Vincent - PHO-700 - Phono MM/MC - with Outboard Power Supply (Silver)

Loved this phono-stage but after a short period it completely died. I haven't been able to use it since, I reached out to customer support and sent in a video of how is sounds now and never heard back. Now its basically a good looking brick.

Ultimately, one has to hear audio gear for oneself. I took a punt on this and was disappointed. There is definitely a tube coloration, which was in itself not bad; the net output sounded warmer. However, there is an ever-present hum that I could not eliminate despite attempting all the usual tricks. I switched back to my old Parasound ZPhono, and the hum was totally gone. So how does one explain my utter negativity when compared with the other reviews? There could two explanations. Firstly, tubes are finicky things. However, this does not fly in my case because my rig eliminates all forms of electric interference. I have put a lot of effort into isolation. So, the second explanation is more plausible. I suspect that the problem with the Vincents is poor quality control. These are Chinese made critters, and when the tube well is lit up, you get hit with "China." I would imagine that the production facility for these units compromised qc for price. In any case, I can not recommend this thing at all. The Parasounds are much better, and I am hearing wonderful things about the even cheaper Schiit Mani.

Awesome! Beautiful and the sound is as good as it can be. How much more would you have to spend for improvement? But I like this sound. It is very quiet. All the details, great soundstage, mind-blowing headroom and tube warmth. MM and MC. Bigger in size than the Vincent PHO-8.

With the stock Chinese tube, the sound was mediocre, lacking in air and slam. I tried 4 different tubes, a new JJ (Tesla), a NOS Telefunken, a 1950s Mullard and a vintage RFT tube, and they all transform the Vincent into a nice sounding preamp, even though each one has a different sound signature. The RFT is my favorite. As a strictly MM preamp and with the right tube, the Vincent is good. Better than the lower priced Schiit Mani (and it should be since it costs more) and close to the Lehman Black Box statement for MM (the Lehman is much better in MC mode). The Vincent however gives you the ability to roll tubes (even though swapping tubes is a pain) which is a LOT of fun. PS: The Pho-700 sounds better than the Pho-701 in MM mode. Borrowed the 701 from a friend and was disappointed (even with the same RFT tube).

It's a hum fest. The picture is of an audio spectrogram with nothing running through the phono channel except the Vincent amplifier, by itself, with the turntable turned OFF and peaks from my Pink Noise test in yellow. The only sound being produced is the HUM from the Vincent. You are basically looking at a snap shot of Vincent's version of "quiet". Truly pathetic. I just sold an all tube amp that was quieter than this excuse for a preamp. If you want that kind of noise in your signal chain, by all means buy this thing.