Introducing CALON Dual-Mono Phono Preamplifier & SG-II Pathfinder Tonearm
This week, from MotorWorld in Munich, we’ll be showcasing two brand new, exciting additions to the Vertere line. Now, we’re delighted to be able to share these new products with you for the first time, and introduce you to the Vertere CALON Dual-Mono Phono Preamplifier, and the Vertere Super Groove II Pathfinder Tone Arm.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at both, and consider how our new CALON Dual Mono Phono Stage and SG-II PTA represent genuine milestones in the design history of Vertere. We’ll also dive into how, in their own unique ways, both products open up opportunities to achieve new heights of Vertere excellence - elevating analogue listening systems to previously unimagined levels of breathtaking reproduction.
Before we dive into each product in detail, let’s first explore that overarching theme that unites these two new, game-changing products.
How to effectively level-up your analogue system
The headline above might seem like a fairly simple, maybe even arbitrary, statement. But in today’s premium audio industry, it’s anything but. We here at Vertere believe that, oftentimes, there are inherent flaws in the way our industry talks about premium audio products. One such HiFi misconception involves how we approach upgrades within our listening systems.
When it comes to improving the sonic quality of a HiFi system, attention often turns to the big, flashy, premium products. Your loudspeakers, your record player, your streamer, your amplifiers. But dig deeper into the inner workings of an already high-performance system, and you’ll find there are often sizeable gains to be achieved by considering the performance of less headline-grabbing components in the signal chain.
This granular, fundamentals-focused approach has become a guiding philosophy for us here at Vertere. We’ve long held to the opinion that your ‘analogue source’ represents so much more than just your record player. We see the analogue source as a comprehensive package of equally crucial components. The deck, tone arm, cartridge, motor driver, phono stage, and cabling - together, all these elements contribute to the overall performance of your analogue source. By seeing all these components as equally important in the quality and accuracy of your analogue playback, we can achieve remarkable improvements in sonic reproduction by turning our attention to one or more of them.
For a perfect example of this fundamental philosophy in practice, you needn’t look any further than our two new product additions. Now, let’s turn our attention to each of them.
Introducing the CALON Dual Mono Phono Preamplifier
The CALON Dual Mono Phono Preamplifier represents an exciting and revolutionary new chapter in our quest for flawless record reproduction - a wholly new and re-optimised approach to Vertere preamplifier design. CALON is a game-changing addition to your listening system, capable of elevating the performance of your analogue source to previously unimagined levels of detail, clarity, and sonic excellence.
Employing our fundamentals-focused approach to audio design, we’ve carefully developed this high-end phono stage to meticulously enhance the performance potential of every single component it proceeds in the signal chain.
CALON features two gain stages, one pre-linearisation (default, +10dB, +20dB) , and one post-IRAA filtering (0dB, +2dB, +4dB, +6dB, +8db), producing previously unachieved levels of clarity, detail resolution and dynamics. A dedicated low frequency filter moderates the wasted energy and headroom caused by subsonic noise, allowing your analogue source to perform at a significantly augmented level of efficiency, transparency and definition. And granular impedance and capacitance control means CALON can work in perfect harmony with virtually any MM or MC cartridge you choose to use.
Venture under its non-magnetic stainless steel chassis, and you’ll find two identical, gold plated, four-layer PCBs providing flawless dual mono audio performance. They deliver full control of the ground and power impedances, optimised signal path and ground path flow. A separate control circuit means CALON is easy to use, quiet in operation and stable. CALON also features two toroidal transformers, one supplying low-voltage AC to the L&R Audio Boards and one supplying low voltage AC to the logic and relay board. AC is supplied to the circuits so that rectification, storage and regulation can be as close to the required circuits as possible.
Simply put, CALON is the new beating heart of your analogue source, transforming your system’s ability to deliver untold moments of breathtaking musical magic. Its ability to transform the overall performance of even the most premium-level analogue listening systems is truly jaw-dropping. If Vertere’s fundamental goal is to pull as much musical information from the record groove as possible, CALON allows us to get closer than ever to reaching all of it.
Introducing the SG II Pathfinder Tone Arm
Building on the critically acclaimed SG I PTA, the Super Groove II shares its sibling’s aesthetic style, but has evolved in almost every aspect of its design and performance. The SG II Pathfinder Tonearm achieves a groundbreaking new level of balance, precision, and connection with the record surface - a perfect upgrade option for owners of the SG-1 and RG-1 record players.
It may look similar to the SG I PTA, but Super Groove II PTA shares only three components with its sibling; the fine tracking force weight, the lift lower mechanism, and the silicon nitride triple bearing assembly. Every other element of SG II’s design and build has been carefully recalibrated to improve upon the SG I, and yield performance levels as close as possible to the flagship Reference Tonearm.
Weight distribution has been fine tuned to optimise the effective mass seen at the stylus tip - significantly reducing movement whilst elevating efficiency and information retrieval. To do this, key improvements have been made including a new titanium head shell that achieves better dynamic mass distribution, and a heavier dual-axis counterweight that's decoupled and fitted with adjustable outriders for enhanced azimuth adjustment. A new bearing yoke aligns even closer with the stylus tip, and a stiffer rolled carbon fibre tube improves the connection to the head shell and bearing yoke joints.
The improvements don’t stop there. A new super-polished, aero-space-precision Silicon Carbide/Tungsten Carbide Tri-Pivot bearing delivers ultra-low friction, stiction and noise. There’s a new austenitic stainless steel central pillar and bearing holder and austenitic stainless steel pillar holder and clamp. A VTA adjustment collar makes for easy adjustment and repeatability and an improved arm-rest features a new arm lock for transit. We’ve also fitted a new Penguin transit spacer/lock, removing the need for SG II PTA to ship with transit screws.
These, along with even more nuanced design enhancements, mean the SG II PTA delivers a wholly new and simply astonishing amount of musical detail - elevating the performance of your entire analogue source in the process.
Two new, game-changing Vertere products
As you can hopefully see, the process of careful, fundamentals-focused improvement we mentioned earlier in this piece is where we’ve continued to train our focus with our two latest product additions. In their own, unique ways, both represent the opportunity to take a very good system, and elevate it to a whole new level. We hope these two new products demonstrate how far analogue systems can go - and that you don’t necessarily need to make drastic changes to your system to get incredibly close to ‘reference level’ results.
How to purchase CALON and SG-II PTA
To find out more information on either of these two products, and to explore purchase options, reach out to your nearest Vertere dealer today.
