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Allnic Audio H-3000 LCR Reference Phono Preamplifier Review

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Set up & first impressions

At first, I simply connected the H-3000 to my Shindo Masseto’s line stage and plugged in the tonearm cable that connected the H-3000 to my Miyabi Standard cartridge. I left the rest of my system just the way it was for the start of this review. By doing this, I could more clearly hear what effect the H-3000 had on the sound of my system. I would eventually used it with the Allnic Verito MC, Benz Micro Ebony TR, and the Miyabi 47 cartridges. I also used the Audio Note AN-S8 step up transformed plugged into the moving magnet inputs. Because of the open design of the chassis, it is very easy to adjust the gain and load to where it works best with each cartridge. The absolute phase switch on the front panel is also a very convenient and useful touch.

The first couple of things I noticed about this phono preamp was how incredibly quiet it was and the sense of solidity it added to the music – an even greater way of handling space than my Masseto’s phono stage. I wouldn’t have believed this possible. It also seemed to breathe more air into the room; there was an incredible clarity to voices, and upright basses were just incredible. I also found it very nice in how simple it was to change the loading, the gain, and the phase.

One thing I should mention is what a big difference the new Audience Au24 powerChord made with the H-3000. It was amazing the way it fleshed out the sound and how much more like real music the bass sounded when using this power cord. So, all of the review was done using Audience Au24 powerChords, and Teresonic Clarison 24k Gold interconnects.

Allnic Audio H-3000 LCR Reference Phono Preamplifier Rear Panel

Listening

So how does Allnic H-3000 phono preamp make my system sound? Two words jumped out at me from the very start with this phono preamp: space and transparency. The H-3000 portrays spatial information in a way I have never heard before and it is transparent beyond anything I have ever heard. Having said, that I should also mention it’s very quiet, very dynamic, reveals the nuances of music so beautifully, has great scale, and has this incredible sound stage. Images are very precisely placed, tonal color is very good, and it has a wonderful way with the music flows. There is no doubt this is a very, very special phono preamp.

Information and detail
The H-3000 is as detailed as any preamp I have heard in my system. It’s never razor sharp, nor does it spotlight every little thing. In fact, just the opposite is true. The music just flows from the H-3000 making the music listening experience relaxing with absolute no listening fatigue. At the same time this is no “smooth”, warm sound. Instead, when the music is exciting it can be almost exciting as live music.

I think what makes it able to pull off this trick is how much information it conveys. It allows me to hear more of the subtle changes in a singer’s voice or an instrument’s sound. They come to life with breath and immediacy. I hear the nuances of the instruments, the attack of the leading edge, and the timber of the instrument after the leading edge. All this additional information gives a greater feeling that one is listening to real people and instruments.

Scale, dynamics, power
The H-3000 has a very big, dynamic, powerful sound, instruments have a wonderful life-like size without seeming bloated in any way. It allows a good orchestra recording to defy the size of my listening room. As dynamic as my sound already was with the 103dB Teresonic Ingenium Silvers, the H-3000 took it to a level I have never heard from recorded music. When our dear editor came over to hear it, he asked to hear a piano solo LP. After listening, he commented on how incredible the dynamics were. The scale is also incredibly realistic, but I’ll talk more about it below.

Soundstaging and Imaging or should I say “Space”
Even though I’ve always said that soundstaging was not all that important to me, I continue to talk about it because I know how important it is to many readers. Here is an area where all the information that we talked about, combined with the quietest background I have ever heard from a stereo, simply produces the best soundstage I have ever heard. It’s not just that the soundstage is wider and deeper, and bigger, which it most certainly is, but it lets you place things more easily in the recording space.

In fact, it’s the way the H-3000 gives your system the ability to handle space that is different and better than any other soundstage I have ever heard before. It lets each note sound as though it has its own source and a three-dimensional space. No instrument overshadows any other; they each have their own space. This results in more air around each instrument, and more of the breath that makes a system sound more like real instruments and real people.

I know you’re saying you’ve heard systems that have a holographic soundstage; but this is so much more. In my very first review of the Shindo Aurieges L linestage, I said, “I don’t want strings floating around in some black velvet space like some modern painting that show strings and notes but no instrument or musician. I want to hear the body of the guitar, I want to hear the floor under the bass, I want to hear the sound of the strings inside a piano. This the Aurieges does better than any preamp I’ve ever heard in my system. To tell the truth, I had no idea my system could even do some of this.” The H-3000 does all the things audiophiles love about soundstaging and all the things I describe as a coherent soundstage. Truth is, even that is not saying enough; what it does is something I have never heard before.

In most reviews when I get around to talking about soundstage, I say it’s not all that important to me. After hearing the way the H-3000 handles space it makes we wish I could have a soundstage like this all the time. I am simply blown away by how it handles space.

2 Responses to Allnic Audio H-3000 LCR Reference Phono Preamplifier Review


  1. Andy says:

    Hi Jack. Which Setting would you recommend with a Koetsu Black cartridge.

  2. Michael Schillmeier says:

    Love your review… I have the H 7000 …Still experimenting with the recitifier tube..any recommendations?

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