The Chord Electronics Huei Phonostage
The UK’s Chord Electronics is well known for its massive amplifiers and award-winning DACs, so you might not think of them as a go-to for vinyl. Yet, the Huei is fantastic in every way – if you are the reader who just wants the conclusion, this little marvel is worth every penny asked. The last compact, high-performance phono stage we’ve used is the Boulder 509, and the Huei is not all that far off the mark.
Quick setup
The Huei is tiny, measuring only about 3 inches wide, 6 inches deep, and just under 2 inches tall. (8.8cm wide, 16cm deep, and 4.5cm tall to be exact.) Only about a pound and a half (657 grams) sans external power supply means you can put the Huei anywhere. This is a tremendous bonus for those of you who would like to put a little distance between your turntable and the rest of the system, whether for vibration control, flexibility, or aesthetic issues. Experimenting with placing another turntable on the other end of the listening room, we gave the Huei a go with a 40-foot length of Cardas Iridium balanced interconnect, and the results were outstanding.
Oh yes, the Huei offers fully balanced as well as RCA outputs, along with a maximum output of 20V. To further confirm the robustness of the circuit design, playing the Huei through a 30-foot length of RCA-terminated audio cable and a 1-foot pair of otherwise identical Cardas Quadralink cables again proves the Huei a champion. Our reference vintage C-J tube phonostage has a definite HF roll off when using 10 feet of RCA cable.
Setting MM or MC operation merely requires pushing the left-most round button for a few seconds. It turns red for MM operation and blue for MC. The rumble filter (-24db/octave below 50hz) illuminates when in operation and is dark when not.
MM gain can be set from 21dB to 42dB in 8 steps, and this is a fantastic feature if you have a very high output cartridge like some of the Regas, which produce up to 7.2mV. We’ve never seen this feature anywhere else. Especially if you are working in the context of a preamplifier with extremely high gain, or a passive pre that has none, the Huei is remarkably flexible. The ability to fine-tune gain makes for the best possible dynamic range from your phono cartridge.
MC is equally adjustable, with 8 steps taking you from 49dB to 68dB and twelve steps of loading impedance from 100 ohms to 3700. Probably the only complaint here would be to forgo the last two on the top range in favor of adding a 50 and 25 ohm setting, but we’re really being fussy.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the Huei sounds great right out of the box, thanks to its extremely low power consumption, it can always be left on without environmental guilt. In which case, you will notice it opening up a bit more and delivering a bit more space in its rendition once it’s been powered up for a day or two.
More listening
When auditioning a phonostage in the $500 – $2,000 range, we nearly always begin with our Technics SL-1200 mk.5/Denon 103 (now with the Denon Aluminum Body upgrade) combination, as this is a well-rounded $1000-ish turntable/arm package that would make a great match for something like this. We also use the AVID Ingenium Plug and Play with the MM cart, too. No point in connecting a $1,500 phonostage to a six-figure turntable for the average end user. Plus, the Denon is a relatively low-output cartridge, acting as a bit of a torture test, if you will.
Listening to the recent remaster of Bryan Ferry’s Boys and Girls passes the test with ease. Thanks to an incredibly low noise floor, this phonostage is an absolute thrill to listen to your airiest tracks. All the audiophile cliches about inky black backgrounds and a holographic soundstage apply. The Huei brings the quiet and dynamics you expect from the finest solid-state MC amplifiers, yet possesses a highly organic, non-electronic sound to the presentation. We’ve heard our share of SS phono preamps costing a lot more than struggling with this level of analog refinement.
Moving upscale to a freshly rebuilt Lyra MC from our friends at Ana Mighty Sound (full review on that later) and a Clearaudio Jubilee MM, this phonostage is well worthy of using a much spendier cartridge and table. Huei even plays well with our new REGA P10/Apheta 3 combination, though you will need to go down to the 100 ohm setting for this one.
Hours of listening reveal an incredibly neutral/natural tonal rendition. Those of you madly in love with tubes may want a touch more romance, though when using Huei as the analog source for PrimaLuna, Octave, and C-J tube amps, the combination is brilliant. But again, this phonostage never sounds forward or harsh. Much like our favorite (and much more expensive) Boulder, the Huei neither adds nor subtracts tonally.
Tracking through a lot of records heavy in piano, drums, and various percussion shows off the massive dynamic swing this small preamplifier is capable of. A very long set of Rush, concentrating on the late Mr. Peart’s drumming, is very enjoyable. Spinning the audiophile clock way, way back for a spin of David Grusin’s Discovered Again! clearly illustrates how quickly this phonostage can accelerate. Huei’s clean, quick transient response makes for completely fatigue-free listening sessions.
Many virtues, no drawbacks
When comparing the Huei to a couple of five-figure phonostages, you can finally hear the lack of resolution, and the lowest bass weight that only a massive power supply and more elaborate design can bring – as it should be. Yet in the context of its price and design (and to be fair, even a few solid clicks above), the Huei is at the top of its class.
For many analog enthusiasts, the Chord Huei could be your last phonostage. It’s that good. And from a company primarily known for digital? Who knew? Proof that great engineering transcends format boundaries.
Very highly recommended. – Jeff Dorgay
www.chordelectronics.co.uk (manufacturer)
www.soundorg.com (US/Canada distributor)