Allnic/zesto/true life audio phono pre comparison
 

I was at a great dealer in Brussels today (bel hifi) to sample three different phono pre's. we heard the allnic/ h-3000, the true life audio /Argo and the zesto/andros 1.2. First, it was great to be at a dealer that knew their stuff and actually had lots of stuff to demo. It was also good to be with my friend and colleague who would have to spend the money because I was on the wrong continent voltage wise.

We demo'd the components with trulife amp (big tube mono block) and the trulife pre - another big component that looked as if it had been hand carved. TLA is a Greek company that I had never even heard of, much less heard their components, but I was quite impressed. For the life of me, I can't remember the turntable specifics or the cartridge. Cables were the same across each of the samples. We took several hours giving each a good listen and doing some a/b comparisons. We used some lower end verity speakers (about $7k or so), with which I was also impressed for the price.

The very close winner (for my ears, in this room, with this system) was the zesto, but that was a matter of sound signature preference. The TLA was also very good, if you like / need more detail and less warmth. It was so close though that it would be a matter of personal preference. The zesto was also about $9k cheaper than the other two, so it did well on the price performance scale. No complaints with the allnic, but compared to the other two, it lacked some bass and was "thinner" in its presentation.

These were sound comparisons only - there's the matter of the number of supported tables/mm/mc/ease of use, etc, but that's too much for this write up.

Zesto has just come out with the tessera, which has a separate power supply and higher end componentry (for a higher price), which would also be interesting to hear.

Great day and great music and great components, if you decide one of these is right for you.

What happened? Was your camera broken??? :D Kidding aside, thanks for sharing - I've been curious about trying the Zesto out!

Here's the one photo, from my iPhone. I was having so much fun listening to the great sound and poking around the shop, I mostly forgot about photos. Attachment 48085

Morning after report - my buddy took the zesto home with him to try in his system and he found it "too round", sounding very similar to his existing EAR 324 (which he prefers overall, and of course, he already owns). Shows the value of actually trying stuff in your own system, as the zesto was great with the system at the shop.

Very interesting! Thanks for the updated report. Out of curiosity, does you buddy have any experience with the EAR 834P? Wondering how similar it is to the EAR 324.