Einstein "The Turntable's Choice " phonostage

The editor of the German magazine Image HiFi, who is a vinyl head and used the Swiss-made FM Acoustics before, sold the FM Acoustics for the Einstein, which is now his reference. He uses both unbalanced and balanced. His e-mail is dirk.sommer@image-magazine.de, he is usually very helpful.
Another new phono stage which has made a splash as being of reference quality is the Nibiru-stage from Slovenia (http://www.eselab.si), which, according to users over on audioasylum, is even better than the Whest-stage, for less money.

Hassel, thanks for the referral. I'll send Dirk an email.

Sabertouch,
I'm also searching for a phono stage and the einstein
has for awhile piqued my interest but as you've stated there is so little to go on and I probably will not be able to audition it soon.
Have you heard it already?
Did you get a reply from Image HiFi?
Do you know if the balanced version is actually better and worth the extra $$$?

Rost,
I purchased the Einstein in April after corresponding and talking with a couple of owners and hearing their raves about it. They were right. It is an outstanding product. Much better than it's $5k price would suggest.
Took it to a listening session with some very serious and qualified analog people who had heard many of todays phono stages. They were also tube oriented. After hearing it, one asked me how many tubes were in it. He was stunned when I told him it was all solid state.
The concensus was it set a soundstage which would draw you in to the music, like the borders were burnished. You just wanted to listen and we did for several hours. I didn't think I would get out of there with it. Yes, it's that good. The other few owners in this country have sold off stages costing several times as much and they are long time analog audiophiles with unlimited budgets.
Those that have heard both the RCA and the fully balanced units bought the balanced because it was 25% better in their opinion. It needs 50-100 hrs breakin and goes to another plateau at 500-600 hrs.
This is the only Einstein product I have heard as they are somewhat new in this country. I read the Soundstage review of their preamp but am happy with my VTL TL7.5 for now. The preamp has a slightly forward soundstage. However, the phono pre's stage is slightly recessed and curves inward at the edges which draws you into the music. Not the ultimate in definition as in some solid state units, more tube sounding than solid state sounding. Relaxing to listen to. It exceeded my expectations which were very high to start with. I looked and listened for months before taking a chance on the Einstein. Glad I did.
I understand there is limited availability, especially on the balanced version.

Thanks for the detailed reply.Good to hear you are happy with your purchase.Can't wait to hear one soon,hopefully as a part of my system.Your input has been most appreciated.Seems there will be a review out in Stereophile shortly by Fremer.

Rost,
Read Fremer's review in latest Stereophile. He said it maybe the most neutral and best sounding stage he's ever heard or a least in the top five. The letter from Einstein in the back was also very informative about the design criteria and rigid quality standards they adhere to.
Suggest you read the review if your serious about purchasing one. I would have definitely bought the balanced version if my Schroeder arm lended itself to be easily changed over to balanced wiring. If your arm can be easily modified and you can afford it, go for the balanced version.
A requirement, you must keep the power supply about 2 feet away from the preamp for the best performance according to the mfg. I didn't notice any hum when it was close, but the sound did improve and the already low noise floor got even lower by moving it away. The balanced has 2 ps's and they should be on opposite sides of the preamp, I am told for best performance. This performance improvement was confirmed to me by the owner of the balanced version.
I am in process of running the hours up to 600 with a Thor phono break in unit to get the sound improvement that's supposed to occur. If your interested in results, let me know and I will make another post in a few weeks when it's done.

A follow up after break-in would be great.
Thanks.

Hmmm

Dirk sold the FM 222? Sorry, I know that that is not so.
He never owned it, it was loaned to him for trial - a rare occurence with FM, the yare notorious in NOt loaning equipment.
FM needed it back because they are backordered for many months.
Finally I got mine. No words...

Cy_endo, the FM is more expensive than the Einstein (also better imo/ I'm referring to the se versions --not balanced).

Yes, the Einstein phono stage does seem to be difficult to obtain. I have had the balanced version on order for awhile and no idea yet as to when I will receive it.
I do believe it will be worth the wait however.

Dear Cy_endo: Very good clearing because is not fair, for any audio device, that " light " comments like the one from Hassel could turn aside the real quality of a producto like the FM Acoustics 222.

I already heard both phono stages ( the 222 several times. Btw, this unit was one of our references in the Essential 3150 phonolinepreamp self design .) and certainly the 222 is a better unit than the Einstein: the bass has better pitch/tight, better tonal balance and more " transparent ". The Einstein ( I heard the balanced version ) is a very good unit but the FM 222 is a " little " better: but this quality has a price to pay, the FM is a high price unit.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.