Want to get into Analog but i do not have a preamp

Hi thanks for the response. I am looking at a Audio research SP-14, or LS-15.
Any thoughts on these??
Thanks

With the 834p, I believe that the load is fixed a 500 ohms for the MC input but I'm going on questionable memory here. (For MC you really don't care about the capacitance.) Pretty good value for most cartridges. It is easy to place load resistors across the input jacks if you calculate what the proper values are, that is if you want to fine tune the load. But by then you'll be long past the decision of whether or not vinyl is what you want to do.

Good luck in your search,

Dan

I agree with "Zenieth" and would also recommend the Lehmann phono. It has plenty of "adjustabilty" and has good sound. I used one with a BAT preamp + a VPI Scout TT and it worked great for the money. Of course there is better stuff out there but the rule of diminishing returns....

AR stuff used you can find all the time and also would be a good place to start.

Good luck.

The fun will start once you get your vinyl portion of the system dialed-in and you start the hunt for LP's.

Btstrg, from what I know (and I could be wrong), the LS-15 does not have a phono stage built-in. The SP-14 is one of the "hybrid" models. At least one commentary I've seen disparages the power supply but I would do a search of the archives to find users' experiences. An SP-14 would likely be more money than any of the lower 'even-numbered' SPs (SP-6, -8, -10) or the SP-11 because the lower numbered ones are 10+yrs older. I'd personally prefer a -10/-11/-8/-6 in that order if all the same price. These will be especially good deals if they have been 'refreshed' (capacitors replaced, etc) by the factory or modder recently. A similarly "scary-good-for-the-price" old preamp with phono, IMHO, would be a "refreshed" Counterpoint pre with separate power supply. Every now and then they come up on Audiogon and if I didn't already have something which needed refreshing, I'd definitely consider one myself.

The other route would be to go for something which was 'just a phono stage' (which means that if you ever wanted to put a preamp between your CDP and amp, you'd be outtaluck), in which case you might get something with a smaller footprint and good dedicated phono stage for similar money or up to 30-50% more.

Biggest problem with any of these older choices is that it would be tough to demo before buying used unless at a b&m dealer...

To get back into vinyl, I purchased a Supratek Chenin. Until that time, I was running my Wadia 861 direct into my CAT amps.

The Chenin's line stage was an improvement over running direct. So, if you haven't tried a "good" pre-amp with your Wadia, you may be pleasantly surprised if/when you do.