Densen DP-06 MM/MC RIAA phono stage

It’s almost a given: If something is designed in Denmark – and especially if it’s made in Denmark – it must be small and cannot look of much. Just like it’s sibling, the DP-07, the DP0-06 MM/MC RIAA stage looks small but packs a very large punch.

When it comes to RIAA design, bigger isn’t always better. Here it’s more about the right descions and carefull component selection. It all starts with having a clean workingspace, and when working with small-signal amplification and processing, this translates into access to very clean DC power. This is created by an array of small photovoltaiccells (we love the fancy words, but for everyone else: photovoltaiccells are basically solarpanels) and LED’s. Using light to generate the DC used in the module gives us the required very clean ultra low noise DC-signal, which we can use to process the information coming from the turntable as neatly as possible.

The most common question we get with the DP-06 is: “where do I set the load resistance? Is this unit even compatible with my very special, very expensive pick-up?!”. The short answers are: ‘you don’t’ and ‘yes’.

The reason many MC-amplification stages has a need for you to adjust the resistance, is because they simply don’t bother to put in the engineering required to make a perfect amplification. This is not to say they are terrible MC stages, but at Densen we want more. In short (and very simplified), if you need to set the resistance on your MC-stage it’s because your MC stage senses the nessecary amplification by looking at voltage levels. This is perfect, because then you can use cheap and readily available operational amplifiers to create your MC-stage, and the amount of design-considerations surrounding these op-amps are minimized.

Opposite to this, the DP-06 does not sense voltage, but looks at the current levels. This means you must be much more carefull with component selection and design, but when executed correctly, this means A) no need to adjust resistance and B) much higher detail levels, excellent dynamic range and a good sense of bass depth and background.