Suggestions for phono preamp for LOMC's

PS Audio Stellar Phono

Paradox Phono 70 - maybe Signature upgrade

I’m also going to highly recommend the Paradoxpulse Phono 70.

My first higher-end phono stage was the Manley Chinook. Sold it after realizing my preamp’s built-in MC phono section was superior (McIntosh C52).

Then recently acquired the Phono 70 and now that has far surpassed the C52 phono section. I didn’t think it was going to but I thought I could find out for myself with their 30 day trial period.

I’ve been so impressed that I have since ordered the Signature version.

Pappas3278,

Thanks for the recommendation!  The Phono 70 is a very interesting phono stage.

@bobheinatz 

Here's a tip for buyers of phono sections that can work with LOMC cartridges.

If it has provisions for a loading resistor for the cartridge, its a pretty good bet the designer didn't think thru the implications of an inductive source (the cartridge) being in parallel with the capacitance of the tonearm cable.

FWIW, the understanding of this is taught in the first week of any electronics class.

The two (inductance and capacitance) together form an electrical resonance, usually at a fairly high frequency which could be 1-5 MHz. It can also be as much as 30dB higher output than the cartridge output itself. If the phono section wasn't designed to handle this energy with grace, it won't sound right; hence the 'cartridge loading' resistor. The RFI (since that is what this resonance is) can intermodulate with the input signal, causing harshness and brightness. The loading resistor detunes the resonance and so knocks out the RFI, but it also causes the cantilever to be stiffer, since the extra work to drive that low resistance load of the 'cartridge loading resistor' might be over 2 orders magnitude higher. 

I've found that if the phono section design took this phenomena into account, one side benefit is less ticks and pops which can be otherwise caused by the input of the phono section overloading from the RFI. Its nice to play entire LP sides without a tick or pop!

Ralph, Do you equate the resonance frequency generated by the inductance of the cartridge being in parallel with the capacitance at the inputs with RFI? I never thought of it that way, as I always thought of RFI as noise that comes from an external source either by radiation through air or by injection into the circuit wiring. The capacity of the phono circuit to deal with the high frequency resonance generated in the cartridge/phono system is identical to its capacity to deal with RFI, I guess.