Cambridge Audio Alva Solo | Phono Preamp for Moving Magnet Turntable

High quality phono preamp for use with moving magnet cartridge turntables. Clean sound. Internal power supply is better than having another bulky wall wart to deal with. Big enough case so connections are not jammed tightly together.

I am using a current Rega Planar 2 with Carbon cartridge and a Rega Brio-R integrated amplifier as my connected sources and this MM-only phono preamp is fantastic. It is simply THERE at every point...highs, mids, lows, sparkle, shine, thump...magnificent achievement for under the $200 price point. Read up on this unit...the power supply is strong and clean and, importantly, uses a standard power cable not a wall wart. You can really tell the difference, too. I upgraded to a Pangea 14SE MKII power cable and it sounds great with very little burn in time. Try finding any other combination of outstanding circuitry and power handling at this price point and you will not get far. Thank you, Cambridge, for a well thought out design and lovely fit and finish. This is a tight, heavy little machined aluminum box that really fit the bill for me and I couldn't be happier.UPDATE 4/19 - After a few months this started sounding very congested and just not right somehow. The sparkle is gone and it’s kind of a mess overall. No idea what caused this to happen but YMMV. Plan on trying to sell mine off because it cannot compete against like anything else I have. Weird. And what is up with the name adding Alva? Like Thomas Edison? Apart from that why would anyone name anything Alva. Sounds very unattractive.

After enjoying the built in phono amplifier of my old Denon receiver for a year, I kept wondering if I was missing out on the sound of my vinyl. So I ordered the Alva Solo and installed it. There was an immediate improvement in clarity and sound stage. However, each day it got better. After 4 days the sound stage had expanded in width and height while voices jumped out as if they were in the room. Bass is more defined. It is a neutral sound, truthfully delivering the quality of the recording. Highly recommended. A steal for the money.

The unit was packed well and simple to install in my system. Turntable is a Music Hall MMF5 feeding a Yaqin MS30L tube powered amp. Speakers are B&W 803 series 1 Matrix. The solo provides excellent clarity throughout the listening range. Bass is good. Highs are extended without harshness. I do wish it had just a little bit more gain. All in all an excellent bang for the buck phono stage.

I recently purchased a new turntable and decided that the old Behringer preamp had to go. There are plenty of cheap options and even more expensive ones so I was pleased to find the solo at a little under $200. I also looked at a slightly less expensive model from Schiit which got a lot of great reviews but there was also mention of some issues with quality control so I decided to go with the more established company and bought the solo. Shipping took a bit as it came from the U.K. But that was expected. Within ten minutes of the UPS driver leaving it at my door I had it hooked up and running. The difference in sound quality was immediately noticeable. Instrument separation and clarity was drastically increased and the low end became clean and powerful.About three weeks later however the brilliance seemed to vanish and I noticed a hum when the turntable motor was powering up. I had read a review which mentioned the loss of sound quality and got a bit depressed, believing I may have a faulty unit. Before trying to box the thing back up and starting the warranty process I decided to try something. I unplugged the turntable from the power strip that the solo was also plugged into and ran it to a strip connected to a different outlet.Oh happy day, the hum is gone and the sound is vibrant once again!!Perhaps my next investment will be power management gear but that’s for another day.I guess my only gripe (now that the first issue is resolved) would be the power indicator. When it’s on it’s slightly bright. When off it’s slightly less bright and doesn’t change color. Not the end of the world and not at all relevant to the fantastic sound quality so I’m giving this unit all the stars.

Out of the box, right channel had a very load hum / slight crackle (even when not playing) as did the left channel but not as pronounced. On ROCK / Louder music the amp sounded great, but play anything lower the hum was much too distracting.Tried two separate turn tables (Technics SL-220 * Sl-1400 mrk 2), tried different RCA cables / inputs etc.No changeEnded up returning it and for now went back to the built in- phono preamp on my pioneer vsx ds1 which for being nearly 30 years old had no noticeable hum or noise at all unless you turn it up on dead air which is understandable. For being nearly $200 i was not impressed with the QC from Cambridge on this particular unit. Should never have left the factory / facility in this state. I will give Cambridge another try but with the DUO.. but this has tempered my expectations.

I have been using this preamp for almost 5 months and have been extremely satisfied for the following reasons:• Sounds extremely clean across the board• Absolutely no distortion• Absolutely no hum• Comes with internal power supply – no wall wart• Looks great and has a very nice quality feel to itI use this with an old Technics SL-7 turntable with a Shure V15 LT cartridge. This is my third and final preamp. I don’t want to mention the other brands I’ve used as they are not bad – just not as good sounding as this IMO – YMMV.