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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 1 response by soundermn

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soundermn
344 posts
 
Hello, SJTM!  I'm wondering how your comparison worked out?  I did the same comparison last year, and it was a hands-down no-brainer - Chinook won by a mile!  Did you have the same experience?

To your question about tubes, I rolled in some Tungsram PC88 and it seemed to really wake things up.  Clearer, more "tuneful", and overall better tone.  I tried a few others, and these are my favorites, at least for now.  Rolling tubes is like picking your favorite ice cream.  It's all good!  But, sometimes you just want a touch of butter pecan.

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