I should have mentioned that I also had a Chinook before the Steelhead and it is a stripped down version. I used to have balanced ICs for a Bryston preamp and power amp and, unless you have to run ridiculously long ICs, I don’t feel they make a perceptable difference in sound quality. Good shielded unbalanced IC’s keep things just as quiet.
But most high end "full" preamps don’t have built in phono stages so, just because it doesn’t have one doesn’t exclude it from being a full preamp.
But most high end "full" preamps don’t have built in phono stages so, just because it doesn’t have one doesn’t exclude it from being a full preamp.