Twang, the phono stage is excellent. At least the MM section that I am using is,have not tried the MC. This was not a mere add- on,it is quiet, fast and dynamic. On the new Neil Young re-issue there is a drum stroke in one song (cant remember offhand which song,only played it once so far)that literally made me jump up in my seat,sounded like it was right in front of me. An APO pressing of Count Basie had everyone in the house swinging, my son even came out of his room to check out the album and sat down and listened intently for awhile before remarking how "cool" it was. I am very happy with this pre so far.