Phasemation PP-500 cartridge

[hermit]

A couple of weeks ago I took delivery of a Phasemation PP-500 cartridge from Hugo of Ammonite Audio. As there is not much info to be found on this cartridge on the web I thought I would outline my thoughts on this wee gem.

The background is that I was looking for a cartridge to replace my Kiseki Purpleheart NOS. I had racked up about 700 hours on the Kiseki and was uneasy about continuing to run it flat out and then re-tip it as it will only be original once so I decided to put it into semi retirement.

I stumbled on Phasemation cartridges thanks to a report by Kedar (bonzo75) on his visit to Anamighty Sound in Paris. I was browsing their website and noticed that the Phasemation range was an ideal match to my SUT. More googling revealed that Hugo was the UK distributor and even better he had a Phasemation PP-300 that I could try at home.

I found that the PP-300 had a similar tonal balance to the Kiseki which pleased me. It had a lovely weight to it on piano for example and the texture of a bow on double bass was spot on. Overall it sounds refined and open with plenty of inner detail on cymbals but not forward or etched sounding. I found it very natural sounding with good dynamics. It was quiet in the groove and forgiving of poor pressings. The longer I spent with the cartridge the more I liked it so I decided to order the PP-500.

I now have around 50 hours on my PP-500 and am really delighted with it. The PP-300 images well but its big brother really takes it up a notch. The PP-500 also offers greater presence or impact which may explain why it feels subjectively faster than the PP-300. Piano, bass and drums have real scale and authority. The image is so precise, it’s uncanny. Horns leap out at you. Quite awesome. The PP-500 just sounds very natural and really convincing. A friend called it bombastic. It certainly has real presence and bite but remains refined with a lovely midrange and sweet treble. It deciphers complex passages well always maintaining a convincing soundstage. Very impressive.

Both of these cartridges veer more towards the musical end of the spectrum rather than the analytical. The music really flows. Both seem to me to offer great value at their price point. I would urge anyone thinking of buying a cartridge at these price points to contact Hugo and ask for a home trial of the PP-300. Hugo was great to deal with and provided an excellent service.

 

[Mike Reed]

Thanks for that, Radine; very informative and useful. Not least that Hugo is a few miles from me and attends my and the local bake-offs, often showing his latest discoveries. Although I have a Urushi, I've only played my Proteus these last 18 months or more as that was, and remains, an ear-opener. I've heard the Phasemation, briefly, I think, courtesy of Hugo, but no idea which one as it was last year sometime, on his deck.

I'm contemplating changes in the tone-arm department this year (heavier) plus another flavour of cart. to contrast my Proteus. Was toying with Miyajima (also Hugo's) or even SPU if I get a detachable head-shell arm. I have a feeling that the Phasemation lies more in the Benz/Transfig. camp rather in the Miyajima/Koetsu one, though; just a feeling, mind !

 

[hermit]

Mike, my arm is an SME V-12 so not ideally suited to cartridges like the Miyajima or Koetsu which I have not had the good fortune to hear, nor am I familiar with Benz or Transfig. Like you I am attracted to the idea of a high mass arm with a low compliance cartridge but that is something for the far future for me. In the meantime, both the Kiseki and the Phasemation cartridges are a good physical match to my arm and they offer a musical presentation with wonderful scale, tone and texture. They have plenty of detail but are never analytical or brash. I listen to a lot of jazz where the cymbal work is often to the fore so I tend to avoid cartridges that have a reputation for being clinical or analytical.

If you get the chance to hear the Phasemation at Hugo's please let us know what you think of it. I expect that you've had exposure to a far greater range of cartridges than me.

 

[Mike Reed]

If you get the chance to hear the Phasemation at Hugo's please let us know what you think of it. I expect that you've had exposure to a far greater range of cartridges than me.

I could easily get Hugo to put the Phasemation on my 12" Ace Anna (don't want to touch the 12" PU7 with Proteus) and might do that. However, both arms are somewhere i.r.o. 14 grammes, and although experimenting with unipivot over gimbal was interesting, that interest has now palled somewhat. Your Five-twelve is 12 g as I recall (only 1g more than the Five !).

I really don't have much experience of upper cart's, it being limited to what I've owned over nearly 40 years with various arms (Tiktok, Artemiz, Five and my current two). Karma, Shiraz, Lyras Clavis and Helikon, Koetsus Black Goldline and Ur. Vermillion, Benz Ebony and Proteus. Seems more with hindsight.

Hugo did stock the Phasemation a year or more before, but had (French) distribution prob's. Those, it seems, have now been resolved. I shall be seeing him at a speaker cable bake--off (well, it takes all sorts !!!!) on Friday using Hugo's silver, Quad and resident NAC A5 and I have a vested interest as Quad speakers, E.A.R. amplification and NAC A5 are common to the host and me, though different models.

Gettin' a bit old now for expensive cart. swapping, though no Parkinsons yet, nor accidents, I'm happy to say. Simply want to fire up and listen nowadays.

 

[Mike Reed]

Hugo did stock the Phasemation a year or more before, but had (French) distribution prob's. Those, it seems, have now been resolved

I was wrong here, Radine, as Hugo has pointed out to me. It was the Japanese distributive side which was concerned, not the French agency, whose reputation is unsullied. As I've only got an old m.magnet on the Ace Anna, I may well take Hugo up in due course on his suggestion that it'd suit the unipivot.