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Incorporating technology derived from the £12,000 PH-77 phono preamp from sister-company AMR, iFi Audio’s iPhono3 Black Label MM/MC-compatible phono stage is driven by the company’s Class A TubeState engine – solid-state circuitry claimed to capture the key attributes of valves while maintaining ultra-low distortion. Its circuit is direct-coupled, meaning there’s no coupling capacitor from cartridge to output, and this is achieved without a conventional DC servo. iFi calls the design Direct Drive Servoless, incorporating a proprietary DC Infinity circuit to boost DC gain to a level approaching infinity.

The Black Label also boasts a series of DIP switches on its underside for setting gain and load. The former can be adjusted between 36dB and 72dB, while there is a wide variety of values for the latter – eight for MC and five for MM carts. Additional DIP switches allow the RIAA EQ setting to be further tuned to taste, while a toggle at one end of the iPhono3 Black Label allows the user to select between three EQ curves: RIAA, Columbia and Decca. Users can choose the standard RIAA curve – applied with +/- 0.2dB accuracy – or an enhanced version called ‘eRIAA’ offering extended high-frequency response. Alternatively, if the deck is spinning problematic warped records, the IEC setting takes the standard RIAA curve and applies a subsonic filter to tackle the issue. Finally, the eRIAA+IEC setting applies the subsonic filter to the enhanced RIAA curve.

The iPhono3 Black Label comes bundled with the 15V version of iFi’s iPower X ultra-low-noise AC/DC power supply (£99 when purchased separately). It's available to buy now for £1,000 and you can find out more about it here.