Jade- The phono section of the Spectral 20 is outstanding! You would be hard pressed to do better without spending big bucks (aesthetix io). As for external tube phono stages, they should be fine with a Spectral pre-amp though certainly not what Spectral would recommend. Spectral amps typically have a low input impedance (10K ohm) which could give many tube pre-amps difficulty, but not all tube pre-amps. You'd need to know the output impedance of the tube pre-amp in question (prefer < 500 ohm) to determine it's compatibility and keep the interconnects relatively short to ensure good results. Goodluck.
Spectral Phono Section vs. External one!
Hi folks, Has anyone had much experience using the Spectral Phono Section for MM or MC cartridges vs. using an external phono section either tube or solid state? I am trying to decide on a phono section to use. Which external phono section has sounded excellent with an all Spectral/MIT reference setup? AR PH3, Klyne, Sonic Frontiers, Quicksilver, Lehmann, etc etc? I would appreciate any feedback! Thanks Shawn