Violectric PPA V790
Near-silent and startlingly transparent, the PPA V790 lets cartridges speak with vivid tonal realism, expansive three-dimensional space and finely separated detail. StereoNET United Kingdom found its balanced operation especially refined, while HiFi Choice praised its natural, uncoloured delivery. Six individually configurable MM/MC inputs and front-panel loading controls make it a versatile, high-end vinyl command centre.
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Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
93/100
Cartridge Compatibility
96/100
Build Quality
91/100
Value for Money
92/100
Pros
Exceptionally low noise floor, with silent idle operation, no hum and extremely low hiss even at high gain.
Balanced inputs deliver a more spacious, refined and tonally nuanced presentation.
Six individually configurable MM/MC inputs, extensive gain/loading options and selectable EQ curves offer outstanding system flexibility.
Open, natural imaging with excellent instrumental separation, dynamic range and detail retrieval.
Cons
The crowded rear panel and single shared ground point can make a fully populated multi-turntable installation difficult.
No stereo/mono switch, despite the useful NAB and Columbia EQ settings for older records.
Its abundant detail can occasionally sound slightly gritty or overshadow musical flow with some material.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 93/100
Reviewers find the PPA V790 exceptionally quiet, open and revealing, with a natural, unembellished presentation that still stays emotionally engaging. It combines strong rhythmic energy and expansive imaging with a largely neutral tonal balance, although one reviewer found its extreme detail could occasionally sound slightly gritty or take precedence over musical flow.
Transparency Noise Floor
95/100
Noise performance is a major strength. Hi-Fi Choice found it silent at idle and while changing settings, while StereoNET reports a completely hum-free design, extremely low hiss even at maximum gain and no transformer buzz; Hifi Pig likewise calls it a very quiet phono stage with an excellent noise floor.
Tonal Balance Musicality
92/100
The dominant impression is clean, natural and uncoloured, with StereoNET praising its innate purity, refinement and easy-listening emotional engagement. Hi-Fi Choice similarly hears tonal realism and a forgiving quality, though Hifi Pig notes that the prodigious retrieval can occasionally sound a little gritty and make detail more prominent than musicality.
Dynamics
92/100
Hifi Pig reports excellent dynamic range, substantial reserves and powerful brass alongside sensitive violin tone. StereoNET also hears crisp, energetic presence and rhythmic drive, giving records a lively rather than merely analytical presentation.
Soundstage Imaging
93/100
Spatial performance is repeatedly praised for separation, air and scale. Hifi Pig hears space between instruments and a stage extending beyond the loudspeakers, while Hi-Fi Choice describes a three-dimensional presentation and a wall of sound that reveals tiny low-level details.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Cartridge Compatibility
96/100
This is an unusually flexible MM/MC design: six individually configurable inputs each support either cartridge type, with gain adjustable from 30dB to 66dB. Eight MM capacitance settings, seven MC impedance choices, selectable EQ curves, gain boost and a subsonic filter cover a very broad range of real-world turntable and cartridge setups; the shared grounding point and congested rear panel are the main practical compromises.
Build Quality
91/100
Hi-Fi Choice rates the build and finish very highly, and Hifi Pig notes that the rear gold-plated connectors are well made. StereoNET attributes its hum-free, low-hiss operation to careful design and high-grade components, while the relay-switched front-panel controls and clear LED indicators make its extensive configuration feel well executed.
Value for Money
92/100
At the reviewed £3,490 price, Hifi Pig considers it highly recommended and says it delivers a great deal of musical return for the money, particularly for listeners who need its sophisticated facilities. StereoNET found it closely competitive with the Chord Symphonic and marginally cleaner, more effortless and more natural, supporting its standing in a premium phono-stage field.
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Specifications
- Item number:
- 1008115
- housing form
- Desktop
- output impedance
- < 1 Ohm
- color
- black
Manufacturer's Description — Violectric
The PPA Violectric PPA V790 is a state-of-the-art phono preamplifier with absolute unsuspected features until now. It offers a huge variety of adjustments, easily accessible from the front panel and a newly developed extremely low-noise and distortion-less amplifier technology. Because of its multiple inputs, up to six differing cartridges may be managed in only one amp and individually treated in terms of impedance, capacity, gain and EQ.
PPA V790 offers:
- 3 balanced stereo cartridge inputs via XLR
- 3 unbalanced stereo cartridge inputs via RCA
- 7 selectable impedances from 10 to 1000 Ohm (for MC cartridges)
- 8 selectable capacities from 22 to 1000 pF (for MM cartridges)
- 7 gain steps from +30 to +66 dB
- Clip indication to visualize incorrect operation
- 3 EQ filters RIAA, NAB, Columbia-LP
- switchable Subsonic Filter 20 Hz
- triple boost circuitry to perfectly adapt the amp into existing equipment
- Obviously all individual adjustments are stored
Up to six cartridges (3 x balanced, 3 x unbalanced) may be connected to PPA V790 at the same time.
For each cartridge the input impedance, the input capacity, the EQ law, the subsonic filter and the output boost may be set individually. All this is done by clear denoted push buttons and displayed by white LEDs on the front panel. All settings are stored! The usual distinction between MM- and MC-cartridges in such amps was renounced.
Instead, beneath “standard” cartridges also “MC High-Output” or “MM Low Output” can be treated individually by the wide and open gain adjustment from +30 to +66 dB.
The gain stages inside Violectric PPA V790 are DC coupled with cascaded bi-polar superfast input transistors for highest bandwidth, extreme low noise, lowest distortions and highest dynamic range. Don´t expect any coloration from this amp! Gain may be set in 7 steps from +30 dB (factor 30) to +66 db (factor 2000). A clip indication is in charge to avoid incorrect operation.
PPA V790 offers three DC coupled EQs. Beneath the usual RIAA filter, NAB and Columbia-LP EQs may be selected for “exotic“ recordings. The filter accuracy is 0,1 dB.
A switchable subsonic filter helps to eliminate low frequency interferences.
The Boost circuitry with 0, +6 und +12 dB settings is intended to adapt Violectric PPA V790 into virtually any signal chain.
Features
- up to six differing cartridges
- huge variety of adjustments
- set individually
- Made in Germany
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Authorized dealers for Violectric PPA V790
- Addicted to Audio — online and in-store — Epping, Victoria, Australia (website)
- American Audio & Video — in-store — Southaven, Mississippi, United States (website)
- ARK Audio — online and in-store — Borensberg, Östergötlands län, Sweden (website)
- Audio 46 — online and in-store — New York, New York, United States (website)
- Audio Concierge — online and in-store — England, United Kingdom (website)
- Audio essence — online and in-store — Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland (website)
- Audio Excellence (CA) — online and in-store — Markham, Ontario, Canada (website)
- Audio Magic - EU — online and in-store — Wola, Województwo mazowieckie, Poland (website)
- Audiofrenzy BV — in-store — Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands (website)
- AudioPerformance — online and in-store — Stenkullen, Västra Götalands län, Sweden (website)
and 23 more verified dealers