I don't believe in "giant killers ", but there are components of outstanding value. |
Maybe if we could compare easily few companies would survive for long. While sometimes it is a matter of match and preferences, at other times it is clearly better/worse.
The same in other areas - lawyers, doctors, programmers and many others.
Yeah, Aesthetix has been proven to be good to many people for quite some time, though some of those people eventually moved higher, I heard. Allnic ranks very high these days, from the entry model and all the way up. I would want to avoid it but I can't rule out that I would have to try a few one by one by buying and selling. New Allnic 1202, their least expensive model, should be even better than before because they added tube power supply. |
Jarrett, what speakers do you have ?
76db gain tube phono stage and no noise ? Very impressive.
Ralph, what do you think ? How did he manage that ? |
Ralph, thank you, I now understand my options. Easiest is not always best. Since this is going to be a real high end system, I will want to take my time and do it right. |
Thomas Mayer electronics looks serious, and he uses modern Germany made tubes.
How does it sound ? |
Yes, Ralph, I got that. Unless I have the tape machine modified. How difficult is it ? |
Not 40 models but maybe 10 or so that I would like to audition, theoretically speaking. Since I won't go to dealers unless they have it used, what do I do, buy and sell them one by one or take a guess ?
Also, since I would be rarely play records after making recordings, most of the time the phono and turntable would be just sitting there. I believe that two track 15 ips recordings would be just or almost just as good as vinyl, better in some respect - smoother and more coherent, and in some cases of bad original recordings even 7.5 ips would be enough.
What would be better overall - separate phono plus transformer or, say, Ralph's MP-3 preamp with phono ? Probably it depends, on the phono and the transformer.
When choosing the equipment, especially expensive equipment, that I plan to keep for a long time, first of all I try to form an impression of a designer. It should also be easy to have it repaired and maybe upgraded and even customized. Here Atma-Sphere wins, I think.
In addition, I pay attention on this forum to who uses what and with what, and their music preferences if I can figure it out. Allnic, though not the entry level model, is indeed used by some serious audiophiles. Allnic comes with NOS tubes, I guess, and they have replacement. I did hear very positive opinions of Aesthetix and Tron phono stages before.
So, if I wanted to get into it right away, I would start with these four companies - Atma-Shere, Allnic, Aesthetics and Tron. Lamm is impossible to find used and if it was it would most likely be too much to pay for. Atma-Sphere would be the first to try. Besides, what Ralph makes looks very much like pro equipment, this should match well with pro deck. And MP-3 should match well with many power amps, but again I may in fact only need it to make recordings if deck goes directly to power amp. I would of course compare directly to power amp with by way of preamp. Maybe both excellent but somewhat different..?
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This thread is about tube preamps, let's stay with the subject.
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Yeah, comparing is a big problem. Besides, I don't go to dealers asking for audition if I intend to buy used, not from them, I just don't. I would for a reasonable fees, though. What's more, taking into account reel to reel deck and what Ralph said about recording, things get even more complicated. |
Did anyone compare directly the phono stage of Atma-Sphere MP3 preamp with some of the mentioned or other separate phonos ? Who else makes tube preamps with excellent phono that could compete with Ralph's design ? |
Ralph, thank you, you've been most helpful. No need to use single ended with Gryphon. I bet, this would an excellent match. |
I would think that 55db gain is way too high for most or all MM and MI cartridges. Usually it’s around 40db ? But maybe Ralph’s preamps can be customized to change the gain.
I am a little surprised than no-one mentioned Lamm and VAC so far, though I am not sure that VAC makes separate phono, perhaps that’s why. What about Conrad Johnson, CAT, some other European companies ? Japanese like Wavac, Komuro ? |
MP-3's phono seems to be MC only with 55 db gain. That's not what I would be using. The system would be old ways - open reel deck and MM, either modern or vintage. |
Ralph, thank you, I get the picture. Having your preamp with phono would be an excellent choice indeed. I hope it is versatile enough to work well with various power amps, tube hybrid or transistors.
Or, how about this ? MP3 preamp into Gryphon Diablo integrated. Diablo has passive preamp. Why would I want it ? Well, if I decided to have, temporarily or permanently, solid state power amp my choice would be Gryphon, but I wouldn't be able to afford Gryphon power amp even used. So basically I would want just the power amp section of the Diablo, or older Callisto and Atilla. I took a look, Gryphon's input impedance is 10 kohm RCA and 40 kohm XLR. |
Many interesting pieces. Tron says that they use only England made parts. NVO uses so many tubes, why would they ?
I am glad that no one mentioned Ypsilon, that thing is a little, well, how do I put it..it's a hell of a lot of dead Washingtons. |
Ralph, that's terrible. In another thread you said that I would also need a transformer if I use tape-outs of your preamp with phono.
It appears that pro tape machines were not quite designed to take the signal from phono. Well then I would have to use a transformer, what else can I do ? |
By the way, XLR ouput would be a plus because I am going to make recordings to reel to reel tape deck, and the good ones come only with XLR ins/outs. |
rsf507, I see, Nicosia is a divided city but a very old city, a lot of history there.
Many apparently great tube phono stages. I would almost certainly be buying used and not very soon. I am in fact trying to figure out what my totally new system should be, so this is not about upgrade in a usual sense.
This phono stage should hopefully last me for at least ten years, and $1k-$2k more or less for it would make no difference to me under the
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Greek part of Cyprus or Turkish ? |
I would be using MMs for the foreseeable future, good ones. Croft/ Pear Audio, that's interesting, they make excellent turntables - reincarnation of Nottingham. I have Nottingham, by the way. |
