The Limetree PHONO is our statement for all vinyl friends. A high-grade preamp for your pickup cartridge.
Using the latest technologies and parts we reanimated a circuit design from the tube amp era. The result is absolutely worth listening to!
Look forward to an exceptional sound experience!
The Limetree PHONO has two discrete input stages which are perfectly tuned for the respective pickupt type. This ensures maximum sound quality with MM and MC cartridges.
Installation is as easy as 1-2-3: simply plug in and you’re ready to go. Only for MC there is a variable setting of the input impedance between 100 and 800 ohms.
The measured values of the PHONO are exceptionally good all the way. Noise and distortion figures are close to the resolution limit.
To put it briefly: sound quality and technology of this amplifier play in a class of their own. Rediscover your LPs!
The Limetree PHONO falls back on a circuit design from the classic tube amp era. But this concept is a completely new reinterpretation using the latest technologies and components.
The dual-stage circuitry with a passive RIAA equalization network uses the best J-FET amplifiers, which are currently available, and ultra precision resistors and capacitors from Japan. To amplify the MC signals we use a professional studio amplifier, which is normally used as a microphone preamp for recordings.
The purely passive equalization has a significant advantage: the distortions in the bass range are much lower than with the usually applied circuits.
As power supply we use a “medical grade“ wall plug transformer which ensures a particularly good isolation from . Together with the elaborated onboard filtering and special voltage regulators, we were able to realize an exceptionally low-noise power supply with a ripple voltage below 10 µV.
Measurement conditions: 22 °C, 230 V mains voltage, Audio Precision AP272
Power consumption: 0.15 W standby, 0.8 W MM, 1.0 W M
Dimensions (W x H x D): 107 x 40 x 130 mm (4.2 x 1.6 x 5.1 in)
Weight: 295 g (10.4 oz)
Input MM: RCA unbalanced, 47 kOhms/220 pF
Input MC: RCA balanced, switchable 100-800 ohms
Gain MM: 40 dB
Gain MC: 60 dB
Equalization: RIAA curve, overall deviation + 0 dB, – 0.5 dB
Distortions: <0.001 % (at 0.5 V output)
S/N ratio MM: >82 dBV (A-weighted, 600 ohms termination)
S/N ratio MC: >78 dBV (A-weighted, 40 ohms termination)
