Hey Jond. I can identify with your experience as my 4.5 mv grado reference would overload the phono stage of my syrah. Frustrating to be sure... I had to run the grado through the phono of the arc sp-10 and into the line of the supratek to enjoy my vinyl.Fortunately... I have a koetsu rosewood as well. I ended up trading my high output grado for the .5mv Statement and just love it. Are you THAT attached to the sound of the at440ml? Furthermore....not all mm cartriges have too much gain for the riaa stage of the supratek. Sounds like a very expensive proposition and down grade move in my books.... side ways at best! The joule is a very compentent preamp but nowhere near the level of the supratek in my experience. Have not heard the herron. I understand it's phono stage is very good and versatile as well but I rather doubt it's line stage would compare to the supratek. The line stage of the joule la-100 mk 3 is rather ordinary in my books. In my experience with vacuum tubes... the miniature 9 pin tubes[ 12au family triodes] cannot compete with their octal based equivalents [6sn7 family] in many critical areas of reproducing sound. Both the Joule and the Herron fall into that camp. Some food for thought???
Tubed preamp suggestions?
Well I've finally decided to sell my Supratek Syrah. I loved it but the phono stage just wasn't for me. My AT 440ml MM was overloading it and I'm just not commited enough to vinyl for that good of a phono stage. The plan now is to get a nice tubed linestage and pair it with a high quality outboard phono stage that offers both mm and mc inputs. That would work with my current cartridge and allow for future upgrades. Some units I'm considering are the Joule Electra LA-100 MKIII and the Herron VTSP1A. They both sound appealing to me, the preamp will be paired with my Cary 300B Signature monos and Alon Lotus speakers. Either one of these linestages better, or better with my setup? Any others that I should be considering. This seems as if it's going to be a slow process since I can't seem to get any sellers respond to questions or potential offers! It's really strange, I've emailed 4 different people and have yet to get a single response. Ah well, it just gives me more time to ponder and solicit some opinions from you guys. Let 'em fly! And happy new year to everyone!!