New phono stage from SOTA


SOTA will soon be releasing a new phono stage that they debuted at CAF. I’ve gotten to know the designer who lives about 5 miles away and am currently using one of his prototypes that's been installed for about 9 months. My other equipment  - Miyjami Shilabe cartridge, VPI TNT turntable w/ ET 2.5 arm, Muse preamp, Son of Ampzilla MK II amp,  Audio Artistry Vivaldi speakers, HSU subwoofers.  I've owned three other dedicated other phono stages over the last 30 years, one retailing for over $3,000, and this unit far surpasses those. I have no financial interest, just thrilled with this piece and wanted to pass this along.  Looking forward to what the reviewers have to say. https://sotaturntables.com/company-news/sota-pyxi-phonostage/

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Showing 1 response by dogberry

I am aware of rumours that we may be dreadfully susceptible to subsonic vibrations, but have not yet heard of military research into ultrasonic warfare (and I assume that the military would be the ones to wish to exploit this if it were possible).

@mijostyn Bernard Katz would be proud of you for pointing that out (he was a clever man but a wretched lecturer as I recall). It is surely correct that our neurons cannot support frequency modulated information that oscillates too fast for transmission along the average length neuron. And we haven't allowed for the refractory period whilst the neuron "re-adjusts its dress" or returns the sodium and potassium ions to their resting position. But if I ignore this, I run into a problem. A transmission speed of 350fps means 1Hz is the limit for a 350 foot long neuron, no?  Probably, the longest neurons in auditory circuits are those in the VIIIth nerve itself. Let's say a generous 2" from cochlear to nucleus at the medullopontine junction. So, 350 x 6 = 2100Hz. But we can, when young, hear much higher frequencies. A moment's thought tells me it doesn't work that way at all. Only certain hair cells in the spiral of the cochlea respond to corresponding frequencies of sound. Likely they all send their notifications of having been stimulated along their connecting neurons at the same frequency. IF the cochlear was capable of sensing ultrasonic vibration, then that would be sent upstream at the same speed of 350fps. But we don't seem to hear those very high frequencies, even in the youngest and healthiest of specimens.

One could postulate that a general ultrahigh frequency effect might be exerted on the brain by other means (bone conduction, CSF conduction and ?glial physical vibration), but that wouldn't be anything other, I think, than a general degradation of brain function. I think that assuming we can in some way enjoy music that includes ultrasonic information, even as we have lost the intermediate high frequencies through aging, is hopeful, at best.