Recommend a Phono Stage

Modest setup.
Like the cart.
Want to add a little more fidelity, separation, and dynamics.
Also want to keep the synergy, as I'll be upgrading to a completely different setup after a house move this fall.
Until then, this humble little entry level outfit is what I'm working with:

Project Debut Carbon Esprit SB

Ortofon 2M Blue

Musical Fidelity V90-LPS
Cambridge 651A
Wharfedale Dentons

ONLY interested in phono stage recommendations (before someone recommends carts, styli, room treatments, hearing tests, etc etc).

Based on the above, what phono would you recommend, and why?
Have at it.

 

Under $250 - Zero Zone clone of the EAR 834 tube phono preamp. Amazing sound for the price, as good as $1000+ preamps.

 

I agree with doctor fuse.
I bought one.

Made my other phono stages sound
Boring.
I include Grahame Slee Golden Era
In that .
Mine hade a slight hum.
So I removed transformer to another
Box.
EAR 824 cost £2000 today.

 

With your cartridge I would look for something with lower gain. Thirty-six Db would be close to ideal. That doesn't leave you with many choices.

 

The Louge Audio is somewhat close to that at 42db. I am using it with an 2m Bronze and it seems to be a good match.

 

Yeah, my experience is a little different, thus my post. You would have to look at the input sensitivity of the Cambridge to get the best picture. I find that a little too much gain has some negative impacts that while enticing in some ways alway pan out to be too big of a compromise. If I have too much gain, even 2 dB or so, the sound is very punchy and exciting but the midrange suffers and the sound is a bit congested. Too little and you lose the dynamics and the life.

I've often puzzled over why so many cartridges have such high output. In my experience, a very good compliance and gain match, even with a less capable cartridge, can in optimizing the effectiveness of the cartridge sound better on a wider range of recordings.

 

Are these available in the UK?

 

I like the Hagerman Cornet 3. Has a great clean dynamic sound, and adds a lot of that holographic tube thing. With the Ortofon cart I would think changing the two 12ax7s that come in the preamp to a pair of 5751 tubes would be a benefit in terms of lower gain.

 

I think you are right, for whatever reason I never thought to look at pre amp input sensitivity in this whole equation. I have Rouge 66 Magnum and I can't even find the input sen. figure on the internet. It would be interesting if someone could derive some sort of rule-of-thumb math for this.

 

Available in the UK? Guessing so, as you're in my part number f the world. Never ran tubes before (apart from guitar amps). Can I expect changes in character?

 

EAT e-glo petit. Great phonostage with load flexibilty.

 

Graham Slee phono stages have always treated my ears right. I liked the Era Gold so much that I recently upgraded to the Reflex M.

 

Google KAB calc and you'll get a path to the ballpark.

This article is often cited and it contains a fairly simple formula that takes more specific data into account.

Taking the Guesswork out of Phonostage Gain - The Absolute Sound

Beyond this, it's up to your ears and the design specs of you preamp in that some gear tolerates more overload than others.

 

Thanks for the info and it looks like there is a lengthy discussion about this on these forums.

Rethinking Phono Preamp Gain Settings

Interesting subject.

 

6 dB difference is "close"?

 

What don't you like about the V90LPS? Seems like a capable phono and a good match to the rest of your system. And what is your budget? Keep in mind that spending double, or even triple of what you spent on the V90 is no guarantee that it will sound twice (or more) as good. Price is not a guarantee of performance, especially in audio. The example of this EAR 834 phono is quite telling: you can get a clone of something that costs $2000 for $250, with purportedly similar results.

The suggestion to match gain to the cart was a very good one. The 2M series is a good compliance match to your P-J tonearm, so no issues there. The cart is listed at 5.5 mV output, and, in my opinion, the perfect gain for it is 38 dB - provided the cart's output is true to the listed figure. At 38 dB gain, a fabulous upgrade would be a Parks Audio Budgie - but good luck hunting for one. They sometimes come up on eBay, but be prepared to spend up to double of what they used to cost new ($399).

At the earlier suggested 36 dB gain, the only one I know of is the Pluto phono, but I honestly doubt it would be an upgrade to the V90, probably a sidestep at best.

If, however, you have a way to measure the actual output of your cartridge, and it happens to be hotter than the listed 5.5 mV, then I can suggest Tritschler TPAD 1000 - a tubed phono with 34 dB of gain, heartily recommended by the Absolute Sound a couple of years ago:

Tritschler Precision Engineering Web Store - Crazy Joe LPs, concert tickets, the TPAD Model 1000 Phono Preamp, and more!

 

That pretty much sums it up, even my Benz Micro Lukaschek, as refined and quiet as it is, sounds a bit boring after the EAR 834 design.

And weird about the hum, mine had a hum, but two wires from the power supply board to the amp board, were reversed, and after I switched those, the hum is gone.

 

Moon 110LP V2. There's one for sale in the classifieds here. If you don't like it, you can resell with little loss. If not that, then a used 310LP.

JohnK

 

I'm a big fan of one of your UK manufacturers, Graham Slee.
He offers a range of choices so you can select the price point you are comfortable with.
I have been extremely satisfied with my Accession for several years.

 

Budget is always a factor...?

 

Mobile Fidelity [MoFi] StudioPhono. It’s $350, can do moving magnet and moving coil, and has a mono button and rumble filter - two things ALL phono stages should have but usually don’t. It has a low input capacitance which is critical for all modern moving magnet cartridges. It was partly designed by Tim De Paravicini, the man who designs EAR phono stages. I have the EAR 324 and this guy knows what he’s doing. I’ve set up a Pioneer PLX-1000 turntable with an Audio Technica VM540ML and the StudioPhono and I was impressed with its performance.

 

Damn wish I tried that

 

I've been using a Vincent PHO-701 tube preamp and love it. Warm, balanced, detailed, low noise with separate power supply...you can also fine tune the sound based on what cart you're using with several dip switches on the bottom of the unit allowing adjustments to input capacitance and impedance.

 

I heard great stories about the Graham Slee Reflex. Very tempting to get one and try it out. Would also love to hear the new Ear Yoshino Phonobox.

Graham Slee does a loanprogram. As you are in the UK should be easy to do.