A while ago I was sort of forced to go with an external Phono stage since I went from a phono preamp to a to a line stage. It is hard to make an honest judgement about the change since I could not go back and forth while listening. My phono stage came about a month after I sold the preamp. Going from memory though there was a big improvement. The line stage and phono stage sounded better than the internal I had prior to the seperates.
How do you know it's time for external phono stage
I have a Classe CAP-100 with the optional phono board. I upgraded my Rega Planar 3 to a P25 a couple of years ago. I upgraded my Super Elys to a DV20XH a couple of months ago. I listen to every type of music. My speakers are Spica TC-60's. Should I expect great improvements from an external phono stage? If so, how much should I expect to spend? Any recommendations? Thanks!