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What's your experience with fine phono preamp s ?



Arthur Salvatore highly recommends the Coincident Technology Statement phono preamp on his blog. I know nothing about Arthur's listening preferences, so can't know why he feels it superior to other phono pre's.

My table is a Technics SP10, arms are Talea and SME with Benz and AirTight cartridges respectively ( phono cable undetermined for SME arm, open to suggestions on a separate thread --to keeps things 'simple' ) My gear is hybrid, with solid state 100 wpc bass amps, 300B and 6SN7 tubes for mids and tweeters, and JL Audio subs for the bottom octave. The CDP and preamp are solid state and very high quality.

Please weigh in on phono pre's between $2 and 7K that you have owned or heard in systems you know well. I don't have a prejudice or preference for solid state or valve gear, and I'm receptive to used equipment.

I DO, however, strongly prefer an 'I am there' presentation, over 'the musicians are in the room' sensation, when the that's in the vinyl. More interested by far in an emotionally engaging ( not distortedly emotional or euphonic ) listening experience than a precise, highly detailed but soul-less presentation.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and shared experience.

Best,

David
cdk84

Showing 4 responses by almarg

almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
David, a lot of fine phono stages have been suggested. My one suggestion is that you indicate the input impedance of your solid state preamp, or at least its make and model number. And also whether the inputs it provides are balanced or unbalanced or both.

If the input impedance is less than around 25 or 30K or so some of the suggested phono stages may not be optimal matches. That may include the EMIA, the Rhea, the Herron, and possibly the Allnic. On the other hand, if the preamp's input impedance is say 47K or higher impedance compatibility would be a non-issue with pretty much any reasonably designed phono stage.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
P.S. to my previous post: If the cable length that is necessary to connect the phono stage to the preamp is particularly long, say 12 feet or more, that should be indicated as well. Phono stages having high output impedances (e.g. 2 or 3K) at high frequencies may not be optimal choices in that situation. That would be a particular concern with the Rhea's unbalanced outputs (but not its balanced outputs), and with the EMIA.

Regards,
-- Al
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Lew (Lewm), I just noticed that the description of the EMIA phono stage here indicates that for an LOMC it would require an external SUT or other step-up device. Is that correct, or is the web page out of date?

Best regards,
-- Al
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
This gear is the Aurum Acoustics Integris CDP system. Input impedance is listed as 25 kOhms unbalanced, 48 kOhms balanced.
The balanced input impedance is actually indicated as 48K per phase, which would be 96K based on the more usual convention of the sum of the two phases. So impedance compatibility won't be an issue with any phono stage providing balanced outputs (such as the Rhea).

I suspect that you would be marginally ok with the Herron, but if you want to consider the VTPH-2 I suggest asking Keith Herron to confirm that. I'm sure he'll give you an honest answer.

I suspect you would be fine with the Allnic H-1201, but it would be prudent to confirm that with the manufacturer or distributor. The H-3000 would certainly be fine.

I have some doubt, though, about the EMIA, which appears to have only unbalanced outputs, specified as having an output impedance of 2K. Since its outputs are capacitively coupled chances are that the output impedance rises to significantly higher values than that at deep bass frequencies, which in the bottom octave I suspect would fall significantly short of meeting the 10X rule of thumb guideline for impedance compatibility when working into 25K.

I don't see any technical issues with any of the other phono stages that have been suggested.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al
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