Ray Samuels Audio F-117 Nighthawk Phono Stage

[shaizada]

REVIEW: Ray Samuels Audio F-117 Nighthawk Phono Stage

Hey Guys,

Looks like the first pro review has been posted at Enjoy The Music by Wayne Donnelly. Check it out:

Ray Samuels F-117 Nighthawk MC/MM Phono Preamplifier A real game changer in phonostage preamplification. Review By Wayne Donnelly

Glad to see Ray getting some mainstream exposure on this unit. Congrats Ray! You deserve it for the hard work you put into it. :clapping:

 

[odyssey]

Terriffic. Have to get one

 

[Sidharth Trehan]

We dont hv to read the review, G has already shoved it up our throats since long and we trust this bugger brother of our. And well it has ur stamping too.

 

[anm]

shaizada - congrats on your new purchase. Sounds like you have another gem up your.... sleeve.

 

[mahiruha]

Thank Shaizada for the pointer. At some point I definitely want to have a SS phono stage. This one seems to be the ideal candidate. Btw it is mentioned that it has a gain range of 40db to 74db. Can it be used with Cartridge output greater than 1mv. Although I see it has load option of 47Kohm so I guess it is also meant to work with moving magnet cartridges.
Thanks.

 

[shaizada]

Thank Shaizada for the pointer. At some point I definitely want to have a SS phono stage. This one seems to be the ideal candidate. Btw it is mentioned that it has a gain range of 40db to 74db. Can it be used with Cartridge output greater than 1mv. Although I see it has load option of 47Kohm so I guess it is also meant to work with moving magnet cartridges.
Thanks.

It will be perfectly fine with 1mv or greater MM cartridges. No problem.

Also, remember, if you want even MORE flexibility and damn good sound quality, there is the Musical Surroundings Phonomena I have in Delhi with Mr. Kamal as well.

That item is much easier to sell in the US, but there is an over abundance of pre owned equipment here. I really want a good Indian audiophile family for this piece so I sent it to India anyways. I don't buy stuff that sounds mediocre so you can BET it has my stamp of approval. For the price it CANNOT be beat at all AND you get almost unlimited flexibility with any cartridges you choose down the line....MM, Low Output MC, Medium Output MC, High Output MC, Moving Iron...whatever

Contact Kamal ji in Delhi if you want to hear it/buy it etc.

 

[square_wave]

Lovely review.

This phono stage is on my radar when I move into Vinyl again.

Thanks Shaizada.

 

[mahiruha]

It will be perfectly fine with 1mv or greater MM cartridges. No problem.

Also, remember, if you want even MORE flexibility and damn good sound quality, there is the Musical Surroundings Phonomena I have in Delhi with Mr. Kamal as well.

That item is much easier to sell in the US, but there is an over abundance of pre owned equipment here. I really want a good Indian audiophile family for this piece so I sent it to India anyways. I don't buy stuff that sounds mediocre so you can BET it has my stamp of approval. For the price it CANNOT be beat at all AND you get almost unlimited flexibility with any cartridges you choose down the line....MM, Low Output MC, Medium Output MC, High Output MC, Moving Iron...whatever

Contact Kamal ji in Delhi if you want to hear it/buy it etc.

Hi Shaizada,
currently I am in the process of modifying by present tube amp by adding a step up transformer and some better telefunken tubes. Let me see how it goes after this experimentation I will go for a solid state phono stage. This Musical Surroundings Phonomena I is also very good but it has too many options to play with. For a beginner like me it can be bit too complicated. I can see it has adjustable capacitance. What is role of varying capacitance in sound reproduction from a cartridge?Is your unit battery operated?
Thanks.

 

[shaizada]

Hey buddy,

First off, the Musical Surrounding Phonomena is NOT at all complicated. You pick your settings and it is a one minute change (scratch that...it's a 25 second change including taking the top off). It is actually BABY simple and that is something I LOVED about it.

Adjustable capacitance is only used for Moving Magnet cartridges. Most of them are good with around 200 to 250pf, but this phono stage lets you adjust that for a small number of fussy MM cartridges that might need other settings. 95% of carts will be fine between 200 and 250pf. Moving Coil cartridges don't care about capacitance and it has NO EFFECT on them.

A battery supply would improve the sound of this amp further, but that is another $600 and I didn't feel it was a $600 improvement over the sound. I suggest you invest that money in an excellent phono cable that goes between the table and the phono stage for MORE improvement than the battery unit. Finally, the one I have in India right now is the phono section only with an adapter....no battery supply. The phono WITH the battery supply retailed for $1200.

 

[mahiruha]

Hi shaizada,
can you suggest me a good cable which doesn't require any burn in to connect the TT and my phono pre amp. Currently I got this audio art cable which I think needs around 100 hours of burn in. The amount of music I listen to, it will take 5-6 motnhs for the cable to completely burn in. So looking for something plug an play solution.
Thanks.

 

[odyssey]

Hi Mahiruha
I can't think of any cable that won't benefit from burn in. The easy way to do it is to just connect to tata sky (leave it on but your tv can be off) or to cable. Otherwise a tuner can also be used. It just depends on what you have.
cheers

 

[mahiruha]

Hi Sridhar,
that's a very good solution. I have a tata sky but taking the tv down from the wall is a big job given its big size. So Can just use a RCA extender to connect the audio art cables from the extender to tata sky set top box.
Thanks.

 

[shaizada]

Odyssey is absolutely right on this one. Just run a signal through it continuously and the burn in will be faster. Right on the turntable setup, it will be very difficult as the phono signal is too small so it will take way longer than the suggested 100 hours.