Preamp with near-reference quality built in phono?


First some background. About 6 months ago I decided that I want to get off of the continuous upgrade path, and plotted a 2-3 year course for purchasing high quality, reference or near-reference components. The first itch I satisfied was my digital source; I threw away all of my "budget" transports, DACs, upsamplers, digital cables, etc., and purchased a high-quality single-box machine that does a number of things well and has the most musical red book playback I have heard. I then turned my attention to analog. I have not finalized my choice of arm and cartridge, but my table is flexible enough to support many.

Here is my current dilemma: I currently want to upgrade my phono preamp to something that compliments the rest of my system a little better, and that is flexible enough to work with as I settle in on a cartridge/arm combo (for example MM and MC would be nice). Concomitantly, I have begun to wonder if my decision to go with a passive linestage was a good one for the long term. I have read the arguments both for and against the passive, and having tried mine in someone else's system, I have found that its performance can be grossly impacted by changes in surrounding components. So my question is this: does a full function preamp, with phono, exist where the built in phono stage is comparable to best of breed, stand alone phono preamps? Since this is a long-term project, budget is not a huge concern, although I would like to stay under $10k if possible.
sdatch

Showing 1 response by ptmconsulting

One of the most well regarded phono sections ever built was designed by Arthur Loesch and integrated into a world class line stage preamp. John Weisner has built the Loesch design for many years now, commonly known as the Loesch/Weisner.

I've heard thie preamp/phono directly against many others that are well regarded and still think it blows them away. Unfortunately they are very hard to find used, but some have recently been on Audiogon.

I do have a friend that knows John Weisner personally and I would be willing to put you in touch, if you're interested. E-mail me directly: ptmconsulting@att.net

Enjoy,
Bob