Artemis Labs Ph-1 owners.....

Hi Glide 3,

Thank you for responding. I was hoping more owners would have responded so I could get a better feel for the cartridge output range that works well with this phono stage. I have both phoned and emailed Artemis Labs directly and they won't give me a direct answer so thus the reason for turning to the forum.

Hi Dave,

I really appreciate your response. This is the kind of information that I'm looking for. I really am trying to find out how many mV's (whether from combination of step-up transformer with cartridge or a cartridge straight in) I can put into the Artemis Labs Ph-1 without overdriving any of its gain stages. From what I understand it will be the 12ax7 stage that is most likely to overload the quickest.

If I am calculating this correctly, the Miyabi @ .3mV/5cm/sec with 1:13 ratio would roughly be 3.9mV or converted to .21mV/3.54cm/sec would roughly be 2.73mV.

The Orpheus @ .48mV/3.54cm/sec with 1:13 ratio would roughly be 6.24mV or counverted to .68mV/5cm/sec would roughly be 8.79mV.

Does this sound correct?

Thanks,
Don

Happy New Year and a big thank you to all of you for trying to help me with this.

The problem that I am having is that although I really love this phono stage, I do hear some tube rush at my listening chair with normal volume levels, which for me is at the 12 o'clock position. Once the needle is in the groove and the music is playing, I no longer hear the noise but I can't help but wonder if it is still masking some low level information. If I lower the volume controls down to 9 o'clock the noise is not noticeable. There is 8 clicks difference between 12 and 9 o'clock on my line stage which equates to 16db. My cartridge is .9mV at 3.54cm/sec. Also, my volume controls are ladder stepped attenuators, so I don't believe it really matters where they are located for quality of sound.

My cartridge is getting on in years so I'm considering which would be a good replacement and how best to increase my gain to acceptable levels without over driving my phono stage.

I've enjoyed the Benz sound a lot and would consider the

Ruby 3H .7mV @3.54cm/sec 80 ohms internal
Benz Ebony LP .28mV @3.54cm/sec 38 ohms internal
Benz Ebony L .26mV @3.54cm/sec 5 ohms internal
Benz Ebony TR .1mV @3.54cm/sec 1 ohm internal

The above cartridges are all available at the same price and I believe the Ruby 3H and LP have the highest sound potential of these listed in the Benz line up then the TR and then L from what I've read on the net.

So my goal is to get the highest gain from my phono stage to lower the noise floor but without overdriving any of the gain stages in the phono stage.

Sorry for being so long winded but I wanted to try and give you as much needed info as possible.

Thank you so kindly for your help.
Don

Hi Dave,

I am not using a step up transformer right now. I'm using a wood bodied Benz MO.9 which has .9mV output straight into the Artemis Labs Ph-1 which has no internal step-ups either.

I'm thinking about getting a new cartridge and would consider any of the ones listed in the above post with a step up to get the noise down.

Also, in case it is helpful, my input sensitivity on my power amp is 1.5V.

Don