

20Hz Switchable subsonic filter

Triple-boost circuitry to increase o/p 0dB, +6dB and +12dB

EQ deviation; 0.2dB RIAA

Frequency response; 3Hz-85/60kHZ @Gain 30/60dB

Noise 1kohm -128/-131dB @ Gain 30/60

Overall dimensions; 290 x 90 x 254 mm