Apollo & Muse: the phono preamplifier that marks Michell's revival

Michell Audio unveiled its first phono preamplifier in over twenty years at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show in February 2025. The Apollo, paired with its external Muse power supply, forms a two-box system linked by a specially developed umbilical cable.

A return to roots after two decades away

Michell’s last phono preamplifier, the Delphini, dates back to the 1990s. Electronics production ceased in 2001 following founder John Michell’s illness, with the company then focusing solely on power supplies for turntables.

Jonathan Nye, Michell’s Managing Director, explains that the Apollo project started five to six years ago. The logic is simple: a turntable, tonearm, and cartridge can extract vast amounts of detail from vinyl, but if the signal isn’t properly preserved and amplified, much of that work can be lost.

A deliberate technical lineage

The Apollo and Muse are based on the design of the Trichord Neo and CM-PSU, a duo unveiled in 2024 but never commercialized. Graham Fowler, who designed the Delphini and heads Trichord Research, was consulted for the development. Michell, however, used higher-grade components and improved the overall design to take the concept to the next level.

Two-box technical architecture

Physical separation between the preamplifier and its power supply underpins Michell’s approach. The Muse power supply uses a low-noise encapsulated toroidal transformer, discrete diodes for rectification, a capacitance multiplier, and low-noise regulators to generate a highly stable DC supply.

The Muse’s ±24V DC output is then fed to the Apollo preamplifier, which includes additional DC regulation to ensure a low-impedance, ultra-low-noise supply for the most sensitive gain stages.

The Apollo’s passive RIAA equalization circuit is interleaved between multiple gain blocks. All capacitors are individually measured and matched to achieve the best channel balance. The operational amplifiers used are THAT Corporation 1512 and Texas Instruments Burr-Brown OPA1656, both optimized for audio.

British manufacturing and machined enclosures

Both chassis are machined from solid billets of aluminum and assemble clam-shell style with no gasket interrupting the metal-to-metal contact. Even the DIP switches underneath have a screwed-on metal cover to maintain complete enclosure shielding. This Faraday cage design provides full protection against electromagnetic interference.

Jonathan Nye emphasizes that British manufacturing is part of Michell’s DNA: “It wouldn’t be a Michell product if we made it in China. It adds cost, but done the right way, it improves performance as well as aesthetics.”

The DC cable linking the two units deserves special attention. It uses silver-plated OFC conductors, FEP (Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene) insulation, aluminum foil and Mylar separators for shielding, with ChorAlloy-plated XLR connectors. Michell worked with The Chord Company to develop this cable specifically for DC power transfer.

Settings and compatibility

The Apollo offers gains of 40 dB, 50 dB, 60 dB, 68 dB, and 73 dB, although measurements show these values are slightly understated. Resistive loading options of 33, 100, 430, 1k, and 47 kΩ are available, but capacitance is fixed at 100 pF. All adjustments are made via the usual DIP switches, but Michell at least supplies a small tool to assist.

This range of settings allows the Apollo to work with virtually any cartridge on the market, from standard moving magnet (MM) models to very low-output moving coil (MC) designs.

Price and availability

The Apollo and Muse set has been available since March 2025 at £3500 in the UK and €4040 in France. This pricing positions the duo in the high-end phono preamplifier category, against competitors like the Cyrus 40 PPA/40 PSU or the Vertere Phono-1 MkII L.

Michell’s return to phono electronics reflects a desire to offer a complete vinyl playback chain, from turntable to preamplifier. The technical approach prioritizing noise reduction and power supply quality aligns with the British company’s philosophy, which has emphasized longevity and local manufacturing for over fifty years.