Phono stages: Hagerman and Sun Valley 1616 possible giant killers

No longer posting but @bkeske was impressed with the 6 tube MC version of the Trumpet—especially after rolling in Telefunkens etc. Note that as it’s a tube MC section, likely a little noisier than FET or SUT.

Trumpet MC actually uses a FET based MC stage / buffer, derived from his Piccolo head amp. The 6 tubes are all for the RIAA stage plus output. That said, its input MC stage is in fact higher in noise floor than you’d get from a much more expensive FET stage (Pass Labs, Herron, etc). But it still sounds very good - neutral, but not at all analytical or dry. As per Jim, it’s not bypassed for the lowest gain setting (MM) - it acts as a 0-gain buffer! Hence extra justification for the Trumpet MM model, for those who wish to use their own SUT.

I hate the "giant killers" trope because they almost never are. But I love & recommend Hagerman’s phono gear at every price point. His curent line is built to a (very low) price point, with the requisite sacrifices made (like SMPS). BUT they are still superb, and highly musical. There’s nothing else like the Trumpet MC at its price, and the Trumpet MM should be killer too if you wish to use an external SUT or headamp (including his own excellent Piccolos).

I’m also quite fond of his older models with more upscale build & parts (and linear PSUs), if you can find them - particularly the Trumpets.

The Trumpet was originally designed with fully balanced, all tube circuitry, as evidenced by its 8 tubes (4x 12ax7, 4x 12au7). It’s not SS with a (useless) tube buffer tacked on like most others at this price point. He’s simplified the output stage to lower price in the current MC version (2x 12au7 instead of 4x in the old Trumpets), but I believe its core circuitry (before the output stage) is still balanced, including the Piccolo-derived front-end for MC gain. The Cornet is a simplified version / circuit without any balanced circuitry.

The Trumpets are warm, open sounding phono stages with extremely satisfying bass response. You get a good dose of "classic" tube sound, and they respond very well to tube rolling. If you’re looking for maximum detail, lowest noise floor, and razer-sharp edge definition, these are not for you. However, those looking for satisfaction primarily via natural musicality should give them a try, and I think it can beat many in the $3 - 5K range on that front. It is definitely more "classic tube" souding than Rogue Ares Magnum and Herron VTPH-2A (or ARC Reference 3SE for that matter, though that has a GREAT tube stage). Also, the Trumpet MC will pair beautifully to almost any cartridge.

@mulveling oops. Thanks for the correction. That’s embarrassing. I always assumed Hagerman was a genius for pulling that off without FETs and using 6 tubes instead of the usual 3 in MM amps. Ah well...

@noromance Clever as Hagerman is, all-tube MC amplification to 70dB+ is simply going to involve a good bit of noise, and lots of stress over tube selection! Aesthetix is the only brand I’ve seen attempt that, and I don’t have experience with them to share.

I believe the extra tubes (4x 12AX7) are for balanced circuitry in the RIAA stage. Older Trumpets also had a balanced output stage topology (4x 12au7), and the original Trumpet could be optionally ordered with XLR ins/outs - though very few were made this way, for some reason (probably, there were fewer preamps with XLRs back then!).

And no worries I’ve made lots of mistakes and misspeaks over the years - fortunately this is a forum for audio opinions & experiences, not a scientific journal :)

Electrostatic "direct drive" headphone amplifiers share a similar need for massive gain - usually 60dB - and most of them have a FET front-end for most of their gain. There are only a couple exceptions. I’ve used this on a vinyl source and it’s kind of mind blowing to think about the 120+ dB of total gain from stylus to headphone stators in these cases, and how it works AT ALL, much less how well it does.