Another recommendation for Sutherland Transimpedance designs. Just transcending in all aspects. For me, it was revolutionary in that my poor recordings became amazing! It really gets to the heart of the recordings. Any in the lineup exhibit this behavior, but you of course, get more as you move up to the higher end Little Loco or Big Loco.
Solid State Phono Stages
I used to be an all-tube guy, but I’ve now ventured into the realm of high-end solid state with T+A and no longer have any itch to go back heavily into tubes. Now, the only tubes I have left in my system are in my Modwright PH9.0X phono, and from what I’ve demoed against it, it seems to be a giant killer. I do love it, but I’m curious to try a higher end solid state phono stage to see what more noise and more music might sound like. Unfortunately T+A does not have a standalone phono stage, so I’m looking at other manufacturers and open to other opinions.
I currently have a Clearaudio Innovation Wood table and Air Tight PC-1s cartridge. i listen to a wide range of music, from Zeppelin to Vivaldi to Beck to Coltrane to Yello. The stage would ideally have between 65-74db of gain, maybe adjustable to 60db at minimum, and have variable impedance values. A balanced output stage would be ideal. I don’t ever really plan to have a second arm, but most stages that retail over $7K tend to have multiple inputs anyways.
My budget would be at tops ~$8K for a used unit. The unit that is sticking out to me from what I’m reading about is the Simaudio Moon 810LP. Another high on the list is the Esoteric E-02. I’ve also come across the Pass XP-27, the Gold Note PH-1000.
I’m looking for a stage with some personality in its character, not one that is overly refined. I’d love for it to be dynamic and bold when it should be, and also gentle and refined when it should be.
The only solid state stages I’ve ever owned and tried were the Pass Labs Xono, which was clean sounding but a little noisy and brittle sounding compared to a PS Audio Stellar Phono. I’ve liked all my tube phono stages better than both of those units.
I’ve also considered going further up the tube stage route, looking at Doshi 3.0, Aesthetix IO Eclipse, but I’m hesitant unless I can hear those in place.
What solid stage phono stages have you loved, and what have you compared them to?
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@herman I just came across the MCCI Signature ULN myself two days ago and was very intrigued by it! Can you share where you got yours from? I can’t find any dealers in the USA and I trued contacting BMC directly and did not get a response. |
There is a Phon' that there might be a opportunity to experience in the USA and one that I have received an audition of on a few occasions. Also it is one that I know is owned in the UK and has maintained a very loyal following, especially when owners have had it compared to very expensive Phon's in their own systems. My most memorable experience of the Paradise Phonostage has been at a Bake Off event where the host has a system worth approx' £200 000, one of the UK's renowned builder of the Paradise design was present with their personal model. The event usually does Valves / Valve Hybrid and Solid State as their own sections and these models are presented in groups governed by Purchase Value. The Paradise was entered into the Bake Off at a particular Purchase Value range and was speedily removed from the demonstration by the host of the event, to be entered at a much more expensive purchase price for the Phon's. When used at the lower purchase value demonstration, the Paradise was noticeably streets ahead in its qualities. It can be stated that Phon's from a certain price range can sound quite similar and only really separate in their perfomances, if a certain frequency is noticeably accentuated during the performance. I put this down to very similar Topologies for the circuit designs used. In the end Six Phon's were side by side with the most expensive having a Purchase Value of £10 000, interestingly a very rarely encountered Modwright 9.0 Valve Hydrid Design was in this selection. This selection was trimmed to the Paradise and the Music First Reference going Head to Head. A Commercial £10 000 Phon' ( Music First Ref ) and Bespoke Kit Built £2500 Paradise. Each are quite unique and not with the same sonic traits as many Phon's in demonstrations had shown previously. There was a split between the selection and the attendees who were deselecting Phon's throughout the day were not unanimous in their choice, there was no clear preferred choice. I could have quite happily spent many many hours with either.
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