VINYL SECTION

Ant Eater
The brand new Kora 3T phono stage from ANT Audio looks set to consume its
immediate competition, thinks Adam Smith...

N
ew phono stages are in a single-ended Class A circuit. The you to the ‘Limited Edition’, made to
seemingly ten a penny RIAA equalisation is achieved using order only. This goes the whole hog
right now, but this can- passive circuitry, there is only a single with tightly toleranced capacitors and
not be said about prod- amplification stage and, as might be Holco resistors throughout, Black
ucts from Alex Nikitin. expected by the basic nature of the Gate bias capacitors, and ultra low
The chief electronics circuit, the unit is suitable only for noise PSU and a red LED. The 3T
engineer for Creek from 1993 to MM or high output MC cartridges. comes in a very neat and unobtrusive
2002, he has recently gone solo and As a result of the circuit’s simplicity, package, measuring 48x91x133mm
come up with a range of electronics Alex explains that the quality of the and weighs less than 1kg.
from phono stages to headphones components become of paramount
amps, all of which we’ll be seeing importance, and consequently the 3T SOUND QUALITY
over the next few months. is available in three variants. The first Heeding the instruction leaflet’s
Since leaving Creek for a career of these is the standard type, retailing advice regarding warm-up, I duly left
in industrial electronics, Alex kept for £175 and complete with fixed the 3T SE idling for a couple of days
working on the ways of improving DC biasing, standard polypropylene before listening began, when initial
the quality of audio electronics in capacitors for load and RIAA duties, impressions were favourable. The
his spare time. The end result is standard Panasonic FC types for the Kora’s arch rival is the Trichord Dino
A.N.T. (Alex Nikitin Technology) power supply and biasing duties, and at £320, which is a far more feature-
Audio, and his first product was the a green power LED. Main supply juice packed affair, being adjustable for gain,
Amber headphone amplifier (available is provided by a standard regulated load and use with MC cartridges. It’s
as a DIY kit), which has been very 24V ‘wall wart’ type PSU. a very fine performer at the price,
well received by enthusiasts on the Upping the budget to £325 buys but definitely comes in at one end
www.head-fi.org headphone forum, this ‘Special Edition’ variant, which of the sonic spectrum, being quite
amongst others. Alex’s next step adds polystyrene load and RIAA forthright, snappy and mechanical
however, has been to venture into capacitors and ELNA types for the sounding in the wrong system. The
the world of vinyl reproduction with output and biasing duties. Circuit bias 3T SE however is right at the other -
the phono stage you see here... is also adjustable on this model, via a as its simple Class A innards endow it
The name actually stems from small trim pot on the rear panel, the with a marvelously flowing and sweet

HI-FI WORLD
the fact that the design is a simple power supply is a high performance nature that brings forth vocalists and
one, and uses three transistors per type and illumination is provided by instruments in a highly satisfying way.
channel with local negative feedback an orange LED. Finally, £775 brings Spinning ‘The Blue’ from David
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk DECEMBER 2008 HI-FI WORLD
VINYL SECTION

Gilmour’s ‘On an Island’ LP, the Kora

took David’s guitar work and had it
pouring from the loudspeakers in a
sublime manner, each note flowing
into the next exactly as intended.
Combined with a surprisingly
capacious soundstage depth that
let backing instruments line up
behind the main action in a broad
space, such as a gentle hi-hat which
appeared to be out in the garden, the
overall result was exactly the sort of
atmospheric performance that one
expects from good vinyl. "those craving subtlety, delicacy and
ease will be delighted to hear this..."
The good works continued with
Duffy’s ‘Rockferry’ album, where
the Kora captured fine nuances of
the lady’s vocal performance with more upbeat and raucous. It never hear of the arrival of the ANT Audio
effortless ease, without making her sounds uncomfortable or messy, but Kora 3T then, because it offers
sound shrill, as some less capable seems more sensitive than many to precisely these attributes. Its simple,
stages can tend to do. However, the material that is played through single-ended Class A internals endow
there was a certain curtailing of the it. Get this right however, and it it with a mellifluous nature that
soundstage in lateral terms here rewards handsomely. shows just how sophisticated and
– once again the image stretched off enjoyable vinyl can be, even at fairly
into the distance by a quite surprising CONCLUSION affordable prices. Some attention is
amount, but seemed to stop dead, Whilst Trichord’s Dino has been an required to set up the circuit’s bias
width-wise, beyond the limits of the automatic recommendation at its for optimal results and the Kora
loudspeakers – almost like listening price for many years, it won’t appeal doesn’t quite rock with the best of
at the mouth of a tunnel, but without to everyone. Those craving subtlety, them, but it’s still a music maker par
the echo. A spot of adjustment of delicacy and ease will be delighted to excellence at the price.
the biasing control seemed to
help to focus the central image a REFERENCE SYSTEM
little better but didn’t increase the London Acoustical Developments GAJ942 turntable/Funk Firm Achromat
overall width. Audio Origami rebuilt Helius Aureus Gold tonearm
Increasing the pace a little Goldring 2500 cartridge
further to ‘Shut Up and Let Me Naim SuperNait amplifier
Go’ from the Ting Tings’ ‘We Ferrograph S1 loudspeakers (modified)
Started Nothing’ album, the Kora
proved more than happy to
carry a rhythm without falling
over itself, but it does lack MEASURED PERFORMANCE
some of the rhythmic snap With just three FET transistors per
of the Trichord, or even the is only because less open loop gain and
channel and not an integrated circuit
feedback exists, and at 0.05% second
Cambridge 640P, that propels anywhere the Kora 3T will measure a
harmonic distortion for 10mV input it is
this track. Yet the 3T SE dug the little differently to normal, but it is a
not an issue.
heart of the performance out minimalist design that just needs to be
The Kora 3T is a neat little design,
very well, offering up fine levels satisfactory. Output swing was a little
one that frees itself from the usual ‘high
of low end detail. less than the usual 9V or so, measuring
gain plus feedback’ topology intrinsic
6.5V, but this is adequate, translating
By now I was beginning to to the integrated circuits found in most
into a 74mV input overload value
grasp the measure of the Kora, solid-state phono stages. It measures
- plenty high enough. Gain (MM only)
so I cued up Van Morrison’s well and is likely to sound good. NK
was on the low side at x90, so solid-

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‘Enlightenment’ and the track state power amps cannot be driven
‘Start All Over Again’. This is Disc MM
direct through a passive volume control.
Frequency response 20Hz-85kHz
a more thoughtful and gentle Accompanying integrated amplifiers
Separation 73dB
performance than offered by will need high input sensitivity of
Noise (input noise, A wtd) 1.1uV VERDICT
those ruffians the Ting Tings, 200mV or thereabouts.
Distortion 0.05% Simple affordable phono stage that
and the 3T knew exactly what Noise (equivalent input noise, IEC
Gain x90 impresses with exceptional warmth
to do with it. Van’s vocals were A weighted) was 4dB higher than is
Overload (at 72dB gain) 74mV/6.5V out and musicality at the price.
possible, measuring 1.1uV, but the
gruff by just the right amount KORA 3T SE £325
difference is small and in fact the Kora
and the backing vibraphone FREQUENCY RESPONSE A.N.T. Audio
is quiet enough, as this low level
shimmered out from the of hiss is swamped by Johnson www.ant-audio.co.uk
loudspeakers. Once again (thermal) noise from the high Z
though, a little tweak of that FOR
generator coils of MM cartridges.
bias control helped to bring - flowing nature
Equalisation was accurate, with
cymbals into better focus. As a small lift at high frequencies our - surprising image depth
my listening session wore on analysis shows, plus a deliberate - fine levels of detail
into the evening, it became roll off below 20Hz to give -7dB
clear that the Kora likes to attenuation at 5Hz, where warps AGAINST
are at their worst. Although - bias needs setting carefully
settle back with something
distortion was higher than the usual - curtailed image width
smooth and considered, as
vanishingly low amount from ICs, this - too soft for some tastes!
opposed to material that is
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk DECEMBER 2008 HI-FI WORLD