Christiaan Punter of Hifi Advice did a true in-depth review of the PW1, having it on the test bench for many months. In the end he didn’t want to let go and bought the review unit – which makes it an HFA Favorite! You can enjoy some of Christiaan’s praise below, but please don’t forget to read the full review at his website.
“The PW1 possesses the hard-to-come-by quality of pulling one into the music and not letting go. There is something so beguiling about the sound that is hard to describe, which comes down to what the designers have poured their hearts and souls into: attaining a deeply engaging performance without an electronic signature, free of artifice. This is not a simple task to achieve, especially if the goal is also to attain reference-grade resolution, maintain superb neutrality, and satisfy even the most discerning audiophiles.
Uniquely, the PW1 offers stunning resolution and precision combined with beguilingly natural liquidity. Precisely as advertised, the performance is tonally rich, deeply emotional, and wholly unforced, yet crisp, articulate, and lively. I admit: this phono preamp delivers everything that it is advertised to do.
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While listening to music via the PW1, it feels like the music pours out of the speakers effortlessly and washes over you gently yet persuasively. The soundstage is expansive, but the phono stage does not project the sound like a static bubble. Instead, its presentation is fluid, breathing, free-flowing, and entirely free from the speakers. The soundstage scales along with the recording, whether intimate, small, and close, or wide and deep, that is what the PW1 will portray.
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The PW1 impressively combines stunning resolution, openness, and precision with natural fluidity. It is rich in tone, lush, delicate, emotional, and lively while avoiding excessive warmth. The sound convincingly captures the warmth of human voices and instruments while remaining neutral, free from added character, and without imposing any electronic signature.
Overall, the PW1 effectively translates the qualities of any source—whether MC or MM—while maintaining a strong focus on the emotional aspect of the music. No matter what you play, the overwhelming feeling is of being sucked deeply into the music. The PW1 invites the listener to put on just one more record, and another, and another.”
“No matter what you play, the overwhelming feeling is of being sucked deeply into the music.” – Christiaan Punter, Hifi Advice
