I have been using a borrowed Musical Fidelity XLP S phono stage and enjoying my records once more, with the hacked Lenco, but I have been needing a phono stage of my own since I got back into vinyl.

Ordering the  NVA Phono1 a couple of weeks ago, it arrived yesterday morning and was connected into the system and warmed up for an hour.

The mirror finished, black, acrylic case is quite beautiful; a perfect example of form follows function, and represents classic British Hi-Fi minimalism in the grand tradition.

I will admit, I was a bit worried about hum, due to the lack of any metal in the external construction of the Phono1, but I needn't have been concerned; there was a compete absence of anything really; no hiss, no hum, nothing, nada. In fact I wondered if the thing was working until I passed my cleaning brush over the AT440MLb stylus and heard the familiar scrape through the speakers.

In terms of sound quality, the Phono1 simply sounds like music. There is a liquidity to the presentation that is quite addictive. It makes you want to keep playing records; digging out stuff, long since consigned to the "sounds crap" end of the shelf and discovering that it sounds bloody good actually. One of the best things about the sound of the Phono1 is the way that it deals with "hot" vocals. We have all cringed at the sound of sssssingers, spitting out sssssibilance and spoiling the enjoyment of what would otherwise be great records, and once it happens, you sit there waiting for it.

With the Phono1, this often troublesome aspect of vinyl replay is quite absent; 's' sounds coming over cleanly and naturally, and if your cartridge has a good line contact stylus and tracks well, the vocal reproduction allowed by the Phono1, puts the performer right in front of you, large as life, vinyl artefacts conspicuous by their absence. This is seriously impressive.

Speaking of impressive, the Phono1 throws a wide and deep soundstage on big classical orchestral productions; plenty of space and air. String tone, comes over without harshness whilst brass blats and blares convincingly. Piano tone is natural, clear and free from clankiness.

The top end of the spectrum is extended and again pleasingly clear, clean and detailed, with ride cymbals shimmering nicely and crashes being splash free. Triangles, wind chimes etc are sharp and cleanly reproduced. Shakers are pin sharp and do not get buried when the music gets complex.

At the bottom end there is plenty of depth and extension with pleasing growl from bowed basses. Electric bass is well defined and textured. Kick drum is controlled and Timp rolls thunder without loss of grip. The bass end is held nicely so that it doesn't overwhelm and smear everything further up the range when the going gets complicated.

Overall pace rhythm and timing, is well portrayed and pitch relationships are absolutely nailed down, with nothing sounding discordant. A good test of pitch is Fender Rhodes electric piano, which on some systems, can sound vague and off tune somehow. There is none of that nonsense with the Phono1.

I think we can safely say that I like this phono stage; I like it a lot.