Parasound Zphono Black Phono Stage

The phono stage is enclosed in a compact steel case that protects against all types of external interference and is seated on solid damping feet.

Another feature of Parasound Zphono is the presence of an AC polarity switch, which is designed to eliminate background noise. Despite the simplicity of this switch, it performs a very useful function, and its presence on such a budget device is commendable.

The elementary base of the Parasound Zphono does not stand out for anything extraordinary. Here is a loose layout on a standard Z Custom chassis that allowed the power transformer to be removed a good distance from the PCB.

For the final victory over the background, the transformer is covered with a permalloy screen.

Power is supplied from the mid-point winding, rectified and fed to the LM7815/7915 integrated regulators.

The audio path is built on JRC NE5534D operational amplifiers, in the correction circuit of which capacitors with a capacity of 1000 uF 25 V are installed with a polystyrene dielectric that does not accumulate static and remains neutral.

The output buffer of the phono stage is assembled on a dual Burr-Brown OPA2134.

The phono stage works with both MM and MS cartridges. Switching between modes is carried out by a toggle switch on the rear panel.

The gain for MM cartridges is quite high - 46 dB, in MC mode this figure is 61 dB. In this case, the nominal output voltage is 1.1 V.

Noteworthy is the indicator of overload capacity at the inputs, it is equal to 200 mV with a nominal sensitivity of 5 mV (32 dB). More than enough to reproduce even older deep groove records.