I agree 100% !!
I got one of the first stellars shipped, and I absolutely love it.
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Lyra made a step-up transformer specifically for their MC cartridges, called the Erodion Evo. It cost ā¬7,000, which is cheaper than the ā¬11,000 Lyra Atlas SL that was plugged into it when I heard it. It sounded utterly wonderful. It seems @DarrenMyers went for a slightly more budget Lyra 
.
I had a phono stage made with step-up transformers made by Sowter specifically for my cartridge specification (Koetsu Urushi) to avoid any switching. I still have the cartridge, but not the phono stage.
There seem to be two schools of thought - phonos with a wide range of switching to accommodate user preferences, and phonos with no switching at all. Some donāt even switch MM and MC. MM only is great if you want to use bespoke transformers and MC-only for the ultimate purist design. I almost bought one of the latter type last year. If you can live without the switching options thy also offer better value, but most people seem to want the switching options.
As a 63 yr. old Grandpa I only get excited at the thought of seeing my 1.5 yr old Granddaughter.
But THIS upcoming phono stage/pre is right up there in 2nd place to my wonderful Granddaughter !!
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This would put @DarrenMyers just a little bit under pressure?!
Use āLight Dimsā. Hardly noticeable.
Quite surprised @Paul during this interview never mentioned about the new PerfectWave Phono Pre
@DarrenMyers can give us some more news about? I hope it was just a question of āinstant recallāā¦
Sorry if my question may not respect your plan of marketing or communication, Iām just curious and anxious to buy a new gear Iām waiting for months.
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Luca - I would not expect very many details to be discussed in advance. It has taken a long while and a lot of peopleās opinions to get Paul to curb his enthusiasm about products prior to release. There are many good reasons for not talking about products in advance of their existence, as weāve seen repeatedly in these Forums over the years.
Having said that, it will indeed be worth waiting for, assuming you are in the market for a high-end phono pre.
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Hi Luca, we wont be releasing in depth details concerning the phono preamp until we announce the beta launch. Thanks for your understanding.
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That phono preamp must have rejuvenating features!
Hi @DarrenMyers any news about time of launch? Thanks
I think I can speak for my friend by saying that he was saying a month ago that PS is not going to say anything about the product until the beta actually occurs. Which means they are not going to pre-announce the beta.
Maybe Iām wrong. I apologize for my question if it seems not correct. Darren said last winter in another thread on this Forum that it was Q3/Q4 the expected launch. After a few months I was asking if this scheduling time is still valid or not. The reason? It would help with an useful information to understand if investing money for a Stellar Phono now or itās better waiting again. The same reason why I already bought in February a DSD Dac even if a new model was announced. Here in Italy (and Europe I suppose) the cost of PS gear is near the double and most of all is impossible or very difficult to resell the used products. Anyhow, sorry all, I appreciate the work of PS Audio team and the way this Forum let us keep in touch, I want to respect rules and consuetudes.
Beef is correct. Until we have more solid ground information from which to work with weāre not going to speculate more. We are still in the prototype stage and this is when things can change (which is why we prototype things). Beta testing happens when weāre confident in the product.
Has the parts shortage significantly impacted this model??
Hi @DarrenMyers. Iāve just bought yesterday the Stellar Phono Preamp (could not wait more) and lit sounds really great, natural, relaxed and with M1200s and BHK Preamp the system give to music a sense of fullness in my room. With many compliments, really a good job! Just a little problem: the remote control all at once doesnāt work, changed batteries 2 times, recycled main on off and idle bottom tooā¦ (itās curious how the mute bottom affects dim status of other PS gear like P12 and PST, they light on and off, uh uh). Iām already in contact with @jamesh and my dealer here in Italy to fix the problem (if bad IR receiver or bad remote to change)
As for the new Perfect Wave Phono, I still am interesting in it,(as an upgrade) I ask you if the remote control will be as essential as for the SPP. Itās a risk let the preamp so ādependingā from the remote, unfortunately Iām experiencing that at the moment I cannot use at all the PSS (mc/mm, gain, loading sets) until the remote control problem is fixed.
Thank you.
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The Stellar Phono appears to have a very narrow IR window and doesnāt like any signal off axis. My remote only works intermittently and I have to aim square at the machine. The larger general-purpose PS Audio remote works fine. It must have a stronger signal.
To be added to the list of features I wishā¦
XLR balanced Input
Other guys on the forum reported as already mentioned it.
stevecrowe, the experieince you are having with the remote does not match mine. I can control over at least a 120 deg window. There may be a misalignment of the IR receiver. It is definitiely not normal.
Iāve had two PS Audio Stellar Phono and had the same issues. It may be a problem with mine being well āoff-axisā and is to the right of the right-hand speaker.