Fein

About the Fein

The Brinkmann Fein is a solid-state phono preamplifier for both moving magnet (MM) and moving coil (MC) cartridges, designed to operate in pure Class A and to be used either as a dedicated phono stage or as a minimalist preamp driving a power amplifier directly. It provides a single stereo input with front-panel volume control, a status LED, MM/MC selection on the rear panel, and a low 200-ohm output impedance so it can feed long interconnects and power-amp inputs without difficulty. Input sensitivity is switchable between 1 mV/47 kOhm (MM) and 0.5 mV or 0.2 mV/600 Ohm (MC). Gain is adjustable up to 55 dB, with a frequency response of 20 Hz-50 kHz, THD/IM distortion of 0.01%/0.05%, and a signal-to-noise ratio of 80 dBA (MM) / 78 dBA (MC). The circuitry runs in pure Class A, with all operating points referenced to a single, temperature-compensated voltage source, using fast rectifier diodes and non-inductive resistors to minimize noise and non-linearities. Power consumption is deliberately low, and Brinkmann recommends leaving the unit powered continuously for best sonic performance. It is supplied with an external power supply and a granite base for mechanical isolation. First introduced in 1985, the Fein has been continuously refined over its production life and is now listed by Brinkmann as discontinued, remaining regarded as a classic high-end phono stage on the used market.