I see that this is a very old thread, however I just have to chime in. I just picked up a used, post-2015 vintage Whest Three SE which is a very nicely built phono preamp with an outboard power supply which connects via 2, 5 pin XLR cables. The power supply is a dual mono as is the main phono preamp unit. Each output on the PS is labeled left and right as is each input, so they are matched. What is interesting is that the power supply for this preamp is very heavy! It must weigh in at 4 or 5 pounds as it's a large toroid multi tapped transformer, yet the rectifiers and caps are actually inside the main preamp case. I particularly like the design with the main transformer isolated inside a dedicated chassis and separated by 3 foot long XLR cables. I purchased this unit used when I saw it pop up for sale as you never see them. I had in house on demo for the past 6 weeks the new Musical Surroundings Nova III with the optional Linear Power Supply which replaced a Gold Note PH10 I had for three months.
The Whest bridged the gaps in the other two phono preamps. The Gold Note had very good mid-range performance, but to me it lacked in the upper end sound stage and imaging. The Nova III was far better in the upper end/sound stage/imaging and much more powerful in the low end, but lacked in the mids which I missed. The Whest does it all and its like liquid chocolate syrup warmed. I was amazed at how much better it is. Additionally, its very quiet.
I have been reading quite a bit on the Whest site and the differences between their offerings. What was interesting is how they use an internal suspension system of the main board to isolate it from the chassis in their very high end units; that is something not offered in the Three SE. Last night when I was moving the power supply around (while the system was on at a fairly high volume, but with nothing playing) I bumped the the chassis of the Whest Three SE with my finger lightly and I could hear the 'thump' in my main speakers. That really surprised me as to how detailed this thing is. It was like tapping your turntable and hearing it in the speakers. I tapped the chassis of the Three and it was in the speakers. So what I did was pull out some medium durometer isolation rubbers I have in stock and I put three of them under the chassis of the Whest power supply and three under the chassis of the main Three SE preamp to isolate both from the shelves.
I put on some very high dynamic range vinyl which was nicely recorded in the 1980's (the League) which I had been listening to last evening and I was completely blown away at what I was hearing! The sound stage just exploded open as did the imaging. As good as this unit was before, it just suddenly became extraordinary. My observation is that Whest is onto something with how they isolate the main boards in their reference series gear. Mind you that I stumbled upon this strictly accidentally last night, but it has made me rethink how I will mount this gear. I plan on machining some heavy steel frames with the isolation triangulated feet on the bottom to set the phono stages on the shelving. The weight of the frames, which I may laminate with Acrylic in combination with the medium durometer feet should really dampen the vibration in the room, cleaning up the signal. I think that I just elevated a $4K Phono stage to an $8K item :)
The Whest bridged the gaps in the other two phono preamps. The Gold Note had very good mid-range performance, but to me it lacked in the upper end sound stage and imaging. The Nova III was far better in the upper end/sound stage/imaging and much more powerful in the low end, but lacked in the mids which I missed. The Whest does it all and its like liquid chocolate syrup warmed. I was amazed at how much better it is. Additionally, its very quiet.
I have been reading quite a bit on the Whest site and the differences between their offerings. What was interesting is how they use an internal suspension system of the main board to isolate it from the chassis in their very high end units; that is something not offered in the Three SE. Last night when I was moving the power supply around (while the system was on at a fairly high volume, but with nothing playing) I bumped the the chassis of the Whest Three SE with my finger lightly and I could hear the 'thump' in my main speakers. That really surprised me as to how detailed this thing is. It was like tapping your turntable and hearing it in the speakers. I tapped the chassis of the Three and it was in the speakers. So what I did was pull out some medium durometer isolation rubbers I have in stock and I put three of them under the chassis of the Whest power supply and three under the chassis of the main Three SE preamp to isolate both from the shelves.
I put on some very high dynamic range vinyl which was nicely recorded in the 1980's (the League) which I had been listening to last evening and I was completely blown away at what I was hearing! The sound stage just exploded open as did the imaging. As good as this unit was before, it just suddenly became extraordinary. My observation is that Whest is onto something with how they isolate the main boards in their reference series gear. Mind you that I stumbled upon this strictly accidentally last night, but it has made me rethink how I will mount this gear. I plan on machining some heavy steel frames with the isolation triangulated feet on the bottom to set the phono stages on the shelving. The weight of the frames, which I may laminate with Acrylic in combination with the medium durometer feet should really dampen the vibration in the room, cleaning up the signal. I think that I just elevated a $4K Phono stage to an $8K item :)