2. amps-preamps
  3. 1098809541

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 4 responses by sdatch

sdatch OP
204 posts
 
Wow! Thanks for all of the informed responses. I guess I have somework, in the way of auditioning, to do. Given that there is an Aesthetix and Atma-Sphere dealer within driving distance for me, those may be first on my list. However, I recently heard the CAT SL-1 Mk III and was impressed. Atcually that encounter is what got me headed down this line of thinking in the first place.

As far as budget goes, my feeling is that if I hear something I like and its out of my range at the moment, I'll just wait a little longer and save up before pulling the trigger. Of course, given my luck the roof will probably blow off my house between now and then...
sdatch OP
204 posts
 
Remote control is not a deciding factor to me - more of a nice to have. My current linestage actually requires the remote to switch between sources. I am very seriously weighing the tube factor. In my second system, which we use for entertaining, etc., I am using a tube pre with a solid state power amp to great effect. So I am thinking this type of combo may be beneficial in my main system as well.
sdatch OP
204 posts
 
Macrojack and Rushton, et al., thanks for the response and the insightful comments. As far as the home theater thing goes, I actually have a separate system for that purpose, and thus am looking for an audio only preamp. I am not limiting myself to tubes; in fact I am in the process of making arrangements with my local Spectral dealer to try out 2 of their preamps in the next week or so.
sdatch OP
204 posts
 
(Sorry for the length) - I'd like to provide some closure to this thread and thank everyone for their advice and encouragement. I actually ended up backtracking, sort of, and bought a separate phono stage (C-J EV-1), as well as a new power amp (Atma-Sphere S-30 MkII). I found that the image stability and ultra-low noise floor associated with my Placette Passive were too desireable to give up. So, after some auditioning of preamps, I went out and got the C-J and have been enjoying my analog ever since. The amp? Well, I had wanted more "speed" in my system, and with the S-30 I cetainly got that characteristic, and a whole lot more. Wife, kids, and job permitting I would like to offer up a review of the S-30 in the next couple months as I grow accustomed to it.
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