Personally I was unable to find a truly great phono stage until I switched to Audio Research and tubes. To me these get tone tone and details right. I would recommend looking at a used Audio Research… or Conrad Johnson… or Cary.
3k Phono preamp upgrade options (JC3+, XP-17, etc)
Hi everyone,
I’m looking to upgrade my phono preamp in my sytem and am fairly decided on going the solid state route. The two options I’m most interested in are the Parasound JC3+ and Pass XP-17. I’m curious if anyone has compared these two together, and can describe how these units differ. Here is my system:
Lyra Delos (0.6 mv) -> (new phono here) -> Hegel h120 -> Dynaudio Heritage Specials.
I’m sure both phono preamps are great units, but I’m looking for something that will pair nicely with my Dynaudios. The Hegel is here for now, but I see myself upgrading it eventually, so compatability in that regard isn’t as important.
If you think there is a tube option that will work well with my sytem (Sadly Herron isn't in production, so that's a no go) feel free to recommend, but I’m mostly interested in SS for now.