APOLLO with MUSE

The Importance of a Good Phono Stage

For discerning audiophiles, the true allure of vinyl lies in the richness and warmth of analogue sound. To fully appreciate every detail and nuance, the right equipment is essential. While a premium turntable, tonearm, and cartridge are vital, the quality of your phono stage is what ensures the integrity of the music.

For over 50 years, we’ve been at the forefront of vinyl playback innovation, designing industry-leading turntables, cartridges, and electronics.  We set out to craft a phono stage preamplifier that does more than preserve the music’s fidelity—it brings the performance to life. Every note, every detail, and every emotion is delivered with stunning clarity, capturing the essence, atmosphere, and soul of the moment.

The result – The APOLLO phono stage, powered by the advanced MUSE power supply.

MUSE Power Supply

The MUSE power supply is designed as an independent unit to optimise the power provided to the APOLLO system.

• Mains Power Management: MUSE uses a high-quality low noise toroidal transformer, advanced capacitance multiplier technology and very high-quality voltage regulators, to reduce ripple and noise, delivering two highly filtered and regulated DC outputs.
• Dual Filtration: It works in harmony with APOLLO's internal power supply for superior filtering and regulation.

• Noise Isolation: By housing the transformer separately in MUSE, any noise generation is isolated from the amplification circuits.

The result is a clean, stable power source that enhances the performance and precision of the amplification stages.

APOLLO Phono Stage

APOLLO utilises state-of-the-art technology to deliver exceptional audio performance:

• Pure Power: APOLLO’s inbuilt power supply circuitry works in harmony with the MUSE power supply to further refine and regulate the DC power from MUSE. Creating extremely clean and stable power for the amplification stages.
• High-Quality Preamplifiers: Borrowing technology typically used in professional microphone amplifiers, the class A preamplifiers ensure precise signal handling.
• Passive RIAA Circuit: Signal rectification is achieved via a finely tuned passive RIAA circuit, preserving fidelity.
• Class A Gain Stages: Subsequent amplification stages utilise class A circuits for clean, accurate sound reproduction.
• Regulation and Feedback: Each stage is monitored and controlled using feedback circuits to guarantee consistent performance.
• Customisable loading and gain settings: Enables you to tailor APOLLO to your cartridge requirements. Giving broad cartridge compatibility.

Precision Engineering

Both MUSE and APOLLO boast enclosures machined from solid aluminium in a two-part clam shell design. This approach ensures:

• Noise Isolation: Minimising interference both internally and externally.
• Compact and Robust Construction: Small, yet meticulously crafted for durability and precision.

Additionally, the external DC cable connecting the units is a custom-designed, high-quality audio cable, made in the UK.

It features:

• High-quality Silver-Plated OFC Copper Conductors: Ensuring an optimal signal path and durability.
• FEP Insulation: Aids DC signal transfer.
• Cotton Fibre Wrap: Reduces mechanical noise.
• AL-foil Mylar separators: Shields the individual conductors to maintain signal quality.
• High-density Tinned Copper Shielding: Minimises signal loss from high-frequency interference.
• High Quality ChorAlloy Plated XLR Connectors: Provide high pressure multi pin connections and reduces cable impedance changes by maintaining cable structure at termination. Maintaining overall signal integrity.

Conclusion