Analog Corner

THIS ISSUE: Zesto’s Andros Téssera phono preamp and Acoustic Signature’s revised Ascona turntable and TA-9000 tonearm.

- Michael Fremer

A new phono preamp from Zesto, plus LP player updates from Acoustic Signature

Maybe you’ve seen the widely circulated New Yorker cartoon: Two guys stand in front of a nicely drawn, tubed audio system, under which are shelves full of LPs. One guy says, “The two things that really drew me to vinyl were the expense and the inconvenience.”

If you can’t laugh at that, you’ve lost your sense of humor—even acknowledging that, oddly, convenience is the raison d’être of some recent phono preamplifiers—including Dan D’Agostino Audio’s Momentum and the CH Precision P1, both of which offer multiple, switchable, configurable inputs saved in memory. Today’s well-heeled vinyl enthusiast might have two or more tonearms mounted on a single turntable—or even two turntables, each with two arms. Zesto Audio’s new Andros Téssera tubed phono preamplifier takes aim at that market segment.

ZESTO AUDIO ANDROS TÉSSERA PHONO PREAMPLIFIER

Zesto Audio’s new two-box Andros Téssera tubed phono preamplifier measures 17" wide by 5.5" high by 15" deep, weighs 25 lbs, and costs $12,000. The case is made of 16-gauge steel.

The Téssera is actually conjoinedtwin phono preamps, each twin referred to by Zesto as a channel. (The terminology is confusing at first, seeing as how each of those channels also includes left and right