Phono stage rec for Rega P25 with ZYX R100-02H

Congrats! Let us know how you enjoy it.

In your budget I would recommend looking for an integrated phono stage. Either a full function preamp w/ phono stage or an integrated amp with a phono stage built in.

My preamp has a phono stage built in that adds $500 to the cost of the preamp. This built in phono stage outperforms any inexpensive separate phono stage that I have heard. I wouldn't consider going with a separate phono stage unless I had a budget of over $2000 MSRP.

BTW, nice little turntable combination, it should sound very good.

I have a friend who owned both. He loved the sonic presentation of the Nighthawk better, but it presented some noise issues. So he switched to the Clearaudio Basic Plus. While he said the Clearaudio was dead quiet, he said it was rather sterile sounding when compared to the Nighthawk. In the end, he sold them both and wound up with a Manley Chinook which he is very happy with. Sorry, this may not have been what you wanted to hear.

Sorry, I can't help from personal experience. I have never actually listened to any of these phono stages. I do own a Music Hall PA 1.2 phono preamp, which I keep as a back-up. It is a surprisingly nice inexpensive phono stage, though I do not use it often. Most of my phono preamp experiences are with much more expensive stages that are out of your price range. I have heard the Manley Steelhead, but I have yet to hear the Chinook. My friend who went through this lives a couple thousand miles away from me. We only exchange e-mails, so I never heard any of the units personally. Happy hunting.

Enjoy your new Jolida JD II!!

That sucks! From my experiences, tubes can be the fussiest in the phono stage because they are amplifying a very small (weak) signal. I love tubes, but my favorite phono preamp of all was a solid state design, a Klyne 7PX5.0. Maybe you would be better off looking for a solid state phono preamp.

In that price range, wait for a used Klyne to come along. They very rarely do, so if you see one, don't mess around, grab it. They rarely come up for sale, but disappear quickly when they do.
Assuming you will not find a Klyne, I'd recommend a Herron VTPH-1 MC.

Yes, I actually owned a Herron VTPH-1 MC about a decade ago. I had no noise issues at all in my system, and it was a very good sounding unit, especially for the price. I can understand your trepidation regarding tubes, and as I mentioned previously, especially in the phono stage. That is were tubes are the most vulnerable to display their weakness': noise, channel imbalances, etc. I've actually owned tube phono stages much more expensive than the Herron that exhibited more tube anomalies. I believe the Herron is regarded as a hybrid design, not a pure tube design though, as it uses tubes and FET's in it's gain stages.

Still, as stated earlier, the Klyne 7PX5.0 was the best phono stage that I've ever owned. Now while it is extremely doubtful that you will find a 7PX5.0 for under $2000, you may find an older 7 series or a 6 series phono stage in your price range. Klyne is solid state, but it doesn't sound like solid state. That is why they are so hard to find on the used market.

Congrats!! Keith Herron makes some very fine products...enjoy!!