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Phono preamp selection

So my budged dropped to about $1,000 for a preamp, which will be matched with the VPI Classic, Lyra Delos cart and Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum tube amp. The usual suspect and main candidates are:

1. Heed Audio Quasar
2. PS Audio GCPH
3. Sutherland Ph3D
4. Musical Surroundings Nova Phonomena

Heed is the only preamp I can probably audition. I've heard good things about all four, but I am intrigued by the battery powered units, which remove any issues with the power supply. All four pretty much offer as much flexibility as one might need. I find the Nova manual very confusing regarding the gain and load setting, which turned me off to it, but otherwise sounds great. The GCPH modded is apparently absolutely incredible, but it's outside of my price range at the moment. I feel sort of weird about the Sutherland being powered by D-cell batteries.

I'd love to hear your recommendations and opinions. Thank you.
actusreus

Showing 6 responses by actusreus

actusreus OP
733 posts
 
Thank you all for great suggestions and advice.

213cobra, do you have the Jasmine? If you read on Musical Surroundings website, they rather strongly criticize preamps that offer too much gain for the job. Apparently, the unit works much harder than it needs to at the cost of sound neutrality. The Delos needs only 55 dB of gain according to the KAB calculator. 70 dB sounds way too much and it's not adjustable on the Jasmine; 55 dB for MM carts apparently didn't work too well for a Lyra MC cart a reviewer was using. I'd also prefer to have a 47k Ohms load setting for the cart since Jon Carr suggests experimenting with a wide range of load settings for Lyra carts. What cartridge are you using, if you are, to be so confident the Jasmine outperforms the other preamps? Considering how many positive reviews the other units have got, that's quite a ballsy statement!
actusreus OP
733 posts
 
It's hard to argue with 834P reviews, which are all stellar, but one thing that kind of bothers me with this preamp is the fact that it has a load of 6 Ohms for MC carts, only. I've been told by owners that the Delos works best at around 200 Ohm setting, and I would ideally like to have an option to experiment with load settings. That said, I've never heard this being an issue with the 834P, so I wonder what's really going on with the resistive loading of moving coil cartridges. Is this some sort of a myth or illusion?
actusreus OP
733 posts
 
Hey Phil, thanks for a thorough reply. A lot of good information there. One of the problems I had with my previous setup was rumble, even though the system looked good on paper. I bought a KAB rumble filter that took care of the problem. I'm still waiting for my Classic and the Delos so I don't know if the system will need a rumble filter. If it does, anything over 65 dB of gain with a moving coil will apparently overload the KAB, which actually happened to a member here who was using it with the Steelhead. That's one of the reasons I'd prefer something with adjustable gain as the Delos apparently needs less then 60dB of gain. Ideally, I'd like to try all these amp first but it's not realistic. Either way, think we've compiled a nice list here and I want to thank all of those who posted in this thread. Thank you!
actusreus OP
733 posts
 
Phil,
Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I would put a filter in the signal chain if I experienced rumble with my setup and couldn't fix it mechanically. I believe, if unaddressed, excessive woofer pumping does more harm to the sound (and equipment) than a good quality subsonic filter. I'm just hoping my new analog front won't be as susceptible to the problem as my previous setup.

I've heard good things about the Wright preamp, but it appears the website has been suspended so I'm not sure what to make of it. Do you know whether he's still in business, or only used units can be had at this point?

Thank you.
actusreus OP
733 posts
 
Has anyone had any experience with the Trigon Vanguard 2 phono preamp? It can be upgraded to be powered by a battery unit (Volcano 2), which apparently elevates it to another level. Used could actually fit my budget.

On a different note, I'm sorry to hear about George Wright. It is always very sad to hear about such a loss, in addition to the personal tragedy his family experienced. RIP George.

actusreus OP
733 posts
 
If anybody cares or is curious enough to follow this thread, I have settled on the Camelot Lancelot. Go figure...
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