iFi Audio – Black Label iPhono3 Phono Preamplifier

For the record

The iPhono3 Black Label sounds stellar. Hear inside your LPs.

Silent nights in

With a stunning, super-low 85dB noise floor (per Stereophile standard) the iPhono3 Black Label is out there. One of the quietest phono stages. Period.

Like any good phono stage, it amplifies the signal, not the noise. The whisper-quiet noise floor is there for any home audio system to discern. Take it for a test drive from the comfort of your favorite listening chair.

Exacting equalization

Precise EQ curve and explosive 108dB dynamic range. Your listening room becomes a concert hall.

The AMR PH-77, the $12,000 larger sibling with 23 equalization curves, remains the vinyl benchmark to this day. Trickle-down tech used in the iPhono3 Black Label means it features the 6 most popular stereo EQ curves.

Try the infamous 1812 Overture ‘torture test’. Won’t be the same again. The iPhono3 Black Label will have you trying ‘just one more LP’ into the wee, small hours.

Set and forget

Your pickup (stylus) has been lovingly crafted. Whether it’s MM or MC, no two cartridges are identical in performance.

The iPhono3 Black Label, like the AMR PH-77 from which it descends, enables you to set the precise load/gain for the cartridge you have. Squeeze every last drop of performance out of your precious pickup.

Visit our iPhono Calculator to assist.

Set just once. Sit back. Enjoy.

Set and forget

Beneath the modest footprint of the iPhono 3 Black Label are Class A TubeState and DirectDrive Servoless technologies. Specially developed by AMR for iFi audio.

All underpinned by some quite special audiophile components from Burr-Brown, TDK, and Nichicon. To name but a few.

With such dedicated circuitry and devoted components, it has a whisper-quiet noise floor and measured THD of an incredible <0.005%.

X-Men

The iPhono3 Black Label is special. It should be powered by something special.

It comes with the iPower X, the very latest in power supply technology.

iPhono3 Black Label + iPower X = Super Duo.

The ‘magic’ of tubes from solid-state.Our Class A TubeState®technology is the result of nearly four decades of research of our Chief Designer, Thorsten Loesch, on tube and transistor gear.

The key is not to add distortion, but to avoid certain types of distortion. Once it is understood that specific distortions are endemic to solid-state circuitry and are pernicious with respect to subjective sound quality, we eliminate these from solid-state circuitry, without adding on tube-like distortion and noise.

Read more in our Tech Note.

Precisely match up LP equalization!Listen to vinyl recordings in the original and correct way. When so much is invested in an audio system, to leave out the final few percent of correctly matching the equalization to the LP is almost sacrilege.

Our list of LP recommendations with their precise EQ curve will show you how using the correct EQ curve makes one heck of a difference! We reckon you probably have some of our picks in your collection.

Discover more about the history of recordings and EQ curves here.

Look, mum. No output coupling capacitor.Direct Drive Servoless® is an important element of the audiophile experience, which is not visible in measurements but is quite audible.

Unlike a standard phono stage design, the iPhono3 Black Label continues the special design tradition of being direct coupled (i.e. no coupling capacitor) from cartridge to output and it does so without requiring a conventional DC servo.

Dig deeper.

In the iPhono3 Black Label the unique DC-Infinity circuit boosts the circuits DC gain to approach infinity (it is approximately 1 trillion one million times one million; 1012).Once the feedback loop is closed, this near-infinite DC gain cancels all offset voltages to deliver a direct-coupled output with 0V DC offset. The key to the DC-Infinity circuit is that it only changes the gain below approx. 0.01Hz, while leaving the AC behavior of the circuit at higher frequencies unchanged, injecting neither noise nor distortion into the audio signal.

Any noise and distortion of the DC-Infinity circuit happens at the same signal level as the output signal and is by design around 100 times less than the noise and distortion of the actual amplifier circuit, so compared to the actual phono stage noise and distortion it effectively disappears.

Nichicon audio-grade capacitors, Panasonic OSCON/ECPU capacitors, MELF resistors, TDK C0G capacitors…the list goes on.The iPhono3 Black Label is jam-packed. Take a look at its internals. Read more here.

iFi’s iPhono 3 MM/MC Phono Preamplifier Takes A Giant Sonic Leap Forward

“I’d been auditioning the Gala Gold LE using the CH Precision P1/X1 ($50,000+) so was expecting a big letdown but I didn’t get one! ”

Click the link to read the full review.
https://www.analogplanet.com/content/ifis-iphono-3-mmmc-phono-preamplifier-takes-giant-sonic-leap-forward-0

Frequency Response:
10Hz – 100KHz (±0.3dB)
20Hz – 20kHz (±0.2dB)

Dynamic Range:
MM (36dB): > 108dB (A-weighted)
MC (60dB): > 106dB (A-weighted)

Signal-to-Noise Ratio:
MM (36dB): > 85dB (A-weighted re. 5mV)
MC (60dB): > 85dB (A-weighted re. 0.5mV)

Overload Margin:
MM (36dB): > 26dB (re. 5mV, @ 1% THD)
MC (60dB): > 22dB (re 0.5mV, @ 1% THD)

Crosstalk: <-71dB (1KHz)
Maximum undistorted output: 7V (Load >= 600 Ohm, THD <=1%)
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): <0.005% (MM 36dB 1V out 600R Load)
Output Impedance: <100Ω
Input Voltage: AC 100 – 240V, 50/60Hz
Power Consumption: < 5W. Use with iPower X (15v) do NOT use any other power supply.
Dimensions: 6.2′ x 2.3′ x 1.1′ / 158 x 58 x 28 mm
Weight: 0.58 lbs / 265 g