2. analog
  3. 125723-119

Do they make a quiet great sounding phono pre amp??

Hi, I have purchased and listened to 3 phono preamps which are: A musical surroundings phonomena, musical surroundings Nova II, and a Manley labs Chinook. The Manely labs Chinook is by far bettter sounding then the first two (double the cost too). But, All three have given me nothing but trouble (noise,noise,noise even terrible clipped signals!), and 2 of them basically failed on me. So before I go DIGITAL, can someone please tell me who makes a phono preamp in the $2,000-$3,000 range (tube or solid state) that I can rely on, and sounds as good or better than the Chinook?? Thanks.


Matt M                                             
128x128mattmiller

Showing 1 response by tablejockey

tablejockey
3,799 posts
 
"noise,noise,noise even terrible clipped signals!"

Undortunate you're having such a bad experience with the Chinook. You must listen at very LOUD levels. When I demoed a Chinook, I didn't hear tube hiss until 1:00 o'clock.  That's an unrealistic, everyday level(IMO) so not an issue. 

I would contact the dealer. Perhaps he can swap it for another unit?

The all tubed Decware looks promising, but you still need a step up for LOMC. http://www.decware.com/newsite/ZP3.htm
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