Stand out phono stages

Lew, FWIW I don't think there exists any situation in which there should be no grid stop resistors. Without them the circuit is RF susceptible, and the preamp can also be prone to internal oscillation.

Ttweights, Audiofeil is just keeping you on your toes. Don't take it personal.

Make each component as neutral as possible. That's what the best preamps or the best anything seek to do

I agree, base a system on its strengths rather than using the weakness in one component to counteract the weaknesses in another!

Lacee, there is a simple way to drive any power amp in the differential domain. Most designers don't know their amps have the capacity and so don't provide the connection. PM me if you want more details, or perhaps we can discuss it in a different thread.

I prefer a phono section that is balanced so I don't have to worry about colorations from the phono cable. Phono cartridges are a balanced source so its nice for the preamp to accept the signal in the balanced domain. The balanced line system was devised to get rid of cable colorations, so this seems like a perfect application- as close to the source as you can get.

Lacee, with respect to the volume control, it will work better if it is buffered in some way from the amp or interconnect cable it is driving.

For this reason I do not think that having an outboard phono section is a good idea. It works better when integrated into the same box as the line stage. In this way you avoid connectivity issues and troubles with the volume control that otherwise offer colorations that are very difficult to avoid.

Now with regards to the balanced input on an amplifier. All amps (even SETs) have two inputs, non-inverted and inverted. However usually only one connection is used to accept the signal. All I am suggesting is that the second connection is used as well. Many designers of amps have no idea this is possible; for them I recommend looking into the early circuits of George Philbrick, the inventor of the OpAmp. For those that say its not possible I have been doing it for years.

Oldears, I also recommend tubes and passive EQ. Preamps with passive EQ often exhibit less surface noise from the LP, even though they might have the same bandwidth.

All preamps are class A FWIW.