Hi: The Conrad Johnson PV-12..with the optional phono stage is excellent..in the used 1100.00 or so price range...What do you want to spend? |
Best CJ Tube Preamp with built in phono is the PV9a. |
Audible Illusions Modulus 3A |
Tube: CAT SL-1, Any model Solid State: Ayre K1 or K3 You really can't do much better than these. |
electrocompaniet ec-1a - is a solid-state preamp w/an excellent fono-stage - both mm & mc. not your typical 2-d solid-state presentation. i have one i use as a back-up. not ready to part w/i at this time! doug |
Rogue Audio 66 or if you want to get one of the best, The 99 is the ticket! Read the great review of the 66 in the Oct.issue of Stereophile.These preamps have awesome bass,smooth as tubes get and beat out much costlier pramps in layering and depth.Dont buy till you audition a 66 or 99! UU |
I'd love to sell my CAT SL-1 Sig Mk III, and its phono stage is superb, but for lower cost I'd go for a used Anthem Pre-1. It was better than an ARC SP-15 I had at the same time, and I've heard from people who should know that it's better than Audible Illusions Modulus 3 as well. |
i yust sold my rogue 99, w/magnum upgrade, plus nos ge tubes. no regrets - the cary slp98 - stock version - beats it in *all* areas. i must say that i used neither of their fono-versions, as i run an outboard fono-stage, but all sources - fono included - sound markedly better thru the cary than thru the rogue. better dynamics, better extension, especially in the bass, and a magical midrange, w/no loss of detail or transparancy. i am going to a-b the cary w/a melos music director - whichever wins, stays in my system & i'm done looking for preamps for a while... ;~) doug |
The Rogue 66 is a good choice.The phono stage in mine is dead quiet.I have replaced the stock line tubes to JJ tesla.I have the stock tubes in the phono stage.I am hoping to audition a 99 soon. |
You want a killer phono stage in your 99? Throw in some Telefunkens!! Sedond,sorry you werent happy with the 99.The 66 got a great review this month in Stereophile and the reviewer liked the bass alot.Cant figure out how you didnt get it through the 99.I have killer Bass with mine!! UU |
hi david99, the input impedence my preamp sees is 25k-ohms; while rogue sez the output impedance of the rogue 99 is 100ohms, this is surely not the case. as a test i ran a 2.2k-ohm resistor across the rogue's outputs, & this *noticeably* reduced the volume coming out of the speakers. it would not surprise me if the actual output impedance of the rogue is 2500 ohms, or even higher. i tried this same test w/the cary in the system (~800 ohms rated output impedance), and there was absolutely *no* reduction in volume, when the output was crossed w/the 2.2k-ohm resistor. perhaps, w/the rogue seeing a higher input impedance of, say, 50k-ohms, or 100k-ohms, there would have been no loss of mid-bass in my system. impedance-matching *is* important! regards, doug |
Mikey (Fremer) likes the Audible Illusions Modulus M3A. Oh, did I forget to mention that I have one for sale? (MM Phono would be good w/high output Grado. Sincerely, truman. |
Sedond, how did someone as stupid as you appear to be, ever manage to find an excellent piece of gear(Cary SLP-98)? Must have been dumb luck. Oh by the way, I hope you like the Melos better because I heard they're out of business again! |
(sy)phill(ys), i guess ewe 1st have to have a certain level of intelligence prior to being able to determine that of others - ewe can attribute my liking of the cary to dumb-luck, intelligence, whatever - no concern of mine, really. regarding melos, i *am* at least smarter than ewe regarding this, because i know their true status, and it's obvious ewe don't. i also know the reliability of the piece in question, know that i'm paying less for it than the cary, even tho it retailed for almost twice what the cary retails for, cuz of a lot of folk's ignorance about melos (like *ewe*, perhaps?), and i know that 3 cary dealers i talked with *all* said the melos sounds much nicer than the cary. so, thanks for your support - i, *too*, hope i like the melos better. but, if i don't, no problem, i like the cary yust fine on its own. doug |
