After my recent review of the Vertere Acoustics XtraX cartridge, I have had the luxury of delving deeper into the records grooves with the recently introduced Vertere Acoustics CALON phono stage.
CALON
The Vertere Acoustics CALON phono stage represents a lifelong quest and an in-depth study of analog reproduction. It was engineered from the ground up to provide perfect support for the rest of the Vertere analog product portfolio.
Through the implementation of painstakingly researched concepts, ultra-refined electronic circuits, and a user-centric design that is easy to grasp, the CALON, despite its relatively moderate size, stands as a pinnacle of phono stages, raising the bar on many levels.
What might appear as a minimalistic front panel conceals an array of settings, revealing a meticulously well-thought-out design. CALON was conceived to use the shortest signal path and optimize channel interaction. This can be seen under the non-magnetic stainless steel chassis, where two identical, gold-plated, four-layer PCBs are ready to deliver immaculate dual mono performance.
From the beginning, CALON was designed to offer a step-up level of adjustability without cutting corners.
It implements two separate gain stages, as well as pre-and post-linearization, allowing unparalleled control of signal transparency and introducing a new elevated plane for high-resolution playback. A cleverly designed LF filter manages unused energy and headroom from subsonic noise, enabling the analog front end to operate without restraint and with full dynamics.
The coarse impedance and capacitance settings create a highly flexible environment that optimally loads virtually any MM or MC cartridge.
Front panel
- 1. Operation Selector (Sleep, Mute & On)
- 2. Input Gain Selector (Default 10dB, +10 & +20 dB)
- 3. Output Gain Selector (Default OdB, +2, +4, +6 & +8 dB)
- 4. LF Filter Switch (Sub-sonic)
- 5. Phase Switch (0° & 180º)
- 6. Input Capacitance Range Switch
- 7. Input Capacitance Selector
- 8. Input Resistance Range Switch
- 9. Input Resistance Selector
Rear panel
- 1. AC Mains IEC Inlet Socket
- 2. Mains Voltage Label
- 3. Mains Inlet Fuse Holder (Includes Spare Fuse)
- 4. Mains On/Off Switch
- 5. Spare Chassis Ground Terminal6 Serial Number Label
- 7. Balanced XLR Outputs (L & R)
- 8. Phono RCA Outputs (L& R)
- 9. L & R Channel Ground Management Switches ((1) ‘Hard’ Ground, (2) No Ground, (3) ‘Soft’ Ground)
- 10. L & R Channel Phono RCA Inputs
- 11. Chassis Ground Terminals (Connect To Tonearm Earth Wire)
A single input follows the Vertere purist approach, avoiding any additional interactions or distractions in the signal path, or the unnecessary use of relays.
On top of everything, CALON is covered by an impressive and exemplary 10-year extended warranty—something more manufacturers could follow. This warranty can be activated on the Vertere Acoustics website.
The Music
In modern society, we are trapped in so many illusions, and many audiophiles and music lovers find themselves firmly ensconced in the self-induced prison of sonic fantasy.
Vertere Acoustics CALON works precisely against this, managing to awaken the reality of music in a very proficient way, highlighting its immensity and complexity while providing the joy of dignified relaxation and soulful connection. This alone is worthy of all the high praise and recognition.
The CALON has demonstrated a wealth of sonic diversity across musical material from all genres. As always, here are a few cherry picks that highlight and exemplify the virtues and advantages of the Vertere Acoustics phono stage.
Yasukazu Amemiya, Morton Feldman – Summer Prayer
This is one of my favorite recordings for stretching the limits not only of the analog chain but of the entire system, as it easily reveals the weak links, shortcomings, and sources of instability in the high-end audio setup.
It’s easy to get caught up in discussions about detail, resolution, distortion-free playback, and sonic expansion, yet when it comes to proof of concept, many phono preamplifiers instantly fail to deliver the promises.
Summer Prayer sets the instant and utterly demanding pace, making it immediately clear what a phono stage is capable of as a standalone entity, as part of the analog front end, and as a fundamental component of a supposedly balanced system.
There is something utterly eerie and sublime about this obscure Japanese recording that pushes the listener to the edge of awareness, even discomfort, yet keeps them on the edge of their seat with a unique sonic escapade full of unexpected twists. The narrative is as quirky, poignant, and bizarre as it gets.
When a phono stage cannot handle the required level of resolution, dynamic swings, and timbral accuracy, the reproduction of Summer Prayer sounds disjointed, cynical, and fuzzy.
CALON phono preamplifier lets these intricate compositions flow freely, igniting momentum and dynamic shifts on the spot, and detaches itself from the electronic and mechanical imprint.
CALON, along with the complete Vertere Acoustics Reference analog front end, effortlessly, presently, and immediately exemplified that this new phono stage is a precisely and thoughtfully designed device.
When placed in a suitable environment, it delivers music at its full prospect, adhering to the natural laws of physics (attacks, physical presence, speed, decays, delays) with an exceptional level of density, detail, and dynamism.
Honestly, I’ve never heard Summer Prayer sound so scarily real, raw, curt, and holographically projected into the room.
Sebastian Sternal Trio – Paris
Paris always reminds me of how something as fundamental as piano reproduction is too easily taken for granted and too often neglected.
The CALON phono stage truly excelled throughout the entire Sebastian Sternal Trio record.
While Side B might be a bit much for listeners who aren’t as accustomed to Nordic chord progressions and overall syncopation, the last track on Side A, “Paname,” should be easier to grasp with its hypnotic and immersive simplicity.
The CALON phono stage honed in on the magnetic rhythm immediately, unlike some even pricier phono stages. It demonstrated that proper reproduction of the information hidden in the black grooves is far more than the sum of the tiny constituent parts and that it takes much more to make up the larger, harmonic entity in its entirety, without eradicating finer details, airness and naturally formed fragments.
Moreover, this direct-to-disc jazz trio recording, released on the legendary Stockfisch label, captured live in the studio holds nothing back. It demands an end-game level of information retrieval to correlate with the enormous potency of the recording.
The most intriguing aspect of the non-par reproduction is how a piano can lose its shape, become obfuscated, and instead of harboring its full presence, morph into an indistinct object that merely fires off notes. Very blunt, but factual observation.
The CALON has once again proven that its voicing, selection of parts, refined circuits, and clever power management are no happy accidents but the result of extraordinary efforts to get everything right.
The CALON not only conveyed the piano in its full-bodied, actual shape and massiveness, with a natural ability to spread notes, induce natural free-flow of overtones, and low-energy pulsations into the room, but it also elevated the intricacy with the occasional appearance of Anne-Marie Jean, allowing her vocal to resonate with natural size, shape, and yield vowels without unpleasant friction.
CALON’s impressively high level of anchor points permits the brain to unconsciously reshape the sonic event, creating an effusive bond while expertly avoiding the faux spectacle of music being reduced to less pleasing forms—a flaw that too many phono stages, regardless of price, cannot avoid.
Cowboy Junkies – Trinity Session
Another reminder of how something fundamental can be so easily forgotten or even overlooked in its contribution to playback CALON’s LF filter particularly shown to extremes across the Trinity Session, especially with a poignant cover of the immortal “Crossroad,” where Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil for fame and fortune.
“Crossroad” induces an immense subsonic content that constantly drives the drivers into the dangerous stress zone, considerably masking the lower register content.
With the CALON’s LF filter engaged, it immediately relieved the drivers from tension, letting them deliver a more focused low-end and upper midrange.
This was proof that when a sub-filter is properly designed and implemented in a non-surgical way and acting beyond realms of parametric or shelving equalizer, it can greatly benefit music reproduction.
By precisely addressing the quirks that store energy and limit headroom within the pool of subsonic noise, CALON lets the lower register take its natural shape and form.
Most impressively, CALON presented a finely tuned lower-frequency efficiency, bestowing a refreshing clarity, portraying “Crossroad” with newfound direction, functioning as a lodestar in reaching a far more dramatic and spellbinding interactiveness.
Stokowski/Wagner – Orchestral Masterpieces From The Ring Of The Niebelung
But there’s one more thing about the Vertere Acoustics CALON.
While it may seem less complicated to deliver something simpler than orchestral music (it’s not), the portrayal of classical orchestral music still represents one of the most challenging tasks for any component, let alone a complete high-end audio system.
Staying true to the timeless qualities of analog principles while embracing modern-day technologies, the CALON took on this ultimate challenge with exceptional prowess.
Paired with Vertere unmistakable spirit, CALON submitted a prominent presence that is not only difficult but, for most phono stages, impossible to achieve due to numerous factors.
Masterpieces From The Ring Of The Nibelung is one of those rare recordings where you can closely experience an outstanding approximation of the reality of an orchestral rendition. Especially with “Entrance Of The Gods Into Valhalla”, which provides a rare insight into the complete factual vibrancy of an orchestra as it reaches into the listening space, much like the hands-on experience from the last seats in a typical concert hall, though not the largest one.
Vertere CALON phono stage mastership of delivering The Ring Of The Nibelung with an exalted fusion of instruments, room acoustics, orchestral spirit, and ambiance—while epitomizing and manifesting orchestral fundamentals in such a profound way—places this phono stage in a highly unique spot.
Its capability to allow the London Symphony Orchestra to break free, strike with striking orchestral momentum in the room, and avoid fragmenting the instrumentalists, enabled a rare influx of orchestral liveliness without coming apart or creating separate entities.
CALON didn’t disembody or desolate the orchestra; instead, it initiated a rare encounter of tangibility, authorizing the orchestra to maintain its core-shell and bubble-like structure, keeping the organic sphere intact while still reflecting the finer inner parts in the form of various instruments—not sounding like pebbles, but exhibiting their distinctive presence and timbre.
The Conclusion
Despite not being positioned or marketed as Vertere Acoustics’ reference-level product, the CALON truly shines (at reference level) when paired with Vertere Acoustics’ RG-1 Reference Groove turntable, Reference Tonearm Gen III, Reference Motor Drive, and XtraX MC cartridge.
The CALON feels and acts like the final piece of the puzzle, perfectly, seamlessly, and intimately integrating with Vertere Acoustics’ most impressive state-of-the-art reference level analog front end.
The brand’s current flagship phono stage brings upper-echelon analog reproduction into the 21st century with a remarkable leap in performance. It features clever solutions like 3x input (before RIAA) and 5x output gain settings, allowing a perfect match with virtually any cartridge.
The ability to properly adjust capacitance avoids unnecessary reductions in input resistance, thereby escaping unwanted high-frequency peaks, brittleness, and a lack of airiness.
Forward-thinking implementations weren’t entirely unexpected, given Touraj Moghaddam’s vast experience with Roksan and his unwavering, ultimatum of commitment to product design. However, to say I anticipated such a dramatic leap in performance would be an understatement. This is warp speed level, by all means.
It also speaks volumes about where CALON belongs sonically. Moghaddam is highly reserved when it comes to the pricing of the Vertere Acoustics products and the value they offer. This is why the brand has such an extended product portfolio starting with genuinely high-performance, super value-oriented products across entire ranges. He could easily have priced the CALON far higher, considering the gargantuan performance it delivers, but he chose to offer this exceptional phono preamplifier at a more accessible price point.
The CALON doesn’t just enhance vinyl reproduction; it establishes a potent hub for properly matched components. When paired with Vertere Acoustics’ reference-level products, it offers one of the most enduring, if not the most striking, experiences I’ve encountered on my journey toward analog audio nirvana.
There are many things audiophiles and music lovers mistake for factuality due to various influences. However, by default, analog, with its infinite resolution, demands properly matched components to transcend the finite realms. Frankly, most analog front ends, regardless of price, remain highly limited.
With CALON, the line between musical reality and fiction is neither blurred nor compromised. CALON channels the complexity of music and transcends the usual lack of interplay between the listener and performers. Vertere’s analog front end makes the music experience first and foremost an experience of verity, and (as too often) not a kaleidoscopic aural escapade bound by electro-mechanical anomalies prone to irregularities due to insufficiently researched, tested, and verified solutions.
When everything is properly executed and engineered, music can be set free and must elevate the listener to a higher plane of aural awareness and fulfillment. Reaching such a plane requires numerous correct technical choices, including gain staging, power supplies, grounding, proper equalization, and more.
CALON nails it by hosting a summit of excellent structural phono stage parts, modules, and circuits that form a meaningful whole, delving far deeper into the essence of music than I could have imagined.
CALON embodies decades of expertise in superbly refined electronic circuits housed within a relatively modestly sized enclosure compared to phono stages that are not only larger and executed in multiple chassis but also far more expensive. CALON boldly accepts the role of high-end audio David versus Goliath, a scene set in a highly competitive market that more than often emphasizes luxurious underpinnings over performance.
The electronic inner workings of CALON allow it to achieve a reduction of gain pressure that was completely unexpected, enabling the music to ascend from unforeseen depths.
By eliminating unwanted parts, circuits, and even modules, the Vertere Acoustics team, under Moghaddam’s direction, dissolved into a seamless music flow unique to CALON.
The term “high-end” has been overused to the point of becoming meaningless. Unless it coincides with the essence of music and the emotional impact it can evoke, it has little to no substance.
This is where CALON excels, with its one-of-a-kind inner core that never leaves the listener questioning the authenticity of the golden trinity of timbre, tone, and color. There’s also no need to resort to artificial means to forcibly unlock the backdoor by trying to artificially fool logical sensory guards.
Vertere Acoustics offers that rare right gut feeling, a Technicolor-like immersive sonic quality that resonates particularly close to the music’s epicenter, recreating the music sphere with concentrated, harmonically rich spirit and a sense of objectivity, expertly bypassing the depiction of a virtual three-dimensional aural netting that can too quickly serve as a rough, mere approximation of actual sonic content in an actual acoustical space.
With the CALON phono stage, the listener isn’t overwhelmed with kaleidoscopic, microscopic, random details and sound fragments. Vertere’s phono preamplifier is incredibly assertive and unapologetically raw in delivering what’s captured in the black grooves, easily echoes the submarine depths of the music, and creates a conscious and tactile experience that needs to be heard to be fully appreciated. It is shockingly and awe-inspiringly real when the source material allows such an occurrence.
After decades of exploring the analog realms and their fringes, it’s rare for me to be so profoundly impacted by a phono preamplifier that it pushes me to return to basics—relax, enjoy, and feel the urgency to re-examine my record collection.
Vertere’s latest analog gem has compelled me to rethink many things I had taken for granted, as well as some of the fixations I held regarding aspects of electronic design, including the necessity of a fully balanced phono stage input. As always, I stand corrected when theoretical ideas are put into practice, and CALON floored me on many levels.
Vertere Acoustics’ CALON phono stage doesn’t merely take things further or improve upon the known. By being protean and not standing in the way of sonic extremes or delicate nuances, it takes a new turn, changing the rules of the game—not only with its highly competitive price point but even more importantly with the level of in-your-face sheer performance.
As with all of their products, CALON was never intended to be defined by its price. It strictly follows Vertere Acoustics and Moghaddam’s modus operandi, implemented across their entire lineup: selectively and meticulously removing distortions at every possible level with a fanatical level of commitment.
The Vertere Acoustics CALON phono stage doesn’t explore any peculiar or esoteric realms but instead goes straight to the heart of the matter: the removal of distortions, where physically and electronically possible.
This is where the magic happens, and efficient removal of any layer of distortion results in better, truer, and more accurate music reproduction.
The CALON phono stage does exactly this—and does it in spades. This is immediately reflected in how the new Vertere phono preamp presents the music, unflinchingly, in all its rawness, with a natural level of intoxication that transcends the usual norms.
CALON adds significant weight to the already mighty impressive and ever-growing portfolio of Vertere Acoustics’ exceptional products by introducing another crown jewel into the analog hall of fame.
At its given price, CALON stands apart from the current push toward posh marketing trends. It comes with superb high-end standards and represents a value proposition that sets a new benchmark for performance. For this, and for how intimately it captures the magic of the music, I am wholeheartedly awarding Vertere Acoustics’ CALON phono preamplifier the 2024 Mono & Stereo Editor’s Choice Award. ❖
Price
- £15,500 / $19,995
Technical specification
Type
MC/MM Phono Preamplifier
Main phono circuit on two separate gold-plated PCBs
Power Supply
Two Linear, Internally Mains voltage switchable,
transformers
Gain Settings
45dB to 73dB In 15 Steps
Input Impedance Settings Resistance
100R to 47k in 9 Steps
Capacitance
100pF to 1.0uF – In 9 Steps
Frequency Response
20Hz – 20kHz +/- 0.2dB
Noise
< -83dB – AWD
THD+N
0.01%
Finish
Front Panel Options
Silver or Black
Dimensions
412 x 290 x 88mm
W x D x H (Incl. Switches & Feet)
Weight
7.0kg
Contact
Vertere Limited
5 Oliver Business Park, Oliver Road, London NW10 7JB
T +44 (0)203 176 4888
E info@vertereacoustics.com