In December 2015 I decided to take the big step and buy a phono preamplifier. I was convinced of the excellent quality of the phono section of my old and trusted Unison Research Mood. I was wondering how much I needed to spend to overcome it. My other question was whether or not to switch to modern class D amplification as I was planning to get a phono preamplifier. I asked for help to the usual TNT-Audio and the always excellent Lucio Cadeddu was not convinced about the replacement of the Mood with a cheap class D one; if anything, he saw well the purchase of a Black Cube phono preamplifier used in Germany remaining in that level of spending, to think about a possible future upgrade of the amplification in a serious way.

I found a German dealer who had one at a used price, for the Italian market, but it was new and packaged. With just under 200e I had a nice Lehman Audio Black Cube Statement shipped to me. The first time I listened to it, I was amazed. I expected nuances, not another world! The quality of the reproduction has improved considerably, a whole different thing! I was really impressed! In thanking Lucio Cadeddu for the excellent advice I ended up in the happy audiophiles’ column of that week!

The Black Cube is a real little gem of Germanic technology. It is very simple aesthetically, a small black iron cube. The internal components are very selected, the circuitry is essential: the best as possible at the lowest possible cost. The sonic result is, believe me, amazing. It was one of my best purchases in the HiFi field. It also has switches to adjust the load for the cartridge and internal slots to insert resistors to vary the load of any model of cartridge. Versatile and of very high quality. I highly recommend it.