Clearaudio ref phono - any reviews or comments?

Well HELLO, Kubla -- pleasure to see you again!! Hope you've been well & kicking...
Clearaudio: the champagne ref or the two-flat-box battery powered one? The champagne one (I'll assume that's the one for 3k) is good. I tried it on my rig (Simon Yorke/ Pluto/ Clearaudio Accurate) using ears that don't incorporate precious metals (mine). So, can't you give it a go?
Anyway:
Speed is very good. You get resolution across the basic spectrum, getting better and better mid-range upwards. It is correct in every respect: maybe not an Aesthetix, but were I to copy the musical score from the sound alone, I could probably do it -- loosing some when it came to mid-lower bass. And forget the piece of music I was listening to... I never got this machine to sing to the music or play MUSIC, as it were. Remember: my rig, and I'm deaf. OTOH, the phono loading was optimised for my cartridge, cable was clear's own, my electronics include german machines (the faterland spirit was there, somewhere). Maybe the speakers fault? They're american.

BUT, it is a seriously good phono: it does its job well and then some; it just didn't put its soul to the job at my home. My other (german) phono, is not as resolving but it plays BRAHMS 1st piano concerto or JL Hooker, and I forget the score because the music is too involving!

Cheers!

Kubla, sorry. Good is a relative term. It's "good" compared to a plethora of other offerings (that are usually cheaper, too). It's not that "good" in absolute terms and to my taste, in being over-analytical but under-musical, and somewhat cold sounding in my system. At its price & engineering level -- and coming from an illustrious analogue manufacturer -- I'd expect analysis (yes), but also a corresponding musicality, pratt, sense of space...
BUT, by no stretch of the imagination can I say "bad" -- if the ref were "bad" then the vast majority of other phono's should be trashed! So, TRY it in your system.
Cheers!