Thales Magnifier Reference Phonostage / Preamplifier

Magnifier At A Glance

• Reference phono stage and system hub, born from the Thales × Stellavox collaboration
• Open-loop, feedback-free Class A DC amplifier
• RIAA equalization via ironless inductors (no capacitors in the equalization path)
• Two configurable moving-coil phono inputs (balanced RCA)
• Two line inputs: 1× balanced XLR, 1× single-ended RCA
• Two outputs: 1× balanced XLR, 1× single-ended RCA
• Phono gain options: 54 dB / 60 dB / 66 dB
• Phono loading: 100 Ω / 250 Ω / 600 Ω / 1200 Ω
• Solid aluminum chassis, separate external power supply
• Main unit 435 × 350 × 90 mm, 15.2 kg; PSU 140 × 330 × 67 mm, 3.8 kg
• Designed and manufactured by Thales in Winterthur, Switzerland

The Magnifier is the Reference phono stage Thales builds when the analog front end deserves it — and the control hub for the entire high-end system at the same time. It is the product of a collaboration with Stellavox, the Swiss professional-recorder firm whose engineering culture Thales shares. The signal path is open-loop, feedback-free, dual-mono, and pure Class A from input to output. The RIAA equalization is realized via ironless inductors rather than capacitors — an unusual choice with audible consequences for headroom and time accuracy. The chassis is machined from solid aluminum and powered by a separate external supply.

An open-loop Class A DC amplifier, by design. Negative feedback is the convenient solution to a class of distortion problems in audio amplification, and the convenient solution comes at a price the careful listener can hear: time distortion in the recovered signal. The Magnifier refuses the trade. It is a fully symmetrical DC amplifier in Class A, running open-loop without any negative feedback in the audio path. The result is the kind of headroom and bandwidth that allows transient information to recover without being smeared.

RIAA equalization via ironless inductors. Most phono stages implement the RIAA curve with capacitor networks in the feedback loop. The Magnifier implements it passively, via inductors wound without iron cores — a choice that preserves the full bandwidth and headroom of the front end without the phase shift a capacitor-network correction introduces. The engineering cost is in the inductor windings; the audible benefit is what the Magnifier was designed to deliver.

A system hub, not just a phono stage. Two moving-coil phono inputs accept two turntables or two cartridge bodies on the same arm. Phono gain is switchable across 54, 60, and 66 dB — covering the entire output range of any moving-coil cartridge in production. Loading is selectable at 100, 250, 600, or 1200 ohms. Beyond phono, the Magnifier carries one balanced XLR line input and one single-ended RCA line input so the customer can run a digital source or a tape deck through the same Class A output stage. Two independent outputs — one balanced XLR, one single-ended RCA — give the customer routing flexibility to a single amplifier or a pair of monoblocks.

Built like the rest of the catalog. The main unit chassis is machined from solid aluminum. The power supply is housed in its own external chassis to keep mains-side noise out of the signal path. The main unit measures 435 × 350 × 90 mm and weighs 15.2 kg; the power supply measures 140 × 330 × 67 mm and weighs 3.8 kg.

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