Keep it in the groove! Piccolo Zero is a transimpedance headamp designed to operate LOMC cartridges in current mode (zero input impedance). This mode is desirable for its improved tracking ability, resulting in lower distortion and well controlled sonic presentation. There are four levels of gain, selected by internal switches. Use with any MM phonostage (like an SUT). To determine if your cartridge is suitable for transimpedance operation, it's inductance (in uH) divided by it's resistance (in Ohms) should be less than five. This ratio determines resulting bandwidth. Specifications 0.06 ohm input impedance @1kHz 53, 69, 110, 220 gain (uV/uA) 330 ohm output impedance 150kHz bandwidth Includes power supply (24V @60mA) Downloads User Manual Reviews Fremer - Tracking Angle TONE Publications Product of the Year Gneier - TNT Reichert - Stereophile Testimonials "I bought your Zero recently and I am content. It plays far better than its price." "DAMN!! This baby sounds dynamite right out of the box w/ out even breaking it in yet! You must have been pleased as hell the first time you listened to your prototype!!" "The Piccolo must be one of the world's hifi bargains." "After listening to several vintage SUTs (RCA, Ampex, Newcomb, etc), the Piccolo Zero just got the thumbs up from my two most trusted hifi advisors. Had you not informed me about the break in period, I would have boxed the PZ up and returned it. Over the weekend, I spun the same side of an album over and over until I got 6 or 7 hours on it. Late Sunday night, I decided to give it one more listen. The difference was night and day!" "Piccolo Zero is sounding better all the time - it really has elevated my enjoyment of the Ortofon SPU #1e significantly. I realize that a well-matched SUT would also do this, but the ones I have seen that work well with low output SPU cartridges are in the low to mid thousands of dollars! So kudos to a truly affordable solution from you." "First, my compliments on your very good sounding and extremely reasonably-priced Piccolo Zero transimpedance head amp. I received [mine] last week and am very pleased with the improvement in audio quality from an Ortofon SPU #1e moving coil cartridge..." "Very enjoyable presentation of the music. Loads of detail, and great sense of the venue. Spatial presentation is excellent." "I really don't understand entirely about current mode operation, but I did notice a difference. After about an hour of listening, I began to hear more detail (like cymbal rides on a drum kit) and more image specificity in the soundstage, like on Three Blind Mice recordings where the album liner notes depict where each instrument is located." "I matched the Trumpet phono pre and your Piccolo Zero with my Kiseki Blue Gold Spot MC. What a match this is, VERY snappy and natural!" "I recently received my brand new (recently released) Piccolo Zero transimpedance MC head amplifier. Its sounds awesome! And it already completes for my favor with some good SUT’s - and perhaps more." "I’ve been interested in transimpedence technology pre amps for some time, so bought the Piccolo to run through the MM phono input of my tube integrated. I couldn’t believe how good it sounded!" "My Piccolo Zero arrived this morning, is hooked up and working fine. Tons of detail. Wonderful air and purity."
