Quest For Sound - High End Audio

Get top-notch sound out of your records

Vinyl lovers value the warm analog sound a good record can provide. The ELAC Alchemy Series PPA-2 phono preamp offers a pure analog pathway that helps your cherished records sound their best. A beefy toroidal transformer and linear power supply help deliver a clean signal boost for the output of moving magnet and moving coil cartridges, so your receiver or amplifier can do the rest.

Precise cartridge loading

ELAC gives audiophiles plenty of tools and settings to help hone in on the perfect sound. DIP switches on the rear panel let you tweak loading to suit any cartridge. You can choose to use a standard 47k ohm load or customize it as needed. A built in measurement system shows you the actual load of the left and right channels on the front-panel display, so you can set both channels very accurately for each input

A button on the front engages +18dB high gain mode for moving coil cartridges that need it. A defeatable high-pass filter keeps rumble out of your listening experience.

Details

Alchemy Series: Designed ground-up by the ELAC team, the new Alchemy Series gives birth to a marriage of technologies, bringing further advances to a name known for delivering performance and build quality far exceeding its price. Every component incorporates relevant, well-thought-out features and topology that is important to critical listeners, like discrete implementation of power supply, preamplifier and signal processing to bring you best-in-class sound. With years of experience in award-winning analog and digital products, the Alchemy Series establishes a new standard for value in the world of high-end audio separates.

Phono Preamplifier: The Alchemy Series PPA-2 from ELAC is a full-featured phono preamp that uses all analog, discrete FET gain, and EQ stages to transform microscopic grooves in vinyl into stunningly lifelike music. The PPA-2 can be tailored to specific cartridge requirements, with switchable gain for each channel, MC cartridge loading, and stereo or mono operation. A selection of RCA or XLR inputs and outputs adds even more flexibility to the most versatile phono preamp in its class.

MM & MC Compatible: The ELAC PPA-2 works with Moving Magnet (MM) and Moving Coil (MC) types of turntable cartridges. MM cartridges are designed to operate into a nominal load impedance of 47K Ohms. MC cartridges are typically loaded with much lower values from 5 Ohms to a few hundred Ohms up to maybe as much as 1000 Ohms. The PPA-2 lets you select this load precisely through use of its built-in measurement system with continuously adjustable potentiometer and manually adjusted dip-switches.

Unbalanced & Balanced Connections: The ELAC Alchemy Series PPA-2 offers balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) inputs and outputs for connection flexibility. Balanced XLR connections guard against induced noise and allow long cable runs without compromising sound quality.

Inputs: The PPA-2 offers two input stages (Input 1 / Input 2) that allow you to connect up to two turntables. Input 1 consists of unbalanced Stereo RCA jacks. Input 2 consists of unbalanced stereo RCA jacks, as well as balanced stereo XLR jacks.

Outputs: The ELAC PPA-2 is outfitted with both unbalanced stereo RCA output jacks and balanced stereo XLR output jacks to connect to your control preamplifier (such as the ELAC DDP-2) or integrated amplifier.

Grounding Points: The PPA-2 has two different ground posts at different ground potentials - Signal and Chassis. "Signal" is at the ground potential of the input signal. "Chassis" is that of the AC Mains ground connection; typically used as a shield. If your turntable has only one ground connection, usually that will connect to the Chassis grounding point. If you have a separate ground wire from the arm it should go to the Signal ground, and the turntable motor or body ground wire should go to Chassis.

Front-Panel Display: The front-panel display will indicate input selection, plus filter and gain settings.

+18VDC Accessory: The proprietary +18VDC multi-pin accessory port is used to power select ELAC Miracord turntables (sold separately).

Mounting Options: The ELAC PPA-2 Phono Preamplifier can simply be placed on a shelf or other flat tabletop surface thanks to its integrated rubber feet.