Should I buy a Phono Stage from Hovland $1700 ?


I am tossing around wheather or not I should buy a new phono stage for my HP-100 line stage for $1700, or should I buy a seperate deal. I like buying used gear. I have VTL MB 750's I got for $7300, they were 2.5 years old. I got my HP-100 line stage for $3000 and it was 1 year old. My logic is that if I am going to unload $1700 for a phono stage, I could buy a seperate that retails for about $3000, for $1700 used, and if that's the case, can I obtain a better phono stage with $1700 in the used market? If you guys say, the hovland phono stage is just as good as any that retail for $3000, I 'll just order one from Hovland and install it myself.
Thanks
Rich
richdeben

Showing 1 response by jeffb28451

Richbeden:

I've got that setup and I believe it's just a Jensen (type) transformer. I've been looking for a step up of some type since I got it, mainly for the same reason...it's an okay item, but compared to what I can get on agon... Okay, so I got the whole deal for $3400, which made it "REAL NICE", but it's a phono that tends to be sort of samey-samey and I've used VDH, BENZ and Dynavector...capable, but homogenous, you know.

How about we look at it like this...I got a real good $400 phono stage, with a $3000 line stage, and I'm still looking.

Jeffb28451