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I need help regarding tube phono preamplifiers

To the Audiogon community. I am currently considering one of three possible all tube phono preamps to incorporate in my two channel system. The three phono stages are 1.Aesthetix Rhea phono preamp 2.Zesto Andros Deluxe II phono stage and 3. Vac Renaissance phono preamp. I will incorporate the stand alone phono preamp into my McIntosh C48 preamp and utilize a Clearaudio Performance DC turntable with a Clearaudio Universal tonearm and Kiseki Purple Heart phono cartridge. If anyone has experience to help me compare the differences between these phono stages I would greatly appreciate the input. Thanks.

andyhifiman

Showing 1 response by big_greg

big_greg
6,561 posts
 

I haven’t heard these but personally wouldn’t use tubes in a phono pre-amp as a pre-requisite as the risk of extra noise is considerable. Instead, use tubes in your main pre-amp and roll those as you like. This will keep system noice quiter and provide consistency across phono and DAC in the main system.

I left my tube phone pre--amp (Project DS Tube - just above entry level)

You need to venture beyond entry level before making such pronouncements.  My Herron VTPH-2A tubed phono stage is dead quiet.

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