{"product_id":"reed-eq-optical-phono-energizer","title":"Reed EQ Optical Phono Energizer + EQ","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Reed EQ is the phono stage Reed built to do justice to its own optical cartridge — and to anything else asked of it. Two chassis. Both finished to the standard of the cabinetry around them. A single, deliberate signal path from the cartridge to the line output.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe optical cartridge does not produce the kind of signal a conventional phono stage was built for. There is no magnet to load; no flea-power voltage to amplify by fifty or sixty decibels; no RIAA curve to apply, because the optical reading of the groove is naturally flat and the equalization it requires is the inverse of what every magnetic phono stage on earth assumes. The Reed EQ is built from the ground up for this signal. A discrete, class-A output stage; passive equalizing network built around premium inductors rather than the more usual capacitor-based filters; fully symmetrical left and right channels using passive inversion rather than active mirroring. The result is a phono stage that disappears.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe second chassis is the power. The Reed PS is heavier than the equalizer itself, and the reason is visible on the inside: a dual-bank battery supply that charges autonomously and switches between banks without interrupting the music. The line current that ordinarily reaches a phono stage — the seventy years of it, riding on the wall power — does not reach the audio circuit at all. Three separate transformers isolate the housekeeping rails. The LED supply that drives the cartridge itself runs on its own dedicated battery. The signal sees clean DC and nothing else.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eControls are spare and correct. A mute switch. A subsonic filter, selectable at 30 or 50 hertz, for the early stages of a warped record. A line input that lets the EQ chassis serve double duty as a preamplifier when the rest of the system is purely analog. RCA and balanced XLR outputs. A six-and-a-quarter-millimeter headphone output driven by a class-A buffer that handles loads from 32 to 600 ohms — the right way to listen alone with a Reed SF in the chain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBuild is what one would expect of Reed at this tier. Machined aluminium throughout, anodized. Gold-plated boards inside. The two chassis available in seashell white or black; the finish is decided at order time and will match the rest of the Reed system if the rest of the Reed system is already specified.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Reed EQ is the front end Reed designed for the Reed SF, and the partnership is the way most owners will hear it. It is also compatible with the optical cartridges of other manufacturers — the cartridge protocol is shared across the small group of makers who have committed to this technology — so an owner can move into the Reed system one component at a time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAvailable at both Alma showrooms by appointment. We will configure the room around the Reed EQ for the audition; the difference between hearing it cold and hearing it integrated is meaningful.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Reed","offers":[{"title":"Seashell White","offer_id":48892034777307,"sku":null,"price":39975.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black","offer_id":48892034810075,"sku":null,"price":39975.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1363\/6553\/files\/Reed-EQ-phono-equalizer-white.jpg?v=1781924741","url":"https:\/\/almaaudio.com\/products\/reed-eq-optical-phono-energizer","provider":"Alma Music and Audio","version":"1.0","type":"link"}