SpinStage Phono Pre-Amp

Enhance the sound in every way.

Unit sounds excellent with REGA Plannar 3 Orthphon blue via Snell III

When the internal preamp on my turntable died, Andover Audio’s SpinStage Phono Pre-Amp saved the day!! Not only did this pre-amp get my hi-fi setup back up and running again, but it also sounds better than ever now. I wish I had added the SpinStage to my setup years ago!! Also, thanks to the included user guide, setup was quick and easy. I’m very happy with the SpinStage and would recommend this product to anybody looking to upgrade to an external pre-amp.

Absolutely great sounding Phono stage. I am using it with a 10 times more expensive Lyra MC and this little preamp completely justify the combination. Fluid dynamics and impressive clarity.

Easy to set up and my recordings have improved dramatically.

My stereo is an old hardon Kardon receiver with the Cambridge ensemble speaker system , bought New.... years ago.
recently I up graded to a audio Tecnica 120BX turntable , but I was lacking the sound I wanted , well this solved the problem .while my system is not high end by any means , it is so much more enjoyable to listen to and hear the MUSIC! by the way I am 84 years of age

Fidelity above the price point and the capability to duplicate as set of RCA jacks on your preamp/integrated/receiver. Money well spent!

I read a review in the newspaper praising this preamp. Then I saw the SAVE80 enticement. I’d been thinking about upgrading my cheapo-cheapo phono preamp anyway, so I decided to order this one. After all, I’ve got 60 days to return it. I put on the first record, the Mobile Fidelity 45rpm repress of th Eagles’ “Desperado.” Wow! So clean, so clear - I heard subtleties I’d never heard before. This device is a gem: 10/10 (except mine goes to 11).

Took a little testing to set the system up
New low capacitance cables 18 pF/ft. Using Direct Connection to power amplifier. I am virtually sitting at a concert when I put vinyl on the turntable.

I was listening to vinyl with my Koetsu black cartridge through a Cinemag step-up into a tube preamp for a while but felt like something was missing. Then I tried my old NAD C165BEE pre with its MC phone stage. It was a step further backward. Based on the cartridge reviews something was definitely not right. I saw an ad and thought I'd give the SpinStage a try. For the price, I figured any improvement would be worth a try considering the cartridge price. After my system warmed up I listened to a few of my favorite album sides that are a good reference for me and I could hear improvements in the high-end clarity, while the lows were tighter and punchier at the same time. I could hear a bigger more detailed soundstage coming through. I will continue to listen and enjoy this Pre-amp with the NAD for a while then the tube amp. Either way, It punches way above its weight and is easily worth the price of admission.

Bought 2 spinstage preamp. Connected to my onkyo 8270 and BIC turntable with a MM cartridge and noticed a much brighter and richer tone. I connected the other my nad 388 and bang and Olson turntable with another MM cartridge and could not notice any improvement. I will give the
second one to my son and see if he notices any improvement on his system

Wow! This little box is amazing!

A true plug n play preamp for moving coil carts, there are dip switches only for subsonic filter and moving magnet cartridges. I can thoroughly recommend the Andover Audio SpinStage for those seeking moving coil features reportedly found only on preamps at least three times the price.

I moved up to a MC cart several years ago. Knowing nothing about it, I purchased an inexpensive $120 preamp. This allowed me to experience the magnificent sound of the DL 103 at the cost of weird noise and hum that could be minimized but not eliminated. When the old preamp died (I killed it by plugging in the wrong wall wart) I purchased the Andover Audio SpinStage from the manufacturer's website as a replacement. The quality of the sound this device puts out is truly extraordinary. Strong, dead quiet, and colorless, I experience my records as I've never heard them before. An absolutely beautiful sounding

Once I adjusted the capacitance to a level I couldn't do with my previous phono preamp, I enjoyed a warm, round, yet detailed sound with a great soundstage.

Overall, this phono pre sounds good.
On some LPs, I hear a strange "phasing" from voices, especially female, where the voice seems to be diffuse in space rather than localized, similar to what one hears when two channels are wired out of phase.
The infrasonic filter is not as effective as others I've used but it does help.
In short, this is perfectly good performance for the price.

My regular phono preamp was out for upgrades. I didn’t want to be without records for that month, so I thought this would be a worthy substitute teacher.

It really was/is. For the incredibly reasonable price. It took my MC cartridge that costs 10x its price, and did a very respectable job. I like that I have a quality component I can press into service when needed. It is like very inexpensive insurance policy for that essential part of my sound system.

Awesome sounding preamp, takes the music to another level!

It’s hard to find another phono preamp in this price range that offers such extensive adjustability for both capacitance and resistance. The adjustable settings are incredibly flexible, allowing for fine-tuning capacitance and resistance to perfectly match my cartridges. Beyond these features, the sound quality of the SpinStage is outstanding. It delivers strong, solid bass, a natural and detailed midrange, and finely resolving treble.

I'm not sure if you guys really appreciate just how good your Spinstage Phono Preamp is, at least with low impedance moving coil cartridges. It sounds fantastic and is displacing my PS Audio Stellar Phono Preamp and Hegel V10. I keep going back and comparing just because I can't believe that I prefer your $249 phono stage to the more expensive gear I own. I am using the Koetsu Black and Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartridges that cost about 12x as much as the phono stage and they really sound terrific. You should be getting the Spinstage out to every reviewer on the planet in the hopes they sing its praises. Clearly, you aren't really targeting the high end market, but either on purpose or by accident I think you have created a high end competitor in the Spinstage. I'm not sure how you would make it sound better but if you ever do I would love to buy its successor.

Anyhow, that is enough of my gushing. So often you get less than what you pay for and it was a real pleasure to get so much more.

I bought the Spinstage based on it's impressive flexibility. I know of no other phono preamp anywhere near the price of the Spinstage that offers the ability to adjust not only capacitance for moving magnet cartridges all the way from zero pF to several hundred pF, but also resistance in case you have a cartridge that sounds better at a setting other than the standard 47K.
I have an Audio Technica cartridge that requires a total capacitance of 100-200 pF. Not easy to do, as phono cables are often 100 pF or more all by themselves. No problem with the Spinstage. I dialed in the right value and now the AT VM95 ML sounds just right.
In addition to the flexible settings, the sound quality is outstanding, with strong, solid bass, a natural, detailed midrange and finely resolving treble. However, in order to achieve that performance I retired the switching power supply wall wart that came with the Spinstage and subbed in a linear, regulated $100 power supply from TeraDak (obtainable on Ebay. Ships from China). The wall wart that comes with the Spinstage is fine, but rest assured that the Spinstage scales if and when you decide to give it better power.
My final thought is that the Spinstage's features and performance make it something special and at this price, peerless.