As a long time user of a much loved Michell Iso/Hera it was only the arrival of the highly affordable Trichord Dino that had jolted me out of my vinyl complacency. This unlike similarly priced contenders I'd tried offered when coupled with the larger power supply many of the qualities of the Iso, in the full-bodied midrange in particular along with much improved speed, detail and bass precision. The Dino has stayed in my system, with a shortlived detour to Clearaudio, since I purchased it following my review in 2001.

At the time I'd sampled its bigger brother the trichord Delphini Mk1 and had been mightily unimpressedsince its younger sibling for me at least beat it hands down in just about every area of performance.

Now in it's Mark 2 guise the Delphini is outwardly identical to the Mark 1 but for a blue LED shining through the front panel rather than the green of the original model. However, whilst it sports the same polished steel casing and dark acrylic front panels, the interior of the Delphini Mk2 reflects a total re-design. The most obvious change is that like its little brother the Dino, it now features fully user configurable switching (via tiny DIP switches beneath the cover), allowing simple changing of load and gain settings allowing it to work to its optimum with either moving coil or moving magnet cartridges. High performance ultra low impedance, low noise wide bnd voltage regulators are also a feature of the Mk2. The new unit complete with chunky matching PSU retails at just under £1000.

So how did it sound? Directly replacing the Dino via my 'Orbed' Gyro/Mission Mechanic & Clearaudio Signature (via a Michell Orca/ apair of Stereo Alecto's to AudioPlan Kontrst 111's), the Mk2 immediaely stomped on any of he negative memories of it's Mk1 incarnation. 'Some Peoples Lives' from Janis ian's 'breaking Silence' which had sounded fine through the Dino, suddenly snapped into much sharper focus with a much more expansive soundsage. Her voice gained in tangibility and expression, the piano more three-dimensional. On the title track the increased resolution and speed of the Delphini were brought to the fore. The layering of the multi-tracked vocals, the attack and drive of the percussion were superbly caught blowing the cobwebs off what could so easily have become yet another outing of a demo track cliche. he 12" single of Martin Stephenson's 'Wholly Humble Heart' features a lovely version of 'Get Get Gone'. Here the Delphini demonstrated its ability to convey the joy of this performance from the spoken Geordie interjections, the neat slide guitar fills to the foot stamping beat, this was so much closer to the feelof live music when compared to the Dino, the musicians taking up a tangible presence between the speakers.

'Way Out basie' from the Analogue Production pressing of 'Farmers market Barbeque' brought the clout of a superb big band to the living room with no sense of constraint to the many crescendos, the sly blocked chords of Basie's piano and FreddieGreen's gutiar holding true and fast beneath the storm raging around them. This superb album can in the wrong hands sound a little strident (via my old Iso for one), but not here. The muted horns in 'St Louis Blues' were just more real, and with with the stage spread deeper and wider than the Dino could manage. The Delpini demonstrating the power that vinyl still holds the edge in its ability to create a believable three-dimensional soundstage.

There's not time to do full justice to the Delphini in his short piece. Suffice it to say that it passed tis reviewers toughest test: I'm still digging out old favourites and staying up far too late for the good of my day job. From Sondheim's 'Sweeny Todd', various richard Thompson albums, Little Feat, Charlie Mingus, David Lindley's 'El Rayo Live', hell, even some much treasured old Bonzo Dog albums, I've found new things to enjoy in each and every one. The Delphini successfully combines pace, detail, subtletyand power in a highly affordable package. It is a very worthy big brother to the Dino and given its combination of performance, superb build quality and good looks, it is a must for any vinyl lovers shortlist.