LP Tunes

AUDIO-TECHNICA AT-PEQ3 ATPEQ3 PHONO PREAMP

"How about a sweet sounding starter phono preamp that lists for $119 but can be had online for under $70? It's the Audio-Technica AT-PEQ3, a little plug'n'play box with a wall-wart power supply that's quiet, sounds clean and suprisingly dynamic, and get's the job done remarkably well."
- Michael Fremer, Stereophile, Vol. 32 No. 12, December 2009

The Audio-Technica AT-PEQ3 ATPEQ3 phono preamp sounds like an expensive phono preamp

Audio-Technica has a penchant for coming up with wonderful bargains and delighful performers - like the Audio-Technica AT-PEQ3 phono preamp. Small in size, attractively encased in polished metal, complete with RCA interconnect and AC/DC adapter - it is ready to plug and play music after a short break-in period. Initially it sounds brittle at the top, hazy and cantankerous but after using it a while it starts to morph into a bundle of surprises.

The Little Prince

To initially test the Audio-Technica AT-PEQ3 phono preamp we used it with a Nagaoka NP-300 phono cartridge mounted on a Sota Sapphire turntable with LP Gear S Arm with removable headshell. These equipment are thirty times more expensive than the Audio-Technica AT-PEQ3 phono preamp and will likely not be used with it but we wanted to hear how it would cope with high-end audio. Signal quality was surprisingly very good. Clarity was equally very good. It's a prince.

Next we tried it with an Audio-Technica AT440MLa phono cartridge. It mated very well indeed with its sibling. The details, the soundstage and depth were there. Vocals were especially very convincing. Bass was tight though not visceral and did not have the wallop that we would have liked. You could detect a slight sizzle at the top end in some recordings but it was not irritatting at all. With the Graham Slee Era Gold Mk.V phono preamp, the highs are pristine and without distortion and the sound stage is wider and deeper - but then it costs over ten times more.

We have been intrigued by the new Ortofon 2M Red cartridge so we used it with the Audio-Technica AT-PEQ3 phono preamp. Initially we thought that the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge offered outstanding clarity. After extensive listening comparisons however we've concluded that the Ortofon 2M Red interprets music differently. It's balanced a little bit on the "hot" side to make it sound lively. It spotlights certain aspects of a performance. For example when playing the same recording, the guitar would be more prominent while with all the other cartridges the guitar less so.

The Audio-Technica AT-PEQ3 phono preamp also provided us an opportunity to evaluate a new inexpensive phono cartridge that we are developing with a Japanese partner. The inexpensive cartridge offers clarity, layering, wide soundstage, cohesion, balance, rhythm and harmonic integrity - just using a conical diamond. This cartridge is really a class act but you wouldn't think so if you saw it.

Overall, the really BIG surprise is the Audio-Technica AT-PEQ3 phono preamp — its agility and high competence. It is capable of revealing the performance and, more importantly, the differences in cartridges. This inexpensive preamp is extraordinary. For those seeking musical subtance within less than $120.00, the Audio-Technica AT-PEQ3 phono preamp offers nirvana.

Features:

- Connects your turntable to audio-mixers, integrated amplifiers, powered speakers and more
- Converts a phono-level signal to RIAA-equalized line-level signal
- Exceptional signal quality and low-noise floor thus resulting in very high musical accuracy for listening and recording
- Gold-plated and corrosion resistant RCA input and output connectors for loss-less signal transfer
- Compact and attractive, all metal design for durability and isolation from RFI
- Plug and play out of the box
- Includes high quality RCA interconnect cable and AC/DC adapter
- Works with turntables using Moving Magnet and High Output Moving Coil cartridges
- Audio-Technica exceptional quality
- One year limited warranty