The world's first active headshell moving coil phonostage

A tiny circuit board installed in the headshell of the tonearm amplifies the highly sensitive output signal from the cartridge at its source. As a result, the signal to noise ratio is improved by approximately ten decibels across the entire audio bandwidth.

Clearaudio's absolute phono is the world's first active headshell moving coil phonostage. A tiny circuit board installed in the headshell of the tonearm amplifies the highly sensitive output signal from the cartridge at its source. Now the delicate signal only has to travel a few millimeters rather than along the usual 1-2 metres of internal and external arm wiring before being amplified to a more resilient level. This amplified signal then passes to the specially designed main RIAA phonostage, along a signal path free of the usual relays and coupling capacitors, which again enables a more clean, pure and accurate sound. The signal is then equalized and fed to both unbalanced RCA and balanced XLR outputs, each with its own output driver to ensure the utmost fidelity. The result? The signal to noise ratio is improved by approximately ten decibels across the entire audio spectrum.

The absolute phono is built without compromise, incorporating an anti-resonance sandwich construction machined from solid blocks of aluminium and panzerholz wood. The sophisticated power supply, located in a separate chassis, keeps mains interference to a minimum. Hand-selected state-of-the-art nonmagnetic silver Clearaudio Glimmer capacitors positioned at key areas of the circuit further ensure excellent clarity and purity of sound. A single multi-function switch for 'On', 'Off' and 'Mute' modes ensures a sleek finish.
The absolute phono is suitable for all Clearaudio tonearms and is designed to work perfectly with any moving coil cartridge from any manufacturer. This is ensured due to the selected current amplification control which eliminates the need to set the correct load resistance and load capacitance. The optimum operating condition is always set automatically.