Chord Huei Phono Preamplifier MM/MC

Description

Chord Huei Phono Preamplifier -

Based on 30 years of amplifier-building expertise, Huei offers MM/MC compatibility and integrates turntables to our amplifiers.

Entirely conceived, engineered and manufactured in Great Britain, Huei has been carefully designed to provide turntables with the same high standards of amplification that Chord Electronics has become known for over the past 30 years.

Benefitting from both Moving Magnet and Moving Coil functionality, Huei offers compatibility with a huge range of cartridges thanks to comprehensive gain and impedance-matching options; Huei’s high- and low-gain switching settings are easily accessible via front-panel controls, introducing welcome flexibility.

Huei’s advanced design offers (for the first time in a Chord Electronics phono preamp) ultra-low-noise microprocessor control of its main features, including a convenient memory function. With multiple options for impedance-matching, seven-stage switchable gain and a switchable rumble filter, Huei’s design offers comprehensive compatibility.

Precision-machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminium billet, Huei has a similar form factor to the company’s Qutest DAC and also offers a top-mounted viewing window into the illuminated electronics within. The design also shares the same polychromatic control spheres the company has become known for in its digital products. The illuminated front-panel spheres offer direct access to Huei’s gain and impedance settings, selection for MM/MC cartridges and access to the on-board rumble filter.

Huei is a stylish, practical and high-performance solution for integrating turntables into Chord Electronics’ (and other) systems and features both balanced (RCA) and unbalanced outputs (XLR) with RCA inputs. A high-quality 12V external power supply is also supplied.

REVIEWS:
 

Enjoy The Music: "The midrange reproduced by the Huei helped bring these lifelike sounding instruments into my listening room, creating an aura of sound in the front of the room. The Huei also created a very stable sounding soundstage, with each of the instruments locked into their place with appropriately scaled images. But, as far as I'm concerned, these qualities are akin to parlor tricks when compared to the lifelike reproductions of the instruments played by the musicians on this album, besides Miles Davis this album also features Herbie Mann, Bill Evans, Hank Jones, John Coltrane, Ben Webster, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, and many others. Their realistically reproduced instruments, whether they be piano, drums, bass, or one of the various horns featured, is largely due to the Chord Huei's transparent midrange. Music sounding like music is the most important thing to me, and the Huei delivers in this area.

"For this reason, the Chord Huei showed me that it was a phono preamplifier that could do more than just let me hear examples of individual sounds and instruments. It was able to make music sound like music. This might sound like an obtuse observation, but when it comes down to it, that's what makes the high-end the high-end — the ability for our audio systems to reproduce what was recorded as accurately as possible, at the same time sounding as real as possible.

When considering that the Huei cannot only perform so well, plus be so accessible when to setting it up for one's particular phono cartridge, it's obvious to me that the designers at Chord took their time to make sure that this component would be appropriate for an audiophile that might not be that psyched to futz with the controls on a component. Not only did I use the more expensive Ortofon phono low-output moving coil cartridge during this audition, I also used a much less expensive moving magnet Sumiko cartridge that was shipped with the Pro-Ject turntable. This higher-output cartridge demanded a much different loading arrangement than the Ortofon. It took only a few minutes (or less) to change the settings on the Huei to accommodate either cartridge I chose for that particular listening session." - Tom Lyle

HiFi+: "In short, like all the best in audio, the Huei gets out of the way of your music, letting you make the musical decisions rather than having to temper them even slightly to adapt to the nature of the electronics. It’s surprising just how hard this can get, especially in phono stages and especially in this category.  Imaging in particular highlights just how far some fall from the musical truth. Many phono stages truncate the width, depth or height of a recording. Many high-end models somehow also tend toward flattening the ‘pan pot and delay’ staging made in most studio albums. The Huei does neither of these things, and instead just plays the soundstage on the record. It’s not rocket surgery, but many fall at this hurdle.

"...a stunning phono stage." - Alan Sircom

FEATURES:

Supported cartridges: Moving magnet and moving coil

Selectable impedance: 30Ω, 100Ω, 5kΩ, and 4.7pf

Selectable gain: 60dB, 65dB, and 70dB

Inputs: 1x Stereo unbalanced RCA input

Outputs: 1x Stereo unbalanced RCA output, 1x Stereo balanced output

SPECIFICATIONS:

Input Impedance: 30Ω – 47kΩ, 50pF – 150pF

Input Noise: 1.1nV/Hz

Max Output Voltage RMS: 10v RMS

Equalisation Gain Range: 0dBV – 75dBV

Equalisation Response: RIAA Curve

Equalisation Accuracy: +/- 0.1dB

Frequency Response: RIAA Curve = 12Hz to 25kHz

Rumble Filter: Rausch Slope -24dB per octave below 50Hz

Output Impedance: 520Ω (resistive)

Input Power Supply: 12v – 100v to 240v 50/60Hz PSU

Dimensions: 160mm (w) x 43mm (d), 72 (h)

Weight: 770g