Thanks for the update. Many of the phono preamps mentioned in this thread have received excellent reviews and remarks from their owners. I found that the PS Audio Stellar ticked all the boxes I had laid out with excellent reviews and remarks from owners and given the excellent deal I found, I very much look forward to using this product.
Suggestions for Phono Preamp
I'm interested in a decent phono preamp in the $1,000 area code (plus or minus a few hundred) for my Rega Planar 3 and I have a dynavector 20x2l mc cartridge to work with a tube amp which has both rca and xlr inputs.
Here's the thing. I really don't like those tiny switches, especially when you have to open the preamp to get to them. Also, I hear that it is best to play around with the gain but how do you do that if changing the settings is a pain in the rear?
There are some preamps with the knobs for settings but they almost always are in the back and, again, that drives me crazy. Why can't the settings be in the front so you can easily access them and make changes/adjustments so you can actually hear differences?
Anyhow, if anyone has suggestions, I'd much appreciate it.
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"Good luck with the PS Audio Stellar. Darrin Myers, who designed the Stellar Phono recently left PS Audio for Parasound, great engineer, and it seems PS Audio is liquidating their stock of this preamp, and assume they have no plan to continue its development" The PS Audio Stellar Phono preamp was designed by Paul McGowan who is very much still at PS Audio and has plans for a fully discrete phono amp version. This gear has returned to normal retail price of $2999 on mfr's website after last month's 33% discount.
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I have an EAT Petit in my second system featuring Joseph Audio Pulsar 2’s. It’s a quite revealing system. The little EAT sounds wonderful in this set up. Plus, all the loading and gain adjustments can be made easily on the fly while listening. Toggles on top panel fantastic. Other useful features include top panel toggles for capacitance as well as rumble filter (which can be useful).
Current retail is $1700; seen used near $1K. |
Parasound JC3 Jr. Solid State Phono Stage that is available in your price range and it will hold its value reasonably well if and when you may want to upgrade. Excellent build quality and designed by recognized industry veteran John Curl. Flexibility with adjustable settings for both MM/MC cartridges from the rear panel, no internal tickering necessary. It also has both SE and Balanced outputs and I find it to have a very neutral sound contribution to my system. Good luck with your search and happy listening. Teg63nc. |
@rooze I am aware of ifi and I use the IDSD pro for my DAC on my main system. I didn't see anyone recommend the model ifi you mention. I've seen earlier models praised for its value at the low price. |
@bkeske Thanks. The phono stage is still full price on PS Audio's own website and other places. The dealer I am buying from, out of Canada on the Canuck Audio Mart, has offered similar discounts on other PS Audio gear. |
Congrats! Good luck with the PS Audio Stellar. Darrin Myers, who designed the Stellar Phono recently left PS Audio for Parasound, great engineer, and it seems PS Audio is liquidating their stock of this preamp, and assume they have no plan to continue its development. Thus the reason to get a very good deal on it. That said, I'm sure PS Audio will stand behind it, and will gladly help you with any issues you may have. I'm sure it will add a lot to your system. |
Decision made. It was between a used Don Sachs Phono Stage, Hagerman Bugle MC, and a PS Audio Stellar Phono Preamp. I chose the latter. The Hagerman and the PS Audio were new and the Sachs was used. They were all about the same price. Reviews of all 3 were good and maybe even stellar for the PS Audio. The Sachs was very intriguing especially with the Sachs’ integrated I have. I’ve seen some Audiogon members say that the Hagerman and the Sachs were pretty close. That means that the Hagerman beats out the Sachs since it would be new and it has the dials I wanted in front. The Sachs was set up fairly easy but the plus goes to the Trumpet. The PS Audio, new, is twice the price of the Sachs and the Hagerman, and yet I was able to get it at about 1/2 price new with warranty. I am assuming it may be a step up or at least it is a quiet well performing phono preamp that is future proof and I won’t be spending money on tubes which I tend to do with all my tube equipment. I’m not as concerned with a tube phono preamp since the amp is tube. The other bonus is that the PS Audio you can use the remote(!) for the loading and gain settings. Even easier than a front dial. No more getting up or moving from the chair! (just being silly -- I know that once the settings are locked in, you don’t really have to mess with them again until you change cartridges). Easy peasy. Thanks everyone for their input as well as other threads where these phono preamps were discussed. If anyone wants to know where you can get this phono stage at this price (because there are more), throw me a line though we have to talk outside of Audiogon as they have some rules about this. |
I used Amazon and Crutchfield and SafeandSound to try out 4 different ones. All I know about PS Audio is that their products are very good value, it’s solid company and community/fan base with great support, I corresponded with them a few times. Sutherland and Musical Surroundings are good too, I heard the first at someone’s house and tried MS at home, and I agree it’s easy to get confused and crazy with so many choices. I would have this problem if I upgraded my amp, too many choices. I am cataloguing 200+ audiophile speakers for this purpose, to help my decision and learning process and maybe somebody else’s as well |
@grislybutter Believe me, I’ve looked at both (Hegel and Parasound) but they have downsides too like most everything. The biggest thing is that I obsess about this and spend as much time as I can looking at reviews and forums so it will be worth paying some money to stop the madness. |
@grislybutter Yes, it is a conundrum but I'm also trying to head off upgrade-itis by getting a decent phono preamp. I've had cheap ones, Schiit Mani and the Vista Audio Phono 2. Now I am using a pretty durn good one built into my LTA Z40+ with a SUT which sounds nice. It is just an unfortunate/fortunate turn of events that I found "another" endgame amp with the Sachs Valhalla which needs a phono preamp if it is going to have the TT down the road. I've been very tempted by a Sachs' phonostage which has a SUT. I may go that direction as well even though it has switches in back but not that hard to reach/adjust. |
@dz13 I don't know why you would want spend more than half of what your TT cost. It's just not going to make a difference above that price point. I have the same TT as you do, and I am super happy with my $600 preamp. When you have a 10K turntable, you might want to have a higher quality preamp, otherwise it's putting formula 1 pirelli tires on a Golf. |
The more research I do on this, the more I'm confused because everyone has a different idea of what sounds best. It is also a little annoying that you have to buy a preamp for your TT that may be more expensive than your TT and cartridge combined just to amplify the sound. I may have found something though. I don't think it has been mentioned but does anyone have experience with the PS Audio Stellar Phono Preamp? |
No one has mentioned the Lounge LCR + Copla? I've got the LCR, sounds amazing with my HOMC Benz H2. |
@quiddy No apologies necessary. In fact, I may blow up my own parameters on something else but of the ones discussed, the Hagerman seems to fit the bill. I'm now checking out the Goldnote which seems interesting as well. |
Just to add my voice to those recommending Goldnote to you. I had the PH10 to which I added the separate PSU which improves things still further. The sound quality is top class at its price point and it's a dream to use. Nice clear legible screen and you push the button in and turn to vary the settings. A peach to use. A bit above your preferred price range, but well worth it for the convenience that you have prioritised in your OP. I now have the PH1000 plus separate PSU so that indicates my high regard for the Goldnote phonostafes
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@dz13 Apologies if I went outside the parameters. I was focused on no dip switches and quality, and the SR series lacks the former and excels in the latter. There is one gain switch on the back, of course. I hope you report back when you settle on a preamp, I'd love to know what you wind up with. |
@quiddy I know about Nakamichis. I have a Nakamichi TA-4A amp. I've moved to tube amps and my issue are as follows: I bought a used LTA Z40+ integrated with the phono stage and the SUT which I believed was going to be my endgame amp. However, my secondary system has Nola Boxer 3SE speakers which begged for tubes so I thought I would get a tube amp for them. Right now, my TT is in my secondary system as my primary system is in my home office and there is no place for the TT until I retire (which I'm in the process of doing). When I retire, the TT goes to my primary speakers, Spatial Audio Lab X5s. I got the Don Sachs Valhalla amp because of all of the ranting and raving about how good it is and yes it lives up to the hype. So now the Valhalla is with my primary speakers and the LTA is with the TT and the bookshelf Nolas. So now, with the TT to go to the office/man cave area, I'll need the phono preamp for the Valhalla. I've done dipswitches before and I'm not afraid of them but they are inconvenient and take time to adjust. Unless the difference in sound is night and day, audio memory doesn't last that long and comparing settings when you have to take 15 minutes to change the settings on something isn't going to give you a really good idea of whether setting changes do anything. It's going to be a while before I'm fully retired as I can't do so until I'm completely done with my clients but the workload is smaller and smaller. There have been a few interesting suggestions but I also chuckle at the number of times that there are threads like this where the OP sets parameters and the advice the OP gets completely goes outside of the parameters. However, I do appreciate suggestions and will continue to look at them as there seems to be a lot of makes and models of phono preamps. |
I know you're not looking for a receiver, but hear me out and ignore my gushing over the receiver features. This is going to sound weird, but two of the very best-sounding MM/MC phono preamps I've ever heard in my relatively long life are in the ~1990 Nakamichi SR-2A, 3A, or 4A receivers. Incredible-sounding units back when Nakamichi were at the top of their game, and all their best stuff was still being manufactured in Japan, so they're built like tanks to last. I've owned the 2A through the 4A, and the 4A is my favorite receiver of all time. It doesn't get as much attention as the pretty, silver-faceplated Sansui, Marantz, and Pioneer vintage receivers, but due to its Nelson Pass-designed amp circuitry and the phono pre, it bests them, imo. You can pick up a used 2A for less than $200, 3A for $300, and they're both worth it just for the phono preamp; and then some. A 4A will go for between $300 and $1500. The 3A and 4A have the exact same MC/MM phono pre, the 2A only has the MM version, but if you don't need MC, it's the same, and sounds beautiful. All the pres sound stunning, with a high frequency extension that is so detailed and airy, but smooth as silk, with zero harshness. SNR is excellent and quiet passages sound like they emanate from a velvety-black void. Dynamics are punchy, and the subsonic filter is very effective without coloring the sound at all. The tone controls are worth mentioning too; they're the best I've heard on any receiver, period. And I love the loudness button on the lower models, but the 4A has a variable loudness control, and it's great when you want to listen at lower volumes with low lows and brilliant highs. The 4A has a preamp in//out which comes in handy, and the 3A/4A both have useful internal routing, so if you want to use your own receiver, you can still connect your turntable to them just for the phono pre, then use one of a few different stereo outputs to feed into your receiver of choice. I've done it, but I always went back to the 3A or 4A because I think they sound better to me.
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Don’t be afraid of dip switches. I just purchased a new phono stage. I too wanted to go the no dip switch route. For me it was because they looked tricky to use and I did not understand how they worked. After doing some research I opted to purchase a Manley Chinook SE Mk 2. I’m so glad I did not let the dip switches dissuade me from my purchase. When it showed up, I had to open the case to change the gain setting. The directions made it easy to change the load and capacitance. The Manley totally transformed my system. I’m glad I didn’t let a few dip switches get in the way of that. |
The rich Saudis will scoff at spending less than $1000 on a phono preamp, but you really should give the IFI phono preamp a trial. It has EXTERNAL switches for gain settings for MM and MC cartridges of various output levels. I tried it with a middle of the road AT MC cartridge, and I love it. Zero noise, sounds lovely. It tests out also as having a perfect RIAA EQ which is one of the most important characteristics of a phono preamp, and very few test that well. Oh and it has balanced outputs as well as single ended. And ouf course ground connection.
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