ARC PH-3SE
ARC Reference Phono
ARC PH-7
ARC Reference Phono Two
ARC Reference Phono
ARC PH-7
ARC Reference Phono Two
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Benjamin record player w/ integral phono stage Marantz SR 1000 receiver's phono stage NAD 7140 receiver's phono stage Acoustat TNP (internal phono stage) ARC SP11 Mk II (internal phono stage) Vendetta SCP2-B (should never have sold) Jadis JP80 MC (internal phono stage) Lamm LP2 Deluxe (used primarily; also used my Jadis JP200MC phono stage on low gain recordings) Unnamed prototype phono stage made by a member of our audio society (and yes, it's good enough to my ears for me to have replaced the Lamm!) |
I have for the past year or so been trying a few other phono pres and head amps and SUTs (all vintage Japanese units). I have been impressed with some of the low impedance SUTs, and a couple of the head amps. One head amp in particular has shocked me as to how good it is, so much so that I bought a second for parts. I had heretofore never thought about writing a review and I may, so I will leave it nameless until I do decide. However, my eyes continue to be opened... |
i must admit that my focus on phono preamp was pretty poor until recently. I started with the phono stepup built into my sansui for years then when i moved to a yamaha i brought a cheap battery powered stepup from radioshack for my mm shure cartridge. Once i purchased my first mc, i recognized i could not use the ratshack stepup and purchased a rotel 970. That lasted several years and i purchased a vandersteen ol1 that i used in combination with the rotel with what i thought was good success until a friend loaned his jolida tube phono. I was very surprised at the impact and started looking for a replacement. I had started using the zyx cartridges and finally picked up the artisan by zyx. I use it with my Airy3s and UNIverse cartridges. Very pleased with the results. |
Damn, this was pretty hard considering my first TT was bought around 40 years ago, but IIRC: Kenwood receiver internal phono stage Marantz integrated amp internal phono stage Harmon Kardon HK630 receiver internal phono stage NAD 5751(?) receiver internal phono stage Moth Audio standalone phono stage CJ PV12 pre-amp internal phono stage Naim Nait 3 integrated amp internal phono stage Fisher 400 receiver internal phono stage Exposure 3010 integrated amp internal phono stage I think the next one will be a Dyna P-75 MkII |
1) Realistic STA-14 receiver internal phono amp ('71) 2) Pioneer SX-525 receiver internal phono amp ('74) 3) Advent 300 receiver internal phono amp ('79) 4) Adcom GFP-710 preamp internal phono amp ('00) 5) Bel Canto Phono 1 ('03) (still own) 6) ARC PH3-SE ('05) 7) Whest PS.20 ('06) 8) Whest PS.20 MkII factory upgrade ('08) |
Well, when I got back into vinyl a long 3.5 years ago ;-) I was temporarily using the phono stage from my receiver I used in the 80's, (can't remember the name), then I picked up a Dynavector P-75 about 3 years ago and a couple of months ago I switched to a Pass Labs Xono, (what I'm hoping will be my last phono stage). Cheers. Bryan |
Some of these I bought as upgrades and some were downgrades for cash flow reasons, None of them were bad so take my comments as being relative to the whole body of phono stages and a negative comment not a fatal flaw for those critiqued. I can't remember the exact order but roughly in order: CJ PV10A preamp with phono (not the last word in resolution but does nothing offensive, very pleasant to listen to, a great bargain, probably just should have stopped here and saved a ton of money but MM only) Aesthetix IO (seductive but a tiny bit dark and a lot of tubes so expensive to maintain ) Pass AlePhono (a bit analytical but a good bargain, I could live with it) Camelot Lancelot (similar to the CJ, a great bargain) CJ Premier 15 (very nice but didn't have enough gain for my .35mV cartridge) Tom Evans (a bit dry for my tastes but I see why people like them, might be the perfect match for some systems but not mine) Phonomena with battery supply (OK bargain for $700 new but can't compete with the Camelot and CJ PV10 used at the same price, and smoked by the better units. Pass Xono (was way over the top for me, like it was picking stuff off the grooves and throwing it in your face. I could see that it would work in systems that are on the dull or slow side but I prefered the older version. ) Lamm LP2 (initially very seductive but compared to what I have now darker and slower and a bit lifeless. It is quiet but the gain is so low I can't imagine how it could be noisy. Probably a good match for an overly bright systems with a high output cartridge. I see why people like it and I would probably still have it except for what I have now. There were probably a few more, and my present stage which I see as a keeper: custom built Experience Music stage built to my tastes and to fit my system. This guy is brilliant. |
Well here you go: 1993 Creek OBH 8 (MM) 1998 Rega Mira (MM phono board in integrated) 2000 Trichord Dino (MM & MC) 2006 Wright WPP200C, Lundahl 9206 step-up, Denon AU300LC step-up And so that you can correlate this with the different turntables: Turntable thread Enjoy! Rene |
I'll bite. When I was 10 or 12, my parents got for my sister and me a set of bookshelf speakers (think they were KEFs) and an all-in-one set-up (you know, receiver with turntable embedded in the top), can't remember who is was made by but the phono stage was in there... Then within a year we upgraded to "separates" (separate receiver and TT) where the phono stage was a Yamaha receiver (CR-240 if I remember correctly). TT was a Dual, 1225 if I remember correctly. Cheap Ortofon MM cart - couldn't remember if I tried. Then I got a larger NAD receiver when I went off to college to go with the cheap Yamaha CD player, more expensive Nakamichi cassette deck, and yet another Dual (either a 1228 or 1229?). Same story on the cart though it may have cost me somewhere in the range of $50-70 (mid '80s dollars). Fast forward 20 years or so and I have just plunged back into vinyl. Phono stage is a ZYX Artisan and I am pleased as punch with it. |