Product Description
Over five decades ago, we invented our phono cartridge stylus, the van den Hul 1S. During these decades, we also produced phono cartridges, which are regarded as some of the best in their class and renowned worldwide. However, as a leading manufacturer of phono cartridges, it was only natural for us to create our own phono preamplifier.
This led to the launch of the original Grail in 2009. Over the years, we introduced the Grail SB (featuring balanced inputs and outputs) and the SE (including a dual mono board and balanced connectivity).
Now, we proudly present the latest addition to our lineup, the Grail SX, which serves as the successor to the Grail SE and our new flagship phono amplifier.
FEATURES
- The highest signal to noise ratio ever. With the newest Grail SX, you can achieve over 80dB(A) with the lowest amplification factor.
- Developed by a class-leading phono cartridge manufacturer. Thanks to more then four decades of experience of building phono cartridges, we knew what was necessary to improve our top-notch phono preamplifier.
- A new and redeveloped circuit board. Thanks to the new circuit, board, the overall sound quality improved. The Grail SX made a big improvement, especially in the soundstage and the airiness.
- Automatic loading impedance. Like the predecessor, the Grail SX also has an automatic load impedance for the cartridges, starting from 10 Ohm to 400 Ohm.
A Holy Upgraded The Grail SX
AN UPDATED CIRCUIT AND A MORE CONVENIENT OPERATING SYSTEM
Many Grails ago, in 2009, van den Hul introduced its original “The Grail” transimpedance-based MC/MM phono preamplifier. I reviewed it in 2018 when it cost $7950. Yes, it’s pretentious to name anything, but especially an audio product, “The Grail” but at least it wasn’t called “The Holy Grail” and it wasn’t packed in a cup and didn’t promise mystical healing powers. But it surely did deliver the promised outstanding sonic performance and it’s still in production, now costing $8995..
That original “The Grail”, featuring gracefully sculpted wooden side “cheeks” and a white “pebbly finished” aluminum main chassis plus “basic black” outboard power supply, offers a single-ended current amplification-based MC input and a single-ended voltage based MM input as well as capacitor-free inductor-resistor based RIAA filtration among a host of useful circuit attributes.
A seriously upgraded version, The Grail SE+ ($23,995), which I reviewed in 2020, included dual mono circuitry, improved power supplies, and added a choice of balanced XLR or single-ended RCA in one of its two current-based MC inputs and balanced-only in the second MC input plus a single-ended moving magnet voltage amplification-based input. van den Hul also sells a “The Grail SE” ($19,995) dual-mono version and “The Grail SB” ($16,995) fully balanced edition.
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Van den Hul The Grail Phono Preamplifier | REVIEW
By Marc Phillips
Van den Hul? I finally get to review some Van den Hul? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I’ve even heard a Van den Hul product before. Maybe at a high-end audio show or in a showroom, but I can’t remember sitting down to listen to a system and thinking yeah, Van den Hul! Finally!
I am an audio geek, it’s true. But that’s one of the many awesome things about my job—sometimes I get paid to fill in the gaps in my audio-life experiences. Eric Franklin Shook met with Van den Hul’s US distributor, John McGurk from AudioShield, and then asked me if I wanted to review anything from the legendary A. J. Van den Hul. I replied, “Yeah, all the cartridges!” I have a few friends in the industry who think the world of Van den Hul’s world-class phono cartridges, and I know one highly respected individual who is on his second Grasshopper.
Let’s put a pin in Van den Hul phono cartridges. (Yeah, I hated writing that.) I’ll keep pasting images of the Black Beauty and the Colibri and the Frog on my vision board, but Van den Hul makes more products than their famous phono cartridges. That includes a very highly regarded line of cables, electronics and a line of phono preamplifiers known as The Grail, The Grail SB, The Grail SE and The Grail SE+. My first experience with Van den Hul will be the “entry-level” The Grail, which retails for $8,995.
The Grail, even in its most basic guise, is still a beast designed for performance. The timing of its arrival was fortuitous—I had just spent months with the Brinkmann Taurus turntable and Brinkmann Edison Mk. II and I had become a bit spoiled, as you might imagine. Still, I was able to use the Edison with other turntables, most notably with the Technics SL-1200G and SL-1210GAE, and I felt it was necessary to hear the Taurus with something other than the Edison. The Grail certainly fit the bill.
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