Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Creek OBH-8SE Phono Preamp by Bruce from DC

The OBH-8 and OBH-8 SE are two similar moving magnet phono preamps. Both have the power supply separate from the box containing the preamp circuits.The "SE" model has a larger power supply with a bigger transformer and filter caps. The standard model has a "wall wart" power supply common to various electronic products. The SE also has a different preamp circuit using FETs in the front end and has gold plated input and output sockets. Despite my using very mid-fi associated phono equipment from the 80s (see below), this does a very nice job with my record collection. The sound is very clean, with extraordinary top-end detail and clarity -- even from records that I have had and played for 25 years. Bass is surprisingly extended when it's on the record. The variation in bass amounts among records in my collection is astounding. The OBH-SE reveals those differences very clearly. For example, I have two Columbia records from the Carlos Santana band from the early 70s that have astounding low bass -- better than I've heard from this record ever before; while a two-record set of Van Morrison in concert in 1973 has obvious bass rolloff at about 50 Hz. Imaging is pinpoint and stable. There is not much depth to the soundstage, but this may reflect weaknesses of associated equipment, not the preamp. I must confess that even this setup -- modest as it is -- is, in many ways, superior to my ULTECH CD player, even with audiophile HDCD discs.
That said, there is one BIG problem. I live in a high-RF area. There are three TV transmitter towers within three miles of my home. The umbilical cord that feeds the 24VDC power to the preamp is acting like a great antenna. The RF is not coming in from the 'table or its leads. I have only partially succeeded in reducing, not eliminating, the problem. I have replaced the unshielded umbilical with a shielded cable. (That helped.) I have twisted the umbilical into a special coil and connected about two feet of bare wire to the grounding point, coiling it up in 1" diameter coils. This helps too. By the way, Roy Hall suggested using Audioquest "RF stoppers." These proved totally useless and produced no audible effects on either signal or power cables. Save your money. What was distressing to me is that I e-mailed both Creek Audio and Roy Hall (the US importer) for help with the problem. Hall said it was RF interference and said he forwarded my e-mail to Creek in the UK. Creek never responded to either my direct e-mail or the one that Hall said he forwarded. I was really surprised when the company couldn't be bothered to respond to its own US distributor. I would certainly take this into account if I were to consider buying any other Creek product (e.g. their table) I realize that RFI is a problem for phono preamps; but that doesn't mean it should be accepted by us consumers and it's certainly not a reason to be ignored. I bought this unit, which is 10 months old, from the original owner who lives in a low-RF area and for whom it worked fine. I don't consider that he sold me a defective unit, so I did not ask him to take it back. However, had I bought it from a dealer here in Washington, I would have taken it back immediately.

REVIEW: Creek OBH-8SE Phono Preamp Review by Bruce from DC at Audio Asylum