Jolida JD-9A is in my opinion one ofthe best deals in a low cost / high quality and very versatile tube preamp. Enough flexibility too accommodate nearly any cartridge. Full, detailed and dynamic sound. Try this one... for $450, you can't go wrong. It even comes in a full sized, solid, and very well made chassis! Check out the review at Six Moons. |
Hagerman Labs Coronet 2 half kit: http://www.hagtech.com/cornet2.html assembled: http://www.haglabs.com/cornet2.html - is everyone suddenly experiening collective amnesia over Jim Hagerman's great products? Cheers, Thom @ Galibier |
So, it seems that so far the Bottlehead Seduction is the phono pre of choice. I'm 60 and have been into this hobby since the early 60's and always have been a SS guy. The tube phone pre intrigues me though. I have several SS integrateds that I listen with, a vintage Yamaha CA 1010 that I love, a vintage Kenwood integrated(also excellent)and a Creek Destiny(excellent). My vinyl rig is an AR ES-1 with a Sumiko Premier MMT arm that I bought new quite a while back and a Shure V15-V-MR? cartridge. |
Well, I hate to pile on ... but I just downright love my Seduction. Even if you're not a DIY kind of person, it's worth every bit of the cost to have Bottlehead build it for you - around $670. If you're a DIY'er then you can buy the kit for $369 but I highly recommend the $75 C4S upgrade. Awesome phono-stage. |
Seduction, it has a sweet sound. I have a Wright WPP200c and it has a very tube sound so if your amp is SS it may be an option. Its a bit too tubey for me except for classical where it rocks. The Pro-Ject Tube Box/se/II may be an option but not with stock tubes. Its good but the Seduction is better no the best |
I 'downgraded' from an Audio Research PH3 SE (nice, but a little sterile and lean for my tastes) to a much-less-expensive AES (Cary) PH-1 phono stage. Not as quiet as the Audio Research, but more lush, vivid and fleshed-out sounding in my opinion. They don't turn up used that often, but are around $400 when they do. Fun tube rolling the 6SL7 & 12AU7 (and variants) tubes as well to get different 'flavors'. Only about 35db of gain though, but you'll be fine with your stated preference for higher output MMs (I'm using a step up with a MC, for what it's worth). May not be what you have in mind, but it's another option. Let us know what you end up going with. |
