What is the best 5k-plus Preamp with balanced outs and Phono stage?


I am looking for a preamp with a great phono stage to replace my Anthem D2V and match up with my Ayre MXR 20's. 

My system complete system includes the following...

Ayre MXR-20 mono amps
Aerial VT20 speakers
Blusound and Codex DAC
Oppo 105
Music Hall MM 5.1 turntable 
Cardas speaker cables and balanced interconnects.

I am currently using a Anthem D2V with a Klyne SK5a (phono stage)

I appreciate any feedback, especially from those familiar with Ayre products.


billm143

Showing 1 response by atmasphere

I am looking for a preamp with a great phono stage to replace my Anthem D2V and match up with my Ayre MXR 20's.
Do you want the phono section balanced as well? FWIW all phono cartridges made are balanced sources (although they are not always treated that way by the tone arm wiring). To go with a balanced connection on the cartridge, usually all you do is replace the tone arm interconnect cable to the preamp. The advantage of this is that the cartridge is a very low impedance source, so the artifacts of the cable are thus minimized (since that is what the balanced line system is for anyway). This means that the tone arm cable does not have to be very pricey, it just has to be built right.