Thanks for the review. The Coronet is on my short list. Hagerman is a class act, and a gifted designer. Even my modified Bugle 3 is on the impressive side.
Hagerman Trumpet MC review
Disclaimer. This is far from a “scientific” evaluation. Just my personal experience on my system. See my other threads for a system outline.
The Hagerman Trumpet replaces a JLTi v.3 that has been my phono stage for about 15 years now. So went from solid state to tubes. I won’t go into detail on either as the specs are available online.
The Trumpet runs 4 12ax7 and 2 12au7 tubes and since it relies on the tubes for input, gain, phase splitting and output, it is a tube rollers dream. Right out of the box even with stock tubes (4 Mullard ax7 and two EH au7 reissues) it blew the JLTi away. Soundstage was wider and deeper with a more 3D presence. There was more separation and definition between instruments, more “air” and timbre was more accurate. It was not a small change, even in my far from perfect room. Vocals were more natural and there was less “smearing”. A pet peeve of mine is when instruments get up and walk around the stage, especially apparent in classical music. The JLTi did have the upper hand in a couple of areas, it was quieter, and faster (attack and decay/transients), but not huge advantage for either of these. The JLTi got a lot of high praise from the usual crowd when introduced, so this is no small feat for the Hagerman which, if inflation is factored in sells for about 1/4 to 1/3 of what the JLTi v3 would sell for now. There was also less “hash” with the Trumpet, but still some there. Then I rolled in some nice old tubes. Au7’s are Mazda “pinched waist” from the 1960’s, in the v2 sockets are a pair of Mazda nickel plates from the late 60’s and in the v1 are a pair of Siemens long black plates from 1960. What a difference, soundstage goes way beyond the speakers, you can really hear the hall in classical or live recordings, extended FR, just all around more. Hash is gone, though this may have been a burn in issue. In short, I would highly recommend giving this pre a try. It is truly amazing and the customer service is exemplary. If there is anything I missed or you want to know, just respond.
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@oceanica i sure appreciate this review--ive been window shopping this phono amp for a coupla years. your impressions with different tubes give me a head stsart should i pick one up. those mazda are exceptional tubes, and i got a couple myself. btw siemens never made a 60s black plate 12AX7, and iirc they switched to short plates in 59. im real curious as to what it is, tho. wish this forum allowed pics. happy listening!
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Thanks for the review. I too have a JLTi mk 4 which I bought new many years back. There was a big shootout of several phono preamps with The JLTi at least tied as best. most of the others cost a lot more. But I get the urge to look elsewhere. I thought about the JLTi Mk 5 but Joe Rasmussen is in Australia which makes service quite a hassle in the USA. I have been looking at the Allnic, Zesto, ModWright, et al. So your post is quite intriguing. Did you audition any other phono preamps? The 30 day $$$ back is very tempting. I like the small size too. Looks like it will fit right where the JLTi now resides. Thanaks |
Great review! I agree - been recommending this phono stage for a while now. Big fan of all Hagerman analog gear, in general. His Piccolo head-amps (including the current-based Zero) are amazing for the money, and warmer than other JFET based stages (which I sometimes find a bit sterile). The "house sound" is always warm (but not too warm) and musical. You get a bit more noise floor than some other brands, but it doesn’t bother me and I find the trade-off worth it. I was looking for his older Trumpet Reference and finally found one - it’s amazing. Though to be sure, all of his Trumpet versions, including the little MC, are very similar in sound. ALSO agree Mazdas are exceptional in this phono, to really bring out the detail and dynamics. It responds very well to tube rolling. |
Regarding the Siemens tubes. I at first thought the dates read 1956, but the codes are tough for me to read, so they could be that instead of 1960. I went with the more conservative reading. Purchased fro Brent Jessee years ago. Still going strong. I don’t live where I can audition equipment without actually buying, so take everything I say with some salt (;-). |
I can confirm after over 30 phono preamps over the years with some being close to 10k, the Trumpet is a technical marvel and I have no idea how Jim squeezed so much performance out of this pre at this price point?!? Dead quiet on 103dB sensitive speakers and single-ended tube pre/amp.
One thing I would recommend are Telefunken smooth plate ECC83's up front and ECC82's in rear slots. The change is unbelievable in terms of SQ. I can also recommend Seimans/Halske ECC83 up front as well for detail freaks (I like smooth tube sound). These are gorgeous sounding, just a different presentation.
I want to try Tesla ECC83's as I've read these are Tele ecc803s (https://www.jacmusic.com/techcorner/ARTICLES/English/Portraits/E83CC/ECC83-part-numbering1.html) and an SBooster linear power supply.
This pre is one of my prized budget finds of all time. No BS! It's the real deal! |
Hi y'all, chiming in late on this thread, but I'm currently considering buying a Trumpet. I'm curious if any of you have been running an MM cart on the Trumpet MC. The lowest setting of 48 db of gain seems like too much for most MM carts, especially my favored one, the Ortofon 2M Bronze (5mv output). (I've used MC carts in the past, and they can be wonderful, of course, but at this point in my life I've pretty much settled on MM for my system, for lifestyle/pragmatic reasons.) Maybe the Trumpet design allows for sufficient overload and headroom, and high gain is not an issue? |
48dB is fine for MM as long as the stage has enough overload margin. Yes I've used it with an Ortofon 2M Blue, and it sounded fantastic - really good pairing actually, since the Ortofon benefits from the Trumpet's warmth and body. You'd be fine with the Trumpet MC here. OR you could purchase the "MM only" version to save 100 bucks AND it forgoes the JFET stage, which is used as a 0-gain buffer in the MC version's 48 dB setting (i.e. it's not bypassable). So the MM version has a cleaner signal path for MM carts. The MM version is also what you'd want to use with a SUT, if going that route for MC cartridges. Just for comparison, there are some high-end phono stages with even higher MM gains: Audio Research Reference 3 is 52dB XLR / 46dB RCA, and Pass Labs XP-17 is 56dB XLR / 50dB RCA. |
Thanks so much for the quick and thoughtful response. Glad to hear that 48 db would be OK for a 2M Bronze, and interesting to see those other stages with even higher gain. Yeah, I'm trying to decide between the MC and MM version of the Trumpet. I like the idea of the flexibility of the MC version, though realistically, as I said, I think I'm going to be sticking to MM carts for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, I like the purity of the MM version's signal path, and if I did change my mind and decide to use an MC cart at some point, I could just get a SUT or head amp (the ones Hagerman makes look interesting). I don't love the look of the empty/plugged controls on the MM chassis, though to be fair, I haven't really seen a good image of the MM version. It definitely seems less popular, or at least less discussed and photographed. Do you have experience with the Cornet MM as a point of comparison? Thanks again for the guidance. |
@oceaniac, thanks for your review. I too am a bit late in finding it. It was particularly interesting since I've listened to a JLTi for several years myself. Mine is I believe version 2, the last before moving to Austria. However while they maintained at the time a wall wart was perfectly adequate, a friend built a fully regulated outboard power supply for mine which certainly upped the performance. So while I've been content with my JLTi +OPS, your comments are intriguing. Now I plan to contact Hagerman for more information, including comparison with his Achiever. I only have a few 78s but do have many early LPS (pre about 1970) and have read several labels failed to adopt the RIAA by 1967 or so. If my JLTi +OPS can be upgraded for such a reasonable amount I'm certainly interested. |