I wasn’t sure whether to post this in the items bought in 2023 thread or to start a new thread. Based on my continued experience I think it might be worthy of its own thread.
I’m using a Vertere Phono-1 phono stage. When looking at phono stages I came across a nice review of the Phono-1 by Paul Rigby. As part of the review Paul commented on the chassis grounding knob - “It might be a surprise to some but the most exciting feature on this chassis, as far as I’m concerned, is the chassis Ground knob. I attached my Russ Andrews RF Router to this knob via a spade cable to reduce the noise attached to the chassis and heard a dramatic reduction in high-frequency noise from the Phono-1. The upper mids became smoother, more relaxed while opening up further to encourage further insight within upper midrange detail.”
Well given that the device was c. £200 (on offer, now finished unfortunately) and with money back guarantee if your not satisfied, it turned out to an irresistible proposition for me.
I went for the very easy to install wall-wart version of the device and a 1m Kimber grounding cable which I attached to the chassis grounding knob on the Phono 1.
Did it work for my turntable replay? Absolutely. It gives all of the benefits that Paul mentioned in the review and most notably for me is the improved the articulation, punch, depth to the bass. After living with it for a week, I removed the connection between the rf router and the Phono-1 and it was immediately apparent that those improvements were absent. It’s a keeper!
After listening exclusively to vinyl to investigate the benefits, or otherwise, of the rf router, it was time to listen to an album on the streamer. Several albums on I’m convinced it brings the same benefits to listening to the streamer, but even more so! How can this be, I don’t understand? The RF router remains connected to the Phono-1 which is set to ‘off’ when I’m playing the streamer. The connection to the rf-router connection is one signal hop from my 52 pre-amp and two signal hops from the NDS. A totally unexpected improvement, but I’ll take it.
Whilst I’d hesitate to put the improvement in the category as a full upgrade, it’s certainly knocking on the door of a full upgrade. In my mind a very well spent £200 (or there abouts…)