Looking for phono stage recommendations

I have been using an X-ono for a couple of years with a koetsu black on a nottingham anna 12'.Just recently have completed a dual mono K+K using billington step up transformers and have added an SME3012-R with an ortophon spu royal to my nottingham dais.switch phono leads from X-ono to K+K and most discernable differences are the arm + cartridge characteristics taking into account cartridge loading and gain issues.Listening mostly to the K+K ortophon combo so its got to be doing something right and the close to maxxed out K+K cost less than$2000 to build and was a fun simple project less work than a dynaco in the good old days.and playing something you built adds listening satisfaction.

Just moved from California to Oregon and just before packing it all up the Jolida phono stage arrived. It will be another month or so before the stuff in storage gets delivered to a new house and then set up, so stay tuned. This is sort of an experiment to see how this relatively low priced stage stacks up against my Krell KPE Reference but $425 it didn't seem like too great a risk. I will write up a review of this unit when I have it up and running with a VPI Aries2, JMW 10.5 and Koetsu Urushi. Hope it sounds good; we'll see. I may have to do some tube rolling too...

Aesthetix Rhea is the best I've heard for the money, period. Built like a tank, artfully. This I do affirm.

Hello,

Maybe a listen to the Hagerman Trumpet. Probably need a step up with low output cartridges. I have one that I enjoy totally. With NOS tubes (the stock tubes sound very good), I have never felt I have missed anything from my phono.

Unfortunately, I will be selling the Hagerman plus my Jensen step up transformers. Retirement and other priorities necessitates that I sell my equipment: Atma-sphere MA1s, the Hagerman, AES DJH Super Preamp, Merlin VSM Millenium speakers with Magic Mod upgrade, Sistrum amp stands, and Argent Room Lens (3). I'm keeping my tt/arm/cartridge.

Please peruse the Hagerman website www.hagtech.com. I think.

Jim

Sirspeedy - your comments on the Aesthetix gear raising the room temp gave me an incentive to do an experiment today. Unlike many other Audiogon members, I do NOT keep my tube gear on 24/7.

The system is in a basement room, 13x18x7.5, fully closed with only a stairway entry which can be closed off with a door atop the stairs. Before powering on any components, the room temp was 68 degrees; the thermostat is on the ground floor. The A/C has been running much of the day but there is only one very small ceiling vent which is above and just a little off axis of the CAT amps. The rest of the audio system is on the opposite end of the room.

The Callisto and the Io were powered on; I only have one power supply for each. An hour later, the room temp had risen to 69. I checked an hour later and still 69. And then another hour ..... still 69. From this I would conclude that the Aesthetix preamp components do little to affect room temp and again, this is a rather small and confined area. In a more open living room or family room setting, I suspect it would not be noticeable at all.

I then powered up the CAT amps. An hour later and the room climbed to 74! Another hour has passed and now the room is sitting at 75. Having 32 power tubes radiating makes for quite serious floor heaters. Clearly the amplifiers are an issue in this room whether it is summer or not. But at a local audiophile's home, I noticed how much heat the solid state Plinius amps were producing. It's the price some people pay for this kind of musicality. And there is much shared here about the Pass amps as serious floor heaters as well. So it's not only an issue with tube products. But I think that tube preamps are not going to influence room temps very much if at all.

John