Gold Note PH-1000

Gold Note PH-1000

Reference phono stage with 18 equalisation curves and a headphone output

The PH-1000 is where Gold Note stopped holding back. Where the PH-10 offers three equalisation curves, the PH-1000 has eighteen — which covers practically every characteristic used for cutting between the 1920s and the general adoption of the RIAA standard. Anyone with a serious collection of early pressings will hear, for the first time, what is actually on those records.

Everything else is a size larger too: twelve loading values on the RCA input, eight on the balanced XLR input, seven gain steps from 40 dB for MM up to 65 dB for MC. An infrasonic filter at 36 dB per octave can be switched in when warped records set the bass pumping. The circuit runs in Class A and the power supply is a linear dual-mono design.

Of particular interest to us: the PH-1000 has a headphone output of its own and can be run as a preamplifier. Connect a turntable and a good pair of headphones and you have a complete system — without another box in the rack.

The difference from the PH-1000 LITE, which we also stock, comes down to exactly two things: gain here reaches 65 dB for MC rather than 60 dB, and the equalisation can additionally be set freely, with four memory slots of your own for curves that appear in no table. If you need neither, the LITE saves you a little over half. There is headroom above as well: Gold Note offers the TUBE-1006 and TUBE-1012 valve output stages as retrofits.

What the press says

Australian Hi-Fi, reprinted by What Hi-Fi?, September 2021

„The PH-1000 from Gold Note is a phono stage to end all phono stages. It’s rich in features, gorgeously designed, sounds superb and doubles as a more-than-capable pre-amp and headphone amp to boot.“

Note: the piece first appeared in Australian Hi-Fi and was reprinted by its sister title What Hi-Fi?. It carries no star rating.

FIDELITY, Knuth Zensen, June 2026

„Trotz der endlosen Möglichkeiten bleibt der Umgang mit der PH-1000 dank des durchdachten, sehr übersichtlichen Bedienungskonzepts ein Kinderspiel. […] Diese Phonostufe gehört zu den besten, die ich jemals gehört habe.“

Translation: Despite the endless possibilities, using the PH-1000 remains child’s play thanks to a well thought-out and very clear operating concept. […] This phono stage is among the best I have ever heard.

hifitest.de / LP 2/2021, Holger Barske, February 2021

„Traumhaft schön, traumwandlerisch präzise – besser kann man das nicht machen.“

Translation: Dreamlike in its beauty, unerringly precise — this cannot be done better.

Who is this for?

For two very different people. First, collectors of historical pressings: the eighteen equalisation curves are not decoration on a spec sheet, they are the only way to hear pre-1954 records correctly. Second, anyone building an analogue system around headphones — turntable, PH-1000, headphones, done. If you simply want a very good phono stage for modern pressings, the PH-10 with the PSU-10 will serve you at a fraction of the price. And if you want the eighteen curves but not the freely adjustable ones, the PH-1000 LITE does that for a little over half.

Specifications