- Thread Author
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this is an allnic listed at under $3000....:disbelief: yes i said it.lol.
i dont have much experience with the company, but anything ive heard from them is spectacular. and well usually way out of my pricerange. comes from the factory with nos mullard tubes, that are warrantied for a year. thats something that other companies really dont do.
dagogo review
The Allnic H 1201 is a tube phono stage with a resistor/capacitor-based RIAA circuit. It has four Mullard E180CC tubes, which are mounted in Allnic owner, Kang Su Park’s patented anti microphonic tube sockets. It uses the same four gain level step-up transformers as the $11,900 Allnic H-3000 phono stage, providing an additional 22, 26, 28 and 32dB of gain on top of the H1201′s 40dB. This means for moving coil users, 62, 66, 68 or 72dB gain is available.
I’ve spent a lot of time with both the former entry level Allnic H-1200 phono preamp and their top of the line H-3000 phono preamp. The H-1200 was a really amazing phono preamp for a price of under $1200, and the H-3000 is one of the two best phono preamps I have heard. The new H-1201 costs more than twice as much as the H-1200, but still $8,000 less than the H-3000; the good news is it sounds more like the H-3000 than the H-1200. Truth is, it blows away the H-1200, and while it’s not a H-3000 it’s not such a huge step down as the price would indicate.
I ran the H-1201 mostly with the line stage of my Shindo Giscours and the sound was wonderfully musical. First, the H-1201 is far more dynamic than the 1200 and nearly as dynamic as the 3000. Second, compared to the 1200, it has better low-level detail, more specific imaging, and the soundstage is considerably more realistic. There is constantly a deeper and more vivid sense of the three-dimensionality in the soundstage. Last, I would like to point out how quiet this unit is; in fact, it may be the quietest phono stage I have heard. The Allnic uses tubes with frame grids and Mr. Parks’ gel, floating, isolating tube sockets, which I suspect contributes to the special quietness of this unit.
Like the Allnic H-3000 it demands your attention. Music takes on urgent “hey pay attention to me” quality. Like my beloved Shindo preamps, it draws you into the musical flow of the performance. This is so important to enjoying music instead of listening to an audio system. Let’s get down to how it sounds.
Listening
So how does Allnic H-1201 phono preamp make my system sound? Like every Allnic product I have heard, it creates space and transparency. I had the H-1201 and the H-3000 in the house at the same time and the H-1201 gives you a big part of the soundstage and transparency of its big brother. The H-1201 is as detailed as any preamp I have heard without spending at least twice the money. Like it’s big brother, it never sounds overly edgy nor does it spotlight every little thing.
You get very good musical flow that allows the music listening experience to be relaxing with absolutely no listening fatigue. At the same time it’s not overly smooth or warm sounding. I found the music very exciting and emotionally enveloping with the H-1201 in my system. It doesn’t have quite the breath and immediacy of the H-3000 or my Shindo Giscours, but it’s very good in these areas.
Scale, dynamics, power
In these three areas the H-1201 is not as quite as good as its big brother or my Giscours, but it has a big, dynamic, powerful sound that defies its price tag. The H-1201 allows instruments to have a life-like size without seeming bloated. The dynamics of my system with the H-1201 never made me think I was listening to an entry level phono preamp.
Soundstaging and imaging, or should I say “space”
Like I have already said here is a part of music reproduction in which Kang Su Park’s designs excel. It’s not just that his soundstaging are wider and deeper — which they most certainly are — but that his designs let you more easily place things in the recording space. No, the 1201 doesn’t match the H-3000 here, but I dare say I have heard no other phono-preamp that betters the soundstage of the little Allnic.
It has that special Allnic ability not to let anyone 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. In most reviews when I get around to talking about soundstage, I say it’s not all that important to me, but you just can’t say that about Kang Su Park’s designs.
The midrange and top-end
The upper midrange and top-end of the H1201 are truly beautiful, not for the money, but in absolute terms. With good recordings they are fluid and sweet, with lots of presence, and just fun to listen to. It’s not quite as revealing as the H-3000, but a little more forgiving of bright recordings.
The midrange and lower midrange are equally well done. Small differences can be heard in voices and breathing; instruments have a rich harmonic structure. Friends, it just goes to show you that there really can be magic in those glass bottles, even without spending five figures. One of the things I really like about great valve products and often talk about is when voices take on an almost scary, real sound. This little phono preamp gives you a real glimpse of that magic.
Let’s talk about the bass
When reviewing the H-3000 I said, “It’s in the reproduction of the lower midrange and bass that I get really excited about this phono preamp. It’s so natural, so fast, so powerful, and yet it never jumps out at you and says ‘I’ve got great bass.’ Instead, it just lets drums sound like drums, basses sound like bases, and best of all, music to sound like music. One of the most important things in natural sounding bass is texture and air.” Well, the H-1201 isn’t the equivalent of H-3000 in bass reproduction. Still, I have to admit I was shocked at how good as it was, but here is a place where it just doesn’t hold its own with five-figure phono preamps. I know this isn’t a fair comparison, though.
The H-1201 reproduces drums, acoustical and electric basses with excellent impact and a fundamental rightness. It allows you to hear air and texture without even the slightest hint of boom, looseness, or hangover in the bass or mid-bass. It gives you quick fast attacks followed by nice decay. Compared to most tube linestages and phono preamps, it is faster and tighter in the bass, but never lacking in tone or color.
Micro-dynamics and PRaT
This is another area where the H-1201 exceeds expectation. It has fast micro-dynamics and transients. When you combine this with the bass and mid-bass speed and power, plus its great dynamics, you get a phono preamp with very lifelike PRaT. It draws you in and makes you tap your feet. The overall sound is clean, transparent, very dynamic, and incredibly dimensional.
Conclusion
The H-1201 isn’t a giant slayer if you’re comparing it to phono stages over $10,000, but if you’re comparing it to phono stages under $10,000 it just might be. I have to admit I was quite taken with this little phono stage. It’s well built, looks great, is flexible when it comes to matching cartridges, and best of all – it sounds great!
i dont have much experience with the company, but anything ive heard from them is spectacular. and well usually way out of my pricerange. comes from the factory with nos mullard tubes, that are warrantied for a year. thats something that other companies really dont do.
dagogo review
The Allnic H 1201 is a tube phono stage with a resistor/capacitor-based RIAA circuit. It has four Mullard E180CC tubes, which are mounted in Allnic owner, Kang Su Park’s patented anti microphonic tube sockets. It uses the same four gain level step-up transformers as the $11,900 Allnic H-3000 phono stage, providing an additional 22, 26, 28 and 32dB of gain on top of the H1201′s 40dB. This means for moving coil users, 62, 66, 68 or 72dB gain is available.
I’ve spent a lot of time with both the former entry level Allnic H-1200 phono preamp and their top of the line H-3000 phono preamp. The H-1200 was a really amazing phono preamp for a price of under $1200, and the H-3000 is one of the two best phono preamps I have heard. The new H-1201 costs more than twice as much as the H-1200, but still $8,000 less than the H-3000; the good news is it sounds more like the H-3000 than the H-1200. Truth is, it blows away the H-1200, and while it’s not a H-3000 it’s not such a huge step down as the price would indicate.
I ran the H-1201 mostly with the line stage of my Shindo Giscours and the sound was wonderfully musical. First, the H-1201 is far more dynamic than the 1200 and nearly as dynamic as the 3000. Second, compared to the 1200, it has better low-level detail, more specific imaging, and the soundstage is considerably more realistic. There is constantly a deeper and more vivid sense of the three-dimensionality in the soundstage. Last, I would like to point out how quiet this unit is; in fact, it may be the quietest phono stage I have heard. The Allnic uses tubes with frame grids and Mr. Parks’ gel, floating, isolating tube sockets, which I suspect contributes to the special quietness of this unit.
Like the Allnic H-3000 it demands your attention. Music takes on urgent “hey pay attention to me” quality. Like my beloved Shindo preamps, it draws you into the musical flow of the performance. This is so important to enjoying music instead of listening to an audio system. Let’s get down to how it sounds.
Listening
So how does Allnic H-1201 phono preamp make my system sound? Like every Allnic product I have heard, it creates space and transparency. I had the H-1201 and the H-3000 in the house at the same time and the H-1201 gives you a big part of the soundstage and transparency of its big brother. The H-1201 is as detailed as any preamp I have heard without spending at least twice the money. Like it’s big brother, it never sounds overly edgy nor does it spotlight every little thing.
You get very good musical flow that allows the music listening experience to be relaxing with absolutely no listening fatigue. At the same time it’s not overly smooth or warm sounding. I found the music very exciting and emotionally enveloping with the H-1201 in my system. It doesn’t have quite the breath and immediacy of the H-3000 or my Shindo Giscours, but it’s very good in these areas.
Scale, dynamics, power
In these three areas the H-1201 is not as quite as good as its big brother or my Giscours, but it has a big, dynamic, powerful sound that defies its price tag. The H-1201 allows instruments to have a life-like size without seeming bloated. The dynamics of my system with the H-1201 never made me think I was listening to an entry level phono preamp.
Soundstaging and imaging, or should I say “space”
Like I have already said here is a part of music reproduction in which Kang Su Park’s designs excel. It’s not just that his soundstaging are wider and deeper — which they most certainly are — but that his designs let you more easily place things in the recording space. No, the 1201 doesn’t match the H-3000 here, but I dare say I have heard no other phono-preamp that betters the soundstage of the little Allnic.
It has that special Allnic ability not to let anyone 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. In most reviews when I get around to talking about soundstage, I say it’s not all that important to me, but you just can’t say that about Kang Su Park’s designs.
The midrange and top-end
The upper midrange and top-end of the H1201 are truly beautiful, not for the money, but in absolute terms. With good recordings they are fluid and sweet, with lots of presence, and just fun to listen to. It’s not quite as revealing as the H-3000, but a little more forgiving of bright recordings.
The midrange and lower midrange are equally well done. Small differences can be heard in voices and breathing; instruments have a rich harmonic structure. Friends, it just goes to show you that there really can be magic in those glass bottles, even without spending five figures. One of the things I really like about great valve products and often talk about is when voices take on an almost scary, real sound. This little phono preamp gives you a real glimpse of that magic.
Let’s talk about the bass
When reviewing the H-3000 I said, “It’s in the reproduction of the lower midrange and bass that I get really excited about this phono preamp. It’s so natural, so fast, so powerful, and yet it never jumps out at you and says ‘I’ve got great bass.’ Instead, it just lets drums sound like drums, basses sound like bases, and best of all, music to sound like music. One of the most important things in natural sounding bass is texture and air.” Well, the H-1201 isn’t the equivalent of H-3000 in bass reproduction. Still, I have to admit I was shocked at how good as it was, but here is a place where it just doesn’t hold its own with five-figure phono preamps. I know this isn’t a fair comparison, though.
The H-1201 reproduces drums, acoustical and electric basses with excellent impact and a fundamental rightness. It allows you to hear air and texture without even the slightest hint of boom, looseness, or hangover in the bass or mid-bass. It gives you quick fast attacks followed by nice decay. Compared to most tube linestages and phono preamps, it is faster and tighter in the bass, but never lacking in tone or color.
Micro-dynamics and PRaT
This is another area where the H-1201 exceeds expectation. It has fast micro-dynamics and transients. When you combine this with the bass and mid-bass speed and power, plus its great dynamics, you get a phono preamp with very lifelike PRaT. It draws you in and makes you tap your feet. The overall sound is clean, transparent, very dynamic, and incredibly dimensional.
Conclusion
The H-1201 isn’t a giant slayer if you’re comparing it to phono stages over $10,000, but if you’re comparing it to phono stages under $10,000 it just might be. I have to admit I was quite taken with this little phono stage. It’s well built, looks great, is flexible when it comes to matching cartridges, and best of all – it sounds great!
