Esoteric E-03 Phono Stage

Listened to it once and I thought the sonic signature is very similar to Esoteric's digital products - which is to say lots of details, transparency, frequency extension and sound staging. It is also very neutral.

I listened to this phono preamp a couple of years ago and immediately found it to be characteristic of Esoteric's house sound -- very cleaning, neutral sounding with gobs of details and frequency extension. It does all the analytical qualities right without sounding sterile or emotionless.

Another similar sounding phono preamp but with more warmth and possibly slightly more bloom (not that the E-03 is lacking in this department) is the Pass XP series phono preamps.