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Help me decide on phono preamp

I have enjoyed my current setup but have decided to try a seperate phono preamp to see what improvements in sq can be had. I have two options I can purchase locally in mind based on my current budget :

Musical Surroundings Nova Phonomena ($400 used)

Lehmann Black Cube SE ll ($600 used)

My current setup is a Music Hall MMF 9.1 TT with a Clearaudio Maestro V2 cartridge playing through the built in MM/MC phono preamp in my Marantz PM - 11S3 integrated amp. 

Any opinions on either of these options?  The built in preamp has excellent reviews. Will either of these alternatives make a material difference or do I need to significantly increase my budget to have a real inpact?

Thanks
sjtm

Showing 2 responses by agrippa

agrippa
160 posts
 
I don't know the Marantz, but according to reviews such as the one in TAS it has an uncommonly good phono stage for an integrated amp.  Taking that as fact, I would suggest you hold on to the money you've now got and save up some more.
While I've no doubt that either phono stage will better the built-in one, I very much doubt that either will make sit back and think "WOW".
agrippa
160 posts
 
It might be an idea to first quantify exactly what you feel your current setup is missing and hence what you want from a new phono stage.
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