K & K phono pre compasison

The odds that anyone has heard all of the top phono stages in a system that they are familiar with is small and they certainly did not hear them with YOUR ears. They will all sound different and it is likely that the more expensive ones will sound better but there is no guarantee that they will or that any improvement will be worth the cost. I just changed from a Musical Fidelity Kw phono to a Asr Basis Exclusive, both of which were listed in Stereophile Class A at the same time. The Basis is considerably better to my ears and my friends ears, as it should be at the difference in cost. But I paid less than 30% of current retail for a used one. My advice is to try to listen to as many as you can and when you find one you like get it and don't worry about whether there is a better one or not. And even if they are "better" you may not like them as well.

Someone else told me that he had hum problems with the Asr when used in the single ended mode. Mine is the quietest one I have ever had. They have a dip switch which selects balanced or unbalanced operation, I have wondered if it was set in the wrong position, the manual mentions the possibility of this causing hum but is not the clearest written one I have seen and I overlooked it myself and didn't change mine to single ended when I first got it. I still had no hum so whatever the cause it must be system dependent. Cumbersome? Just because it is a 52lb power supply attached to a 20lb phono stage? Remember, this is the company that gave us a 400lb integrated amp in 4 boxes. Makes my MF M3 [95lb in two boxes] seem downright petit.