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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
audiohifiaudio's avatar
audiohifiaudio
4 posts
 
Tom evans micro groove mk2
herndonb
124 posts
 
Krell KPE reference!
http://www.stereophile.com/content/krell-kpe-kpe-reference-phono-preamplifiers-wes-phillips-reviewed...

tbachman57
1 posts
 
I have owned an original Musical Surroundings Nova Phenomena for a year and a half and it has performed flawlessly and is dead quiet.

Good luck sorting this out. Please be careful with your choice of resolution so as to not put you or your gear in jeopardy.

Tom
jasonsim
113 posts
 
I can only really recommend ones that I have used, but will suggest one that I haven't too.  At present I am using a Zesto Andros and it is really quiet. Really nice sound and I love that the settings can all be controlled without having to open up the box. The Zesto is more than what you want to spend though, otherwise it would be a great option.  Before the Zesto I was using a Sutherland Insight (solid state).  It was also very quiet. Not as musical as the Zesto, but really good and it's priced at around $1500.  The next step up would be a Sutherland 20/20. I think those are around $2300.  I have not listened to one, but that is probably the sweet spot in the Sutherland line. I would try one of them from a reputable dealer that has a generous return policy.

Jason
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I have had several. The best was the Naim Superline but it was too expensive. So was the ASR. Their smaller one is also supposed to be good. I also had the Blue Circle cheaper modal. All of these were quiet with good quality. The Musical Fidelity is also good, heavy as a boat anchor. I have had health problems and had to downsize so I am getting a Jasmine. A friend has one and he likes it and he makes his own tube preamps.

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