in your price range i would head to the top of that range and look for an ear 834p, i think you will find its money well spent and should you ever get tired of it. you will recoup all your investment at resale. not to mention it will outperform most phono stages under 2000.00 and is a tube unit.........a delux version on a-gon right now for the 950.00 (no affiliation with seller)
phono stage advice please
Re-phrasing/clarifying a question I had initially placed on the amp/preamp forum a few days ago:
I recently acquired a Conrad Johnson 2500A amp/PR18LS preamp combo, and now seeking audition advice for a compatible phono stage (my former NAD 1130 preamp of 20 yrs. had a rather nice/versatile phono). I should mention that my table is a Pro-ject Xperience w/ an Ortofon X1-MC cart (high output). The above C-J is ss, and thought a tube phono stage would be good synergy with the C-J pieces. Do any of you own or had any experience with the C-J EF-1 phono preamp? Trying to keep the budget in the $500-900 gently used range, so it would be difficult for me to consider the P15. Any thoughts from those owning sim. pieces to the above would be very welcome. Thank you.
I recently acquired a Conrad Johnson 2500A amp/PR18LS preamp combo, and now seeking audition advice for a compatible phono stage (my former NAD 1130 preamp of 20 yrs. had a rather nice/versatile phono). I should mention that my table is a Pro-ject Xperience w/ an Ortofon X1-MC cart (high output). The above C-J is ss, and thought a tube phono stage would be good synergy with the C-J pieces. Do any of you own or had any experience with the C-J EF-1 phono preamp? Trying to keep the budget in the $500-900 gently used range, so it would be difficult for me to consider the P15. Any thoughts from those owning sim. pieces to the above would be very welcome. Thank you.