Edwards Audio Apprentice MM
£90
This is the other option for an entry-level phono stage under £100 that we’re happy to solidly get behind.
As plug and play goes, rarely has there been so literal an example. Edwards Audio’s Apprentice MM doesn’t even have a power switch. A small red LED shines when it’s connected to the mains, then, once you’ve connected your turntable and amplifier, it’s ready to go.
Edwards says the Apprentice MM uses a circuit similar to its more expensive MM1 phono stage, with passive treble and active bass equalisation.
Certainly it looks a more affordable product than the MM1, or the Awardwinning Rega Fono MM MK3, both of which require double the budget. It’s small, but we like the Apprentice MM’S unassuming, minimalist design.
A cohesive performance
We pair the Edwards Audio with a Rega Planar 1 – at £250, nearing the price ceiling of suitable team-mates. We play The National’s Sleep Well
Beast and, as the album kicks off with the opening track, we’re straight away impressed with how cohesive a performance we get for our money. We don’t expect oceans of space, but there is more than enough to separate instrumental lines, which knit together rather than bleed into one another.
It is aided by an even tonal balance, which is by no means lean, as you may worry about from a budget phono amplifier, but doesn’t take on more bass than it knows how to handle, remaining articulate while affording sufficient body to the vocals.
The Edwards Audio doesn’t suffer from a lack of energy, either. Tracks such as Day I Die and Turtleneck are delivered with punch and vigour, yet that excitement is kept in check by a mature sense of timing.
The Edwards Audio delivers a fine musical performance, irrespective of the music it’s being asked to play. That’s the mark of a great budget product: one that improves as you upgrade the rest of your system, but that still gives you everything in the meantime.