Regulars will know that we're always looking to improve our range and summer tends to be when it mostly happens. This year we were told by two good friends that we should have a look and a listen to Gold Note phono stages.
Gold Note is an Italian high-end audio manufacturer based near Florence, in Tuscany. The company was founded in 2012 by Maurizio Aterini, who had been involved in hi-fi design and engineering since the early 1990s. Aterini’s passion for music and sound reproduction began in his youth during the late 1970s, eventually leading him to establish Gold Note as a company dedicated to merging traditional Italian craftsmanship with modern audio engineering.
From its base in Tuscany, Gold Note designs and manufactures every component locally, maintaining a “Made in Italy” philosophy that extends from sourcing materials to final assembly. The firm’s ethos is to embody what it calls Il Suono Italiano—the Italian Sound—defined as a balance between vivid realism and musical warmth. Rather than focusing purely on technical precision or sentimentality, Gold Note seeks a natural, engaging sound that reflects the emotion and energy of live performance.
The company’s approach to design emphasises the system as a whole rather than isolated components. Each product is conceived to work synergistically with others in the range, ensuring consistency and musical coherence across the chain—from source to speakers. This “systems thinking” underpins their product development philosophy.
Gold Note is unusual among boutique audio brands because it produces a complete ecosystem of products: turntables, phono stages, cartridges, DACs, streamers, amplifiers, power supplies and loudspeakers. Early in its history, the company gained attention for its Bellagio Conquest turntable, which showcased both technical sophistication and artistic design. In 2018, the IS-1000 integrated streaming amplifier marked another milestone, combining high-end amplification with built-in streaming capabilities, representing a bridge between analogue tradition and digital convenience.
As I say our primary interest is in phono stages and here's the current range -
PH5 - £976 MM and MC
The high-quality of Gold Note's phono stages has become affordable.
EQ CURVES3 EQ curves (RIAA, Decca London, American Columbia) all with Enhanced optionGAIN40dB MM to 60dB MC with 4 options [0dB, + 3dB, ± 6dB]
INPUT IMPEDANCE9 options [10Ω, 22Ω, 47Ω, 100Ω, 220Ω, 470Ω, 1000Ω, 22kΩ, 47kΩ]
AUDIO OUTPUTSStereo unbalanced RCA and balanced XLR
PH-10
The extraordinary and award-winning phono stage. £1700 plus optional power supply.
EQ CURVES3 EQ curves (RIAA, Decca London, American Columbia) all with Enhanced option
GAIN45dB MM to 65dB MC with 4 options [0dB, ± 3dB, + 6dB]
INPUT IMPEDANCE9 options [10Ω, 22Ω, 47Ω, 100Ω, 220Ω, 470Ω, 1000Ω, 22kΩ, 47kΩ]
AUDIO OUTPUTS Stereo unbalanced RCA and balanced XLR
PH-1000
The most advanced phono stage from £5900 plus optional power supply.
EQ CURVES Infinite + Custom EQ curves (PH-1000 and PH-1000 LINE) - 36 EQ curves (PH-1000 LITE)
GAIN40dB MM to 65dB (60db LITE) MC with 7 options
LOAD12 options for RCA + 8 options for XLR
CAPACITANCEOFF, 100pF, 150pF, 220pF, 330pF, 470pF, 1000pF
AUDIO INPUTS2 RCA, 1 XLR
AUDIO OUTPUTSTUBE output, RCA output, XLR output + 1 Headphone output
EXTERNAL LOAD Only PH-1000 and PH-1000 LINE
We heard the 10 and the 1000 and were overwhelmed! We will report more when we have the stock.