Tube preamp with or without phono stage?


I’m looking to add a preamp to my two channel system. Currently I’m using an Audio Alchemy DDP-1 as the pre fed by a Simaudio Moon 110LP as the phonostage. My amp’s a Benchmark AHB-2 and speakers are Paradigm Persona 3F. The Personas and Benchmark are recent purchases and I’m rebuilding backwards. I’ve been targeting a clear, detailed, neutral and dimensional soundstage. Very low noise and distortion.

I’d now like to add a tube preamp and have a few questions. What are the pros and cons of the phonostage built into the pre vs as a separate? My amp only has balanced in’s but I can use an XLR to RCA adapter if necessary, are there any concerns with using the adapter? Finally, any recommendations up to about $3-5k with some flexibility?

Thanks
jszei

Showing 1 response by rikkipuu

I have a Decware CSP3 and the Schitt Freya.  The tube output of the schitt is nice with upgraded tubes but doesn't hold a candle to  the Decware.  The Decwares ability to control the gain on the output and input tubes is amazing.  I use the balanced inputs and outputs of the Freya and the volume control.  If I could go back in time I would get the Decware ZTPRE with 2 balanced inputs for my W4S DAC2 DSDse 2V2 or Schitt Yggdrasil and one unbalanced input for the phono pre amp.