Moonriver Audio 505 Hybrid Phono Preamp – First Look

All Image Credit: Moonriver Audio

If Moonriver Audio is a new name to you then here is a little background. They are a Swedish audio company who are named after the famous song of the same name. They are based in Malmö and all their products are designed and hand assembled in Sweden. Their previous product, the 404 reference integrated amplifier, received several awards.

According to Audioriver the 505 was designed with “audiophiles, record collectors, and vinyl freaks in mind”, offering multiple inputs that support an extensive range of gain and load adjustments, for both MM and MC cartridge’s, that can easily be made “on-the-fly” using the front panel rotary controls. This latest design uses a combination of both ICs and discrete solid-state circuits to form an “ideal, high-performance and ultra-low noise circuit”. With their design focus and philosophy focusing on the music’s mid-range frequencies between 200 to 4,000Hz, where according to Moonriver, “the soul of the music is”.

The ultra-low-noise active gain stages can deliver up to 72dB (x4000) of gain supporting low output MC cartridges. The different settings and input electronics required for MM/MC selection including; passive EQ (RIAA, Decca or Columbia), gain (34-72dB) and loading (10ohm-75Kohm & 100-680pF) all being selected using low impedance, air-sealed relays. Driving the sensitive electronics are no less than six separated power supplies that are setup for dual mono operation and are supported by 70,000uf of storage capacitance. Each stage has its own power supply, including linear discrete regulator and discrete noise-rejection circuits.

In order to guarantee “entirely silent operation”, all functions are controlled via a microcontroller with all settings; EQ type, gain, impedance, capacitance and mono/stereo operation for each of the four inputs being recalled upon their selection.