Hagerman Piccolo MC Head Amplifier | REVIEW

When I purchased my Naim NAIT 50 integrated amplifier last year, my only criticism was the inboard MM phono stage, which is a really fine phono stage if you’re into high-output moving magnet cartridges. While I occasionally review MM carts, I have mostly low-output moving coils in my stable–two ZYXs, a Koetsu, a Transfiguration and a good old-fashioned Denon DL-103. I knew I needed an assist from another component like a step-up transformer, or an MC head amp just like the Hagerman Piccolo, in order to really enjoy the NAIT 50.

Words and Photos by Marc Phillips

I haven’t heard the term “head amp” in a while, although I have heard the term recently used to describe headphone amplifiers. (Which is inevitable but still wrong.) But that’s what the Hagerman Audio Labs Piccolo MC Head Amp is, an easy and affordable way to add gain and impedance loading to your MM input–you already have the RIAA (or other) equalization in an MM phono stage. The Piccolo is an alternative to step-up transformers, which often get surprisingly expensive because the windings have to be so precise. The Hagerman Piccolo is a small, light box that houses the moving coil PCB, the power supply, and not much more. The price is $289.

I reviewed the impressive all-tube Hagerman Trumpet MC phono stage a couple of years ago, and I still think of it often. It’s an easy recommendation for audiophiles who want to try a tubed phono  preamplifier for the first time because they’ve heard that tubed phono stages are awesome. (That just happens to be true, IMO.) Those same audiophiles want to play it safe with tubes on the first go, which means they want it to be everything but expensive, which is where Hagerman Audio Labs comes to the rescue. I’ve hoped that Jim Hagerman would have something else for me to review one day, because I think he’s making great things for the average audiophile.

He must have been reading my mind–Jim Hagerman contacted me recently and announced he had a few new products for review, and the Piccolo immediately stood out because it would probably be the answer to the NAIT 50 Dilemma. I put two and two together and I quickly realized that if the Piccolo worked as advertised, and for this wonderful price, it was gonna be mine.

Inside the Hagerman Piccolo

Why use an MC head amp instead of a step-up transformer? I asked Jim Hagerman this question, and he replied:

“Yes, the Piccolo replaces an SUT, taking up that spot in the chain. It does pretty much the same thing, but you now have independent loading and gain. You do NOT get that with SUT. “SUT input impedance is a function of winding ratio. That is how you dial in an SUT for a particular cartridge. With Piccolo, once you set gain, you can still change loading.”

The Hagerman Audio Labs website has an elegant yet succinct explanation of the Piccolo’s mission:

“The Piccolo MC is a headamp that provides a linear pre-gain for MC cartridges. The active circuitry uses low noise matched discrete JFETs in a no-feedback gain and buffer configuration, offering very low noise and distortion. The sound is extremely neutral leaving no sonic signature. Both loading and gain are independently adjustable, providing extreme flexibility.”

The Hagerman Piccolo MC has four different loading options–100, 200, 500 and 1K ohms. I usually start off with 100 ohms, since both the ZYXs and the Koetsu prefer that impedance. (The Transfiguration Axia, strangely enough, can be run at the full 47kHz if desired, but I usually prefer to back off a bit.) With the ZYX Bloom 3 on the Music Hall Stealth turntable, I started with 100 ohms and wound up staying there.

I found it straightforward yet entertaining to use the gain settings, which offer a choice between 8, 14, 20 and 24 dB increases. I tried each setting with the Bloom 3, starting with the lowest, and it was easy to detect the lowering of the noise floor with each increase in gain. Eventually I wound up with 20 dB worth of gain for the Bloom 3, which has an output voltage of just 0.24 mV. In addition, the output impedance of the Hagerman Piccolo MC is 300 ohms, and the bandwidth is 10 Hz to 600 kHz.

All Hagerman Audio Labs products, by the way, and handmade in the USA. Shipping within the US is free, and there’s a five year warranty as well as a 30 day trial period. It’s a fantastic company to deal with in terms of customer service, too.

Set-Up

The Hagerman Piccolo MC spent a lot of time residing in that messy, ever-changing tabletop system I’ve been yammering about lately. At the same time, the Piccolo is such a simple and effective solution to a big problem I’ve had–how do I get more seat time with the Naim NAIT 50 I just purchased? When I owned my beloved Naim NAIT 2 back in the ’90s, I used Rega turntables with mostly Rega cartridges, which are all high-output moving magnet designs. The NAIT 2’s inboard MM phono stage was perfect for me at the time, especially considering that I had zero experience with SUTs or head amps in those days.

As I mentioned, my current cartridge stable includes the ZYX Ultimate Airy X, the ZYX Bloom 3, a Koetsu Urushi Black, a Transfiguration Axia and, for a budget choice, a Denon DL-103–which is still a low-output MC. The inboard MM phono stage on the Naim NAIT 50 would be just fine if I had a steady stream of MM cartridges flowing through my home, but I don’t. I knew I needed to find a solution for using MC cartridges with the Naim, or I needed to use this integrated for digital audio only. I wasn’t happy about that latter option.

I was able to skate for a while without needing to make a decision–I had the Music Hall Stealth turntable with the included the Ortofon 2M Blue on hand, and the Naim and the Music Hall were quite a good match. Over time, I felt that I needed to hear an excellent MC cartridge just to see how good the Stealth really was, and that’s when the Piccolo made its debut in my system. I discovered that the Stealth and the Bloom 3 were a superb combo, and that’s the one I stuck with through most of the review period.

Hagerman Piccolo Sound

There is no “sound” to the Hagerman Piccolo MC head amp. Okay, let’s move on.

Huh? That’s not enough? Okay, I’ll elaborate. There’s a reason why the Hagerman Piccolo is only $289, and that’s because it’s a very simple device intended for one specific job–to boost the gain from your MM phono stage so that you can listen to MCs. (That’s aside from the need to choose the proper loading for the cartridge, of course.) But an MC head amp needs to do something else that’s at least as important, if not more so–it needs to stay out of the way.

Aside from the Naim NAIT 50 MM phono stage, I also love to use the MM inputs on my Allnic Audio H-6500 phono preamplifier–especially when I’m experimenting with step-up transformers or the rare MM cartridge, such as the Audio Note UK IQ III I recently reviewed. (I almost forgot to mention that I used my Allnic Audio Zero interconnects with the Piccolo–even though they cost something like 15 times as much as this head amp.)

I don’t do this with most of the phono preamplifiers that visit my listening room, and I certainly don’t do this with my reference PureAudio Vinyl phono pre that I’ve used for almost a decade. (It’s optimized for MC, and MM can be a little noisy.) Besides, there’s the whole debate about transformers and the sound the iron can add to the final results, courtesy of those mischievous eddy currents. While I didn’t have an issue with this while reviewing the superb Bob’s Devices Sky 20-S SUT, I have dealt with some SUTs in the past that add a little seasoning where it’s not really needed.

The differences I heard while using the Hagerman Piccolo with either the Naim NAIT 50 or the Allnic Audio H-6500 were due to the cartridge. For instance, the stock Ortofon 2M Blue on the Music Hall Stealth sounds nothing like the ZYX Bloom 3 I tried with the Piccolo in the chain. That made A/B comparisons impossible, of course, so I had to rely upon my extensive seat time with both of these cartridges in order to determine that the Hagerman Piccolo does very little in the way of editorializing. I only noticed one thing, over and over–that low output MC cartridges now worked perfectly with the Naim NAIT 50, as well as the MM inputs of the Allnic. There were no glitches, no anomalies and no bad combinations. The Piccolo worked every time.

Hagerman Piccolo Conclusions

This one is really simple. The Hagerman Piccolo MC head amp worked perfectly for me. It’s only $289. I’m asking Jim Hagerman to just send me an invoice, because this is the rare occasion when I actually need an audio product in order to perform my job as a reviewer.

The Piccolo makes me very happy because I can now use my Naim NAIT 50 integrated amplifier to listen to any turntable rig I desire. I no longer have to worry about matching cartridges to phono preamplifiers–for me, there’s nothing worse than receiving a bunch of review gear that is not compatible with my reference system. (This has recently been an issue, of course, with digital audio components.) Having the Piccolo at my disposal gives me a tremendous sense of relief. It’s one less thing to worry about.

Best of all, it just doesn’t affect the sound in any perceivable way. It’s a simple device with a simple mission–to increase gain and allow for proper cartridge loading–so it doesn’t need a chassis that’s built like a tank, or an external power supply, or anything else. After reviewing the Hagerman Trumpet phono stage, I had a tremendous amount of respect for what Jim Hagerman does. With the Hagerman Piccolo MC head amp, he’s bailed me out of a predicament. Highly recommended.