John Darko
Down the pike from Schiit Audio comes the Stjarna phono pre-amplifier. According to the now mostly Texan manufacturer, Stjarna is “an all-out, limited-production all-tube design”. We might see it as Schiit’s moonshot phono pre where all of its 60dB gain is delivered by the tubes themselves; no JFETs; no op-amps; no SUT. From Schiit’s website: “When you’re listening to Stjarna, you’re listening to tubes”.
From the press release: “Stjarna’s design includes discrete high voltage regulation, regulated tube heaters, full dual mono construction back to the AC socket, and a host of precision relay-switched loading, gain, and input options. The RIAA stage is fully passive and uses exotic 1% film capacitors and 0.1% resistors for exceptional accuracy.”
Balanced-or-die folks should shop elsewhere. Stjarna’s rear-panel connectivity includes two sets of single-ended RCA inputs and one set of single-ended RCA outputs. And that’s all she wrote.
An infra-red wand is supplied to manage ‘all functions’, including “a standby mode that puts the tubes into complete shutdown–no anode voltage, no tube heater–to save power and conserve tube life when not in use.”
However, Stjarna also supports Schiit’s optional Forkbeard control system where a red dongle is inserted into the rear of the unit to hand off remote control and ‘health metrics’ observation to an iOS app over Bluetooth.
With Forkbeard, we can switch up Stjarna’s inputs, change the gain (40, 48, 55 or 60dB), change the resistive loading (47k for MM or 10 – 350 Ohms for MC), change the capacitive loading (50 – 400pF) and change operational modes (LF filter, mono and standby), all from the comfort of the listening chair. Otherwise, we gotta get off our behinds to click the unit’s front panel controls (like an animal).
Starjna is available now from Schiit’s online store for US$1699. Any colour you like as long as it’s black.
Further information: Schiit Audio
