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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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blisshifi OP
1,133 posts
 

@vonhelmholtz I decided to let the BMC unit go. I have to say it is impressive in every way for its price point, and while it may have done some things technically better, the Audionet PAM G2 with the EPS power supply just delivered greater musical satisfaction and helped me to feel and fall in love with the music more. The Audionet has greater control settings for impedance, conductance, etc, allowing me to better tailor the tone and frequency response, and it does an excellent job of balancing soul, body, and detail.

The BMC does demonstrate greater separation of instruments and delineation overall, but for me it was to the point where it started sounding like the instruments were playing individually and not towards a shared goal. This is absolutely a personal experience and not an objective one. Should the rest of my chain have been less resolving or introduced a bit more bloom, I would likely have settled on it in a heartbeat. The well-known Agoner that I ended up selling the unit to is quite critical in his equipment and sonics seems to be very pleased with the unit.

I guess I should say that the evaluation is not over. @overthemoon and others who have encouraged my itch for the Simaudio Moon 810 LP, I am finalizing a trade deal for one and hope to have it in possession next month. I would like to demo that against the Audionet and will again keep whichever I prefer and sell the other. Should I enjoy the 810LP, I will not hesitate to purchase the 820S power supply to improve upon it further.

lohanimal
659 posts
 

Try and source a Vendetta SCP2A - or derivatives - and don’t worry about a phono stage again. 
I personally am not a fan of tubes although I haven’t tried enough to give an ipso facto critique. That said if you want a musical phono stage both those from Tron and the EAR834p are worth a listen

kucharsk
13 posts
 

Kind of late to the thread, but I will just say I have an ARC Ref 2 SE Phono and demoed a Boulder 508.

 

It took less than five minutes of listening to the 508 before I had it unplugged and ready to go back to the dealer because though it was very good for a solid state phono stage, it clearly (to me) came nowhere near the ARC in a variety of different ways.

 

The best summary is it sounded rather “solid state.”

 

I’ve been trying to audition a Boulder 1108 for a few years now but my dealer could never get Boulder’s demo sent to them, even during COVID.

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pindac
2,503 posts
 

From my experience of having listened to New Devices be it a Home Built Design or a New Off the Shelf design, the ones regularly encountered usually takes about 100+ Hours to deliver close to their best.

Additionally, with a Phonostage, especially a valve, but I do know this extends to some degree to Valve Hybrid and Solid State a period of pre warm up, is without doubt beneficial to the SQ that is to become available.   

To allow a minimum pre use time for an assessment on a Phonostage, is limiting to the experience that can be encountered.

A Valve Hybrid, I have as an alternate design of Phon', was quite ungathered in the lower registers for a few weeks before I got a hint of what was to come, later down the line the Bass is as enjoyable as the other owned Phon' even if a little different in the overall presentation.    

lewm
12,576 posts
 

Kucharsk, I have no opinion as to your ARC vs the Boulder phono, but if you truly gave it only a 5 minute listen, you never really heard it in your system. As Pindac notes , solid state gear needs to warm up (literally) to sound its best. In my experience with a different SS phono section, this can take as much as an hour and might take longer after being transported to your home from a dealer. My particular SS phono can take longer to warm up than my all tube phono.

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